From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's booksTaylor of the Written Word Media has written an excellent post titled, Holiday Book Marketing: An Author’s Guide to Black Friday and Beyond that lists all the remaining holidays of 2015. Why is that important?

Well, people are in buying moods. Authors can take advantage of the mass shopping mentality to acquire new readers, maximize revenue, and sell more books.

The downside of holiday marketing? Everybody’s doing it. On your average Friday, you’re competing with a few brands and businesses for the attention of readers. On Black Friday, you’re competing with everyone from Apple to Zappos. Ads are more expensive and your readers’ inboxes are jammed with sale announcements.

Still, holiday marketing is still worth it. It just requires strategic thinking to stand out and get noticed by readers. Starting with picking the right date. Here is a holiday cheat sheet to help you plan your advertising.

Black Friday

When: November 27th, 2015

What: The day after Thanksgiving, focused on in-store deep discounts. Many ecommerce / online retailers take advantage of the Black Friday frenzy and run discount promotions.

Recommendations: If you’re planning something for Black Friday, make it a discount. ‘Black Friday’ and ‘% off’ are almost synonymous to consumers. Other tactics are likely to get lost in the noise.

Cyber Monday

When: November 30th, 2015

What: The Monday after Thanksgiving, focused on e-commerce / online discounts. The number of people shopping online on Cyber Monday is very high. Amazon typically sees a 300% increase in traffic to its website on Cyber Monday.

Recommendations: Cyber Monday is the perfect day to capture new readers as so many people are online. This is another discount-focused day, so we recommend planning a price drop or free day for November 30th.

Shipping Deadlines

When: December 16 – 23 (for Amazon, depending on location and shipping options)

What: The last day to place an order for Christmas delivery (for physical goods).

Recommendations: This is a great opportunity to promote your paperback / hardcover books. Use ‘books make great last-minute gifts’ messaging.

Christmas Eve

When: December 24th, 2015

What: The day before Christmas.

Recommendations: Here’s your opportunity to reach the procrastinator. One great thing about ebooks – no shipping time! Advertise your ebook as a last-minute gift or stocking stuffer for that one person you didn’t know was coming to Christmas.

Boxing Day

When: December 26th, 2015

What: The day after Christmas.

Recommendations: We’ve seen a bump in eBook sales starting on December 26th through the New Year. Lots of people receive brand new eReaders for Christmas, and start playing with their new toys (and buying books to fill them up) the day after Christmas. Many people also receive gift cards to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple for Christmas and start redeeming them for merchandise and ebooks. Advertise your book as a great deal for new eReader owners!

New Year’s Day

When: January 1st, 2016

What: New Year’s Day

Recommendations: Online traffic picks up in the afternoon on New Year’s Day as people start to wake up and recover from the previous night’s festivities. This is peak New Year’s resolution season so try including that theme in your marketing message. For example: “Is reading more on your list of new year’s resolutions for 2016? Get started with this great series.”

Many thanks to Taylor for that. You can check out the entire post on The Written World Media.