While each university press is different, the marketing/promotion process often begins shortly after the acquisitions staff transmits your manuscript to the manuscript editing department, at which point you will receive an author questionnaire. As we move closer to the book’s publication, marketing will use information in the questionnaire to plan metadata, social media, publicity, sales, advertising, exhibits, and awards.
The seasonal catalogue, announcing the publication date for your book, is distributed digitally and in print while the book is still in production. Prior to publication, your book description and cover will be uploaded to commercial websites as well as to the university press website. Book reviews for trade books generally appear within a few months of the publication date, while scholarly journals and magazines typically have long lead times from six months to two years after the book has been published. Most university presses will continue to market and promote a book for many years after the publication date by having the book available on their website, taking the book to academic conferences at which they exhibit, and ensuring that the book is for sale at online vendors like Amazon and Powell’s, as well as through independent bookstores.
—AUPresses Faculty Outreach Committee