When is the best time to publish a fantasy novel?
S.R. Beaston
Crafty with words, wit, and wisdom, just add caffeine to make it more interesting.
No matter who you are or what you write, marketing is a huge part of publishing. The date you choose for your release should be just as much a marketing strategy as anything else.
It’s easier with some genres than others. Romances can be marketed to release near Valentine's day. A horror novel's debut is just before Halloween. We often use the seasons and holidays to our advantage when thinking about marketing and publication.
But what if your novel doesn’t fit the mold of well-established traditions or seasons? When is the best time to publish fiction, say… fantasy?
How to decide when to publish a fantasy novel
If you are looking through the lens of ‘when will my book make the most money’, well first, you may be in the wrong would-be profession, secondly, here’s a fantastic general breakdown on $ book publishing schedules that capitalize on sales$ .
Though fantasy is one of the most popular genres in literature, it’s hard for an author to get their foot in the door. Luckily, fantasy can be enjoyed any time of year, so how can you pinpoint the perfect day to release it?
Here are a few things to consider.
Competitive Subgenres
Depending on your subgenre, you may do well to either indulge in or avoid the spike of interests that come with it. If it’s a dark fantasy, October may be a great release window, but consider how ‘dark’ your fantasy is compared to the horror and thriller novels that you will be competing against for attention.
Finding a window of time that doesn’t compete with books like yours may give you a higher ground. Though risky, there is great potential for some fun marketing. "Love is in the air! Don’t you hate that? Feel a sense of dread in place of admiration? Fill the void with this dark fantasy, shadowing shelves this February 14th."
Okay, maybe not that drastic, but you get the idea.
The inverse can also be true. Being among the crowd may help your book be seen, $ just make sure your covers stand out$ !
Seasonal significance
Though your fantasy novel may not adhere to any of our human traditions, maybe there is a season or holiday that is embedded into the book; a ‘vibe’, if you will.
Despite Gilmore Girls having 153 episodes and covering all four seasons multiple times (we don’t count A Year in the Life), it’s very much a cozy autumn re-watch. This is a fact as long as you don’t look it up.
Other than the overall ambiance and themes being generally feel-good and warm, they really just give you the vibe in their opening sequence, played before every episode.
If your fantasy book has any theme that heavily relies on a season or holiday, that’s not just your marketing strategy, but your general timeline for publication as well!
A quick vibe-check for the year:
- Q1 (Jan-Mar): Cold and dark, but not in the way that makes you feel you can curl up with cocoa and enjoy yourself. There’s a bleak and exhausting feeling. You can use this to release an uplifting, high energy fantasy novel, match the love vibes of February, or lean into the darkness of it all.
- Q2 (Apr-Jun): Everything is in bloom, waking up from a deep and dark slumber. Brighter, longer days ahead. This is generally a good time for children's books, so if you have a Middle grade to YA fantasy in the works, or just a more wholesome adventure at hand, this may be a good time to publish.
- Q3 (Jul-Sep): Hot. I tend to hear things like “summer reads” or “beach reads”. Similar to spring, I’d say light, more fun fantasy would sell well here; something easy to pick up and put down. I can’t help but think of Legends & Lattes, a feel-good fantasy novel about putting down the sword and picking up a coffee shop.
- Q4 (Oct-Dec): October is a great time for fantasy, but you are going neck-to-neck with other popular, more spooky genres. The autumn atmosphere does lend to a desire for thicker books and more dedicated reading though. Then you have the holidays; the magic and joy in every home, every store… every radio station… it all radiates the Christmas season. Does your fantasy novel do similar things?
Book reference
On rare occasions, a book will have a significant date embedded into the story. Perhaps your fantasy holds a prophecy, and the date revealed is when it all comes to light. Maybe there’s a code that will unlock all the memories of a character's past, revealing them to be the villain.
Numbers often have importance in books, and if you can get a little creative with it (you are writing a fantasy novel), you can incorporate the date or series of numbers into your publication date, giving deeper meaning and excitement to the sales of your book.
Find the gaps
If you are self publishing, you’ve likely done your own fair amount of research on the process, the industry, and the market. Find where there’s a hole or a lull and fill it by publishing at that time.
Just like most of these suggestions, there is a risk to this. There’s a lull for a reason, but depending on your marketing strategy, you may make it work for you. Or, like with handling competition, perhaps find the peak time for publishing and go with the waves. Do some digging on what your book can offer in terms of marketing and use it to your advantage here.
What is the best month to publish a fantasy novel?
The best months to publish a fantasy novel, $ based on buyer behavior$ , seem to be from May to August. You might plan a $ rapid-release schedule$ , where you write a fantasy series in advance, then stagger their publication throughout the year. This is a great sales strategy for fantasy, so keep that in mind when making your decision.
What is the best day of the week to publish a fantasy novel?
The best day of the week to publish a fantasy novel may be Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Tuesdays are when traditional publishers drop their books, so you may not want your book to get lost in the new releases. The weekends are typically busy for everyone, so book sales are not as high. However, there is not a lot of evidence that indicate that the day of the week for publication has long-term effects on your overall book sales.
Though publishing fantasy doesn’t have clear-cut dates or obvious time frames, the genre itself allows for more free and creative ways to sell your book. Lean on the genre and find the perfect date to share your fantastical adventure with the world.
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