The coronavirus pandemic derailed these authors’ book launches. This is how they’re fighting back

When the coronavirus pandemic shut down entire industries mid-March, it didn’t spare publishing. In a matter of days, authors who had been working on new releases for months – and sometimes years – weren’t sure what would happen to the fruit of their labour.

Those whose books had already come out weren’t sure how to promote them as bookstores closed and major literary events found themselves derailed. Just last week, all “Big Five” publishers announced they would not attend BookExpo, the largest book trade fair in the US, planned for July in New York City’s Javits Center – which has been turned into a temporary hospital due to the pandemic.

Authors whose books remain in the starting blocks might see their release dates postponed. But even a book release doesn’t mean one is out of the wood just yet: When the publishing industry resumes its activities, book professionals are expected to be flooded with an overflow of projects previously put on hold. More than ever, getting books into readers’ hands will be an uphill battle.

Even for seasoned authors, the release of a new book is a unique event, and the fruit of innumerable hours of work. The Independent spoke to 18 writers whose books, spanning a wide range across fiction and nonfiction, are making their debuts in uncertain times.

The interviews below have been edited and condensed for clarity.

Tell us about your book.

Sisters of Berlin is set in contemporary Berlin and tells the story of a woman who discovers that her family’s past and that of the once-divided city are intertwined in unimaginable ways.

How has the pandemic derailed your plans?

I’m currently on a six-month sabbatical in Scotland, timed to coincide with the launch of my new book. Of course, the coronavirus outbreak means that all events have been cancelled and much of the book’s promotion is now restricted to online shout-outs! The publishing team are doing their best in the circumstances, but – as an indie publisher – they are concerned about getting physical copies into readers’ hands if bookshops close for any length of time. This would most certainly affect sales.

How can people support you?

Any form of word-of-mouth, particularly on social media, is very much appreciated. Pre-orders are great for rankings come publication day, and reviews are extremely useful and also very much appreciated!

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Tell us about your book.

Hitching for Hope is part memoir, part hitchhiking travel adventure and part manifesto for hope and healing during troubled times. It explores my experiences with severe burn-out after several years founding and leading a trailblazing youth organisation, my decision to quit my job and face into the unknown right at the collapse of Ireland’s [previously booming] Celtic Tiger economy.

How has the pandemic derailed your plans?

My publishing date remained 26 March as it was too late to stop the wheels turning. I had organised a launch tour whereby I was all set to hitchhike to eight separate launch events in bookshops around Ireland. I had guest speakers and musicians lined up and posters distributed. I was also starting to plan a similar tour around the UK in late April. I knew pretty quickly what way the wind was blowing with coronavirus and I made the decision to cancel. I feel okay about it as I know there are bigger priorities in the world right now and hopefully, I can do the tour again.

How can people support you?

The book is very much about community, resilience, kindness, and hope and it, therefore, feels very relevant to these turbulent times. I feel it’s much bigger than me and people are already rowing in behind it to ensure it gets out there. Lots of people are buying it online on Amazon, Book Depository and other sites and I’m planning a virtual book launch that will double up as a community gathering during these turbulent times.

Tell us about your book.

In Wanderland, I embark on a quest for the magical in the landscape, in Britain. I’d already written one book on a nature-writing theme, and wanted to go deeper. I was partly inspired by those people from indigenous cultures who I’d met on my travel assignments. … I was searching for the Other in the landscape, but I began to explore my own feelings of otherness, as a Brit-Asian-Canadian, ie a woman of colour. If you know what it is to be othered yourself, how might that colour your experiences? And if you invoke the spirit of the land, what happens if “it” decides to make its presence felt?

How has the pandemic derailed your plans?

Well, sadly my book launch has been cancelled, and one of the events I was due to speak at has as well. On the plus side, it has been wonderful and heart-lifting to see the social media campaigns on Twitter to support writers with forthcoming books who have had events axed.

How can people support you?

By pre-ordering the book! You don’t get charged until the book is available, and it makes a huge difference in terms of creating a buzz, and alerting booksellers and potential readers to it. Pre-orders impact on your ranking and visibility on online sites. …Also people can help by sharing about the book on Twitter, and among friends – word-of-mouth can really help.

Tell us about your book.

The Scoop is a book about life’s big questions: Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? What can we learn from other people, cultures and religions? How do we live a good life? But it’s couched in the stories of three very different characters and describes their personal journeys from uncertainty to… well, let’s just say, less uncertainty, with a lot of humour!

How has the pandemic derailed your plans?

The coronavirus outbreak and social distancing measures have meant that my publishers and I have regrettably taken the decision to postpone/cancel the physical launch event for the book which was due to take place next week and to replace it with an online event instead. We discussed postponing the publication day too but as it was so imminent, and we were all geared up for it, we decided to go ahead and bite the bullet and see what happens. Although it's all far from ideal I think there is a groundswell of support for new books and authors at the moment, and we're hoping that enforced isolation may mean that people read more during this difficult time.

How can people support you?

People can definitely order the book online, either as a physical copy or e-book.

Tell us about your book.

One person, one vote. In theory, everyone in a democracy has equal power to decide elections. But it’s hardly news that, in reality, political outcomes are heavily determined by the logic of one dollar, one vote. We take the political power of money for granted. But does it have to be this way? In The Price of Democracy, I combines economic and historical analysis with political theory to show how profoundly our systems in North America and Europe, from think tanks and the media to election campaigns, are shaped by money.

How has the pandemic derailed your plans?

The pandemic has entirely derailed my plans! I was supposed to be in the US from 22 April 22 to 7 May, with multiple events... everything is cancelled and I am locked down in Paris.

How can people support you?

People can support me by buying the book online and reading it. Also, there is an important number of propositions on how to limit the impact of private money and the capture of democracy, as well as on how to improve political representation, in the book. If people could share these proposals – and also send me feedback and improve them – it would be great!

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Tell us about your book.

Hearts of Oak is about an architect and teacher on the verge of retirement, who lives in a city made entirely of wood. Her orderly existence starts to unravel when she takes on a new student who owns a hat made of some impossible material, and then on the same day she witnesses a bizarre suicide at a funeral. And there's a talking cat in it.

How has the pandemic derailed your plans?

It's certainly a challenging time to be launching a book, not least because people are understandably distracted. I was planning a launch at my local branch of Waterstones, but before we even pinned down a date it became clear it wouldn't happen – the literary festival here in Lancaster was cancelled after just a couple of events. I don't think anyone considered moving the publishing date – we were too far along for that, and we'd got some great reviews which we wanted to capitalise on. So delaying it wouldn't have helped.

How can people support you?

You certainly can order the book online. Because online sales are so important right now, if you like the book please leave a review – they're incredibly helpful. I did a small online launch event on the day of publication, and I'm talking to some other writers about doing an online literary festival type event – we just need to work out how that'll work.

Tell us about your book.

Irreplaceable celebrates those imperilled places and wild species that are increasingly vanishing from our world, as well as telling the stories of the extraordinary resistance to their loss, the vital and inspiring engagement of those people who live and work amidst them. Whether it’s threatened ancient woodlands or urban meadows, coral reefs or tall-grass prairies, their stories are ones of defiance rather than elegy, honouring wonder, connections, and community in the face of potentially immense loss, the sustaining ties forged between people, nature, and place.

How has the pandemic derailed your plans?

We weren't able to alter the publication date as books had already been printed and were on their way to booksellers by the time we recognised the severity of the pandemic. I was due to begin a two-week US tour of the book in April. …We’re hoping to reschedule the tour for the fall, but that will all depend on the situation we're in at the time with regard to the pandemic.

How can people support you?

I think the greatest support people can offer right now is through coming together as communities, not in a physical sense of course, but by maintaining their networks of solidarity and helping out artists, independent bookstores, small businesses, vulnerable people, service workers, and other valued organisations and their vital activities. Community – both locally and globally – will help steer us through these unprecedented and unsettling days.

Tell us about your book.

Blockchain Hurricane: Origins, Applications and Future of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency is a solid introduction to the technology for business decision makers, executives and MBA students.

How has the pandemic derailed your plans?

I was due to be signing my first paperback copies at SXSW in Austin on 19 March and then had weeks of events lined up in the UK. Instead, I’m sitting here with a big box of books and nowhere to go. I’m selling them through my website alongside my science fiction.

How can people support you?

All of my work is available on Amazon. I’ve also just kicked off a Patreon where I am sharing bite-sized video presentations on the topic alongside lots of other treats around science fiction writing.

Tell us about your book.

Son of Secrets is the sequel to my debut The Path Keeper and the second book of The Indigo Chronicles trilogy. Set in north London (where I'm originally from), Son of Secrets follows the story of Zac and Ella, a couple who have longed for each other in every past life and now they finally get the chance to be together, destiny thinks differently.

How has the pandemic derailed your plans?

At this stage, no one knows what state the world will be in by the end of spring, but the publishing date remains 28 May.

I had plans to do a Q&A and signing at a bookshop in Amsterdam on 1 June, followed by a London book tour 3-8 June where I was going to have my launch party at Waterstones, give writer talks at a couple of schools, be a guest at a writers meeting and another signing and Q&A at a north London cafe book club. Needless to say, those plans are up in the air right now and most likely won't go ahead – but I hadn't announced them yet, so thankfully haven't disappointed any readers.

…I’ve spent the last fifteen years living all over the world, so I'm pretty good at adapting to change and staying positive when the goal posts are moved. Also, books don't have a sell-by date. They aren't eggs – they won't go off – so if people end up reading my series a few months later than planned I'm not stressing about it. I've waited three years to hold this book in my hand, so of course I'm disappointed, but there are bigger things to worry about right now.

How can people support you?

We need books more than ever right now, and I believe once we start to adapt to this strange way of life hopefully we will see book sales rise and people start escaping into other fantasy worlds. Amazon, Waterstones and B&N (and many indie stores) have online buying options, so it should be easy enough to buy a copy of a new book. And of course there's always Kindle!

I will also be running an online blog tour in late May where I have a great team of bloggers lined up to talk all things Son of Secrets. I also plan to make fun creative writing videos on my Facebook author page to support parents stuck at home teaching their kids, or for those wanting to use this time of isolation to have a go at writing themselves.

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Tell us about your book.

The Silence is a literary thriller set in Australia, about long-buried family secrets that are caught up in the mistakes of Australia's colonial past. When Isla's dad calls in the middle of the night to say the police have been to see him, Isla goes back to Sydney for the first time in a decade. She starts to ask questions, and soon everything she believed about her childhood, her family and herself is in doubt.

How has the pandemic derailed your plans?

I've had some events cancelled due to the pandemic. I was planning to launch my book at a fantastic local independent bookshop, Rye Books, which is local to where I live in south east London. The owner, Alistair, has been so supportive, and he's currently saying that he still wants to hold a launch party for me, no matter how small. I'm concerned for his small business. And of course, bookshop closures and empty high streets are disastrous for authors, especially those in my position. I feel self-indulgent saying this, but you only get to be a debut once, and it's crushing to think that my book may not reach the wide audience we had hoped for.

How can people support you?

The Silence is widely available for pre-order online from all the usual retailers. …At the moment I don't have any online events locked in but the Twittersphere is being hugely supportive and I'm hoping to join in with #bookpartychat and a few others as I get closer to release date. I'm planning to do some giveaways too.

The best way people can support me is to buy the book and to talk about it as much as possible, getting online and letting people know what they thought of it.

Tell us about your book.

It’s a beautifully illustrated taster's guide through the history of beer.

Beginning in the UK in the 1600s with smoky brown beer and ending with current areas of innovation, the book is a fun and interactive guide that moves through time and across the world to tell the stories behind some of today’s best-known beer styles, including German lagers, stouts, porters, pilsner, IPA, sour beers and more.

How has the pandemic derailed your plans?

While Kyle Books has assured me that my book will still be published as planned, my book launch and supporting events have had to be postponed. So what was to be a very exciting week surrounding publication day all now feels rather anticlimactic.

My publisher is happy for me to host a "re-launch" later in the year, so I will still get a chance to celebrate my debut book with family, friends, and industry colleagues someday!

And one event has already been rescheduled for October. I'll be hosting a talk and tasting on the science of beer at the Royal Institution. It was initially scheduled for 20 March and has now been moved to 2 October.

In the meantime, the publishers have said that they will provide support in promoting my book via social media and other digital channels.

How can people support you?

The book is available for purchase online via Amazon and other book sellers, like Waterstones, Foyles and more.

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Tell us about your book.

The Silent Treatment tells the story of Frank and Maggie, a couple who have been married for forty years but who haven't spoken for the last six months. Hopefully it won't become relevant for too many self-isolating couples...

How has the pandemic derailed your plans?

My publication date has remained the same – books were already printed when the pandemic and social distancing measures were announced! Publicity plans have been hugely derailed; all event appearances (including launch parties) have been cancelled through to the end of June and broadcast/print media opportunities seem to be in flux, given that the priority for these outlets is, understandably, adjusting to the “new normal”. I've discussed how bookstore closures might affect sales with my editor who is wonderfully supportive and open. We're hoping that there will be, if fewer shoppers, then more readers, and I know the team behind the book is working on ways to reach as many of them as possible.

How can people support you?

The best way to support me would be to pre-order or order the book, ideally from your local independent bookshop to show them some love in this tough time. If you don't have one of those to hand, do try Hive as it also supports bookshops on our high streets. We are looking at online events now, and details of those can be found on my Twitter, on Instagram and in my newsletter.

Tell us about your book.

As the title suggests, the book is about a trip that RFK made to eastern Kentucky to gauge the progress of the War on Poverty and to give his presidential campaign a test run.

How has the pandemic derailed your plans?

My publisher, Chicago Review Press, did a phenomenal job of setting up a book tour that would’ve hit all the major independent bookstores in West Virginia and Kentucky (obviously major target areas for promotion).

The book tour got off to a great start, with events in Doylestown, Pennsylvania (Doylestown Bookshop) on 6 March and Washington, DC (Politics and Prose) on 7 March. At that time, Covid-19 was largely a theoretical problem, something that seemed to be in the future. But by the time I reached Charleston, West Virginia (Taylor Books) on 12 March, the future had arrived. That would be my final event on the book tour.

Events for the following week in Louisville, Lexington, and Whitesburg, Kentucky, were all cancelled after Kentucky’s governor asked businesses to cancel community events. With international travel restrictions rapidly increasing, I realised I needed to get home to Sarajevo as soon as possible. I drove straight to Dulles Airport on Saturday 14 March and took the next flight out, arriving in Sarajevo (via Istanbul) on Sunday night. The next day the Bosnian government imposed restrictions on all incoming flights. This week I expected to be driving all over Kentucky promoting my book. Instead I am quarantined at home until 30 March.

Obviously, there are bigger problems in the world than the cancellation of my book tour. But to me and many other authors, a book’s release signifies the culmination of years of hard work. And to see it all go up in smoke is heartbreaking. I still plan to promote the book online. But nothing can replace the enthusiasm and energy of a live event.

How can people support you?

My book is available at bookstores (shop local!) and through the usual online platforms. I see a few “quarantine book clubs” have popped up online, which is great; I will reach out to them. I also hope to host online events on platforms like Facebook and IGTV. People can support me by following me on Twitter and on Instagram, where they can learn more about me and my books. I also have a website. But the most important thing that people can do to support me is to BUY MY BOOK! Please!

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Tell us about your book.

LOTE is my debut novel and is being published by Jacaranda Books as part of their groundbreaking initiative to publish twenty Black writers in 2020. It’s a novel which charts a young woman's discovery of the Afro-Scottish Modernist poet, Hermia Druitt. It features hotel scams, champagne theft, Black Modernisms, queer alchemy, art sabotage and a lotus-eating luxury-communist cult.

How has the pandemic derailed your plans?

LOTE was due to be published on 26 March – possibly the worst possible time where uncertainty is concerned. Obviously the launch and tour have been cancelled which is the only course of responsible action. Jacaranda are a Black-founded, Black-and-brown-run independent publisher, a small team of five set to alter the publishing landscape by publishing over 20 books this year, so if you can think of the sheer labour they've been doing solidly every day on this for over the past two years and then everything that's been set up for this year, and then so much of that having been overturned and derailed, you can get a sense of how precarious things might become.

How can people support you?

It's still possible to order through Jacaranda's site, or through Foyles. My own independent, Category is Books in Glasgow will also be stocking my book and doing book drops for everyone which they do anyway, but are now focusing on, to help support social distancing. The best way to support right now is by ordering or pre-ordering any of the twenty in 2020. There are also audiobooks scheduled for all 20 authors. LOTE is available from 26 March through Audible.

Tell us about your book.

The novel is historical fiction and tells the tale of two very different sisters, whose 1890s voyage from London to outback Australia becomes a journey of self-discovery, set against a background of wild beauty and savage dispossession.

How has the pandemic derailed your plans?

The pandemic has definitely affected my plans for promoting this book. While the publication date remains unchanged, I’m going to have cancel promotional events in the UK and in Australia. I am still hoping to have launches in each country later this year, though who knows what the future will bring.

How can people can support you?

That is a generous question and the best way I think is by ordering online from their favourite bookstore or online supplier. Reading is a wonderful way of filling in any downtime while people are self-isolating. … My publicist has organised a book bloggers tour starting 30 March.

Tell us about your book.

It’s about what traces we'll leave for the deep future – our cities, roads, plastic, carbon, and nuclear waste – and asks: what stories might they tell of who were were and how we lived? As well as what we'll leave behind, it also considers what will be lost, in terms of melting ice, the loss of ecosystems like the Great Barrier Reef, and extinction. Footprints brings together art, literature, and science to help readers to 'see' deep time and discover what will be our mark on it. It's a story of change and hope.

How has the pandemic derailed your plans?

There was a good start, with starred reviews in Library Journal and Booklist, and a positive tweet from Margaret Atwood; also reviews in The Telegraph and The Economist. But since the weekend I've had to cancel several launch events for this month and next, and am wondering how long it might be until festival appearances later in the summer are affected. It's also been difficult to find bandwidth: I had interest in the book from media eg Newsnight in the UK, but their agenda has understandably shifted. It feels a bit like piloting a boat into a very strong headwind.

How can people support you?

It would be amazing if people could spread the word, and buy Footprints! It's available widely, including ebook and audio, but can be purchased from either publisher's website.

Tell us about your book.

Broken Greek is a childhood memoir, a coming-of-age story about using pop music to find an identity – in this case, a different identity to that of my Greek and Greek-Cypriot parents who moved to this country in 1963, six years before I was born, and ran a fish and chip shop. It’s as much a book about music – about acknowledging the formative influence of music on our “pre-cool” years – as anything else.

How has the pandemic derailed your plans?

I was lucky. My book emerged just before the pandemic severely restricted public life. I did events in Keswick, Manchester and London – but yesterday, my event at Rough Trade in Bristol was cancelled. Over the past 48 hours, all my upcoming live events until August, about 12 in total, have also been cancelled. I don’t ultimately know what the effect of bookstore closures will be on sales of this particular title. Several independent bookshops have been trying to work around the restrictions in very resourceful, imaginative ways. Book-ish in Crickhowell have been hand-delivering books – and I’ve been doing everything I can from my end.

I sent a batch of home-made, hand-personalised mix CDs to Book-ish – and on Twitter, I’ve kept my DMs open so that people can request personalised dedications which I’ve been writing on adhesive bookplates and sending to them. The book has met with an enthusiastic response, so I’m really just trying to do what I can to build on that, using social media. There are over 600 songs mentioned in the book and I’ve put them all on a Spotify playlist, to go alongside 35 more playlists, each corresponding to a chapter in the book. Now someone has also made a YouTube playlist of songs featured in the book. It’s lovely to see people getting involved like that.

How can people support you?

Just by buying the book, really – and, if they liked it, by recommending it to their friends. The book is available online (and Book-ish might still have a few CDs left so perhaps worth visiting their site first). I’m participating in the online version of Damian Barr’s literary salon alongside Polly Samson and John Niven on 3 April. This was originally scheduled to happen at the Savoy, but we’ll now all be in our kitchens.

Tell us about your book.

It’s a thriller - the sequel to my first book, To The Lions, which came out last year and won the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger. In The Dead Line, two investigative journalists are chasing down a story about an illegal surrogacy ring.

How has the pandemic derailed your plans?

Everything around the launch has been cancelled. It’s been gradual, but Bloomsbury have confirmed that they have to scrap everything until June. I was most looking forwards to the event they host at their own (rather amazing) office in Bloomsbury (of course), and I am really sad that that’s not happening. My publishers are being great – and promising to support the book in other ways – but I’m not sure what that will involve yet. I’ll definitely do something online. God knows what it will do to sales, I’m trying not to think about it.

I’m meant to be on a panel at the Harrogate crime festival in July, and I’m keeping everything crossed that we’re getting back to normal by then. I don’t know if it will be. I was going to have a book launch party, but have been hesitating about finalising it for the last three weeks. Obviously, that won’t be happening now. It’s a tiny thing in the grand scheme of things, but I was four months pregnant for my first book launch last year, and drinking orange juice, and so I was planning to dance on the tables this time around.

How can people support you?

Buy my book! Haha, not really. But also: yes, really. Ok, being serious... Obviously, if people like it, it’s fab if they review it and tell other people to read it. I’m a bit rubbish at all the social media stuff, but I like chatting to people on Twitter, so get in touch there. I’m doing the My Virtual Literary Festival, which should be fun. We’re in the middle of Dartmoor with terrible broadband though, so not absolutely sure how that will work. Fingers crossed the broadband is having a good day.