Built from your reader profile and genre. Not generic advice — specific tasks for this book's audience. Toggle off anything that doesn't apply. Add what's missing.
Atlas's Read
Week 1–2 — Build the Foundation
Set up author website with landing page and email signup
Write author bio — three lengths (tweet, paragraph, full page)
Create Goodreads author profile and add your book
Identify 20 BookTok and Bookstagram accounts in your comp title space
Week 3–4 — Build the Audience
Send 10 ARC requests to book bloggers and Bookstagram reviewers
Begin posting 3x/week on primary platform (your reader is on Instagram)
Launch email list with a free first chapter as the lead magnet
Submit to LibraryReads and indie bookstore advance programs
Week 5–6 — Build the Heat
Share cover reveal with email list and social — coordinate timing
Pitch 3 podcasts in the literary fiction and southern literature space
Set up pre-order on Amazon and IngramSpark
Send early copies to any authors in your comp title space you have access to
Launch Day
Send launch email to full list — personal, not promotional
Post launch day content across all active platforms simultaneously
Ask 10 trusted readers to post reviews on launch day
Go live on Instagram — read the first page and answer questions
Launch Week
Post daily — mix of personal story, book content, reader reactions
Monitor and respond to every early review on Goodreads and Amazon
Send thank-you emails to everyone who purchased in first 48 hours
Weeks 8–10 — Sustain the Momentum
Begin pitching book clubs — literary fiction is a book club staple
Write a piece about the research or experience behind the book for a literary publication
Reduce posting cadence to sustainable — 2x/week is enough now
Weeks 11–13 — Build the Long Tail
Set up Amazon ads targeting readers of your comp titles
Apply to BookBub Featured Deal if reviews are strong enough
Evaluate first 90 days — what worked, what to double down on
Check off completed tasks · Edit or add tasks · Carries forward as your live plan
Not every platform. The ones that matter for THIS book and THIS reader, derived from your audience profile. Toggle off what doesn't fit your life. Focus wins.
Atlas's Read
Instagram / BookStagram
Your reader is 28-45, reads literary fiction, discovers books through visual recommendation. BookStagram is where this audience lives.
Primary
Goodreads
Literary fiction readers are power Goodreads users. Lists, shelves, and reviews here directly drive discovery and word-of-mouth.
Primary
BookTok / TikTok
Quiet, emotional literary fiction performs exceptionally well on BookTok. The #litmonfiction community is exactly your audience.
Primary
Email Newsletter
Your most loyal readers. Own this list. Algorithm-proof. Literary readers over-index on newsletters — Substack especially.
Essential
X / Twitter
Literary community still exists here (#booktwitter) but reach is diminished. Optional — only if you're already active.
Optional
Pinterest
Mood boards and aesthetic content for literary fiction can build evergreen discovery. Low effort, long tail.
Optional
Toggle platforms on/off · Edit the reasoning · Your active platforms feed the content calendar
Specific. Not "post about your book." Each one has a hook, a platform, and a type. Edit any of them. Delete what doesn't fit. Add what you know your audience needs.
Atlas's Read
Day 1
Hook
Instagram
The question my book keeps asking: what do you owe the people you love — and what do you owe the truth?
Hook: starts with a question that stops the scroll
Day 3
Story
Instagram / TikTok
I wrote this book because I grew up in a town where everyone knew something no one would say out loud. Here's what that felt like.
Hook: personal origin story — why this book exists
Day 5
Visual
Instagram
The mood board for this book: cedar boxes, small-town diners, newspaper archives, and the smell of a library that hasn't changed in forty years.
Visual: flat lay or mood board image — aesthetic first
Day 7
Hook
TikTok
If you loved Olive Kitteridge and still think about it at 2am — I wrote something for you.
Hook: comp title call-out — reaches existing audience
Day 10
Story
Substack / Email
The sentence that broke me open when I wrote it — and why I almost cut it. A small piece of what this book is about.
Hook: vulnerability + craft — builds trust with literary readers
Day 14
CTA
All platforms
Pre-orders are open. If you've been following along — this is where it becomes real. Link in bio.
CTA: pre-order launch — direct, not pushy
Day 17
Visual
Instagram
Books I read while writing this one — the ones that held the door open. What are you reading right now?
Visual: book stack — invites conversation, shows your taste
Day 21
Hook
TikTok / Reels
One line from the book. That's it. (Read the comments.)
Hook: single quote — let the writing do the work
Day 28
CTA
All platforms
One week. The book comes out in one week. Here's the first page.
CTA: countdown + excerpt — builds urgency without desperation
Day 30
Story
Substack / Email
Launch day. The thing about sending a book into the world is that it stops being yours the moment someone reads it. Today it stopped being mine.
Hook: emotional launch day post — authentic, not celebratory
Edit any post · Filter by type · All 30 export with your launch strategy
Five emails. Written in your voice. Your list is your most loyal audience — talk to them like it. Each email has a purpose. None of them feel like marketing.
Atlas's Read
1
Hi [Name],
I've been writing to you for a while now, and I've never actually told you what I've been working on.
The book is called The Confession Booth. It's about a woman who returns to her hometown to close her grandmother's library — and finds something that was never meant to be found.
It comes out in six weeks. I wanted you to be the first to know.
I'll share more soon. But for now — thank you for being here while I was writing the thing I was afraid to write.
[Your name]
2
Hi [Name],
Three weeks out. The book is real — I have a copy in my hands and I still don't quite believe it.
I want to share the first page with you before anyone else reads it.
[PASTE FIRST PAGE HERE]
If this is the kind of thing you've been waiting for — pre-orders are open. Every pre-order matters more than most people know.
[Pre-order link]
More soon.
[Your name]
3
Hi [Name],
One week.
The official description says it's about a librarian who discovers her grandmother's secret. That's true. But what it's really about is simpler than that.
It's about what we bury for love. And what happens when we finally stop.
I wrote it because I needed to ask that question out loud. I hope it asks something for you too.
The book comes out next [day]. If you read it, I'd love to know what it asked you.
[Pre-order / purchase link]
[Your name]
4
Hi [Name],
It's today.
The Confession Booth is out in the world. After [X] years of writing it, [X] years of doubting it, and six weeks of trying to prepare you for it — it's yours now.
If you read it: thank you. If you love it: tell someone. If it breaks something open in you: I'm here.
[Purchase link]
[Your name]
5
Hi [Name],
A week ago, the book didn't exist in the world. Now it does.
Here's what I learned this week: [LEAVE BLANK UNTIL LAUNCH — fill in with what actually happened]
If you haven't read it yet, it's here: [link]
If you have — one review on Amazon or Goodreads is worth more than you know.
Thank you for being here for all of it.
[Your name]
Click Expand to edit any email · Subject lines are editable · All five export together