Marketing Ideas - Part Two

As promised, here is part two of my ongoing commentary on John Kremer’s book ‘1001 Ways to Market Your Book’. For the first installment, you can go here. To start off today’s post, here are three awesome quotes that I highlighted in the book. “Marketing is the means, not the goal.” (p. 27) Wow. I had to stop and ponder this simple statement for a moment. Marketing is there to serve you – to increase awareness and ultimately increase sales. Why? So that you can continue doing what you love – writing. How easy it is to get caught up in the busyness of marketing that you almost miss this simple truth. When you’re promoting just for the sake of promoting and not with a plan and purpose, you could be using up a lot of your valuable time.

“Aim for the top first” (p 188) I like this advice. I have often felt like I’m not ‘big time’ enough to expect any response from big publications, other well known authors, or other ‘who’s who’ in the industry. However, Kremer’s advice is to aim high and work your way down. You just never know who you might connect with along the way.

Use “the rule of five’. Practically speaking this is a great tip. Purpose to do five promotions a day. I’m talking about new things outside of your normal routine of visiting facebook, tweeting etc. “Mail a letter. Send out a news release. Phone someone. Take an editor to lunch. Do a phone interview. Give a speech. Jot down a postcard. It need not require  much time – 15 to 20 minutes is enough – but it can make a world of difference on how well your book sells.” (p 225)

On a personal level, here is an update of three simple ideas I mentioned in my last post on this topic. The first tip I implemented was handing out more cards. While on a recent book signing tour, I bit the bullet, put on my bold hat, and began handing out cards everywhere I could. Initially it felt awkward. My first stop for coffee at ‘Tim Horton’s’ I went around to each table and began by asking if they liked to read. I explained that I was an author on a book signing tour and wanted to let them know about my books. I also let them know that my books were available in local book stores. A couple of people were hesitant at first, but every single one was receptive after my explanation. Besides my business cards, I also had beautiful postcard sized cards with all my book covers on them which I got from Vistaprint.They are a great source for inexpensive yet professional promotional materials.

I left cards at gas stations, restaurants, cash registers … everywhere. As John Kremer says, you are responsible for the sales of your own book. In the end, it really wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. In fact it was kind of fun.

Another tip I mentioned last time was creating a media contact list. I actually had started a list like this already which was mostly local media, some larger Canadian print media, and a few broadcast media. Using Kremer’s advice to ‘aim high’ I’ve added quite a few. These include:
'Booklist’; NY Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Voice Literary Supplement, Vanity Fair, Time, Newsweek, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, O Magazine, Family Circle, Focus on the Family, National Religious Broadcasters, to name just a few. 

Having a list isn’t enough, though. He suggests contacting each of them monthly, so I need something  to ‘send’. I’m in the process of creating a couple of new Press releases for my latest book WIND OVER MARSHDALE – one for the general media and one that is more targeted to Christian media. Once I do that and send it I’ll work on follow up pieces – perhaps rework some of the previous press releases, endorsements, reviews, or even requests for reviews. I haven’t created a formal ‘Press Kit’ as yet, but I do have all my interviews, features, reviews etc. on my ‘Press page’ on this blog. I need to figure out a way to make this more manageable and reader friendly. 

Those are my tips for today. Stay tuned for more as I continure reading.