Marketing and Publishing Checklists for Writers

checklists for publishing
Photo credit: Matthew Crisp via VisualHunt.com / CC BY

I’ll start with a confession: I don’t use checklists. I like them in theory, and I collect a wide range as part of my work—so I can share them with writers—and I even know that checklists can be critical in improving performance in certain professions (see The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande).

But I’ve always balked at using checklists in my day-to-day work.

Many years ago, when I worked for Writer’s Digest, I was the editor in charge of producing a special newsstand-only magazine on self-publishing. Part of the issue included announcements and coverage of the annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Award, but what I didn’t know was the magazine also had to include a special insert about the winners that came from the competitions staff.

The magazine went to press and was distributed without that insert, and I had never seen my boss so angry as when she found out. Her solution to my ignorance: create a checklist of every special insert required for each special issue. It was a pretty short list—it may have only included my situation, in fact. But I admired her attempt to create a repository of institutional knowledge.

And that, to me, is what a checklist is about. It attempts to formalize and put into tangible terms someone’s expert practice or knowledge, so that everyone can access and benefit from it. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. There’s a lot that a checklist is challenged to convey, such as: What are the exceptions or alternatives to these steps, if any? What skills are involved in proper execution of this checklist? If one step gets executed poorly, how does that affect success on the overall project?

When embarking on a process that is new or unfamiliar, often you don’t know what you don’t know. A checklist, at the very least, will help you recognize what you don’t know, so that many months later, you’re not beating yourself up for complete ignorance.

Without further ado, here are some of my most favored checklists, from sources I trust.

Marketing Checklists

Of all the knowledge areas in publishing, marketing is probably the most favored for checklists. It’s such a sprawling, unknown area that there’s incredible demand for a system to help make it all comprehensible and step-by-step. There are two authors I highly recommend for their expertise and experience in this area: Tim Grahl and Jenny Blake.

Book Marketing Plan: The Definitive Checklist by Tim Grahl

Tim says, quite accurately, “At any given time, there seem to be 1,000 different ways to market your book. It’s not only hard to know what you should be doing. It’s also hard to keep up with all the options that are available.” His checklist focuses on proven book marketing methods to help you build a customized plan.

The Ultimate Author Checklist for Online Book Marketing

This checklist is from the folks at Book Marketing Tools. It’s for self-publishing authors who are likely focused on selling their ebooks via Amazon. Download the PDF.

Pivot Marketing Tracker by Jenny Blake

This is a newly revised version of an old favorite that Jenny produced some years back that she called the 15-tab book marketing spreadsheet. Understandably, for many authors, the 15-tab version was just too much to handle, so the new marketing tracker, presented as a Google spreadsheet, may be less intimidating. It’s not so much a checklist as a way to track your marketing efforts across many categories, such as blurb gathering, advance copy mailings, podcast exposure, speaking gigs, webinars, giveaways, and so on. When you see what areas an established author focuses on to gain exposure, it helps spark your own ideas and methods for your own campaign. So, this tracker is best treated as an inspirational prompt and guide, not a recipe for your own plan.

Website Checklists

This is another area where authors tend to have little insight or experience, and need to feel some reassurance and confidence that they’ve included all the essential elements.

The Basic Components of an Author Website

This is my own informal review of what materials you need to prepare to have a professional author website. Many unpublished writers ask me what belongs on their site, and I try to address that as well. Read my post on author websites.

How to Build the Ultimate Author Website by Tim Grahl

Again, I’ll draw on Tim Grahl here, because he offers excellent, practical, how-to information on getting stuff done. Unlike my post, he goes through all the technical steps of setting up an author website, from start to finish.

The Ultimate Website Launch Kit Template by Jenny Blake

I’m like a broken record, but both Tim and Jenny really know how to put together great lists! Jenny’s kit is likely the most extensive road map you’ll ever find on launching a site. It may be too involved for the average author, but if you’re investing significant dollars into a website launch, take a look.

Self-Publishing Checklists

This is an area where I have seen little or no resource, which is why I created my own checklist for authors on the production and distribution process. The one drawback is that I don’t take you through any of the technical steps related to ebook production or the actual uploading process at Amazon or related service providers. It’s rather a high-level view of how to go from Word document to published book on sale. See The Self-Publishing Checklist: Editorial, Production, and Distribution.


Do you use checklists in your writing, editing, or publishing process? Have you found any that are invaluable? Please share in the comments.

Share on:
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

21 Comments
oldest
newest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Hervey Copeland

I guess the best way to market a book, if you’re a self publishing author, is to get someone famous like Stephen King to like it, and sing its praises….

On a more serious note, I do think it matters who you reach out to, and who ends up reading your book. I guess that’s where the element of luck comes into play.

You can give away free copies to a hundred different readers, only to find out that they’re not terribly interested in what you have to say. Or you may give away a single copy to a reader who really enjoys it, and who will give it the required nudge that it needs to become a successful novel.

They say that word of mouth is the best advertising out there, even better than paid advertising.

The most important thing is to never give up. What doesn’t break you makes you stronger.

trackback
Benjamin Thomas

Hi Jane,

Although I’m not a planner, I do use simple checklists from tim to time. Actually that’s my only form of planning that I do. It does help to solidify the thoughts bopping around in my head, but I don’t use it very much. I guess it depends on the amount of information that has to be processed.

Thanks!

Benjamin

Geoffrey Wells

Hi Jane: Love the checklists! Especially now that I am three plus months from launch date on my indie cyber thriller, and want to check to see what I missed. I wanted to add some granularity to where checklists fit in an overall process, because knowing this will give users an understanding of priority and timing. The fact is: actions are taken at the checklist level, whereas Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Policies are usually governance tools and, in the case of indie publishing, should best be used a guidelines early in the process. Publishing variables are determined by each author’s situation and once locked down, the checklists kick in. Any other sequence will result is a lot of wheel-spinning and confusion. My two cents–which I’d be happy to work into a guest blog if you’d like.

Marcy McKay

I LOVE check lists. Always have. They help organize me. They help me feel more in control when I have too much to do and life feels overwhelming. Let me add, I’m also NOT a dumb-ass about checklists….you know, putting so many To Do’s on there that no living human being could ever accomplish them.

These varied checklists you’ve offered are terrific. As always, thanks for sharing, Jane.

Marcy McKay

Ahhh, I get it. Although I’ve only had one book launch, I made my own CHECK LIST, so that I remember all that needs to be done next time (hopefully, in 2017). Regardless, great info. Thank you.

trackback

[…] Marketing and Publishing Checklists for Writers (Jane Friedman) I’ll start with a confession: I don’t use checklists. I like them in theory, and I collect a wide range as part of my work—so I can share them with writers—and I even know that checklists can be critical in improving performance in certain professions. […]

trackback

[…] Marketing and Publishing Checklists for Writers […]

Jay Lemming, Author

I like Geoffrey’s comment about structuring checklists under Standard Operating Policies and Procedures. It’s a slightly fancier description than how I would have called it but he’s very likely successful because he gets the concept. 🙂 I keep an Excel spreadsheet of objectives with the related tasks/tactics (each of which is color-coded red, yellow and green to indicate not yet started, in progress and completed) under each objective. Of course I keep a notes column too for those items currently in yellow, so I know how far along I have proceeded with that task.

I have to admit, Jane, it’s a real psychological boost to be able to advance the color codes for each task – even if you’re just going from red to yellow, because it means you’re getting things done. For that reason alone, I think checklists are fantastic. When you can either change the color code, or check off items, or engage with your list in whatever manner is most meaningful to you, there’s a huge motivational element involved–tangible evidence that you’re making progress.

Additionally, when I’m not at my writing desk but may be out and about doing whatever (grocery shopping, etc.) and get some ideas, I’ll email a note to myself. Maybe once a week or so, I’ll re-evaluate all the email notes I sent myself and (as long as they “weren’t just a good idea the moment I sent them…”) incorporate them into my spreadsheet.

Thanks for this post. I’ve come across a lot of resources over the past couple years, but the self-publishing checklist you put together (was it last year?) continues to be a favorite! Jay

trackback

[…] Marketing and Publishing Checklists for Writers | Jane Friedman […]

trackback

[…] and Publishing Checklists for Writers (Jane Friedman): “When embarking on a process that is new or unfamiliar, often you don’t know what you […]