Plan Your Author Marketing - 2020 Holidays Observances by Book Category and Genre

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Authors who keep their fingers on the pulse of the daily, weekly, monthly, and annual holidays and observances can find timely connections with readers.

Browse the list of holidays and observances below—but please know that not all of these are going to be for you! I recommend that you make a month-by-month calendar and plan which events could be most interesting for you to post about this year.

For more help joining conversations, here’s my post on hashtags for author marketing.

Need help? Schedule an Author Strategy Call or sign up for my email newsletter at the bottom of this post for tips.

Book, Writing, and Literary Events

Quirky, Fun-to-Post-About Observances

  • Jan 4, Trivia Day

  • Jan 15, National Hat Day

  • Jan 18, Thesaurus Day

  • Jan 24, National Compliment Day

  • Jan 29, National Puzzle Day

  • Feb 14, Galentine’s Day

  • Feb 16-22, Random Acts of Kindness Week

  • Mar 4, March Forth Day (Star Wars reference)

  • Mar 14, Pi Day

  • Mar 18, Awkward Moments Day

  • Mar 20, American Crossword Puzzle Days

  • Mar 20, International Day of Happiness

  • Apr 18-26, National Park Week

  • Apr 20, “420” Marijuana Celebration Day

  • May 20, World Limerick Day

  • Jun 5, National Donut Day

  • Jun 8, World Oceans Day

  • Jun 30, Social Media Day

  • Jul 7, World Chocolate Day

  • Jul 30, International Day of Friendship

  • Aug 12, World Elephant Day

  • Sep 19, Talk Like a Pirate Day

  • Sep 22, Hobbit Day

  • Oct 1, International Coffee Day

  • Oct 4, National Taco Day

  • Nov 13, World Kindness Day

  • Nov 28, Small Business Saturday

  • Dec 21, Crossword Puzzle Day

Pet Observances and Events (Hey, everyone loves pets!)

  • Jan 14, National Dress Up Your Pet Day

  • Feb 20, Love Your Pet Day

  • Mar 23, National Puppy Day

  • Apr 11, National Pet Day

  • May 9, National Dog Mom Day

  • May 20, National Rescue Dog Day

  • Jun 4, Hug Your Cat Day

  • Jul 31, National Mutt Day (also in Dec)

  • Aug 17, Black Cat Appreciation Day

  • Aug 26, National Dog Day

  • Oct 4, World Pet Day

  • Oct 29, National Cat Day

  • Dec 2, National Mutt Day (also in Jul)

Film & Movie Events

  • Jan 5, Golden Globes

  • Jan 19, Screen Actors Guild Awards

  • Jan 23, Sundance Film Festival

  • Feb 9, Academy Awards

  • May 12-23, Cannes Film Festival

  • More dates to come!

Health & Wellness Observances

  • Jan — Cervical Health Awareness Month

  • Feb — American Heart Month, Relationship Wellness Month

  • Feb 1 - 8, Women's Heart Week

  • Feb 4, World Cancer Day

  • Feb 7, National Wear Red Day (Heart Disease Awareness)

  • Feb 3-9, Children's Mental Health Week

  • Feb 21, National Caregivers Day

  • Mar — National Nutrition Month, National Kidney Month

  • Mar 21-28, National Physicians Week

  • Mar 30, Doctors Day

  • Apr — Alcohol Awareness Month, Autism Awareness Month, Cancer Control Month

  • Apr 7, World Health Day

  • Apr 20, Boston Marathon

  • May — Mental Health Month, Women's Health Care Month

  • May 6, National Nurses Day

  • Jun — Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month, Men’s Health Month, National Safety Month

  • Jun 7-Jul 19, Tour de France

  • Aug — National Breastfeeding Month

  • Sep — Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

  • Sep 11, Stand Up to Cancer Day

  • Oct — National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, National Bullying Prevention Month

  • Oct 5, Child Health Day

  • Nov — American Diabetes Month, Lung Cancer Awareness Month

  • Nov 1, New York City Marathon

  • Dec 1, World AIDS Day

Non-Fiction Business, Finance, Entrepreneurship

  • Jan — National Mentoring Month, Financial Wellness Month

  • Jan 13, Make Your Dream Come True Day

  • Feb — Time Management Month

  • Feb 11, International Day of Women and Girls in Science #womeninSTEM

  • Feb 11, National Inventors Day

  • Feb 15-22, National Entrepreneurship Week

  • Apr 15, Tax Day

  • Apr 22, Administrative Professionals Day

  • May 3-9, National Small Business Week

  • Oct 16, Boss's Day

Major U.S. Holidays and Observances

  • Jan 1, New Year’s Day

  • Jan 20, Martin Luther King Jr. Day

  • Jan 25, Chinese New Year

  • Feb — Black History Month

  • Feb 2, Groundhog Day

  • Feb 2, Super Bowl Sunday

  • Feb 14, Valentine’s Day

  • Feb 17, Presidents' Day

  • Feb 25, Mardi Gras

  • Feb 29, Leap Year Day

  • Mar — Women's History Month

  • Mar 8, Daylight Savings Begins

  • Mar 8, International Women’s Day

  • Mar 9-10, Purim

  • Mar 17, St. Patrick's Day

  • Mar 19, Spring Equinox

  • Apr 1, April Fool’s Day

  • Apr 8, Passover

  • Apr 10, Good Friday

  • Apr 12, Easter Sunday

  • Apr 22, Earth Day

  • May 5, Cinco de Mayo

  • May 10, Mother's Day

  • May 25, Memorial Day

  • Jun 20, Summer Solstice

  • Jun 21, Father's Day

  • Jul 4, Independence Day

  • Sep 7, Labor Day

  • Sep 19, Rosh Hashanah

  • Sep 22, Fall Equinox

  • Sep 28, Yom Kippur

  • Oct 12, Columbus Day

  • Oct 31, Halloween

  • Nov 1, Daylight Saving Time ends

  • Nov 3, Election Day

  • Nov 11, Veterans Day

  • Nov 26, Thanksgiving Day

  • Nov 27, Black Friday

  • Nov 30, Cyber Monday

  • Dec 11, Hanukkah

  • Dec 25, Christmas Day

  • Dec 31, New Year's Eve


Sources:

Publisher’s Weekly for Book Events

Brownielocks for Quirky Events

4 Minute Librarian