Making your book available for purchase before its official release date to build momentum, stack early sales, and signal demand to retailers.
A pre-order strategy is a deliberate plan to make your book purchasable weeks or months before its actual release. When readers pre-order, their purchases typically count toward first-week sales numbers, which matter for bestseller lists and algorithmic visibility. The strategy involves deciding when to open pre-orders, how to incentivize early purchases through bonuses or exclusive content, and how to drive traffic to the pre-order page through your newsletter, social media, and other channels.
Pre-orders let you accumulate sales over weeks or months that all land on a single day. That concentrated burst of purchases signals to retailers and algorithms that your book is in demand. For traditionally published authors, strong pre-order numbers can earn better placement in bookstores. For indie authors, they can trigger Amazon's recommendation engine and push your book into bestseller categories. Pre-orders also create psychological commitment - once someone has paid, they are far more likely to actually read and talk about the book.
Yarros's pre-order campaign generated enormous anticipation through exclusive bonus content and a coordinated social media reveal strategy. The pre-order numbers were so strong that the publisher increased the initial print run significantly.
Zevin's publisher drove pre-orders through independent bookstore partnerships and signed edition exclusives, creating a sense of urgency and collectibility around early purchases.
Design a pre-order incentive package for your book. List three bonus items you could offer to pre-order customers, such as a deleted scene, a character art print, a companion short story, or early access to the first three chapters. Then draft the email you would send to your mailing list announcing the pre-order, including a clear call to action and a deadline for the bonus offer.