Well Made Plays · Release / Rollout Blueprint

County Line, built backwards from 9 October

Wren Hollis · single · Dusty Alt-Country

• Built 7 August 2026
• Release Friday 9 October 2026
• Format single, one track
• Budget self-funded, recording done

01The calendar

Every date is a real Friday counted back from release. Two are marked hard: miss those and the outcome is not recoverable for this release.

• Fri 17 Jul12 weeks out Long-lead pressMonthly publications and the larger blogs. This one has gone for County Line.
• Fri 14 Aug8 weeks out Short-list press outreach opensRegional and genre press, the ones who work four to eight weeks ahead. Nine names on the pitch list below.
• Fri 28 Aug6 weeks out Master and artwork finalEverything downstream needs finished files. Artwork must be 3000x3000 with no URLs or logos on it, or the stores reject it.
• Fri 11 Sep4 weeks out Delivered to the distributorDistributors need two to three weeks to propagate. Later than this and the editorial pitch window closes with it.
• Fri 11 Sep4 weeks out Spotify editorial pitch submittedThrough Spotify for Artists, on the unreleased track. It can be done once, only before release, and there is no second chance for this song.
• Fri 11 Sep4 weeks out Pre-save link livePre-saves feed the release-day signal. Goes in the Instagram bio and to the 640 on the list.
• Fri 18 Sep3 weeks out Announcement post, and everything before it stays quietThe reveal. Artwork, date, pre-save. This is the first the audience hears of it.
• Fri 18 Sep3 weeks out Content assets produced, all of themBatch in one session so release week is not spent making things. Seven pieces, listed below.
• Fri 18 Sep3 weeks out Short-lead press, blogs, community radioWeeklies and the Austin community stations, who work three to four weeks out.
• Mon 5 Octrelease week Release week beginsDaily cadence, day by day below.
• Thu 8 Octrelease eve Tin Lantern residencyThe monthly falls the night before, which is the only stroke of luck on this calendar. Forty-five people hear County Line live the day before anyone can stream it.
• Fri 9 Octrelease day County Line is outEverything below this line is the two weeks most people waste.
• Fri 23 Oct2 weeks after Post-release window closesThe fortnight where the track can still catch. Most people stop on day one and waste it.

02Asset list

Asset	Spec	Status
Master	WAV 44.1kHz / 24-bit	Have, mixed 22 July
Artwork	3000x3000 RGB, no text overlay of URLs or logos	Needed by 28 Aug
Instrumental	WAV, same master chain	Not bounced. Needed for sync, not for release.
Vertical video, 3 clips	9:16, 1080x1920, 15 to 30 seconds	Shoot at the September residency night
Square artwork variant	1:1 for the pre-save card	Derived from the artwork
Press photo	300dpi, horizontal and vertical crop	Have, March shoot still current
Lyric sheet	Plain text, for press and credits	Fifteen minutes
Writer credits	Sole writer, confirmed	Have

03Pitch dates

Who gets contacted when. Names and angles are in the working file; this is the timing.

Who	When	Angle
Regional Americana blogs, 4	Fri 14 Aug	Second EP follow-up, first single of the new run
Austin community radio, 2	Fri 14 Aug	Local residency plus a local release date
Genre newsletters, 3	Fri 28 Aug	Song-first, no bio padding; these ones only want the track
Spotify editorial	Fri 11 Sep	One submission, unreleased track, through Spotify for Artists
Independent playlist curators	Fri 18 Sep	Covered properly by the Rollout build; the full target list with per-tier pitch copy sits in the working file
The 640 on the mailing list	Fri 18 Sep, then Fri 9 Oct	Announcement, then release day. Nothing between.

04Content prompts

One per planned post, specific enough to shoot without deciding anything on the day.

• Announce · Fri 18 SepThe artwork, full frame, no crop. Caption is the title, the date, and the pre-save link. Nothing else. Do not explain the song.
• Tue 22 Sep15 seconds of the second-verse vocal over the artwork, still frame. No caption beyond the date.
• Sat 26 SepPhone video from the residency, the moment the room goes quiet before the last chorus. Shoot this at the September night; you cannot fake it later.
• Wed 30 SepThe lyric that people already shout back, as plain text on the artwork colour. One line, no quotation marks.
• Mon 5 OctFour days out. The pre-save link, the artwork, and one sentence about where the song came from. This is the only post that gets a story.
• Fri 9 OctRelease post. Link first, artwork second, thank the room third.
• Sun 18 OctNine days after. A clip of the song played live at the residency, cut to the chorus. This is the one that reaches people who missed the release.

05Release week

• Mon 5 OctFour-days-out post. Check the pre-save link still resolves. Confirm the distributor shows the release as delivered and scheduled.
• Tue 6 OctSend the mailing list a heads-up, two sentences. Confirm the residency set list puts County Line third, not last.
• Wed 7 OctQuiet day. Reply to anyone who responded to the announce. No new posting.
• Thu 8 OctSchedule Friday's posts tonight so release day is not spent in an app. Check the Spotify profile artist pick is ready to swap.
• Fri 9 OctRelease post at 9am. Swap the artist pick. Send the list. Play the residency. Do not check numbers.
• Sat 10 OctPost the room from last night. This is the highest-reach post of the week and it costs nothing.
• Sun 11 OctNothing. Genuinely nothing.

06The two weeks after

The song can still catch through Friday 23 October, and this is the part almost everyone skips.

When	What
Mon 12 Oct	Pull the first week's numbers. Where listeners came from matters more than how many.
Wed 14 Oct	Second push to anyone on the list who did not open the release email. Same email, different subject line.
Sun 18 Oct	The live clip, per the content prompt above.
Tue 20 Oct	Follow up the six press contacts who did not reply. Once, briefly, and then leave it.
Fri 23 Oct	Window closes. Write down what worked while it is still fresh; the next rollout starts from that note.