JP McLean

Writing Addictive Fiction

  • Home
  • About
    • JP McLean
    • The Thorne Witch Novels
    • Dark Dreams Series
    • The Gift Legacy
    • Series Reading Order
    • Upcoming Events
  • Novels
  • Bookstore
  • Blog
  • Media
    • Awards
    • Testimonials
    • Bios & Photos
    • Fast Facts
    • Featured on
    • Press Releases
  • Extras
    • FREE Short Story
    • Glossary of Terms
    • Discussion Questions
  • Contact

Please Release Me (Let Me Go)

October 19, 2012 By JPMcLean 2 Comments

Awakening book coverRelease Date for Awakening. What made me think publishing a book meant I’d have a release date?  Maybe it’s all the release date announcements I’ve seen for other people’s books.  And music. And movies.  Even cell phones have release dates.

A release date is supposed to be part of the fun:  a “Ta Da!” moment.  Adults don’t get enough of those, and I’d been looking forward to Awakening‘s release date moment. But, as you can probably guess, my Ta Da! moment fizzled like a damp sparkler.

I’m still learning the publishing ropes, so not having a firm release date came as a surprise. The indie model is very different from the traditional route. I’ve partnered with FriesenPress, so I have even less control. Regardless of where you are in indieland, a release date is not so much a set date as it is a process that rolls out in dribs and drabs.

Coming Soon

For me, it started when I returned my final proof to the publisher.  FriesenPress worked their formatting magic, and a few weeks later, the book moved to the “coming soon” shelf. It wasn’t quite a Ta Da! moment, more like a “yippee” but it was right up there – felt a bit like graduation.

With my business hat on, I figured I should take advantage of the book’s “coming soon” status to raise awareness. I knew I had some time – I’d been told it could take two weeks for the book to hit the “available” shelf.  So, I got busy, sent out a newsletter, posted on my blog, and Facebook. Splashed the “coming soon” status around wherever I could.

Two days later the book was published.

That I learned about it after the fact, and that it happened without ceremony, is not quite what I had imagined for my big “Ta Da!” moment.

Regardless, published is good (yippee!). It was time to make my big announcement, right? Not so fast. The book is available, but only from the publisher at this point.

The publisher now hands it over to their distributor. Once the distributor has it, they make it available to retailers. Ta Da! Not quite. Retailers need anywhere from one day to three months to upload the details to their websites and make it available for sale.

As the process unfurled, the book slowly leaked out.  Amazon’s American site picked up the book in all three formats right away (yippee).  Within days I had sales on Kindle in the US.  It didn’t take long for Barnes and Noble to offer the hardcover and trade paperback on their website (yippee), but it’s not yet available for their Nook.  The Canadian Amazon site now carries it and friends have reported successfully ordering it at independent retailers (yippee x 2).  Both iTunes and Kobo have listed it (yippee, yippee) and I’m anxiously waiting for Chapters to pick it up (pending yippee).

So, I may not have had my big Ta Da! Release Date moment, but I’ve had a number of smaller yippee moments along the way.  As I said, it’s been a learning experience and I’m learning to really appreciate the yippees.

Yippee!

Update: The release date for Awakening has long passed. and the Gift Legacy is now widely available. You can find it here.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • More
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp

Related

Filed Under: Book Release, On Publishing, The Gift: Awakening Tagged With: book, fantasy, fiction, indie author, JP McLean, thriller

Comments

  1. Wendy Keeler says

    October 19, 2012 at 5:49 pm

    love it. again congratulations. and yippee, look what you’ve learned!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Just in Time for Summer - JP McLean says:
    November 19, 2019 at 2:53 pm

    […] date” drama is somewhat of a muted affair. I’ve written about this before (Please Release Me) so I won’t repeat myself. But I’m excited to tell you that the book is now available. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

JOIN JP's VIP READERS

(Sign up for FREE short stories & insider scoop)

GET EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

BUY THE BOOKS

Blood Mark
Woman gazing over her shoulder
Cover for Secret Sky featuring sidelong image of the head and torso of a woman with long hair on a beach
Cover for Hidden Enemy
Burning Lies Book Cover
Cover for Lethal Waters
Cover for Deadly Deception
Cover for Wings of Prey
Cover for Lover Betrayed
Crimson Frost cover

LET'S CONNECT!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Amazon
  • BookBub
  • Goodreads

Join 6,289 other subscribers

Privacy & Cookies Policy

· Copyright © 2025 JP McLean ·

 

Loading Comments...