Holiday Book Marketing Tips

It's hard to believe the holiday season is almost upon us. That means book buyers will be busy soon. At BookExpo 2017, Sourcebooks CEO Dominique Raccah reported that 25% of trade books are bought as gifts. Even if you're not one of the lucky authors who has a holiday-themed story, you can still take advantage of the gift-giving season. Here are a few ideas:

Send Holiday-themed Newsletters

You're an author, so you have a newsletter...right? If not, you can find a list of newsletter builders and their features here. Share a special holiday memory or family recipe. Offer a special holiday sale for your newsletter subscribers.

Holiday Blog Hop/Scavenger Hunts

If you have a solid network of authors or blogging buddies, coordinate a holiday blog hop or scavenger hunt. Offer small prizes along the way and a grand prize at the end for a reader who has followed the entire event.

Create Holiday-themed Posts on Social Media

Place your books under the tree and snap a shot for your social media sites. How about your book propped up against your dining room centerpiece. Take a picture of yourself dressed for the season. Visuals are so important when engaging readers.

Create a Holiday Gift Guide

Penny Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. suggests creating a gift guide where you recommend books for everyone on your shopping list. Not up to creating a gift guide, some bloggers feature holiday shopping gift guides annually where the author may pay a fee to participate or need to offer a free copy of a book.

If you haven't started thinking about how to market your book this holiday season, you best get started.

Cheryl C. Malandrinos is a freelance writer and editor. She is the author of Little Shepherd, A Christmas Kindness, Macaroni and Cheese for Thanksgiving and the recently released, Amos Faces His Bully. A blogger and book reviewer, she lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two daughters. She also has a son who is married. Visit Cheryl online at http://ccmalandrinos.com and her children’s book blog at https://childrensandteensbookconnection.wordpress.com

By-Pass Marketing and Book Selling

By Karen Cioffi

According to a teleseminar, with featured speaker Jack Canfield, “Only one out of seven people in the United States go into book stores to buy a book.”

We know that books are still being sold, but where are they being sold if not primarily in book stores?

Through this teleseminar, I learned of the term “by-pass marketing.” What exactly does it mean?

By-pass marketing is selling in places you wouldn’t expect to see books for sale. Canfield mentioned venues I never even thought of. Putting on my thinking cap, I thought of a couple more.

Some By-pass Venues for Selling Books:

• Bakeries
• Nail salons
• Gas stations
• Beauty salons / barbershops
• Spas
• Cleaners
• Tailors
• Doctor offices
• Chiropractic and Acupuncture offices
• Radiology offices
• Local restaurants

You get the idea; sell anywhere you can.

Think of establishments in your area where you have to wait for services, or ones that get a lot of traffic. Obviously, it will help if your book is somewhat related to the establishment, but even if it’s not, give it a try. Talk to management or the owner and offer a percentage of sales, or a set amount per book. This is a win-win situation for you and the establishment. They have absolutely no investment of money, time, or effort, therefore no risk. Yet, they have the opportunity to make money. This should be a no-brainer on their part. All you need to do is ask.

Remember: Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

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Along with by-pass marketing, you need an optimized author online platform. If you'd like to learn how to create one or take an existing one up-a-notch, check out:  CREATE AND BUILD YOUR AUTHOR ONLINE PLATFORM - Website Creation to Beyond Book Sales.

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