Embrace the eccentric: 27 fun April holidays to use for book promotion

Add a little zip to your book marketing by incorporating a few of these fun April holidays for book promotion in next month's calendar.

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Author and naturalist Hal Borland wrote, “April is a promise that May is bound to keep.”

It’s an apt description for my location. We might still endure a late snowstorm, but that snow will cloak the crocuses and daffodils that offer hope of a warmer May.

Many think of Easter and Passover when they consider April holidays, but it’s also the month that offers the most book-related occasions. (See the list in our 2025 Literary Calendar.)

April also brings plenty of fun and unexpected holidays and occasions you can use to add a little zip and personality to your book promotion.

How to take advantage of fun April holidays for book promotion

What’s the best way to take advantage of so many quirky April book promotion opportunities listed below?

Once you identify those occasions that are a good fit for your book or promotion goals, how can you use them?

Here are a few examples to get you started.

April is National Card and Letter Writing Month

I no longer mail handwritten or typed letters other than thank-you notes, but I’m big on sending greeting cards. I mailed three just last week.

Wouldn’t it be grand if card- and letter-writing became popular again?

Rachel Syme, author of the just-released “Syme’s Letter Writer: A Guide to Modern Correspondence About (Almost) Every Imaginable Subject of Daily Life, with Odes to Desktop Ephemera and Selected Letters of Famous Writers,” can celebrate the occasion with:

• An essay in a consumer publication or on LinkedIn
• A newsletter article (I suspect she has one on Substack)
• An Instagram reel or post

April 9 is Name Yourself Day

One author I know was unhappy with a first name that nobody knew how to pronounce. So, she legally changed it. I’d like to read an article or essay by her on how and why she did it, and whether she has regrets.

Or, as a guest on a podcast for authors, she can discuss how she changed her name on her many books.

What name would you pick for yourself? Discuss it on social media or in your newsletter.

April 23 is Take a Chance Day

Does your novel center around what happens when your character takes a chance with anything from romance to a job, location, or lifestyle – or something else?

Spotlight it in social media graphics and other content. Write about it for your newsletter. Write and distribute a tip sheet offering advice on how to take a chance.

Your fun April holidays book promotion opportunities

Here’s a partial list of the April marketing opportunities you can add to next month’s book promotion calendar. Get the full list on the Holiday Insights site. (And while you’re there, look ahead to other months.)

• National Card and Letter Writing Month
• National Humor Month
• April 1 International Fun at Work Day
• April 2 National Walking Day
• April 2 Reconciliation Day
• April 3 Find a Rainbow Day
• April 4 World Rat Day
• April 7 International Beaver Day
• April 7 No Housework Day
• April 8 International Be Kind to Lawyers Day
• April 9 Name Yourself Day
• April 10 National Farm Animals Day
• April 10 Safety Pin Day
• April 11 Eight Track Tape Day
• April 11 National Pet Day
• April 14 Ex-Spouse Day
• April 14 Reach as High as You Can Day
• April 15 That Sucks Day
• April 16 Bean Counter Day
• April 16 Stress Awareness Day
• April 17 Blah, Blah, Blah Day
• April 19 Record Store Day
• April 20 Volunteer Recognition Day
• April 23 Take a Chance Day
• April 25 National Teach Children to Save Day
• April 29 National Zipper Day
• April 30 Hairstyle Appreciation Day

Be sure to check out the list of many book-related occasions during April in our 2025 Literary Calendar, too.

Do any of these crazy April occasions speak to you? How will you use next month to help generate conversation and call attention to your book in a lighthearted way?