a guest post from Carolyn-Howard Johnson
Have you heard of The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans?
This bestselling book was originally self-published.
Evans believed in himself (and his book) when big publishers didn’t.
When it did well, “lo and behold,” as they say in the Christmas stories, someone saw the light.
The motto here, for writers, is seasonal material can be used effectively no matter what kind of writer you are—even if you confine yourself to your blog. (Nina Amir’s How To Blog A Book, tells us posts can become a book—either a promotional book or a book to sell).
Books are especially good for holidays that call for gifts because even the most expensive among them are reasonably priced at $15 dollars or less.
They lend themselves to the inspirational (always high on the list of gifts people like to give).
And they lend themselves to great cover and book design including religious, whimsical, cartoons, and on and on.
Oh, and books are easily and inexpensively mailed or e-mailed!
So, are you using the seasons to build your writing career?
There are all kinds of ways to do it.
Magdalena Ball and I are seasonal poetry partners.
That is, we have written the Celebration Series of chapbooks.
She contributes half the poems, I the other half for each chapbook.
We also share publishing and marketing skills.
Blooming Red: Christmas Poems for the Rational (http://bit.ly/BloomingRed) is the Christmas entry for that series.
We also have entries for Mother’s Day (http://bit.ly/MothersDayKind), Father’s Day (http://bit.ly/Imagining), Valentine’s Day (http://bit.ly/CherishedPulse) and even one with a feminist theme (or for Women’s Day) to celebrate women for—maybe their birthdays (http://bit.ly/DeeperPond).
Our full book in the series, Sublime Planet (http://bitly.com/EarthDayKind) is perfect for environmentalists or to give to a green friend like Kermit on Earth Day.
We promote it before Earth Day and Ocean Day.
There other seasonal themes you could use.
How about:
· The spring and fall equinoxes.
· Easter
· Fourth of July
· The Signs of the Zodiac—both Western and Chinese. I count a series of 12 books here! No?
· Chanukah
· Passover
· Kwanzaa
· New Year’s
· St. Patrick’s Day. Think of all the Irish, all the beer drinkers.
· State holidays like the 24thof July in Utah. Something local could have a surprisingly big fan base.
· Patriotic books that would work for Labor Day and Veteran’s Day
· Thanksgiving
· Halloween
I met Gordon Kirkland when we both presented at Dayton University’s Erma Bombeck’s writer’s conference for humorists, bless is little Canadian soul.
He has written a couple of very funny (and extremely giftable!) books including Holly Jolly Frivolity, and The Plight Before Christmas.
I know he believes in marketing almost as much as he loves writing.
And that brings me to using seasons, holidays and themes to market any of your work as well as your name as a writer.
Here are some ideas for doing that, even if you don’t have an entry in the seasonal category (Yet!)
Plan well ahead.
Print magazines often work four to six months out.
This is about the right time to promote or offer feature articles to editors for Christmas, Halloween, or Thanksgiving.
Don’t forget bloggers need seasonal material, too.
Write articles (like this one?), using your own themes related to your books or whatever else strikes you.
They can be used as guest posts on others’ blogs or on your own blog or website.
Offer a discount on a book to be used as a greeting card or casual gift.
See how Magdalena and I suggested using our Blooming Redas a Christmas greeting card at http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com/more_on_blooming_red.htm.
Of course, most who send Christmas cards buy them by the box of 25 or so!
Cross promote with a fellow author on a book in your genre.
People who read cozy mysteries likely read more than one a year.
And they often love to give them as gifts.
Both authors’ contact lists should be full of people who read cozy mysteries so offer them all a two-fer-one special—a new one for themselves and another for a gift.
Post list of holiday gift book ideas (any holiday—pick one!) on your blog.
Recycle it to your newsletter the following year.
As an example, see Karen Cioffi Ventrice’s list at http://www.writersonthemove.com/2011/11/writers-on-moves-authors-books-for.html.
A list like this is Zen.
It helps your book.
It helps other writers.
It is an ideal way to build a lasting network of authors both willing and able to cross promote.
It is also a way to benefit the publishing industry.
There is even a way to make the idea above this into a seasonal catalog.
There is a case study on the way way some fellow writers and it published it as an income-producing venture in the new edition of my award-winning Frugal Book Promoter(http://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromo) on page 340 (check the index for other ideas for using catalogs, too).
Write a little seasonal poem, story, or article to include with your holiday letter or greeting card.
Always include a credit line that lists one of your books and a link to a buy page for it.
Send your poem to the editors of newsletters, blogs, print magazines both large and small and especially your local newspaper.
Eleanor Gamarsh just had a nostalgic article she wrote on gifts vs. gift cards on the front page of her local newspaper.
Everyone loves to have something seasonal to pretty up an issue at any given time of the year.
Consider putting your book into commercial catalogs.
There are resources for online book catalogs in The Frugal Book Promoter, too, as well as information on how to sell almost any book to these catalogs—even ones that aren’t holiday themed.
You’ll find ideas your junk mail delivered by USPS, in your e-mail box, and in the pocket in front of your seat when you fly.
And extensive information on how to use blurbs extracted from reviews to sell your book to established catalog outlets is in my newest #HowToDoItFrugally Series book, How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically: The ins and outs of using free reviews to build and sustain a writing career. Think, how can I pitch the idea of my book in a way that will fit with the catalog’s theme or their audience?
And remember: These catalogs pay the freight on books (bookstores do not).
They also don’t return books as bookstores do.
And they tend to buy a lot of books to cover their orders.
Do you have ideas of your own?
Please send a tip to me at HoJoNews@AOL.com (with your e-mail address) and I’ll add it to my SharingwithWriters newsletter.
Have you heard of Charles Dickens?
Do you know Scrooge—in person or as a character in A Christmas Carol?
If so, how can you argue with what writing for the season can do for you?
About Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Carolyn Howard-Johnson has several decades experience in journalism, retailing (authors are retailers, too!), in publicity, and as a marketer of her own fiction and poetry. She is also author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books—one series for writers and one for retailers. Learn more about all her books and services at http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com. For lots more ideas on promotion and craft, subscribe to her blog at http://sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com.
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