Publishing
A tidy release date can look very professional right up until the last stretch of the job arrives and starts chewing through your week.
Editing wants one more pass. Formatting has opinions. Metadata needs to be right. The cover is nearly there, the blurb is sulking in a corner, and somehow your own brain has joined the list of things requiring maintenance.
I can see the appeal of a fixed launch. I can also see why some books do better with a bit of slack built in. The calendar is rarely the hard part. It’s everything that happens when the calendar starts pretending the work is finished.
Editing wants one more pass. Formatting has opinions. Metadata needs to be right. The cover is nearly there, the blurb is sulking in a corner, and somehow your own brain has joined the list of things requiring maintenance.
I can see the appeal of a fixed launch. I can also see why some books do better with a bit of slack built in. The calendar is rarely the hard part. It’s everything that happens when the calendar starts pretending the work is finished.
Fixed dates are useful until they start acting like a superstition. A lot of indie launches seem to be planned around the fantasy that the last 10% is just admin, when it’s usually where all the awkward decisions hide.
I’d rather see a slightly messy launch and a book that’s actually ready than a neat calendar and a rushed cover file nobody wants to look at twice.
I’d rather see a slightly messy launch and a book that’s actually ready than a neat calendar and a rushed cover file nobody wants to look at twice.