The 12-week book launch checklist (free timeline)

Start twelve weeks out. In the final three months before publication you set the preorder and metadata, build an ARC team and an email list, reveal the cover, gather honest early reviews, then concentrate your effort on launch week. A book launch is a campaign, not a day — and a calm, sequenced one beats a frantic last-minute scramble every time.

Below is the whole timeline, week by week, with a table you can copy and keep. Adjust the dates to your own schedule; keep the order.

What needs to be true before week 12?

The checklist assumes the book itself is finished — edited, designed and built into files that pass every store. Marketing a manuscript that still needs structural work is wasted motion, so get the production done first. If you are not there yet, our guide to how to self-publish a book covers editing, design and file preparation, and how long it takes to self-publish helps you back-date a realistic launch.

One honest caveat up front: platform rules change, and some are jurisdiction-specific. Where a hard figure or store policy matters below, check the official source before you rely on it — your KDP dashboard for royalties and preorder status, Amazon’s community guidelines for reviews. Treat this timeline as the structure, not the small print.

Weeks 12–9: foundations

This is quiet, unglamorous setup, and it is where launches are won. Lock your final metadata: title, subtitle, an author bio, and a back-cover blurb that actually sells — the formula is in how to write a back-cover blurb that sells. Research your categories and keywords properly; on Amazon you choose categories at upload and can request more, and the right niche category is far easier to rank in than a broad one.

Now set up the preorder, and note two separate deadlines people often conflate. On Amazon KDP you can list an eBook preorder up to 90 days before release. You must upload your final manuscript and cover at least 10 days before the release date — until then a draft placeholder is allowed — and you must submit before the deadline shown by the countdown timer in your KDP preorder dashboard (roughly 72 hours, or three days, before release), or you risk having preorders disabled for a year. Missing either step is what triggers the ban, not a final file squeezed in at the last minute. A preorder concentrates early sales onto launch day and gives you a live link to share for three months. Confirm the current rules at the official KDP preorder help page, as the window and conditions can change.

Finally, start your email list if you have not. It is the one marketing asset you own outright — no algorithm between you and your readers. A simple sign-up offering a free chapter or short story is enough.

Weeks 8–7: build the ARC team

An ARC — advance review copy — goes to early readers so that honest reviews appear at or just after launch. Books with a handful of reviews convert browsers far better than books with none. Recruit from your email list, your genre’s reader communities and dedicated ARC services, and aim wider than you need, because only a fraction of recipients review.

Get the rules right, because Amazon enforces them. You may give free copies in exchange for an honest review, and the reviewer should disclose they received one. You may not pay for reviews, trade for them, or require a positive rating or a minimum number of stars — incentivised reviews have been banned since 2016, with the narrow Amazon Vine exception. Asking for a guaranteed five stars can get reviews removed and your account flagged. Check the current wording in Amazon’s community guidelines before you brief your team.

Weeks 6–5: cover reveal and content

Your cover is your single biggest marketing asset, so give it a moment. A cover reveal — a dated post across your email list and social channels — creates a small event, drives preorders and gives readers something to share. Pair it with the preorder link.

This is also when you prepare launch content in advance so you are not writing it in a panic later: a few social posts, a short author note, any guest articles or podcast appearances you have lined up. Send your ARCs out now if you have not already, so reviewers have five to six weeks to read.

Weeks 4–2: momentum

Keep the preorder visible without exhausting your audience. Share the blurb, an excerpt, the story behind the book. Follow up gently with ARC readers — a kind reminder, never a demand — and get your final files uploaded and approved well before the 10-day final-file cutoff rather than waiting for the dashboard countdown timer. Double-check your pricing against what you will actually earn; our Amazon KDP royalties explained walks through the 70% versus 35% eBook maths so you price with open eyes.

Launch week: where to spend your energy

Concentrate, do not scatter. Announce on launch day to your email list first — it is your highest-converting channel — then social. Ask ARC readers to post their reviews now that the book is live. Thank everyone publicly. If you run any paid promotion or a price drop, this is the week for it. Resist the urge to do everything; a few things done well beat twenty done badly.

After launch: keep selling

Publishing day is the start line. The books that endure are sold by a steady, modest habit — not a single spike. Keep the reviews coming, keep the list warm, and start the next book, because a back catalogue is the best marketing any author has.

The 12-week book launch timeline

Week	Focus	Key tasks
12–9	Foundations	Lock metadata and blurb; research categories and keywords; set up the preorder; start or grow the email list
8–7	ARC team	Recruit advance readers; brief them on honest, compliant reviews; prepare review copies
6–5	Cover reveal	Reveal the cover with the preorder link; prepare launch content; send ARCs out
4–2	Momentum	Share excerpts and the book’s story; follow up with ARC readers; upload and approve final files; confirm pricing
1 (launch)	Launch week	Email list first, then social; collect early reviews; run any promotion; thank everyone
After	Sustain	Keep gathering reviews; keep the list warm; begin the next book

What if you have less than twelve weeks?

Compress, do not skip. The non-negotiables are the preorder, a small ARC team and a launch-day email to your list. Everything else — the cover reveal, the staged content — can be folded into a shorter run. A four-week launch done calmly beats a twelve-week one you abandon halfway.

A launch only works if the book underneath it is right — properly edited, well designed and built into files that pass every store first time. That is the part we handle: at Librum we give you a fixed quote up front, usually within 24 hours, and you keep all rights and the editable source files. When the book is ready to be made, send us your manuscript and we will come back with a plan, a price and a timeline.