Book Release Rituals

With All My Haunted Heart - my sapphic romance about a witch hired to ethically haunt a small-town B&B - comes out TOMORROW, so I figured this was the perfect time to talk about book release rituals!

(Psst... You can still get a signed copy of my book by ordering through my local indie. Order here!)

When it comes to releasing a book, I like to build in regular rituals to that entire week to both celebrate the book's release and soothe some of the common stressors and post-release let down. 

I've broken down these rituals into 4 different categories, and while doing any one of these is better than doing nothing, I highly recommend picking one from each section if you can.

And a quick reminder before we dive in: Releasing a book is a HUGE accomplishment, and I am so, so proud of you for getting to release day! 
 

Engaging with Your Book

Because of the long timelines of traditional publishing, by the time your book actually comes out, there's a solid chance you're already working on something else. 

In my case, I've already completed all the major edits on the sequel to this book and I just turned in the first draft of my 2028 YA release. Plus, I've already outlined the option for my next adult novel, too. 

That's three other books actively on my mind since I finished writing With All My Haunted Heart. 

So as part of the celebration process, I find it important to reconnect to this book in particular. 

Here are some of my favorite ways to do that:

• Listening to the Audiobook: I've been lucky throughout my career to have audiobooks come out on the same days as the print version of my books, and I love listening to them on release week. It's a great way to refamiliarize myself with the story after being away from it for several months. Plus, I love to hear how the narrator brings the characters to life!
  
  
• Visit the book in stores: Your mileage may vary on this one, but I love swinging by as many bookstores as I can within about an hour radius of my house and signing stock. Doing this may mean you run into a store that hasn't stocked your book, but if you plan ahead (checking the B&N website for availability or reaching out to indies ahead of time) you can mostly mitigate that. 
  
  
  • Bonus tip: if you get to the store and your book isn't there, you can decide that means they already sold out, rather than making it mean they never ordered any. 
    
    
• Write a letter to your book/characters: I've talked about this concept before (you can read more about it here), but one of my favorite things to do on release day--or sometimes, the night before--is to write a letter to my book/characters and share all my hopes and dreams with them, thank them for the experience we had through the writing process, and wish them well as they go out and connect with readers. It's a really lovely way to pause and reflect on the story and fictional people you've created.

Whatever option you choose to connect with your book during your release day/week, I hope you'll remember what a massive deal it is to publish a book. Whether it's your first or fifteen book release, each one matters. You did something so few people ever achieve, and while it's also okay to experience disappointments with how the book is received, none of that takes away from how amazing it is to get this far.
 

Connecting with Your Emotions

Release week can easily turn into a whirlwind of to-do list items, so I love to create moments to slow down and feel your feelings.

One of the biggest mind fucks of publishing a book is that no one throws you a parade. Your life doesn't massively change over night. You wake up on release day and you're still fundamentally the same person as you were when you went to bed the night before.

If you don't intentionally direct your brain and decide how you want to think and feel, your brain will naturally spend release week scanning for danger and stressing you out.

One of the best ways to actually enjoy your release--to actually feel emotions like pride, excitement, accomplished, and joy--is to ask yourself questions designed to produce answers that create those feelings.

Here are some of my favorites - choose one or work your way through all of them over the course of release week: 

1. What do I love most about this book?
   
   
2. What am I excited for readers to experience when they pick up this book? 
   
   
3. I am so proud of myself for making it to release day because...
   
   
4. It's really incredible that this book got done. Here are all the things that were also going on during that time...
   
   
5. No matter what ultimately happens with this book (inc. how many copies it sells) I will always look fondly on this book/this experience because...
   
   
6. How did I change and grow through the process of writing and releasing this book?
   
   
7. What did I learn about myself, writing, or life through the process of writing and releasing this book?
   
   
8. Why was this process worth it, no matter what happens next? 

As a reminder, it is absolutely normal and okay to experience moments of disappointment, doubt, or a general sense of feeling lost or invisible on release day. Even if your book is getting tons of positive attention, that can also be overwhelming and exhausting. 

The point of taking time to connect to these more positive emotions isn't to negate or ignore the harder emotions. Instead, we're simply trying to balance the scales so you don't miss out on the positive feelings. 
 

 
Getting into Your Body 

The main point of this type of release week ritual is to get yourself out of your head, off from social media, and out of the future and back into the current moment. 

Even when you're getting a lot of positive attention online, it can be really disregulating for your nervous system to be so visible.

Scheduling time to do something physical that keeps you off your phone is a great way to bring some calm to your release week experience and mitigate some of the major energy crashes that many authors experience after release. 

The goal here is to do things that feel good to you, so the options you pick may be different, but here are some of examples: 

• If the weather is nice, get outside and go for a walk
  
  
  • Or even step outside for a few minutes and get some sunshine on your face (again, weather depending)
    
    
• Schedule yourself a massage (I scheduled one for myself for the day after my release)
  
  
• Cook a favorite meal or go out to dinner with friends who support your writing (my spouse and I have plans to get lunch together on release day to celebrate before heading to the closet B&N to sign stock)
  
  
• If you have a favorite type of exercise, making sure you've got space for some of that release week is great. It could be something "formal" like going to the gym, or just putting on some favorite music and jamming out in your house. 
  
  
  • This may be weird, but I actually really love mowing the lawn. We have an electric push mower, and the combination of the movement plus the visual proof that I've made progress makes my brain and body happy.

Commemorating the Moment

When I teach about the different kinds of celebration (which you can read more about here), I refer to this as "Trophy Celebration," and it's all about getting some tangible reminder of your accomplishment. 

It doesn't have to be expensive, but having something that can be a visual representation of this moment can be really fun and help anchor the moment. 

Here are some of my favorite options (plus some I've seen other authors do):

• Getting a tattoo that references the book (I've got one planned out - I'm just waiting for my artist to get back from vacation!) 
  
  
• Commissioning character art
  
  
• Getting said character art (or a blown-up print of the cover) framed to put in your office
  
  
• Framing or otherwise displaying any preorder incentives you created for readers (stickers, bookmarks, character art, etc.) 
  
  
• Upgrade your writing set-up to make it more functional/aesthetically pleasing 
  • New computer/laptop
  • New mouse/keyboard
  • A desk that better fits your space/process 
    
    
• Getting a cute tchotchke that reminds you of your book 
  
  
• This could also be as simple as getting a package of book stands so you can display a copy of your book face out on a shelf. 

As a reminder, the point here isn't about how much you spend (I know so many of us are living on really tight budgets these days), but to have a little something that can serve as a visual cue of this major thing you accomplished.

Final Thoughts

Releasing a book--whether it's your first, fifth, or twenty-fifth--is a BIG DEAL and deserves to be celebrated. Your hard work deserves to be honored.

I'm sure there are tons of other options for release week rituals, I hope this post gives you some new ideas for how to enjoy your release week. You deserve to love what you've accomplished.

I'm so proud of you.

And if you want to help me celebrate my next release, With All My Haunted Heart comes out TOMORROW (Sept 8, 2026)! You can order a signed copy here.

Happy writing,
Isabel 

PS - If you're ready to love your author career, enjoy your book releases instead of dreading them, and feel confident to handle every industry plot twist, click here to learn more about private coaching.

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