A friend of mine just emailed, she got a note from a potential client who said “I need to get my book edited in so I can publish it in December and get holiday sales.”
Seriously? A week before Thanksgiving? In case no one has been paying attention, the holiday shopping season started when Duane Reed put up their decorations around Labor Day. I asked my friend what she told this prospective client, her reply was: “You mean for Christmas 2013, right?”
So far there’s been no response.
In case you were thinking of doing this with your book: don’t. Most holiday marketing campaigns start as early as September, some even in July…didn’t you ever wonder where the term “Christmas in July” came from?
One year I remember an author calling me on December 5th, asking if it was too late to get book signings for the holidays. “Not at all,” I relied, “Easter is right around the corner.”
