Should I wait to start marketing until I have my book ready to publish?

Absolutely not—don’t wait. If you’ve already gotten great feedback on your work and people are astounded by it, start pre-selling the book right now. Take cash, check, PayPal, Bitcoin, whatever—collect $50 deposits to hold copies. Mock up the book immediately, get help if you need it, find a print-on-demand vendor, order a sample copy for yourself (it’ll cost maybe $20-50), and start showing it off. You want real feedback in the form of buying intent, not just people saying ‘this is awesome.’ Those deposits tell you if you actually have something. Don’t let the lack of a perfect vendor or perfect timing hold you up. Get the real market feedback now.

---

Asked by an artist working on a book project · Answered by Patrick · Art Business Webinar · 2026-06-17