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In the last eight months, I've written, labeled, and mailed 1,662 May B. postcards. Yes, really.
Much of marketing a book is like throwing darts, but as I've learned, a personalized, audience-tweaked dart has more potential to hit the board than those thrown willy-nilly.
I can't take credit for what I've done -- that goes to Saundra Mitchell and her bossy self-marketing plan. Using her suggested wording, I determined my audience and tweaked what I wrote for each.
My audience:
Kansas schools and libraries
Why? May B. takes place in Kansas and is primarily a school and library market title. Also, Kansas Day is 1/29. Teachers are required to teach KS history on or around this day -- perfect for an early January release date!
Plains state/frontier/pioneer museums
Why? May B.'s focus on the frontier era will ide
14 Comments on 1,662 Postcards: Marketing Mania!, last added: 2/13/2012
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I think that's the only way to approach marketing your book. I like that. One postcard at a time. Whether that postcard be an actual postcard or not. One step at a time. Your book seems so perfect for the school and library market. Great job! Wow, that's a lot of writing!
Love that! One post card at a time. :)
So much work, Caroline! But all for good. Know there are others who will spread word about May B. for you also. I plan to write blog about it in the next few weeks because I was taken by the beauty, simplicity, and bravery in May B.
I feel my hands cramping up just thinking about preparing all of those postcards. What a lot of work. I'm glad the payoff has been worth it =)
It really has been empowering to think about marketing in this way. While I'll never know about results, I can be satisfied I've done my part.
Barbara, thank you. Really and truly, word of mouth is the gold.
inluvwithwords, thankfully I took a long time to do this: a couple dozen while my boys were at piano, a few more in the time between dropping off my boys at school and going to my weekly tutoring, etc.
I really like your grassroots approach, Caroline!! :-)
Brilliant and now as a fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder and having crossed Kansas in 1978 and seen a rattle snake there and a museum where everything was carved in stone, I could be hooked!
Thanks for sharing what you did and your thoughts on it. I think you did a great job getting May B. onto blogs.
I love your marketing ideas. I've bookmarked the bossy self-marketer. Thanks for sharing!
I love that you've really approached your marketing from multiple fronts, electronically, in person and with your personalized post cards. I think hand written mail catches people's attention because we get so little of it these days.
Saundra Mitchell's marketing guide is wonderful, even if choose not to go the postcard route. She's got dozens of other ideas, too.
Carole, confession: I've never been past Lawrence, Kansas.
This is so helpful. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing the work behind marketing your first book. I'm sending it to my friend, author Karen Day. Great info!!
Holy Cow!!! I'm sending out 250 and I was really patting myself on the back (with my sore fingers--I'm handwriting personal notes on each).
Way to go!!!
sf