How to get notified when an author releases a new book
There is a particular disappointment in finding out, months late, that the next book by an author you love came out and nobody told you. There is no single switch for this. Each of the ways below covers part of it, and the best set-up is usually two of them together: one that tells you a book has been announced, and one that reminds you on the day.
1. Follow the author on Amazon
On an author's page on Amazon there is a Follow button. Amazon then emails you about new books by the authors you follow. It works well for the Amazon catalogue, but the emails arrive mixed with recommendations, and in each country's store separately.
2. Follow the author on Goodreads
Goodreads lets you follow an author from their profile and send you an email when they have a new book, as long as that kind of email is switched on in your account's email settings. Many readers follow authors there and never get the email, because the setting is off.
3. Follow the author on BookBub
BookBub, best known for its ebook deals, also sends new-release alerts for the authors you follow. It is free, and it is good for authors who publish often, in romance and mystery especially.
4. Subscribe to the author's newsletter
The most reliable and the earliest. Authors tell their newsletter first: the title, the cover, the date, and often a free novella in between books. If an author really matters to you, this is the one to have. (If you have ever wondered why that novella is numbered 1.5, see what the numbers in a series mean.)
5. Preorder
A preorder is a reminder that delivers itself: an ebook arrives on your device on release day, and a print book is posted to arrive around then. Most ebook stores let you cancel a preorder before the release date.
6. Ask your library
Some library catalogues let you follow an author and email you when the library orders their next book. That tells you when your library will have it, not when it is published, which is exactly what you want if you borrow rather than buy.
Why release dates move
Publishers move dates more often than you would think: a book is delayed to finish edits, moved to a better season, or brought forward. A date announced a year ahead is a plan, not a promise. Whatever you use to remember a release, it has to follow the date when it moves.
The books you are waiting for, in one list
Following authors everywhere means alerts in four inboxes and none of them about the one book you care about. In Storyfeel, Most Anticipated is a list of exactly the books you are waiting for, in release order, each with a countdown. Tap Add release and search for an upcoming book, or fill it in by hand; if the date is not out yet, tick Date not announced yet.
Storyfeel checks each date about once a day, and when a publisher moves one, it updates it and tells you. Turn on Email reminders in Settings and you get two emails for each book: three days before it comes out, and on the morning of release, at the hour you choose and in your own time zone. On the day, the book shows Released! and one tap on Start reading moves it to your library.
If the book you are waiting for is the next in a series, More by this author in Series finds the ones not out yet and adds them for you. Or start your reading journal free.