One reason some authors choose to independently publish their book is the greater royalties they get on each sale. Another reason, more important to some, is keeping control over the publishing and the marketing. Traditional publishers are good at what they do, but they can’t know the book as deeply as the author does, and that can lead to missed opportunities.
I recently noticed an example of a missed opportunity by a traditional publisher. First to Fight by Roger Moorhouse is a non-fiction book about the German-Polish war in 1939, that marked the start of the Second World War in Europe. It’s currently available for pre-order, and will be released on 5th September 2019.
Anniversaries and Marketing
The book covers the German war with Poland, which began on the 1st September 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. That invasion led to Britain and France declaring war on Germany on 3rd September. The first and third of September 1939 will be very familiar dates to anyone even remotely interested in the book’s subject matter. If the publisher had chosen a release date just two or four days earlier, the book’s release would have coincided with the eightieth anniversary of one of those events.
For non-fiction books, anniversaries of important events can be a useful marketing hook. The start of the Second World War was a huge historic event, and the 80th anniversary is bound to get some media attention. Having the book’s release date coincide with that could have given the release a useful marketing boost.
I had a quick look at a few other books by the same publisher. They were all released on Thursdays, suggesting that the publisher has a policy of releasing on Thursdays. There are probably good reasons for that policy, but I suspect a little flexibility on their part would have paid dividends. An independent author would have been able to take advantage of this opportunity without any difficulty.
