Myth: Release Week Sales are a Big Deal

Yes, they are! It's awesome when your new book is finally available for readers! Shout it from the rooftops!

The frenzy of promotions during release week was a HUGE deal because those initial sales could make or break a career. There was only so much space on the shelves in a bookstore. New novels got a limited time in the spotlight. When the next shipment of books arrived for the spotlight, the books in that space often were returned. Even worse, only the stripped off cover was returned for full credit to the publisher and the rest of the book - gasp - was destroyed.

Electronic publishing has changed that horrible practice. Ebook versions take up no space, can live forever in megabyte clouds, and be available for anytime the Author wants to do a promotional tour. Even if that really big promotional push doesn't happen until a few months after the release of book 3.

Multipublished authors are taking advantage of republishing all their out-of-print backlist to a new life and new readers. It's a win-win situation for them but is also an example of this new power available for even 1st time authors. Week One, Month One, no longer has the power to make or break an authors career. Promotions can take place at any time, and be as frenzied or as cool as the author chooses.

Electronic publishers still operate on the Release Week Promotions schedule so the author must enter that frenzy with a whole pile of positive energy. BUT, regardless of how good sales are that first week, the publisher does not push a delete button. (Or, if they do it better include all rights reverting to the author!)

Author royalties in the Print-Only version of novels are delayed by months and include a riot of variables and formulas to account for potential returns. This is one more practice melting away in the world of ebooks. A sale is a sale and the cost of producing the book decreases exponentially with each sale too.

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