Pre-Publication: Marketing activities for your book start 3-6 months ahead of your book’s publication date.
Publication Date: Your publication date (or “pub date”) is the day when your book officially goes on sale and the date around which many of our publicity and marketing activities are planned. Your own promotional efforts should also be planned around your pub date.
After Publication: We will continue to include your book in our regular promotions, and you should continue to do your own promotion via speaking, media engagement, or outreach to your network as appropriate.
Marketing, Sales, and Publicity Behind the Scenes
Marketing Questionnaire: Around the time that your manuscript is transmitted to production, our marketing team will send you our Marketing Questionnaire for you to fill out. The information you submit helps us plan for your book’s release, so please return it by the deadline.
Book Description, Author Photo, and Cover: We draft your book’s marketing copy, which will appear on the Hopkins Press website and on online retail sites. We will request a current photo of you for use on the Hopkins Press website and possibly your book’s cover/jacket. Our art department is working on your book’s cover design, and your acquisitions editor will share it with you before it is finalized.
Metadata & Preorders: Your book’s metadata (title, subtitle, price, keywords, etc.) is the backbone of discoverability and sales. This information is distributed pre-publication to the Hopkins Press website, Amazon, and other online book retail sites. Metadata is also sent to major wholesalers, independent bookstores, and sales reps to distribute to smaller vendors and to encourage orders. Online vendors pick up metadata at different times, but your book will generally be available for preorder about six months before its publication date.
Blurbs: Your acquisitions editor will work with you in selecting and contacting people to provide short endorsements for your book’s cover/jacket. Please note that space for blurbs on your book’s cover is limited. Blurbs will also appear on the book’s page on the Hopkins Press website, Amazon, other retail sites, and in additional promotional materials.
Seasonal Catalog: Your book is included in the Hopkins Press seasonal catalog as well as our seasonal Edelweiss catalogs, which reach over 100,000 booksellers, retailers, librarians, and educators.
Sales Calls: Our sales team calls on wholesalers (Ingram, etc.) and bookstores to present the seasonal catalog and secure orders. This happens well in advance of your book’s publication date.
Publicity Calls: Our publicity team shares the seasonal catalog with our extensive list of key media contacts and meets with members of the media to present the season’s books.
E-book: The e-book edition of your book will be distributed when your print book goes on sale. We distribute e-book files to all major vendors: Amazon, B&N, Apple, Google Play, Overdrive (public libraries), etc.
Audiobook: If Hopkins Press holds audiobook rights, our rights team may pitch your book to audiobook publishers who distribute to Audible and all major audiobook vendors.
Pre-Publication: Getting Ready for Your Book’s Release
Amazon Author Central: Reach millions of readers with your customized author profile. Include your bio and links to your website and social media. To set up your profile, go to https://author.amazon.com/claim/join.
Digital Press Kits & Review Copies: We create and distribute digital press kits with your book’s press release, hi-res cover, author photo, and an advance reader’s copy (ARC) or review copy to appropriate media and publications.
Print Review Copies: While most people now work with digital review copies, print copies of your book are in stock in our warehouse and available to send to media contacts and for other promotional opportunities approximately four weeks before your book’s publication date. Note that the timing for receiving books in the warehouse can vary.
Media List: We pitch your book to appropriate media outlets and publications in the United States and United Kingdom, as well as Canada when appropriate. These can include TV, radio, print, and online media, podcasts, and scholarly and professional journals, as appropriate. Media targets are based on your book’s audience. Opportunities might include writing an op-ed, being interviewed on a podcast, or having your book reviewed in a magazine or scholarly journal.
VIPs and Influencers: When appropriate, we can send press kits to VIPs/influencers in your field to generate word-of-mouth buzz.
Flyer: We will send you a pdf flyer with info about your book and a 30% promo code to share with your network. Feel free to share the promo code far and wide to promote pre-orders as well as after your book has gone on sale.
Social Media Graphics: If you have a large social media following, we may create social media banners and graphics with your book’s cover for you to use.
Events: Let our publicity team know about any book talks, webinars, conference panels, or other book-related events that you’ll be doing. Ideal timing for events is on or after the book’s publication date, when books will be available. We can help organize book sales when possible and promote your event on Hopkins Press social media channels.
At Publication and After
Hopkins Press Newsletter: Our monthly “New from Hopkins Press” email features new titles published each month, and we run many seasonal sales throughout the year.
Hopkins Press Promotions: We run many book sales and promotions throughout the year, including subject-specific sales (Science, Health & Wellness, etc.) and sales timed to holidays and events like Mental Health Awareness Month.
Social Media Announcement: We may announce your book’s release on Hopkins Press social media channels.
Hopkins Press Website & Blog: We may also feature your book on the Hopkins Press website on the homepage, or in the featured books or featured author sections. We may also feature your book on the Hopkins Press blog: https://www.press.jhu.edu/newsroom.
Digital Advertising: We run Amazon and Google Shopping ads targeted at helping readers find your book.
Other Advertising: Advertising is planned seasonally and might include print and digital ads, book back ads, conference program ads, and more. We frequently advertise books in publications read by booksellers and librarians (Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Shelf Awareness, etc.), as well as other publications.
Awards: We may submit your book for select awards as appropriate. Please see your marketing questionnaire for more information and to suggest awards for us to consider submitting for.
Conferences: We may promote your book at relevant academic and professional meetings, book industry trade shows, and conferences the Press regularly attends. If you are speaking at a conference that we don’t attend, we can provide you with a display copy of your book in addition to your flyer.
Course Adoption Marketing: If your book is intended for students, our marketing team may promote it to professors teaching relevant courses. We send targeted emails featuring your course book’s key selling points to curated, targeted lists of instructors. We also feature your book on our discipline-focused course adoption web pages on the Hopkins Press website. Instructors interested in exam/desk copies should go to: https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/for-educators
Special Sales & Bulk Orders: We offer discounts on bulk orders starting at ten copies. We strongly encourage you to ask organizations that you’re involved with to consider buying your book for their internal or external stakeholders. Organizations should contact [email protected] for pricing and to order.
Author Discount: Order copies of your own book at 40% off. You can use promo code HW4A on the Hopkins Press website (https://www.press.jhu.edu/books) to order copies of your book. If you have questions about shipping or need a quote, please contact Hopkins Fulfillment Services (HFS) at 1-800-537-5487 or [email protected].
