How early should reviewers get advance copies?

Trade reviewers want them three to four months before publication. Bloggers, newsletter writers, and podcasters are fine with four to six weeks. Put both on the timeline, since only one of them is easy to fix late.

When should pre-orders open?

Commonly six to eight weeks out, once the cover is final and there's a page to send people to. Opening earlier only helps if you have something to point at.

Does this work for self-publishing?

Yes, and the timeline matters more, because you own the printer lead times and the review outreach yourself rather than inheriting a publisher's schedule.

Book launch template

Book launch timeline

Publication day is the easy date to plan around. The hard ones are the three months before it, when reviewers need copies and pre-orders need somewhere to go. This template lays out the run-up so the marketing dates don't get set after the printing ones.

Use this template

Opens in the editor. Free, no signup.

The milestones

Roughly 28 weeks end to end. Weeks are relative to the first milestone — set your own dates once it's open in the editor.

When	Milestone	Phase
Week 0	Manuscript final	Manuscript
Week 6	Copyedit complete	Manuscript
Week 9	Cover design signed off	Production
Week 13	Proof copies ordered	Production
Week 16	Advance copies to reviewers	Marketing
Week 20	Pre-orders open	Marketing
Week 28	Publication day	Launch

What to put on it

Final manuscript, and the copyedit and proofread dates after it.
Cover sign-off — it gates every piece of marketing artwork.
Proof copies ordered, with the printer's lead time.
Advance copies out to reviewers, ideally three months before publication.
Pre-orders open.
Publication day, and launch week events if you're running any.

Questions

How early should reviewers get advance copies?: Trade reviewers want them three to four months before publication. Bloggers, newsletter writers, and podcasters are fine with four to six weeks. Put both on the timeline, since only one of them is easy to fix late.
When should pre-orders open?: Commonly six to eight weeks out, once the cover is final and there's a page to send people to. Opening earlier only helps if you have something to point at.
Does this work for self-publishing?: Yes, and the timeline matters more, because you own the printer lead times and the review outreach yourself rather than inheriting a publisher's schedule.

Make it yours in about a minute.

The template opens as a draft in your browser. Edit the dates, publish when it's right, and share the link — it unfurls as a preview of the actual timeline in Slack, Teams, Discord, and iMessage.

Use this template