If you exchange gifts to celebrate, may there be plenty of books with bows tied around them. If you use this time for quiet contemplation, may you find some of that at your laptop, notebook, or typewriter. Our best wishes for now and into the new year!
Book marketing has changed due to the coronavirus pandemic, leaving millions sick, jobless, and stuck at home.
Drastic times call for drastic measures and Outskirts Press wants to help. Has the financial uncertainty put a strain on your book marketing budget? Have social distancing measures put a hold on your book marketing efforts? If so, keep reading because there is a silver lining around this corona-cloud.
For many readers, writers, and book marketers, social distancing requirements can offer a lot more free time. Use that time productively by…
Whatever your tactics are, it is important to have copies (some of them should be signed) of your book available whenever you need them. And now is the time to stock up, especially since holiday printing lead times will be longer than ever before due to the coronavirus (as long as two months). Who needs that extra stress? Stock up on books today!
Hint: Free Shipping Months are PERFECT times to load up on marketing copies and September is FREE SHIPPING MONTH for all Outskirts Press Authors!
Want more ideas? Create gift baskets! For example, if you’ve published a series of spy thrillers, put an AMC Gift Card inside each one (theaters will open up again someday, right??), along with a tin of caramel popcorn and a few Coca Colas, and a DVD of a 007 or Mission Impossible movie. Wrap each gift basket up with a bow. You can either sell your gift baskets outright from your website (for a higher price than all their parts, of course, like say … $39 or $49, depending upon your desired profit margin). Or give them away as gifts to winners of your social media contests or to followers on your blog.
The options are endless. In fact, our authors will immediately receive an exclusive COVID-SAFE Book Marketing Tip Sheet titled 19 COVID-Safe Ways to Promote Your Book During the Holidays and free shipping within the continental United States when they order 50+ author copies during the month of September.
Believe it or not, this is the time when many high-profile magazines and trade publications — who work months ahead of time — are already filling editorial and advertising space for holiday editions. That means the earlier you get started on holiday book marketing, the better chance you have of getting in front of more potential readers.
Outskirts Press is offering our annual Holiday Marketing Bundle, including a coveted spot in the New York Times Book Review Holiday Co-op Advertisement that goes out to over one million readers in time for holiday shopping! Your New York Times advertisement is bundled with:
But hurry — there are only 6 spots available for this special offer, and spots are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
As they say on a popular HBO series, winter is coming. In fact, winter has come! So, is anyone else interested in taking a cruise to the Virgin Islands? If so, you may be lucky enough to run into successful Outskirts Press author Ingrid A. Bough as she promotes and sells her book, Violet Loves the Letter “V”: Virgin Islands Pride.
Fresh off her appearance at the National Book Festival at the end of August, Ms. Bough will be doing a book signing at the popular UnderCover Books & Gifts bookstore/giftshop on the island of St. Croix in 2 days (November 14th). Readers and residents of St. Thomas won’t be left out. Her delightful illustrated children’s book (available in paperback or hardback) can be found at the Owl and the Seahorse bookstore.
And as you can see from the synopsis of her book (below), there’s a reason Ingrid is targeting the Virgin Islands with her book promotion efforts.
Virgin Islands Adventure in V Words. Violet Discovers Her Virgin Islands Pride
In a story set in a tropical island paradise, we meet Violet who is named after the violet flower. She loves her name and discovers the colors violet and purple have long been associated with royalty and majesty. Violet tries to identify as many V words on her beautiful island and while creating a story using as many V words as she can, discovers her island territories are rich in history and culture.
Violet learns to appreciate her beloved islands even more as she learns that the United States Virgin Islands, once known as the Dansk Vestindien (Danish West indies) have been influenced by faraway places like Africa, Denmark, Spain, France, England, Vieques, Puerto Rico, the British Virgin Islands and many more.
So many V words, what is a girl to do? Throughout the day, Violet’s imagination takes her on an island roller coaster of twists and turns and she gains a sense of pride in herself and her homeland: Virgin Islands Pride. Violet takes pride that she is from such a unique place surrounded by the blue waters of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
What is the book marketing lesson to be learned here? “Go where the story takes you,” to quote another maxim. In other words, if you’ve written a book about the Virgin Islands, sell your book in the Virgin Islands. If you’ve written a book about Paris… Texas, then, by all means, sell your book in Paris, Texas. T-shirts, shot glasses, and spoons aren’t the only memorabilia tourists buy. They also buy books when on vacation to commemorate their travels. This is especially true for children’s books! Bookstores, gift shops, and certainly stores in the airport, are always interested in books specifically about the location they’re located in.
Congratulations on your success, Ingrid! And thank you for offering us a fun way to bring up an important marketing tactic for self-publishing authors everywhere. Happy (and safe) travels to everyone during this upcoming holiday season.
To learn more about the book, or to order it, please visit the author’s webpages at outskirtspress.com/violetlovestheletterv or www.noirillion.com .
Imagine your book advertised in the pages of the New York Times for pennies on the dollar just in time for Christmas! But hurry, there are only a few spaces left, so reserve your spot right now.
Outskirts Press is proud to offer our authors the unique opportunity to advertise their books with a coveted spot in the New York Times Holiday Books Edition during the busiest book-buying time of year.
Our popular annual Holiday Marketing Bundle includes:
This Holiday Marketing Bundle offers the greatest combined value, but if you wish to only purchase the New York Times Co-op Ad click here for the stand-alone service.
Reserve your space now. There are only a few spots left for this special offer, and they’re filling fast on a first-come, first-served basis. When they’re gone, so is this deal!
