Thanks for joining us on our book promotion journey here on the BubbleStampede Blog. We learned a lot from our discussions and hope you've found some gems, too.
If you'd like to read an overview as we look back and reflect, you'll find that here .
If you're looking for information on specific topics, you'll find a rough index below. Of course, the best way to get ALL of the promo info jammed into this blog is to start at the very beginning. But however you read this blog, be sure to check out the comments. Some interesting discussions live there.
Happy Promotion Journey to You!
Sincerely,
and
author of Bubble Homes and Fish Farts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INDEX TO BUBBLE STAMPEDE POSTS
---Who Are We Again - About Laura and Fiona and their books
---You Ever Heard of Us? - Promotion we're already doing...where we're starting from
Audience
---Who are YOU Marketing To? - Choosing the right target audience, hubs and nodes
---Book Touring in Pajamas - Choosing the right blogs for your virtual book tour
Authorless Visits
---Who are YOU Marketing To? - when you can't go, but your book can
Author Photos
---The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - why do we need one, what makes a good one, getting creative
Author Promotion vs. Book Promotion
---You Ever Heard of Us? - Importance of building your author name, not just the book
Blog Tour
---Book Touring in Pajamas - What is a blog tour, is it worthwhile, how to make one
---Blog Tours and BookTrailers - How did we do?
---Reader's Theatre, Teacher Guides and Blog Tours, Oh My! - How did we do?
Book Launch
---Can You Launch a Book Without Having to be There? Just wondering... - Physical Launch or Online?
---You Ever Heard of Us? - Initial launch ideas
---Launch Event Cluster: 15 Events in Two Weeks - Did we do it? Importance of launch timing
---Book Launch Tango - Organizing and planning two different kinds of in-person book launches
---Online Book Launches (Or the Chicken's Way Out) - Organizing an online book launch
---Book Launch Aftermath - post mortem discussion
Book Signings
---Who are YOU Marketing To? - Themed signing
---Buddy Up at the Book Signin' Corral - Book signing with a buddy
---Book Signing or Book "Event" - Make it special to draw in the crowds, unique activities
Book Trailers
---Grab Your $7 Popcorn - Getting started, choices
---Down in Front! - Making a trailer
---Featured Attraction - Laura's trailer
---Roll Them Credits! - What we learned about what makes a good trailer
---Blog Tours and BookTrailers - How did we do?
Buddying Up for Promotion - Strength in Numbers
---Buddy Up at the Book Signin' Corral - Book signing
---Just One Thing: Advice from Those Ahead of You on the Path - an idea to expand your repertoire of good promo ideas
---Word of Mouth: That Elusive Buzz and How You Can Foster It - Put it to work for you!
Giveaways
---You Ever Heard of Us? - Postcards
---A Little Something to Remember Me By - bookmarks, postcards, buttons, tattoos, pencils, treats, and other promotional giveaways
Links to more Promo Info
(Also see posts about individual subjects...we've embedded lots of links about specific subjects along the way)
---Don't be a Couch Potato...Publicity for Your New Release by Sara Dobie
---Promotion Gold in Them Thar Hills - Eight links to fabulous online promotion articles
---Shrinking Violet Promotions - Promotion for the introvert
---Supporting Authors When Your Heart is Bigger Than Your Wallet by Lisa Schroeder
Launch - See Book Launch
---Ask Not What Your Publisher Can Do For You...Actually, Go Ahead and Ask! - Inexpensive ways to get your publisher to help your promo efforts
Online Materials
---Offbeat Ideas for Connecting with Your Readers - videos, games, blooper reels, polls, other unusual activities
---Reader's Theatre, Teacher Guides and Blog Tours, Oh My! - How did we do?
Online Presence (See also Websites and Blog Tours)
---You Ever Heard of Us? - interviews, guest chats, CYBILS, blogs, websites and other online ways to get our name out there
---Social Networking Sites: Just how social does an author have to be? - JacketFlap, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, GoodReads, Twitter: a first look
---Flittering and Twittering - Which social networking sites we chose to use and why
---Friends, Fans, and Family - A social networking followup, what we did and how it worked
---Launch Event Cluster: 15 Events in Two Weeks - scroll to the end of the post to read about booktour.com
Postcards - See Giveaways
Press Kit
Online Press Kit
---When the Press Comes A-callin' - what are online press kits, what's in 'em, some good examples
---Online Press Kits and Websites - How did we do?
Physical Press Kit
---Catching an Editor's or Producer's Eye - Press release tricks and tips
---Online Book Launches (Or the Chicken's Way Out) - link to Fiona's press release
Print Media
---Step Away from the Computer - Newspapers, alumni magazines, announcements etc.
Promotion Overview
---Sweeping Up the Dust and Bubble Juice - our last post, a wrapup
Promotional No-nos
---When Promotion Goes Over the Top - How far is too far, reasonable promotion or pushy and obnoxious?
Radio and TV
Readers' Theater
---Places Everyone! - What is it and will it work for poetry and nonfiction, and books without a story arc?
---Reader's Theatre, Teacher Guides and Blog Tours, Oh My! - How did we do?
Signings - See Book Signings
Speaking
---You Ever Heard of Us? - Libraries, conferences,
Specialty Markets
---Who are YOU Marketing To? - brainstorming
Trailers - see Book Trailers
Websites (See also Online Presence)
---Microsites vs regular author website Part 1 - a book specific site or include your book on a regular author website
---Microsite - Tech details
---Ask Not What Your Publisher Can Do For You...Actually, Go Ahead and Ask! - Making good use of your publisher's website
---Ask Not What Your Publisher Can Do For You...Actually, Go Ahead and Ask! - Making good use of your publisher's website
---Online Press Kits and Websites - How did we do?
Word of Mouth
Laura is blue. Fiona is green.
Well, Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School and Bubble Homes and Fish Farts are launched and finding their ways out in the world. Now we're in the midst of signings and storytimes and the long wait to see how sales are. We've spent the last year planning, working, and pushing beyond our comfort zones to help our books survive in the world. Will they? Won't they? Who knows! But we've done what we can to make that happen.
We thought we'd offer a brief wrapup here at Bubble Stampede, sharing our thoughts on the promotion process. Promotion isn't over, of course. We'll continue to work hard to get our books noticed. But on the realistic side of things, the bulk of the work is done (huge sighs of relief all around!). It's like all the effort that goes into planning a wedding. We worked out the details, and the weddings went off mostly without a hitch. Now begins the daily grind--oops, I mean continued marveling and discovery--that is marriage:>)
So, here are our thoughts on preparing our books to meet the world.
ONLINE VS. IN-PERSON PROMOTION
I was most successful at--and most comfortable with--online promotion. From websites to book trailers to blog interviews (see my Blog Meander links in the sidebar) to my online book launch, I was happy with these efforts. I know an online book launch is unconventional, but for me, with my fear of party-hosting, this was a terrific alternative!
The work was intense (especially for the launch), but it paid off with long-term promotion and extension materials, things that will live beyond the moment.
Online promotion worked well for me, too--website, chat guest at ICL (I see yours is coming up in a few weeks!), guest blogging (CWIM & Charlesbridge blogs), blog tour, and Facebook etc. Sitting at my keyboard kept me squarely in my comfort zone, and as you say, the long-term promotion and extension materials will go on promoting into the future with very little (if any) effort.
That's fantastic that you got to blog on a couple of high-profile blogs!
It was a nice surprise, coming about through no direct effort from me. Getting out there with promotion also generated unsolicited requests for speaking gigs and article quotes. I think these are examples of how promotion begets more promotion...a tiny taste of how buzz can get a momentum of its own.
I didn't do an online launch because I didn't know enough about them early enough. (Wish we'd had our chat about that sooner!) But yours was so successful, Laura, it's definitely on the list for next time.
Fun that you'll consider an online launch next time. Ideally, I guess we'd do both, right? Maybe next time, we'll both expand on our launches--though the very thought of that makes me tired.
Yes, doing both would be ideal. I know how twitchy you get at the idea of an in-person launch, but ya know...what my two very different in-person launches showed me was that there's a wide range from which to choose, with some taking far less effort...and stress! I think it's quite possible to create something within your comfort zone next time. I do hope you'll consider doing one.
Since that will be at least a couple of years away, maybe I'll be ready for one by that time!
As far as in-person events, I'm finding my comfort zone with those. I've been doing school visits and zoo events and bookstore/library storytimes, and overall, they're going well!
I clustered school visits and library talks around launch time, too. Good promo. But I also pushed myself a little in other in-person promotion areas, challenging my introvert tendencies--doing a radio interview, hosting a public launch party (and [gasp] talking about it when asked!), and taking initiative with the media and booksellers. I experienced some low-level trepidation at various times, but overall it felt good to stretch, and the results were overwhelmingly positive, so I'm happy with how that turned out. I'd do those things again.
I am SO impressed with the way you put yourself out there. I know that was probably stressful, but--wow! You did really fantastic things.
Aw, thanks. I have to credit you with spurring me on with the booksellers. Early on, you told of how you cold-called some indie book stores and that gave me the courage to do the same. For the rest, there were definite moments of "OMG, what did I say I'd do?" and then "Breathe. You can do this." I did go to my limit though, so while I'd repeat the things I did this time, I don't anticipate going any farther next time.
And what a great place to be--right out at the edge of your comfort zone. Excellent!
We've talked about this before, but it's still a challenge to talk about the book without seeming pushy (to me, anyway). I SO hate selling things; I'm not sure that'll ever go away for me.
One way I diffuse a little of my discomfort in bragging about my own book is by focusing on the cool illustrations. It lets me show off the book without feeling like a total bore.
I've resorted to that, too! Funny, isn't it? It somehow becomes the illustrator's book for a while.
It's a good thing we both really love the illustrations, so we can enthuse about them naturally!
Indeed! Here's to Steven and Carolyn!
WRITTEN MATERIALS FOR TEACHERS AND BOOKSELLERS TO USE WITH THE BOOK
Written materials, like Reader's Theater scripts and teaching guides, were key for me. For instance, I'm going to the International Reading Association national conference here in Minneapolis in May. I'm not a speaker and not a featured author, though Clarion is giving me a badge to attend with. I am no good at approaching people cold. BUT, I'm making a flyer about Stampede, and it will include links to my various extension materials. Since these are actually useful for teachers, it makes me feel less pushy about handing out the flyers. Well, somewhat less pushy!
I agree. Great ice-breakers. I also plan to print a few teaching guides and make-a-bubbly-animal-hat activity sheets (created by my illustrator) to have at book signings, too.
An activity sheet is a fantastic idea. I had thought about doing some kind of mask sheet, so a kid could become an animal, but that's one thing that I didn't get to.
Time (or lack thereof) sure makes this an ongoing process, doesn't it?
PRESS
Press releases were kind of a pain to send out, but I ended up with a mention in a major metro paper, which can't hurt!
Indeed! I thought for sure my press release would end up lost among the masses, but I was pleasantly surprised at the media coverage it generated. I would do more with press releases next time.
I found the online press kit was also very helpful. Photos, especially, were accessed several times in the first few weeks for publicity purposes, making it easy for folks to include photos in their writeups while saving me from having to email them.
Oh, yes! And the nice thing is that it's in place now for next time. We'll just add new cover images (fingers crossed), updated mug shots, etc. But the form is there.
Exactly. Next time around we'll have book-specific promotion tasks to do, but all the foundation work and layout decisions will already be in place from this book.
PROMOTION BUDDY
Online...
Doing this blog with you really kept me on-task! I know some of these things would not have gotten done, but they were my Bubble Stampede homework!
Ditto. And talking things over with you got me thinking in new ways and considering promotion ideas or approaches I wouldn't have thought of--or had the nerve to do!--on my own.
In-person...
I have been teaming up with Dara Dokas, author of Muriel's Red Sweater, for all kinds of events. We've been to two zoos, several bookstores, and a library so far. Having a partner makes public events SO much easier for me. If we mess up or we have a small crowd or the event is just a total disaster, we can laugh it off and keep on going. And as long as we look like we're ok with it, it's funny. If I were by myself and these things happened, I think I would have that desperate, pathetic look instead.
And we're even doing things like hanging out at IRA and handing out flyers together, doing school visit mailings to schools, etc. Great way to share some costs and have more fun doing things. The buddy system has been an absolute LIFESAVER for me. Thank you to the folks at Shrinking Violet Promotions for suggesting this!
I wish I'd had an in-person promo buddy as you had in Dara, but there wasn't anyone local enough with a new book that came even close to a good fit. It worked so well for you, I'm definitely going to try again for the next book.
I was lucky to have a local writing friend with a new picture book at the same time as me. We had to search for the commonality of our books, though. I mean, they're both picture books, but that's it. Since hers is about a duck, we focus on animals as our theme for our Animal Antics presentations.
PROMO GIVEAWAYS
I made Stampede cards of business card size, rather than large postcards (thanks, Loree Griffin Burns!). I hand them out freely, and leave them for kids at school visits.
Ditto! I had a short "Ultimate Bubble Recipe" printed on the back with the idea that the added value might result in folks keeping the card around a little longer. As a business card size it seems kind of odd to me, though...not really postcard, not really bookmark...so I may go a little larger next time, to the size of a trading card.
Oooh, fabulous idea! I love the idea of trading card size. Still wallet-sized, but a bit more room. And great idea to do some kind of content that makes it a keeper. I'm going to think about that. See, even once our books are launched, we're still tweaking our efforts!
[grin]
COMMUNICATION
I kept my publicist updated on all my own efforts, which I think made my publisher more willing to promote my book, too.
Same here. And sometimes the results were immediate. For example, there were a few occasions where my news to the publicist ended up as a Charlesbridge Twitter or a Facebook status update. Ripples. Ripples.
FACEBOOK
Facebook is for all kinds of connecting, not just promoting my books. But it's definitely making me more visible and allowing me to even connect with some people who are NOT children's writers or illustrators. A shocker!
Yes, the reach of Facebook surprised me, too. It turned out to be a great low-key way to keep my in-person friends and rellies informed about the book's journey into the world. It definitely got more exposure because of Facebook. That was a terrific time investment. I still won't Twitter, though.
Now, you also signed up for LinkedIn. How did that compare to Facebook?
LinkedIn is very static. At least the way I use it. I did invite my LinkedIn connections (like FB friends) to my launch. And I updated my status to reflect the publication of Stampede and the launch party, etc. It's low-key. I'll keep it up, and I think it's useful in certain ways and for reaching some folks I don't reach on FB. I don't spend a lot of time on it at all, though. Maybe 5-10 minutes a week, tops.
I do want to make an effort, both on FB and on LinkedIn, to connect with more industry people. More librarians, editors, publicists, etc. So that's on my to-do list.
Me, too. I'm still debating whether to keep all my contacts in one Facebook account or separate out the nonwriting parts of my life.
SURPRISES
Promotion takes time! I was blown away by how everything took twice, three or more times longer than I had estimated. I imagine (I hope!) it'll be easier next time around.
The time-suck was somewhat of a surprise to me, too. It wasn't so much individual tasks taking more time than I thought. For me, it was the fact that there's ALWAYS, ALWAYS another thing to do. You never finish! That was harder for me to deal with than I expected. I do love crossing off those tasks on to-do lists, but the list was infinite.
[Nodding in total agreement]
I was also very surprised at how effective my local media was. I figure the newspaper features and radio spots brought about 75 people to my launch (half who attended), and for all of those, there were many more who heard or read about the book but didn't come, so the word spread. And related to that, I was stunned at how many aquarium members receive their newsletter...another 5-figure distribution of information that may have ripple effects in the future.
One surprise for me was that asking for help wasn't as hard as I thought. Asking people to review my book on Amazon or bn.com, for instance, is getting easier. I try to never make it high-pressure and I give them an easy out. But several people have very kindly left reviews on those sites. And all I had to do was ask. I guess I'm just getting used to the idea that asking for some help spreading the word about your book is a way of life if you're a writer or illustrator.
Good point. Yes, I, too, was amazed at the positive responses...to things such as "May I send you a review copy?" or requests for blog tour stops. I still haven't gotten up the nerve to ask folks to post their reviews on Amazon, but I loved how you did that. I think my compromise will be to ask people who have already written great reviews if they'd consider cross-posting them to Amazon.
Yes, that makes perfect sense. I asked people who won Stampede! as a door prize to do it if they enjoyed the book. Otherwise, outside of my book launch, I think just asking folks to copy something they've already written is the only time I'd be comfortable doing this, too.
THINGS WE WOULDN'T DO AGAIN
--- Creating expensive color flyers without knowing exactly who, when, and where I'm distributing them.
Ooo, that could be an expensive lesson to learn. What is it the promo experts say? Audience, audience, audience.
--- Setting up readings/signings at unconventional spots without making sure basic planning is done to support them. (See my horror story here.)
--- Relying on busy family members for things that can be purchased inexpensively. For me, this was the music track for my book trailer.
--- Amazon ListMania list. It's hard to know what helps and what doesn't. But it was time-consuming to create my one list, and I probably won't do more. At least not when there are other, higher-priority tasks to get done.
I haven't done any Amazon lists because I don't have an Amazon.com account (Amazon.ca, yup, but not .com). It's been a matter of making the time to create an order that won't do too much damage when it crosses the border, and I haven't squeezed that in yet. I have been noting book titles as I think of them, though, and I think that'll make the list creation a lot less time-consuming than trying to do it from a dead stop.
That's so smart. I need to dig out that post of lists I thought I might make and just start those files for them, dropping in names of books as I come across them.
STILL NEED TO DO
Create a bookplate label to mail to people who buy Stampede.
Finish up the teaching guide and book trailer and add bubble recipe, more activities, and links to the book page on my website.
Ha ha...as you said earlier, it seems to never end.
So, there you have it. What we did. What we'd do again. What we wouldn't.
We hope that sharing our stories has been helpful in some way to you, and we've appreciated hearing your ideas and suggestions and tales, too! Thanks for joining us these last nine months at Bubble Stampede.
Here's hoping your next book promotion efforts are a smashing success!
Laura is blue. Fiona is green.
When we first started this blog, our book launches seemed so far in the future. But as of a few days ago, they've come and gone. Stampede! and Bubble Homes and Fish Farts are well and truly launched into the world.
Yay! It's pretty hard to believe!
I thought it might be helpful to talk about how things went and what we learned from our launch experiences. Since the buzz of your online launch is still ringing in the halls, Laura, let's start with yours.
OK, let's--I'm still doing the party cleanup, so it's definitely on my mind.
I popped into your online ning launch on Monday and the place was hopping. People were leaving notes in your guest book and comments about everything from animal crackers to your funny elephant-beagle stampede video. Several folks were chatting with you in the online chat area while I was there.
The event looked to be a terrific success. Were you happy with it? Did it turn out the way you wanted it to?
I was happy with it! Thrilled, actually. It was still a little nerve-wracking, wondering if people would show. But when I woke up Monday morning, several people had already come and commented, saying lovely things! Gave me confidence for the day.
Any idea how many people attended?
Lots of people came--311 unique visitors Monday, almost 50 more on Tuesday, and they're still trickling in. More than half stayed 5 minutes or longer, and of that half, about 1/3 stayed 5-20 minutes, 1/3 stayed 20 minutes to an hour, and 1/3 stayed more than an hour. So people were hanging out and visiting the different activities, etc. 72 people signed the guestbook, which was lovely. I never would have had that many people at an in-person launch.
That's a terrific turnout. A success, indeed!
So, what lessons did you take away from this experience? What would you have done differently?
An online launch is a lot of work! I spent many hours getting the various documents and activities ready over the past month or so.
Clicking around, you could certainly see that. You had a lot of content. You basically created an entire website!
But it felt less stressful for me than the thought of preparing for an in person launch. How much punch do I buy? Will there be enough cake? Will it snow that day and everyone will stay home? I didn't have to worry about those questions.
[giggle] All the things *I* was worried about!
You had many more technical aspects to your launch, though. Did that cause any hiccups?
You know, AFTER I committed to and started publicizing the ning address, I had a day on a different ning of mine (I was using for an online class) go down for a day. Server problems. Just unavailable. So the day before the launch, I worried about that. What if the whole thing just disappears? Ack! Looking back, I should have had a backup plan. I'm not sure what it would have been, but just some idea of how I would have handled it. Reschedule? Try to put the material elsewhere? I don't know... Luckily, from a tech point of view, the only bad thing about the ning was that you can't insert your reply right after a comment on a blog post (the comments just appear in chronological order). I knew that going in. I kind of wish I had commented more throughout the day (though I was chatting online a lot) so people could have seen replies while they were there. I'll think about that more next time.
Hmm...I hadn't noticed that as a problem. But then, I'm used to dealing with blogger and comments are chronological there.
Also, the live chat function shut down a few times on me, mid-conversation. That was an annoyance, but not catastrophic.
I learned that a big plus of the online launch is you create lots of materials that you might repurpose and use on a long-term basis! I'm leaving everything up for now because people are still dropping in, which is wonderful! And the launch is being mentioned in some of my upcoming interviews. So I'll leave it up for a while. Eventually, though, many of the activities, videos, readings, etc., will migrate to a more permanent home on my website. So that's very cool. Everything feels new and exciting for the launch, but then there will be a long-term payoff, too, I hope.
Repurposing is very smart. And debuting new materials on the online launch site draws visitors in. If you'd simply moved content over from your established website, I don't think you'd have had as many visitors. "New and exciting" is an important component.
Exactly. And I learned that people are awfully friendly and supportive! I tell you, on my to-do list is to print out all the comments people left. Next time I get a rejection or bad review, that puppy's coming out to cheer me up! I was really basking in everyone's excitement and support. It was amazing! I could enjoy it in a way that would have been hard for me to do in person.
Yes, being able to go back and reread the comments is a nice benefit. In-person comments are relegated to memory, and that fades over time.
I thought your "Do me a favor?" section, where you suggested several cost-free ways folks could help Stampede! find its way in the world, was very well done. Several people noted they would.
Subliminal message starts here.
Go...go...go request that your library purchase copies of Laura's "Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild" Side and Fiona's "Bubble Homes and Fish Farts"...go...get thee to your library...
Subliminal message ends here.
lol. Maybe I should have put background music on my launch site (except I hate background music on sites) with this subliminal message playing very quietly in the background!
Thanks! You know, I've been working harder to support books I like but can't buy. I do the One Book I Love on my blog (in addition to my Favorite Book of the Week in my sidebar), I try to more purposely mention recent books I love to librarians and booksellers, and I'm starting to mention them on Facebook once in a while, too. I think every little bit helps. But it's hard to stay on top of! So I thought, what would I most like people to do? Well, if they can't afford buy the book themselves, the next best things are to ask their library to buy it or to leave a customer review at on online bookseller.
Me, too. These are simple things, but powerful ones, yet not something I thought much about until my book was published. I've found the response to book suggestions has been good. People seem to like hearing about books their friends have found and loved.
I think if you're asking people to do a favor, it makes sense to do as much of the grunt work for them as you can! So I made a flyer they could drop off at their library or text they could email in if their library has that option. And I provided links for leaving reviews. I told people I'd be very grateful if they had time to choose just one thing to do. And I got a fair number of comments and emails afterward with people telling me they did just that. So that was lovely.
You handled it beautifully. Very easy for folks to follow through...very low-key...no pressure. Well done!
Thank you. I was worried about being too pushy. And on that note, enough about me. How was your local launch?
It turned out really well. The atmosphere was festive and celebratory, exactly as I'd hoped. About 150 people attended.
Wow! That's huge! That's an absolute boatload of people. This was the one at the nature center, not the aquarium, right?
That's right...at The Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve. It wasn't a large space, as you can see here:
(this picture captures about a quarter of the room), so 150 is about the maximum capacity. Any more people and it would have been too crowded and possibly a problem. As it was, it was just right.
It looks like a beautful setting.
It looks like a beautful setting.
It is. It's located right next to the wetlands. The building is rustic with many windows...a very nature-y feel to it. A great match for the book.
And while that sounds just aesthetic, I think the setting creates a mood for your party, and if people felt very nature-y, of course that's conducive to buying a nature-y book. A modern, hi-tech party room might be just as cool, but not the right match for your particular book!
Hmm...I hadn't thought of it that way, but it makes sense.
As for the rest of the launch...
The kids' crafts tables hummed with kids making about 70 animal hats and bubble blowers,
...we went through 300 square inches of cake (all that was left at the end was the book cover and 4 cut pieces),
and I signed books in between a couple of readings and a quick buzz through the room.
That sounds excellent! Beautiful cake and crafts--can't go wrong. It looks like everyone is really into the activities. Excellent.
The kids seemed to really like the hats and bubble blowers. My only regret is that the weather wasn't good enough for the kids to go outside to try out their new blowers.
That is kind of too bad about the weather, but the good thing is, they'll use them at home on a nice day, and their friends will say, "Where'd ya get that?" and they'll talk about a cool party for a book, YOUR book, etc.!
I hope so! It also meant I had four gallons of bubble solution that didn't get used. But, not to worry, I donated it to a local elementary school, so a few classroom's worth of kids will have some bubble-blowing fun because of it.
Great solution (hehe). I hope some promo materials for Bubble Homes were delivered along with the bubble liquid.
The librarian bought a copy of the book. Does that count? Other than that, no, I wanted the bubble juice to be a gift, not seen as a way to elbow in a sales pitch, so I just left it at the book and bubble solution.
[Shaking head.] Oh, Fiona, I have a low tolerance for pitching, but even I wouldn't see leaving some postcards or bookmarks with the bubble liquid as "elbowing in a pitch."
It just didn't seem right to me. I guess it comes down to those comfort limits we keep talking about
But you were a lot braver in your promotion (via radio, etc.) than I could have been, so I guess I can't say too much. :>)
We both tried some things that pushed our comfort zone out a little wider than it was when we started. It's been an interesting journey.
So, what do you think was key your successful in-person launch?
One important thing I did, that I would make sure to do again next time, is have lots of help. I thought I would be able to take an active role in organizing and supervising the event, but I was too busy signing books, chatting with well-wishers and kids. I had one relative sell books, another man the refreshment table to keep supplies up and act as a welcomer, three teens supervise and assist at the kids' tables, and my son run rover and be the official photographer. Thanks to these guys, everything went smoothly.
That is so smart. And with that many people attending, definitely necessary!
Many of the launch post mortems I'd read online emphatically advised, "Get lots of help!!!" I'm really glad I listened.
One thing that surprised me was how effective the media was in getting people out. About half the people who attended were people I didn't know. Many of them mentioned they'd read about the launch in the paper or heard about it on the radio. I figure for every person who came to the launch because of media reports, there are quite a few others who heard about the book, so it was a good way to get the word out.
I think that's an amazing statistic, Fiona. To have 50% of a book launch crowd be non-friends and non-relatives? Absolutely fantastic.
I was surprised and pleased. I knew many of my family and friends would be there, but I had no idea so many others would come.
I had a few non-acquaintances drop in at my launch, and it was exciting to have teachers or librarians introduce themselves in the chat area and talk about getting my book for their school. But the vast majority (probably more than 90%) of names in my guestbook are ones I recognize. Hopefully others I didn't know came and enjoyed the launch too, but the major participants were definitely folks I know online with a few family members sprinkled in.
Congratulations. Really, the whole point of a launch party is to SPREAD the word, so getting word out to people you DON'T know is key.
In fact, now that we're talking about it, I think I would try to increase that aspect of my own launch next time. I don't know how, exactly, but maybe even just encouraging people to send the invitation to the media specialist at their local elementary schoools, etc. That's a good thing for me to keep in mind for next time--thanks!
The launch, as an "event", served as an anchor for the news media in a way that a "book release" alone wouldn't do. I bet the media bites you're getting are mostly anchored by your zoo appearances, too, Laura.
Ya know, the only local print coverage I've gotten, that I know of, is inclusion in a roundup of kids' books in the Minneapolis Star Tribune --yay! No mention of the zoo, though, because I wasn't featured--it's just one paragraph per book. But I think the zoo events made it into the calendar sections of both local papers, though.
Media will probably become more interested as the zoo dates approach. I didn't see any interest until a week or two before.
Well, the first zoo appearance has now come and gone, and it was a disaster of poor planning (on the zoo's part).
Oh no!
There was no signage, no promotion, no space for us to do our storytime--we were just stuck in a craft room (and that's all the sign on the door said--"Kids' Crafts" that was super-crowded with tons of kids loudly doing crafts and parents shouting across the room--or talking on their cell phones. When the lone zoo volunteer announced storytime and told kids they could continue crafting, she didn't even ask them to do the crafts quietly. Hardly anyone even heard the announcement because the volunteer was soft-spoken and microphoneless. And the few kids who ventured over to the rug for storytime could hardly hear Dara and me. We had to practically shout into their faces to be heard over the crafting din.
What a nightmare. Oh, Laura, I'm so sorry to hear that.
I am SO glad no media promoted it or were there. What an embarrassment that would have been. Shudder.
Lack of media coverage is probably part of the zoo's lack of planning...in this case, a good thing!
But even so... an event---a well-planned one, that is---is a good way to get media attention. I'm going to keep that in mind for the future. And [grin] not necessarily waiting until the next book launch, either. It may come in handy for repromoting this book, say, closer to Christmas. I wouldn't do such a huge event as I did for the launch, but I'd try to create some kind of event to leverage that media attention.
Good point. Especially since my next trade book doesn't even have an illustrator yet, so I'll want to re-create excitement about Stampede over the next couple of years! I've already got a couple of September storytimes lined up, but now I'm wondering if I should be thinking about some kind of actual event to focus on the back-to-school aspect. Hmm...I'm too overwhelmed right now to think too hard about a back-to-school party, but I'll let the idea simmer at the back of my brain for a few weeks.
Mwahahaha...we've got her! It doesn't have to be a big event...just enough to have a media hook and get folks thinking it's something different they'd like to go to. You can do it!
If I survive April/May, I'll be brainstorming!
:^)
Well, Laura, that's our two launches.
Wow, Bayrock...we rocked! Two very different launch approaches, but both very successful in their own ways.
[Fiona and Laura do a high five]
Yup, we sure did. And I must say... for me, talking about it all here with you contributed greatly. So, thanks for the chats!
I agree. This blog as a sounding board has been invaluable! Thank you!
Whew! I'm still doing mop-up, packing up door prizes, etc., but it's nice to have hosted and survived our launches, and to feel like they went well. I wish we lived near each other so we could go out to celebrate! Somehow virtual snacks (though they were a big hit at the launch) really don't do a ton for me:>)
At least virtual snacks don't make it onto the hips. ;^) But, I agree, a celebratory drink and a "cheers" would have been nice to share in person. Ah...one day we'll find ourselves in the same city again.
Well, folks, the subtitle of Bubblestampede is "2 authors, 2 books...and a 9-month conversation about...aack!...PROMOTION!" We started talking together last August and went live September 1, so our nine months has run its course. It's hard to believe so much time has gone by so quickly. We'll be taking a week off and will be back again with a wrap-up post to finish things off.
[Fiona hands out party hats and noisemakers.]
Over the months, we've written here about all sorts of traditional materials to promote our books. But today, I thought I'd share a few less-traditional things I've done, mostly in preparation for my online book launch (TODAY! April 6). I think the general ideas can be applied to just about any writing project. And the idea here is to get people talking about your book or at least exposed to your book.
And it's the unusual things that catch people's attention and create buzz, so the more nontraditional you go, the better. People end up talking about the unusual marketing technique---with the book title attached, of course---and, voila, word of mouth. Can't wait to see what you've found. Bring it on, girl.
Here goes--a few offbeat things:
1. Make a silly video. I wanted to recreate a stampede from my book, with animals or kids racing out and knocking over a guy. See that guy in the red pants in this illustration from the book? He's also on the back cover.
The guy getting stampeded by all those "kid elephants"? Um...this idea doesn't involve you filming stampeding elephants, does it? [Fiona wonders where Laura would find so many in one place, let alone want to get close enough to film them stampeding!] Or maybe you've got a herd of your own "kid elephants" to do the stampeding?
Well, I'm too sane to try a whole bunch of stampeding animals, and too introverted to round up a whole bunch of kids. So I decided to recreate the scene with my beagle, Jack.
LOL! Beagles...elephants...they both have big ears...
Exactly. A totally logical solution, right? But, um, that didn't work all that well. But the resulting video is kind of pathetic and funny.
After the launch, I might use Windows Movie Maker (which I have never touched) to add a brief written intro and image of the book cover. That way it has context and is connected to my book. I'm not worried about it now because a) I don't have time to be, and b) at the launch, I'll be introducing it before people click on it.
2. Feature an interactive game related to your book's topic. I had no idea there were free Flash games all over the internet you can embed in your own site. So, I've found a zookeeper one--very simple--to use during my launch. Just a little time-waster:>) You can play the game here. You can find games with all sorts of themes, even, probably bubbles! Again, the tie-in isn't explicit to your book. It's just a fun thing to offer kids. Or adults who can't resist a game. And a way to perhaps get them to come back to your side and maybe share your site with other kids.
That sounds like fun. So how did you go about finding it? I'm always a little wary of "free download" sites in terms of what other things they might download at the same time.
I checked with three guys--all with IT kinds of of jobs--who said they'd never heard of any issues with flash games. Apparently you're not actually downloading anything. I guess I wouldn't be comfortable saying there's NO way anything could happen, but these three computer geeks (and I mean that in the fondest way) live online, and if it's safe enough for them, I'm ok with it.
Cool. That's good to know.
Was it tricky to get onto your site?
When I did it, I simply found the "embed code" part and copied and pasted that code.
That easy, huh? Do you have some sites you can recommend?
Apparently, there are hundreds of sites with embeddable flash games, for free! Who knew? One is http://www.addictinggames.com/gotd/games
You're planning on including this in your online launch activities. Any plans for after? Or is this strictly launch fun?
I'm not sure. If I can embed it with a custom border that makes it match or promote Stampede somehow, I'd definitely want to do more with it. Because if you have a simple little game that even young kids (like picture book readers) can play online, if the webpage exposes them to the book, it might be worthwhile. So I'll be looking into that and might add it to the Stampede and/or kids' area of my website, too. For now, though, it's strictly launch fun.
3. Show bloopers or cut material. People are mesmerized by what DIDN'T make it into a book. I guess it's that fascination with knowing something nobody else knows. So I'll be sharing several poems that didn't make it into Stampede, and this is definitely something every writer could do. Share a first draft, a scene that got cut, a version showing markup by your editor...Readers love to know that it was work to write this book, and they like the behind-the-scenes peek.
I know I love seeing that kind of stuff. And poetry lends itself to that nicely, since you would have written and polished poems you could pick up off the cutting room floor. I've been working on something similar with animals that didn't make it into my book, although they were all cut before I wrote anything about them, so I don't have any written and polished bits to include in that way. I can talk about them, though, and include public domain pics.
True. Even just hearing things like why you ended up cutting that animal can be fun!
4. Have people REACT to your book. Create a poll. There are several online poll creators you can use and embed on your blog or site.
"Which animal uses bubbles in the coolest way?"
"Which poem is your favorite?"
A poll is a really simple way to make people feel connected. (Note to self: I've convinced me. Add a poll to my website!)
Or give a writing prompt.
"Brainstorm different ways YOU can use bubbles. Write a story about one of them."
"Which animal would you compare yourself to? Write a short, nonrhyming poem showing how you are like that animal." I did that here.
You've got me thinking now.
5. Give a visual challenge. This activity was my husband's idea, and I got the illustrator's (very generous) OK, too. My husband took the book cover of Stampede and did a "Spot the Differences" challenge. He used PhotoShop to change 10 things in the image--and he did it so seamlessly! Some are easy to spot; others are really difficult! I think this will be a fun activity! Randy even made an answer key for those people (ahem, not me, of course) who get very frustrated if they can't find all 10!
This sounds really neat. And will you have to get your publisher's permission, too? I wonder if having different versions of the cover available in electronic form would be a problem.
Hmm...I wasn't planning to (and the illustrator didn't mention that). What I did do, though, was put another layer on the image that states it is altered. That way, if someone saves the imge and shares it with anyone, that statement will go along with it unless they take the time to crop and remove it. Which hopefully they won't.
Good solution.
These are really cool ideas, Laura. Thanks for sharing them with us.
We're sure there must be tons of different ways for authors to connect with readers and get people talking. Do you have any offbeat ideas you'd like to share? We'd love to hear them!
Laura is blue. Fiona is green.
It's book launch season for both of us here at Bubble Stampede, so now that we've spent a few weeks talking about launches, we're back to catching up on the rest of our promo plans.
First up, Readers' Theatre
Both Stampede! and Bubble Homes and Fish Farts have self-contained sections about individual animals, a structure which lends itself nicely to readers' theatre. So, in our original post about readers' theatre, we each decided to create one.
I started work on my readers' theatre script, but a little way into it I changed my mind and decided not to do one, after all. The reason? As I analyzed the book looking for ideas to include in a teachers' guide, I realized there were a lot of opportunities for interesting activities involving voice and point of view, so instead of creating my own readers' theatre script, I've included activities in the teacher guide that will result in students creating mini-scripts that can be used as a class readers' theatre project.
I know your virtual book launch next week includes the readers' theatre script you created for Stampede, Laura. How did it go for you?
My daughter Maddie helped me out with the scripts, brainstorming situations that could lead to the poems, and reading them out loud with me repeatedly as we tried to make them shorter and more interesting!
Is the script unveiling part of your launch or can you talk about it, here, and maybe give us a sneak preview?
Nope, it's not top secret!
I actually ended up doing two versions. I did a shorter version, for a smaller, younger group of kids, here, and I did a longer version, for a larger, older group of kids, here.
Doing scripts for different age groups. What a great idea!
Thanks--I did two versions because we did the one I liked and then realized it was WAY too long for kids the age who would be reading Stampede. So I edited it down to a shorter version more suitable for primary grades. I like the longer one, though, because I think the humor and sarcasm allows older kids to enjoy the book, too. I hope.
Makes sense to me. So how did you go about including the poems? Or did you?
Well, that was the question. I couldn't include many poems, because who would need to buy the book then? But how to turn a poetry book into something else? I wanted the scripts to stand alone, so that they would appeal even to teachers who didn't already have the book in the classroom. But I also wanted to give kids a way to perform the actual poems. Performing poetry is a standard in many states' curricula, and I think a Reader's Theater script with different characters reciting different poems could be a blast. So each script has a couple of the poems in it, and then has spots throughout for kids to read more actual poems from the book. But the scripts make sense without the optional poems, too. Hmm...Does that make sense? It's hard to explain.
Sure does! Smart thinking. That sounds great. I bet teachers who use the scripts without Stampede! will want their own copy of the book after their students have performed your readers' theatre.
I hope so! We'll see what kind of response I get if any teachers actually use these. I'm hoping that if I plug them a bit during my school visits in April, some teachers might give them a try.
Next up, teacher guides
I've been collecting ideas for a teacher guide for over a year, so I had hoped to have my teacher guide ready before the book was released. However, I wanted to include art from the book, and until I had the book in hand, I didn't know what the actual colour palette would be. All of the electronic files and physical layouts I'd received had come with the caveat that "these colours aren't right, but it gives you an idea". I'm glad I waited, as you can see from comparing the actual colours with what I used on the postcard before I knew the palette.
Postcard, where I guessed at the colour palette:
Book cover with actual colours:
Wow--that is a big difference. (And the delicate colors are one of my favorite things about the art.)
Mine, too. :^) The postcard looks so garish now that I compare it to the actual colours.
Waiting also meant that when I did finally know the true colour palette, the busy-ness of Christmas season was upon us, and then it was into book release and other promotional efforts, so the guide is still a work in progress.
The illustrator and I are working together, sharing our expertises with each other. While I do a teacher guide, Carolyn has created line drawings of animals from the book for kids to colour, cut out, and turn into hats or masks, all of which we'll both have available on our websites for downloading.
Carolyn's also designed the neatest bookplates that mesh with the design of the title page, so we can "sign" books for folks too far away to get us to sign an actual book. Win-win.
What a fabulous idea! That is so cool. And I love the idea of bookplates. I know Grace Lin has done that for her books. Hmm...maybe I should get in touch with Steven Salerno and see if he'd like to do that. He did already extract a couple of pieces of spot art for use on my microsite, so maybe I could just design a bookplate using one of those...Can you share more details about how the bookplates actually work? Do you simply print them out as labels? Or are these items you ordered from a printer?
We're still working out the best way to do it. Right now we have a page of them as a pdf file, so we can each print them out on sticker sheets (available at any stationery store). But I'm pretty sure these aren't "acid free", so I want to look into it a little more to find out if that's okay to use or if we should contract a printer to print them on acid free paper. Can you get stickers that are acid-free? Or would you have to glue the plates in yourself using special glue? Don't know. That's what I want to find out.
With all the scrapbooking supplies that are acid-free, I'd be flummoxed if you COULDN'T buy acid-free sticker sheets.
Ooo, that's a good source to check.
Laura, you went a different route for your teacher guide. How'd that go?
Fabuloso. The lovely Tracie Vaughn Zimmer did my teaching guide. I had always hoped to have her do mine if I had a poetry book published because she does many poetry book teaching guides and rounds them all up on her website. She does tons of other teaching guides, too. Of course, she's busy with all her own writing stuff (she has a new poetry collection called Steady Hands, as well as 42 Miles, and Floating Circus, all within the past year!), so she doesn't do as many of these any more. (If you want to know if she can do yours, contact Tracie here.)
I've seen her guides. They're terrific. She does a great job.
Luckily, she had time to do mine. She sent me the text, and I designed it into a document and put it online here. I just put this up a couple of days ago, and it might get tweaked some more, but at least it's in decent shape. I'm so happy with it, and I'm excited to be able to have it up before IRA here in Minneapolis in early May. I'm happy I'll be able to hand out Stampede biz cards to teachers and let them know they can visit my microsite and find links to the Reader's Theater and a Teaching Guide.
Oh yes! Great timing.
So, all in all, the teaching guide was a piece of cake, because I didn't have to do it:>) I wish I could hire experts to do all this stuff!
Wouldn't that be nice? :^)
Last up, blog tours
My tour was last week. Keeping in mind our discussion here and here about going beyond our writing communities, I ended up with one writer and the rest a mix of librarians and book reviewers as tour stop hosts. My publisher sent out review copies to each of them to use for review and perhaps as a prize, if they wanted to do that. The tour was successful, but I'll do things a little differently next time.
For example, I asked each of my hosts to send me a list of questions. Each of them sent about 8-10 questions (which was a lot to answer!), and there was a fair bit of overlap amongst them. Next time, I'd ask hosts to send their questions and let them know I'll pick five to answer. That way I can have some control over the content, limit the number of questions I have to answer, and can prevent overlap.
That's the one thing I dislike about blog tours. They all kind of sound the same after a while because they tend to cover the same basics at each post. I think the pick 5 is a great idea. And most of them say, "Answer the ones you want" (at least I do when I send questions to someone), so I think I'll take advantage of that tip, too!
I also wondered about the timing. I originally thought doing it as close to launch as possible would be good, but the book got pretty good exposure from the big review sources, bloggers, and impromptu essays and guest blogging I was invited to do, as well the ICL guest chat and other things I had planned.
You've been rocking the promotional deal lately. That's excellent!
Yes, the extra promo that came from sources beyond my control combined with the what I did plan has been great...at least for now. But I'm starting to question whether there might such a thing as too much exposure at once, and if I should perhaps have waited with some of my plans in an effort to stretch things out over a longer time.
That's an interesting question. For me, personally, I need to see a book title about 3 or 4 places before I finally think, Hey, this is a book I should read. I mean, if I read one thing about it and it immediately captures me, I go put it on reserve at the library. But if it's a book I'm not predisposed to find, it takes several sightings before I think I need to read it because it's clearly a book that's going to be discussed places. So if I want to participate in those conversations, I need to read the book (says the woman who still hasn't read all of the Harry Potter books, nor any of the Twilight ones).
Hee hee.
So I think all this exposure is probably good. Everyone (editors, publicists, book buyers) talks about how short a time a book has to make an impression--picture books especially. So the danger in spreading things out is that you might never get the momentum going. I think the accumulation of many events in a short time period is probably the most effective. With occasional events sprinkled thereafter. That's just my initial thought.
I hope you're right. The initial burst of activity has been good, but I don't want it to turn out to be one big bang and then nada. I'll celebrate for now and play it by ear and see what happens.
For Stampede, for example, I have a bunch of April/May events, and couple of storytime events now set for September/October, and that'll be fun. Places can emphasize the school aspect of the book rather than the poetry aspect at that point.
Good idea.
Now...you're planning on visiting a few blogs but not doing an official "blog tour", right?
Exactly. I'll be appearing on several blogs throughout April, but I don't have definite dates to share yet, except that I'll be at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast on April 17 and The Miss Rumphius Effect on April 24.
Those are great blogs. Carolyn and I will be visiting Seven Impossible Things a month later, on May 17, and Tricia posted my very first blog review at The Miss Rumphius Effect. Can't wait to see where else you'll pop up. Do post links to the Laura Salas Extended Non-blog-tour Blog Tour when you know them. ;^)
Thanks, I will! Mine is more like a blog meandering rather than a blog tour! But that's ok. I didn't have the time/energy to try to set up a tighter schedule, so I'm just going with the flow of when it works best for my various hosts. They'll all be in April, and ideally I'll be in at least one place each week, but who knows. This is one promotional area I'm not actually taking charge of.
A "blog meandering"... I like that! I think next time I'll spread things over a month instead of fitting everything into one week. That's a nice compromise---close enough together to be a sorta-cluster, but far enough apart that you get the benefits of exposure over a longer period of time.
So, dear readers, have you created readers' theatre scripts, teacher guides and blog tours? Leave us a comment. We'd love to know what worked for you and what didn't.
Laura is blue. Fiona is green.
Last week, we talked about Fiona's two book launches for Bubble Homes and Fish Farts and two of the main options of book launches: a completely DIY experience versus having a venue host and plan the event. You might have noticed I didn't say anything about my own book launch for Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School. That's because I'm chicken. The idea of a launch (which is really just another word for party) where my book and I are the main attraction makes my stomach hurt. I would dread it for weeks and wouldn't have anybody there because I would NOT joyously spread the word. Do you remember how Mary Richardson's parties were always a bomb on the Mary Tyler Moore show? That would be my launch party.
LOL!
I know...as my DIY launch approaches next week, I'm starting to feel my innards in a bit of a tizzy, so I totally understand what you're feeling. The thing that's kept it sane for me is that although I'm being proactive in getting the word out via the media---both papers bit at my press release (result: 2 feature articles with photo op) and so did the radio station (result: my book will be the on-air giveaway during the morning show each day for the week before the launch). Thanks for the press release post!---I haven't been that way with people. I don't talk about it unless someone brings it up first. If folks ask about the book, I tell them about the launch...low key, no pressure... "If you're not doing anything, come on out. We'll have bubbles and cake!" Hee hee...I've discovered people really like bubbles and cake...I always get a giggle, the moment stays light, and then we move on to something new. That kind of limited "joyously spreading the word", I can handle.
Laura, you're a media whiz, blogger extraordinaire, teacher and school visit presenter. You're used to "being out there". So how is this different?
I don't know.
School visits? Check. Enjoying those, actually! Storytime readings and signings? Check. I've got a number of those lined up (all with my book promotion buddy) and am not dreading those. Online promotion? Check. I'm all over that.
So why does a launch party scare me so much? I have no idea. I just know that with limited time and energy, I have to focus on the things I can do well and that won't make me worry so much that I can't sleep.
And you know what? Right here and now, the "why" doesn't really matter. Knowing your comfort zone and choosing things that aren't overly stress-filled is really smart. I applaud you for that.
But, but... a book release is a momentous event. You will have some sort of celebration, won't you?
If I could hook up with a venue that wanted to organize the whole thing, I think I'd be OK with that, but I'm going with a third option: an online book launch.
I think an online launch has one big negative: People are less likely to actually buy your book. When you attend a launch in person, there's the excitement of being there and wanting to support the author, so you buy a book. Online, I'm quite sure that isn't the case.
And I also wonder about the amount of media attention. For example, the newspapers and radio are wrapping their stories and promo around my launch---an event seems to garner more attention than a thing (just the book, itself). I don't know that I would've received as much attention If I didn't have the launch as an anchor. And remember that five-figure contact list from last week? Through these media channels, the book title got out there, spread to tens of thousands of folks...maybe some of them will be intrigued and go and buy the book even though they don't attend the launch.
Ooh, you're absolutely right. (And that is completely awesome that BOTH newspapers acted on your press release! Do you have any links you could share with us if the stories made it online?)
I'm thrilled. Here's one (and now I know why some people are antsy about being quoted...they've got the gist of my thoughts, but those are not. my. words...I sound like an illiterate valley girl. And "teach"? It's not a word I use..."learn" or "share" sure, but not "teach". [sigh]) It's publicity, though, right? The other article won't be out until next week. I think I'll ask to see the quotes before they're printed.
Grr...Frustrating! But it's still nice press, and you and Bubble Homes sound wonderfully appealing!
You're right, nonexistent media coverage is another disadvantage to an online launch, one I hadn't considered. I'm hoping my zoo events (not launches, but storytimes tied into pre-existing events at both our local zoos) will put me in the position to get a bit of media coverage. We'll see. One thing I do know is that they'll have more attendance than a launch party that I would have thrown, because I would have been horrible at getting people there--because I don't want them to come see me. I know. It's ridiculous.
No, not ridiculous at all. It sounds like your zoo events are very similar to my event at the aquarium. One thing I've discovered is that there is a certain cachet to calling something a "launch", and it doesn't take much to turn an event into a launch. Essentially, one could call any book-related event a "launch" Doing so turns a "reading" or "signing" into a special event that people seem to be more inclined to attend, and media more interested in covering, even if the only extra "launch" thing is that the person introducing you says it's your launch. My aquarium reading & signing could have happened as it did at any point in the book's lifespan; it just happened to be called a "launch" because of the timing---my first offical book event. There's just something first-editiony-special about a "launch".
So...what if you called your first zoo gig a "launch"...bump up the specialness of the event a notch...perhaps the zoo will give you more attention in its publicity or your book will pop up as the special media angle of the zoo day because its a special event for you...a launch, rather than a regular appearance as all the others are?
But the two zoo events we're doing won't really work. First, the first event is only a few days after my pub date, and I'm not even 100% sure they'll have copies of the book to sell! I hope so! And I just got my author copies, so I could take my 20, I guess.
I would stick them in the trunk just in case. You can always order a replenishment from the publisher if you end up selling them.
But more importantly, these events are very specific, and my book only fits in tangentially. So at the Minnesota Zoo (the bigger zoo), our Animal Antics storytime is part of their Farm Babies celebration. So all the zoo's PR efforts revolve around the new babies in the Farm area of the zoo. We snuck in our books on the animal theme, but there's really nothing farm-y or baby-y about my book.
And the Como Zoo Animal Antics storytime is part of the Go Green for Gorillas event: "Go ape with Como as we celebrate the Year of the Gorilla and learn ways to protect these animals by going green on Earth Day with a Party for the Planet."
Yowsa, that's quite the mouthful. The bumper stickers must be something else. :^)
:>) So their focus is entirely on gorillas and on environmentalism. Again, not a key theme of my book. I will be sure to do the monkey poem from my book!
Having said that, I'll say that if we had had this conversation before our press releases went out, I would have probably called the Minnesota Zoo event my book launch, since it's my first official Stampede! event. Dang. That ship has sailed. But when I promote that event locally through my SCBWI list and such, I'm going to go ahead and call it my book launch, so thank you for that!
Yes, that's what I mean. And you're right, it's too late for the zoo to be onboard, but for the rest, you go, girl! It's a launch!
Something else I just thought of: Online book promotion is still a bit of a novelty. Would your local media be interested in a story about how you're hosting an online launch, an event that was traditionally a physical event? The ship may have sailed on that one, too, but when you get nibbles from local press, it's an angle you could mention that might result in bigger coverage because it's so different.
So, let's talk more about your online launch. I'm really intrigued about the idea of doing a launch online. Whatchagot planned?
First, the positives:
You can't get snowed in.
You don't have to worry about running out of cake.
Your voice won't shake as you talk to the three people who show up.
You can reach people all over, not just in your town.
The party can go on longer--all day, not just for 45 minutes.
You can ask people to help spread the word about your book. And since most of the attendees will likely be writers, they probably will.
Good points. Lots of positives.
How are you going about creating an online launch?
One option would be to host it on my blog. However, I blog every day, Monday-Friday. I don't want my launch party to just be another blog day. I want the launch to have a different feeling. Kind of like your kids wanting to go to Chuck E. Cheese for their birthday parties instead of just having pizza at home. But I wouldn't want to change my blog for just one day.
Hee hee...totally get that. You definitely want it to be something special that stands out and is memorable. So, if not on your blog, then where?
The online launches I've been aware of have been on LiveJournal. I've seen them advertised on Facebook, too, though I haven't actually attended any on Facebook. I don't even know how that works? The ones I learned about on FB were actually hosted on LJ. I'm unclear on how an event would even happen on FB. I'm still new enough to that to be learning my way around.
I've been to a few online and in-person launches for picture books now, and the range is huge. A couple of online launch parties I "attended" were no more than online announcements of the book. I definitely want to do more than that. In-person launch parties have generally been storytimes with cake. Fiona, yours sound like they go way beyond that, which is fabulous! I'm going for a middle ground. Fun activities, but in a flexible format.
The online launches I've "attended" seem to be mostly interactive posting of comments, which seems to be a limitation of the platform. How have you gotten around that to include fun activities?
I've been using nings (a kind of social networking platform) for my two online classes recently, and I think a ning will lend itself well to a party. It has an online chat area, so if people stop by, I can chat in real time with them. It has blog post areas and discussion areas, plus a sidebar area where I can link to all sorts of fun stuff from video and/or audio readings to images and stories behind the book.
Wow. Using a ning sounds like it gives you lots of freedom to include dimensions and interactive goodies not possible with other platforms.
What about maintenance once the launch date has passed.
With the ning, I'm setting it up specifically for the launch party, and then I'll leave it up afterward. That way the resources will still be there for people who drop by late (though I'll also update the ning with a note at the top to direct them to more current stuff, too, like my blog or my Stampede microsite). I'll definitely promote the launch party on my blog and on Facebook, of course! In fact, I should start doing that this week!
So, you're all invited!
On April 6, the official publication date of Stampede!, I hope you'll drop by stampede.ning.com for my launch party! Here's what you can expect:
The story behind the book
Fun images
Video and/or audio of my reading a few poems from the book
Live online chatting with me and anyone else who might be there
Links to various resources, like the book trailer, Reader's Theater scripts, and more
Guestbook to sign
A few poems that didn't make it into the book
A few options for helping to spread the word about Stampede!
A place to write and share your own animal/human poem
My undying gratitude
Very, very cool. It sounds like a lot of fun! It'll be interesting to see what kind of response it gets. I'll be there! And [grin] I'll buy the book.
Yay! That's one! Seriously, thank you. I appreciate that. And keep your fingers crossed and mark your calendar! I'll have to do a good job since I know at least one person is showing up:>)
You betcha! Wouldn't miss it for the world.
If you've had a smash hit of an online book launch, leave us a comment telling us about the highlights and lowlights, what worked, what didn't. We'd love to hear your great ideas.
Laura is blue. Fiona is green.
As many authors do, I collected tips and information about book launches long before my book was due to be released.
Me too! I never looked at bridal magazines as a kid or daydreamed about my wedding, but I have files full of marketing articles related to "the big day" (in my case, when I have my own book out!).
Hee hee...that's too funny, but that's it, exactly!
When it came time to plan my own launch, I went through the file of assorted notes as a first step. With so much information from so many different launches all in one place, patterns appeared.
One pattern of note was the choice between doing it yourself or doing it in conjunction with another organization. As it happens, for my two launches, I'm doing one of each. I've learned a lot from the double experience.
Whew--two launches! I'm overwhelmed just thinking about it. You go, girl!
Well, it just sort of happened that way. I really wanted to have a launch at the aquarium, but it's more than an hour away from where I live. I knew if I had only the aquarium launch, then many of my family, friends, and community members wouldn't be able to join me in the celebration. The solution was to have another party closer to home. It's actually working out quite well...mostly because one of them is taking almost no effort on my part. I can't imagine doing two launches where both required a lot of organization and time.
Gotcha. Back to the wedding analogy, it's kind of like getting married in the Bahamas and then having a fabulous party when you get back home, too!
Hee hee, yes, the wedding planner makes all the difference!
Working with the aquarium has had many advantages:
- a free facility complete with ambience that matches the book,
- help brainstorming and organizing the event,
- access to the aquarium's five-figure contact list for publicity,
- the gift shop taking care of ordering and sales of books,
- aquarium staff to design and supervise activities and crafts,
- guaranteed traffic on launch day.
Ooh, this sounds wonderful! Why consider anything else?
Funny you should ask. The negatives: little say in activity choices (some things I wanted to do weren't possible due to the venue) and scheduling, those attending the launch have to pay regular aquarium entrance fees, limited options for date and time, and food had to be catered (expensive).
Oh. That's why:>)
There's always a catch, isn't there? :^)
For a do-it-yourself launch, the advantage and disadvantage lists are almost flipped. I had complete freedom in choosing the venue, date, time, refreshments, scheduling, and activities. My guests don't have to pay an entrance fee, and because I'm taking care of book sales, I could choose whether to keep the profits or offer a larger discount (I opted for the discount), so the cost to attend is much less. However, I'm totally responsible for designing and paying for everything, including publicity, books, craft supplies, and arranging enough bodies to help supervise refreshments, sales, and activities (I've bribed a gaggle of teens with pizza).
Yeah, I guess the old Spiderman saying (who stole it from I think Eleanor Roosevelt) is true: With great power comes great responsibility. We pay for freedom and power in everything, book launches included. Getting to choose and create everything costs in time and money.
You got it. One thing I was lucky about that may not always work out for future launches, was that the DIY launch venue was both free and had an atmosphere appropriate to the book, which I understand is a challenge for private launches.
That is SO cool that the aquarium worked out and matches your book so wonderfully.
Yes, I'm really pleased about that. And the exposure at the aquarium is amazing--the traffic and that contact list! But I would have liked to have a little more say in things. I think the do-it-yourself launch will be the most fun because I've had the freedom to put more of myself into it, but it'll also be the more expensive and time-intensive of the two. But, it's all about tradeoffs, isn't it? For this book, I'm willing to devote the time and $$ to a celebration (woohoo! I've worked long and hard to get here.) I'm not sure I'll always be in a position to spend time and/or money for future book launches—time will probably be the bigger factor—so it's nice to know there are options that are easier on the pocketbook and calendar.
I can't wait to hear how both launches go. And I know you have it on your site/blog, but could you post the details here? I'd love to see how differently the two events are being pitched.
Sure. The details publicized by the aquarium are located here. And here's a mini version of the 11X17" poster I created for the DIY Launch. 
Oh, cool! So your aquarium launch is being rolled into a pre-existing Super Saturday event?
Yes. The Super Saturday events that day will be about the animals in my book. As part of it, kids will be able to make masks and hats from pen & ink outline drawings Carolyn (my illustrator) created.
That's fabulous. What a great built-in audience for you. Yay! And I love the poster. Those iridescent bubbles are beautiful.
Thanks! Can you tell they're all the same bubble? ;^)
Thanks! Can you tell they're all the same bubble? ;^)
Have you tried different kinds of book launches? What would you sefinitely or definitely not do next time? Are launches even worth it? We'd love to hear from you. Leave us a comment.
Laura is blue; Fiona is green
So, we've talked about clustering events, like book launches, readings, etc., to help get the word out about our new books. We've also talked about trying to get some mentions in non-online venues like newspapers and magazines. The two go together, since newspapers especially like some kind of news hook.
Fiona, did you send out press releases?
My publisher sent out press releases earlier for the book release, but I'm getting ready to do a round of local ones, myself, so this topic is apropos for me.
What Would a Journalist Notice?
My promotion buddy, Dara, and I wanted to do our best to get some press about our two new books. But we live in an area (Minneapolis/St. Paul) where children's authors and illustrators are a dime a dozen--in this economy, you can probably get a dozen for a nickel! So just announcing our books was sure to be met with a resounding...silence.
So...?
So we thought about what might make editors at newspapers and magazines give our books a second look.
What fabulous attention grabber did you think up?
1) events we have scheduled at both area zoos, which would give a publication a time/event angle to hang a bit of coverage on
2) both of our books have to do with animals
As books coverage shrinks, our newspapers have increasingly (or decreasingly!) less space to devote to children's books. So we came up with the idea of pitching a roundup review of children's books by local writers or illustrators. A roundup review lets a publication cover lots of books in a small amount of space, so it's efficient. Since both our books are about animals, we chose animals as our roundup theme. Plus we have the event/animal tie-in with two zoo appearances. So we felt this was our strongest pitch.
I like it. So where did you go from there?
My husband, who works at a newspaper and gets products pitched to him daily, said that almost all press releases come via email now, so we decided to embrace that and not worry about sending out hard copies.
Gotta like that--easier and less expensive.
Yes! It was still time-consuming to do, but much easier. And now it's all set so that I can direct anyone to it.
So, I created the press release and then put a pdf version of it online. I made the pdf because I wanted something that had images (which I can't easily do in an email) and that looked nice when printed out, so if someone wanted a hard copy either to look at or to pass along to someone else, they could just print out the pdf.
Smart.
Dara and I created flyers for our books, and I created a flyer of several other children's books that could be featured in the suggested roundup, too. (Note: we specifically decided not to include the books of a couple of HUGE local authors who already get plenty of press on their own--don't know if that was a smart or a dumb decision, but after hashing it out for a bit, that's what we decided.)
Oh, wow, tough call, but you know, I suspect that in the end, the editors will appreciate that. They're likely familiar with the local biggies and may react to their names with a "Oh, these guys again. Been there, done that. File it in the round filing cabinet." Instead, you're providing content they may never have seen before. Fresh gets printed. Fresh is good.
That's what we're hoping:>)
In each email, I included the text of the press release, but also links to all four pages online. Here's the email press release:
February 25, 2009 – MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL -- A whole menagerie of animal-related children’s books by Minnesota authors and illustrators are flocking onto bookstore shelves! Celebrate spring, local artists, and cute animals with some great books and fun zoo events. Dara Dokas (Muriel’s Red Sweater) and Laura Purdie Salas (Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School) will be performing at both zoos. On Friday, April 10, Dara and Laura will lead interactive Animal Antics storytimes at the Minnesota Zoo at 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. This is part of the Zoo’s “Farm Babies” event. And on Saturday, April 25, they will present Animal Antics at the Como Zoo at 12:30 p.m. as part of “Go Green for Gorillas - A Party for the Planet.” BOOK INFORMATION: Muriel's Red Sweater, written by Dara Dokas, ill. by Bernadette Pons Dutton Children's Books, 2/6/09 - ages 3 to 8, ISBN 978-0525479628 Muriel the duck is so busy she doesn't notice funny things happening around her...like her sweater shrinking...and what’s that trailing after her? Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School written by Laura Purdie Salas, ill. by Steven Salerno Clarion Books, 4/6/09 - ages 4 to 8, ISBN 978-0618914883 These 18 poems reveal the wild side of kids. Whether at the classroom, the playground, or the cafeteria, school brings out the animal in all of them. And there are others, too! Several more local artists, including Phyllis Root, Chris Monroe, and Derek Anderson, also have spring animal-themed books out! Would you consider a review roundup of books by local artists? For more information and/or review copies of Laura’s and Dara’s books, please contact us. Thank you! Dara Dokas: phone # email Laura Purdie Salas: phone # email ONLINE VERSION OF THIS PRESS RELEASE, WITH IMAGES: FLYER FOR MURIEL’S RED SWEATER: |
For the larger markets, I included a personal note before the press release. I heard back from one paper right away requesting the review copy of the book ASAP, which was terrific. We'll see if anything else comes of this (fingers crossed). Just one good mention in a major newspaper or local glossy or a couple of mentions in smaller local parenting magazines would definitely make this a worthwhile effort.
Congratulations! An early response like that is promising.
I hope so. I think Dara had already sent a review copy to this paper earlier (since her book is already out). Still, it's a little strange knowing that we sent this out together, but different venues might choose to feature only one or the other of our books, depending what their editorial calendar looks like. But that's ok. We're just hoping we each get some mentions out of this effort, together or separately!
That's a risk you take, but if the double-submission results in press because it's a double submission, then it's done something neither of you could have done alone. Mission accomplished.
Right! Fiona, were you able to get any press coverage for Bubble Homes and Fish Farts? If so, how did it come about?
In-progress. I'll be approaching my big city papers (about an hour from where I live) in a way that echoes your approach.
Do you have any particular hook? Will your book launches be the events you're focusing on?
Not as good as your "two author" approach, but I'll emphasize the unusual content and aquarium connection. The launch is during spring break so it might snag some attention as part of the perennial "something to do on spring break" article.
Your cool aquarium event should definitely catch a little attention!
My local papers are a little more informal, so I'll start by emailing or calling (Gasp, did I really write that? I'll probably email.) the reporters, both of whom have done pieces on me in the past.
Shudder. You are SO brave!
Not really. :^) You'll notice I gasped and recanted.
Ha! Press releases intimidate me. I had various articles in my Marketing folder torn out from Writer's Digest and other publications. I used those to get some idea of what I wanted to say. I feel very uncertain about this kind of writing. But I figured all I could do was find the best hook I could, get the basic info out there, and cross my fingers.
Funny isn't it? Press Releases have this aura of formality and official-ness about them, as though there's only one right way to write them, but really, if you approach it professionally, as you've done, I don't think anyone receiving the press release will look down their noses or complain.
I agree. It was nice to see different advice in different places. And then I only used the advice that kind of fit the approach we were taking.
[nodding] Yup, "go with your gut"...good advice in most situations.
And there are tons of online resources on writing press releases, too, in sites like wikihow, ehow, and Bill Stoller's Publicity Insider.
Off to check out your links!
So, what do you think about press releases? Have you sent them out before? Did you get any response? Have any great resources to share? We're all ears!
Laura is blue. Fiona is green.
Laura, remember way back in September (in the comments), you and I sat wide-eyed and gulping in disbelief at Sara Dobie's recommendation about clustering fifteen events around a book launch?
"The media likes tangible events, as opposed to vague announcements, as in “People can buy my book now! Cool, huh?” No. They don’t care. They care, however, when you have a cluster of events coming up where people can actually meet you. What does a cluster entail? I’m talking fifteen to twenty scheduled events, clustered around a two-week period, with your launch right at the beginning."
I do remember! At the time, I thought she might as well have said 100 events!
LOL. Yeah, it was one of those things you just had to read twice to make sure you'd read it right the first time. But...after a bit of thought, and bit more gulping, we did decide to take up the challenge. Since my book has been officially released and yours will be soon, I thought we could report back and compare notes on our 15 events in two weeks.
Good idea. How'd it go for you?
Wel-l-l...not quite according to plan. As soon as I'd said, "I'll do it!", I set about scheduling events for the two weeks immediately following my February 1 release---a talk at my local library, sitting on a panel at my big city library, an online chat at the Institute of Children's Literature, and several school visits, etc. all of which came to be.
However...book availability---something I hadn't anticipated---threw a major spanner in the works, delaying my plans for two book launches (which Sara had originally suggested should be the kick-off to our event-filled two weeks), and a blog tour. Bing! That accounted for almost half my fifteen events that couldn't happen in conjunction with ones that had been set up so far in advance. The problem? It turns out that book release day doesn't always mean books are available for sale at local events or for sending out to reviewers, particularly if the author and publisher are located in different countries. For example, my Canadian distributor would only guarantee book delivery for events scheduled a month *after* the official release date, so my fifteen things ended up split, some in February and some in March. Not exactly the big cluster I was aiming for. Next time, I'll make sure the events are all scheduled a month after official release date so they can happen together in one cluster.
That is so frustrating! And places schedule events, even freebie ones, so far in advance! And once you're committed...
Exactly. I couldn't move them.
I've heard horror stories about this before, but I was hoping it was a rare occurrence.
I think it happens more often than we realize. As I talk about my experiences with other writers, stories keep coming out of the woodwork. But, you know, it makes sense if you think about it. The rest of the publishing process is glacially slow, taking months and months at every step of the way, so why should this part of the process be any different? It's just that we writers treat that release date like a starting gate bell. We're in position waiting for it to ring so we can dash, but really, we could dash a month or two later and it wouldn't make any difference in the end.
Something interesting to note about the events I did do: Each one ended up spawning either extra publicity I hadn't arranged or counted on, or requests to participate in additional events---more promotion opportunities. So, in my limited sample, at least, it seems that making the effort to get involved in events around a book release generates momentum. I can sure see how a larger cluster could give a significant push to a book's journey out into the world.
That's good to hear. Really good, in fact.
I've decided that March will be "Launch Month". I'm going to do what I can to try and re-energize the momentum I saw sparked in February. My two book launches are scheduled for March 14 and 28, my blog tour for the week of March 23-27, and I'm scheduled to be the guest blogger at the Charlesbridge blog during the month. I'm also working a couple of angles with radio [gulp] and TV [gulp], so it'll be interesting to see what will result from that mini-cluster of events.
Woohoo! Radio and TV--and you're a theater geek, so those would be natural for you! If you land anything that gets streamed on the web, please be sure to let us know!
It probably won't be streamed; these are pretty small-town affairs. But if they do, I'll be sure to let you know!
It's nice that you'll have a second set of several events, so that it's not just one orphaned little reading or something! And thank goodness you were able to reschedule! Did that cause any problems--for you or the venues/hosts?
Thankfully, the launch dates were still under discussion when the book availability issue arose, so it was easy to schedule them for later.
How about you, Laura? Are you faring better on your fifteen things in two weeks challenge? Will book availability be an issue for Stampede!?
It already has been.
Oh dear. Sorry to hear that.
When I jumped on the 15 Things bandwagon, I don't think I even knew the official pub date. It turns out it's April 6. I already had 2 full weeks of school visits scheduled in April, and I thought, "Excellent! I can not only promote my book at the school visits, but maybe I'll set up some book signings in the towns I'll be in (which are a couple of hours from my home)." These two weeks are a coordinated effort between many rural school districts, and they not only order your books for their schools, but they let kids pre-order books to buy and then have the author sign on school visit day. Fabulous!
Wow. Yes, what a terrific opportunity.
Then came the bad news. They couldn't order Stampede.
What!? Why not?
Because the pub date is too close to the school visit dates. Not only would it be hard to get the books distributed, but they just couldn't risk them not being available (I'm sure they've run into problems before). I contacted HMH's Customer Service, but they could give no guarantees. So. I'm pretty sad that the 10 or 12 schools I'm visiting won't be able to sell Stampede on pre-order. It would have perhaps been a nice cluster of sales for my newly-released book:>/
Oh, that *is* too bad. But it's exactly what I ran into, too. Is this common knowledge that you and I somehow missed? It doesn't do us much good this time around, but we'll sure know for next time.
But on to the good news. My official release date is April 6. Here's what I have on the calendar so far:
April 10: Reading/event at the Minnesota Zoo (in conjunction with their Farm Babies event)
April 11: Reading/event at Micawber's Books
April 14-17: School visits where I won't have pre-sold Stampede, but I'll at least be able to spread the word and leave promo cards
April 18: Presenting a poetry-writing workshop (for adults writing for kids) at the Loft Literary Center's Festival of Children's Literature
April 24: Storytime at a St. Paul library
April 25: Reading/event at the Como Zoo in St. Paul (in conjunction with their Go Green for Gorillas event)
That week: Looks like a reading at my Barnes & Noble in conjunction with Turn Off the TV Week (still working on details)
April 28-May 1: More school visits
I have some stuff planned beyond that, too, but that's the basic cluster of the period right after launch.
That's looking nicely clustery. Well done! But, [ahem] I do notice a distinct absence of a "book launch".
I'll also be doing an online launch party, probably on April 6th itself, though I haven't decided for sure yet. And in April I'll have interviews/features on several blogs. This week, in fact, I need to sort out what I'm doing and start answering questions! I think I'll have about 5 features, which is lovely! People have been so generous in offering to host me.
I echo that. I've been amazed at how open folks are to receiving review copies and hosting.
Hey, here's one cool thing if you haven't already seen it. It's called BookTour.com, and I use it to keep up with authors who are coming to my area to visit. And then the lightbulb went on and I realized I needed to start registering my own events here! So people can search on my name and get this page. And people who live in or near the zip codes I'll be doing events at will have my events show up on their Events In Your Area page.
Now this is very cool. I hadn't heard of it before. The homepage automatically listed the authors on tour in my area. Talk about user-friendly. And I recognize a few of the local author names, too. Nifty. I'm going to check into this one further. Thanks!
And, even cooler, I discovered that BookTour.com events feed into the local online calendar that's run by the St. Paul Pioneer Press. So people who use twincities.com to search for entertainment events will have my events come up! I don't know the details of that as I only learned it when a Google Alert showed me! But hey, anything that helps get the word out and might increase attendance is great. I'd definitely recommend signing up at BookTour.com and listing your events that are open to the public. It's nice to have an online listing that you can link to from your site or blog or something that says, "See my upcoming events." I haven't done that yet, but will as it gets a little closer.
So, that's my progress on 15 Things. Overall, I'm happy with what I've got set up. Once the Barnes & Noble plans and launch party plans are complete, I'll be set for April. Yea!
This task sounded overwhelming at first, but it's not been too too hard:>)
I agree, my split clusters notwithstanding. One step at a time, one event at a time, it was manageable.
So, dear readers, have you ever tried to cluster so many events in such a short time around a book launch. Have some good advice on how to do that? We'd love to hear from you.
Laura is blue. Fiona is green.
You hear people talk all the time about word-of-mouth marketing. But to me, it always sounds like something you can't control. I mean, you can't force people to talk about your book, right?
As much as we'd like to, alas, no. :^)
But I think there is something we can do for each other.
I went to a book club meeting at an independent bookstore last night, Bookcase of Wayzata. The book club, called Chapter & Verse, is sponsored by the Children's Literature Network and by the bookstore. About 10-12 people meet to talk about two books each time, and about half of the attendees are either school or public librarians.
I had contacted the bookstore ahead of time to see if they had Fiona's book, Bubble Homes and Fish Farts, in stock. They didn't, but could order it for me. So I picked it up when I arrived (it's so beautiful!) and had it sitting on my lap.
Aw, thanks, Laura!
The person who sold me the book commented on how fun it looked, and then I also ended up passing the book around the circle. People paged through and admired it, and I saw at least one person jot down a note (hopefully to buy it!).
[An aside that Fiona is going to hate, but I don't care! I read Bubble Homes and Fish Farts before bed last night, and it's sublime. The simple but informative text, the art that's whimsical and lovely, vibrant without being "bright," the tons of stuff I learned--all of it fascinating. This book is a winner! I'm so happy for you, Fiona, that your first trade book is one you can be so immensely proud of!]
Oy! You're right, I am cringing at the appearance of us including shameless promotion here, and I would take it out, but I know you'll just put it back in! :^) So I shall appeal to our readers that this is an anomaly, and then accept your lovely compliments in the polite manner in which my mother brought me up to do. Of course I'll gush in the private email I send you, but an anomaly will only stretch so far. ;^)
Now, [ahem] back to our regularly scheduled program:
LOL--I'm terrible at marketing and don't want to be pushy. But because Vicki Palmquist, the book club leader, asked if I could pass it around, several librarians saw this book and really looked at it. And a staff member at an independent bookstore became aware of it and admired it.
From a marketing point of view, this is really powerful. Buying a book is the ultimate show of support, but it's just one sale. By choosing to coordinate your book purchase with your book club meeting, though, you turned that one book purchase into word-of-mouth marketing that could result in several more sales.
Exactly. And I'm around other writers a lot. So I'm wondering why I haven't been doing this already. I think it goes back to the hating to push my opinions on others. But I'm getting over that somewhat and seeing it as just sharing great news! "Hey, look at this book I think you'll like!"
We were supposed to bring books to recommend, so in addition to Fiona's book, I had brought Dara Dokas' Muriel's Red Sweater. It's an adorable picture book, and I passed that around the circle, too. While I was at the bookstore I asked if they had Steady Hands, Tracie Vaughn Zimmer's new poetry collection. The bookseller seemed unaware of it, but she knew Tracie's name. I also recommended Tracie's Floating Circus, her recent, terrific historical novel, to the book club!
So, in the course of an hour and a half, I got to show and tell four fabulous books by three writers I admire and like. And the heads of Children's Literature Network, the acquisitions librarian for the entire Hennepin County Library system (Minneapolis and its suburbs), the buyer for an independent bookstore, and several other admirers of children's literature were all introduced to these books.
And these people got the word of mouth from you---someone they know and whose opinion they're familiar with and trust. They're also the sorts of influential folks who are likely vectors for getting the word out to other kids and librarians about these books. Kind of like that TV hair commercial "and they told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on and so on" Marketing gurus are constantly saying how this kind of word-of-mouth advertising has the most impact on sales. Very cool.
And it wasn't even painful to do!
Hee hee...yay! Part of that I'm sure is because you weren't talking about your own book. :^)
Definitely! I would never have done this for my own book.
But I think it's also related to how passionate you are about children's literature. It's much easier for one to be bold and share when it's something one's passionate about, don't you think?
Yes! So, I'm going to make an effort to do this more often for books I know and love, especially new ones. When I'm going someplace where I know book lovers will be, I'm going to take my copy (library or personal) of one or two books and just be bold: "Hey, have you seen this terrific new book?" It's so easy. Who knew? And that's how word of mouth begins, right. So let it begin with me.
I agree. People can't fall in love with books they don't know exist, so these little nudges can make a difference. Something I do regularly to help a new book I love is to suggest it for purchase at my public library. I've discovered they listen! That helps get the book out there circulating so other people can find it and fall in love with it, as well as sell a library copy or two.
Ooh, I do that, too! My library system lets you do that online through a simple form, which is lovely! In fact, on my secret to-do list is to start a campaign closer to my launch date asking people to suggest Stampede for purchase at their libraries. It's free, so I don't feel so bad asking folks to do that.
Great idea! I thought about including a cutesy subliminal message here about getting folks to go to their libraries to request our books, but ;^) we've already used up our shameless promotion anomaly for this month.
Children's author Lisa Schroeder posted "Supporting authors when your heart is bigger than your wallet" on her blog a while back. It's a terrific list of things people can do to support books they love, and get the word out there about them, without spending money. She mentions both ideas we've been talking about here, but also many more.
Fabulous post! Thanks for sharing that. I like her reassurance in #2, where she talks about blogging about books and not having to do a serious review. I put a new Favorite Book of the Week in my sidebar every week or two, and on Poetry Fridays, I often try to post a poem from a kids' poetry book I like. I don't usually review the book, but I do post the cover in a decent size and one poem from the book. I'm thinking I might occasionally on other days just randomly post a large book cover of a book I just read and loved, a simple review, like she says. "Loved it!" Or "Great adventure!" Or whatever fits.
I noticed the "Favorite Book of the Week" in your sidebar some time ago and thought what a good low-effort way that was to get the word out about good books you've read. I keep meaning to do the same on my blog. I'm going to set that as a goal for this week.
Now, Laura, all of these ideas involve word-of-mouth about other people's books. I'm going to be mischievous and ask what you're doing to help your book. [grin]
I know! It's so much easier to think about this in terms of other people's books. Well, Clarion is generously sending out copies soon to a whole slew of poets who agreed and/or requested copies, and I'm hoping if they like it, they'll tell someone. And when I get my own author copies, I'm going to think about who I know who's good at spreading the word. And I'm going to try to pick 5-10 specific people and give them each one of my copies.
I think that's a marvelous idea. I know several authors who regularly speak at library and reading conferences. As much as possible, and as long as it's appropriate, of course, they take their examples from the work of authors they're familiar with. This could have a huge ripple effect for you.
Yes! When I do school visits next week, I'm actually sharing poems from several other children's poets recent books, too, to showcase different things.
I do that, too. At my library talk last week, it made my heart go pit-a-pat when folks wrote down the titles and authors I mentioned.
Yes! And when that happens, you're not only helping the author but the people you're talking to, because you're telling them about a great book, and what better news than that for a book lover?
So I love word of mouth not only because it's so much easier than I suspected, but also because it's kind of a mystery. You don't know exactly how it gets going, but it MIGHT.
So...leave us a comment with your word-of-mouth stories. Did you somehow find out how far a ripple traveled? We'd love to hear your good ideas.
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bubblestampede- Laura & Fiona: The Big Book Promotion Adventure!
Coming to you every Monday...and maybe other days, too, if we're feeling extra chatty!
Be sure to read the comments. Some of the most interesting conversation resides there!
WHY BUBBLE STAMPEDE?
We are Laura Purdie Salas and Fiona Bayrock, children's authors with our first trade books coming out in spring 2009. "Bubble" comes from Fiona's book, Bubble Homes and Fish Farts (Charlesbridge), and "Stampede" comes from Laura's book, Stampede!: Poems About the Wild Side of School (Clarion). Welcome to Bubble Stampede! Read more...
Laura's Book:
Stampede! Poems About the Wild Side of School
Please come to my online launch party on April 6!
Fiona's Book:
Bubble Homes and Fish Farts
A Junior Library Guild Selection
Be sure to read the comments. Some of the most interesting conversation resides there!
WHY BUBBLE STAMPEDE?
We are Laura Purdie Salas and Fiona Bayrock, children's authors with our first trade books coming out in spring 2009. "Bubble" comes from Fiona's book, Bubble Homes and Fish Farts (Charlesbridge), and "Stampede" comes from Laura's book, Stampede!: Poems About the Wild Side of School (Clarion). Welcome to Bubble Stampede! Read more...
Laura's Book:
Stampede! Poems About the Wild Side of School
Please come to my online launch party on April 6!
Fiona's Book:
Bubble Homes and Fish Farts
A Junior Library Guild Selection
Page Summary
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fionabayrock : An Index... [+5] - laurasalas : Sweeping Up the Dust and Bubble Juice: A Look Back [+3]
- fionabayrock : Book Launch Aftermath - 1 + 1 = 2 Successful Events [+0]
- laurasalas : Offbeat Ideas for Connecting to Your Online Readers [+4]
- fionabayrock : Reader's Theatre, Teacher Guides & Blog Tours...Oh, my! [+0]
- laurasalas : Online Book Launches (or the Chicken's Way Out!) [+4]
- fionabayrock : Book Launch Tango [+0]
- laurasalas : Catching an Editor's or Producer's Eye: Press Releases [+3]
- fionabayrock : Launch Event Cluster: 15 Events in 2 weeks [+3]
- laurasalas : Word of Mouth: That Elusive Buzz and How You Can Foster It [+0]
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