© 2008 J. Aday Kennedy All Rights Reserved
| J. Aday Kennedy |
| Book Promotion Step by Step by Kerry Madden |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
 |  |
"Usually, a new book comes out like cat paws, very soft...barely heard...and then it goes away - just like cat
paws." This is what an author told me recently when I attended her reading, which is a very apt description. I get
asked a lot about book promotion, because I do so much of it myself. I wrote up this list of tips to book
promotion a while ago and gave it to my editor at Viking Children's Books, and she shared it with other editors
and writers, who have since written to say thanks. I really think this list is best suited for writers just about to
publish their first or second book, who have no idea what to expect, but maybe other writers might find it helpful
too.
A Short Preamble: In 1996 my novel, OFFSIDES, was published and I was sent by William Morrow on a book
tour to football towns mostly in the South, staying mostly with family and friends. At a Books-A-Million in Bossier
City, LA where I knew no one and no one knew me and no one showed, a clerk said, "Well, why don't you read
over the loudspeaker and maybe that will drum up some interest, hon."
OFFSIDES did well critically, but was out of print in less than two years.
And so that no author may ever be called upon to read over the loudspeaker in a warehouse of books, I offer
these tips to grassroots book promotion. And I will say quite honestly that I did some of these more than
others...I think we have to find what we can do comfortably as authors...and yet also get out of the "comfort
zone" too.
TIPS TO SURVIVE SELLING YOUR BOOK
1. Set up writing workshops for kids in schools, libraries, and bookstores. This way you are pretty much
guaranteed an audience and you'll be able to get the kids to write their own stories and poems. I set up writing
workshops for both teens and younger kids. I always made sure art supplies are on hand so the kids can illustrate
their stories and poems. Offer to publish their stories that they email you on your blog or website. Now most of my
bookstores require the purchase of one of my books to participate in the writing workshop. These workshops
have led to "artist-in-residencies" at schools and more school visits.
2. In these workshops, keep the energy high and tell the kids they are born poets and authors - praise them and
getting them jazzed and excited and up on their feet reading their poems or stories. With the older kids, smaller
circles work best. Get them writing about favorite secret places or magic powers or fishing - whatever relates to
them. Bring in the five senses. You can't lose. Tell them funny stories about your childhood - the bus bully in
fourth grade, the nun in sixth grade, your father's driving...the kids love to hear stories about how you survived
childhood and now you get to write stories!
3. Make postcards and/or bookmarks. They do help. I printed 5,000 and went through them pretty quickly. You
can leave stacks in bookstores, restaurants, libraries. I printed another 5,000 and I still have plenty of those left. I
give them out in schools to kids for bookmarks if the kids want them. I mostly use bookmarks now, but I think both
are helpful. I give out either bookmarks or postcards for all my school visits, and they kids really like them.
4. Set up a website where kids can write to you and learn more about the world of the book and what you do as
an author. Peruse other author sites to give you ideas.
5. Join a YA and middle-grade fiction writers list-serve. The Child_Lit Serve out of Rutgers is another great
list-serve of authors, professors, librarians. Richie Parrington has started a great list-serve for middle school
books for librarians, teachers, and authors. Study Cynthia Leitich Smith's website which has a font of information
about the world of children's literature. I constantly refer people to her site, and she always updates good news
for authors, publishers, editors, illustrators. You name it!
www.cynthialeitichsmith.com
cynsations
Other great links to name a few!
http://jkrbooks.typepad.com
http://www.debbimichikoflorence.com
http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/
http://www.jacketflap.com/
6. And to continue on that thought for a minute...There are so many
wonderful children's and YA book blogs now...even clicking on one will
lead you to another and another and another...but get to know who you can.
Children's and YAbook bloggers are the ones who keep your books alive.
Thank them. And thank them again. And again. Send them your books to
review. But only devote a little time each day to these blogs, because you
want to be protective of your writing time too.
7. Create your book tour! Stay with friends and family. Rent the cheapest rental car and airline tickets through
Orbitz or Cheap Tickets. Visit bookstores before your book comes out - six months is good. Set up email
correspondence with each clerk, and over the next few months, set up dates for the booksignings/writing
workshops. If you just have a handful of galleys, make photo copies and get them out to select book reviewers.
This especially works well for regional newspapers. The bigger markets are so glutted, but the smaller papers do
a great job of author profiles and reviews if you let them know in time.
8. Begin laying the groundwork for your book promotion six months before your book is published. Write a press
release and email it to newspapers and TV stations closer to the pub date along with a review or two if you have
them. Bookpromotion101 is a good workshop. So is Author Buzz run by MJ Rose.
9. For the writing workshops with young readers, bring in a suitcase of props that inspired your book. In other
words, what do your characters love and collect? I bring in special agate stones, peacock feather, books,
pictures, music, old cow bones, paintings, drawings, journals in my characters' voices, fairy books, The Synonym
Finder. The kids can see how messy writing is before a book is a book. They will love to explore the table of props
and it will inspire the shyer kids to ask questions...Often times, librarians or teachers will contact local media to
cover your school visit and announce your next signing or even do a story.
10. In the writing workshops, tell the kids they are also storycatchers! Tell them to interview their parents and
grandparents - tell them to be storycatchers in their family. I had one boy say, "I am not a writer." (He pronounced
it 'rider.') I said, "What do you like to do?" and he said, "Fish." I said, "Well, write about fishing...tell me about
night-crawlers, how much does a can of night crawlers cost?" He said, "About a $1.25 a can. I can write about
fishing?" I said, "You may write about anything you want!" He wound up writing a great story about how he loves
to brag when he catches a big bass.
11. Go support other authors. Show up at their signings and readings and buy their books. Host them in
interviews on your website or blog or simply mention their books in a short review. We're all in this together, and
the more we can reach out and support each other, the more we'll get back.
12. Hire a publicist, but if you can't do that, here is what you do...You barter...You find a friend or a student and
you offer to edit their stories and novels for free (forever) in exchange for helping you do publicity. I know this
might sound extreme, but book publicity is such grueling work and it helps so much to have a friend with a sense
of humor who "gets it."
13. Check out sites like Winding Oak at www.windingoak.com and the Children's Literature Network. They are
incredibly knowledgeable at helping authors set up events, creating fliers, and doing regular website updates.
They charge, of course, but they do a great job. Little Willow is also great for website design.
14. Consider having a reading/booksigning at a place other than a bookstore - go for the pancake house, a bar,
a tea house or some other non-traditional place. A friend's back yard or your own if you like...An independent
bookseller will love to sell books, and you'll be able to woo more friends into coming and bringing their friends. If
you have kids, your kids can run around and celebrate too. Hire a musician...A left-handed banjo player was a hit
at my most recent reading.
15. Write an essay for your alumni magazine about writing for kids or about how you became a writer. You'll get
readers...universities like to hear about their graduates and their adventures. If a rural library asks you to donate
book, say yes...Say yes as much as you can...Just do it. And if you can't do it all the time, that's okay, but do say
yes whenever possible.
16. Write an essay/oped piece for a newspaper with a large readership - that will get your name out to more
readers.
17. Record your book at your local Braille Institute and offer to do a workshop at their summer reading program.
You'll meet amazing kids who are budding storytellers.
18. Email bookstores with your information (book, website, jacket quotes) and follow up those emails with
store-visits or phone calls. Explain how you are able to offer writing workshops for kids instead of traditional
readings. Hint. Be upbeat and professional even when clerks can and will be indifferent. You will find the ones
who get you and as for the ones who don't? Move on with grace. Try to focus on the independent bookstores
because they are the ones who will handsell your book.
19. Do as many free writing workshops as you feel you can at first...do them for foster kids, kids in Juvenile Hall -
those kids who don't have a chance to meet with writers. Publish their stories on your blog if they want you to do
so.
20. Send your press release to your old grade school, high school, college...Offer to meet with students from your
alma mater to talk to them about writing.
21. 826 Valencia is a great place to do free writing workshops for kids, and they will announce your visit on their
website which reaches people across the country. They are opening more places in more cities. Check out their
site: www.826valencia.org
22. Set up a six or ten week writing workshop for teens or adults wanting to write children's stories at a local
bookstore. You will be able to charge, of course, and the bookstore will advertise the class and your book on their
website and in their newsletter.
23. Update your website regularly - offer creative writing ideas - story prompts etc.
24. Do email blasts from time-to-time as you feel comfortable. I do about three or four times a year if I have real
updates. I am very wary of emailing in bulk too often. (Updates: Deborah Davis at www.deborahdavis.com has a
great newsletter, which I think is a wonderful idea.)
25. Pitch workshops or classes to Media Bistro or UCLA online or at a university near you. It's free advertising for
you and your book and your class. You also get to meet wonderful students in your workshop.
26. This is not a suggestion but an observation - the more you give of yourself as an author, the more you will
connect with your readers at every level. But also give yourself a break and time to be alone to write and just be,
so you can gather the stamina needed to get out there again.
27. Go to ALA or Book Expo or to the SCBWI events or to Abook festivals on your own dime at least once if have
a book coming out that season. Ask your publisher to "badge" you in to ALA and Book Expo if they cannot offer
you a signing during the conventions. Then go meet people. It's so worth it. You will make connections you cannot
make at home emailing. Stay with friends and family (leave flowers or signed copies of your book as thank you
gifts) and tell yourself that one day you will go on a book tour where you won't have to feed and walk the basset
hounds as payback. (And I'm not knocking the basset hounds...)
28. Join the SCBWI and find a local chapter near you and offer to do a workshop on setting, plot, voice.
29. Write thank you notes to everyone - librarians, teachers, booksellers. Be appreciative, don't whine, say thank
you. (You can share war stories over cocktails with your friends later.)
30. I am adding a new one: get a navigation device. It really helps out there on the road. And remember, you've
got a great job! You're writing books for kids. You're getting to do what you love. Take a minute to remember that
from time to time. And tell the kids whom you meet that one of the greatest highlights of being a writer is the honor
of meeting them - the future storytellers and artists and writers! It's a way of saying thank you to everybody who
got you where you are - giving back to the kids who need you now.
| 30 Book Marketing Tips |
Kerry Madden has written plays, screenplays, journalism (for publications like the Los
Angeles Times, Salon, and Sierra Club Magazine), and six books including Offsides, a
New York Library Pick for 1997, and Writing Smarts, a guide to creative writing published
by the American Girl Company. In 2005 she turned her hand to children’s literature with
Gentle's Holler, the first installment in what became the award-winning Maggie Valley
Trilogy. It earned starred reviews in both Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly, was named a
“Pick” by both the New York and the Chicago Public Libraries, and was the featured
children’s book of North Carolina at the National Book Festival. “It is the genuine article,”
wrote Rosemary Wells. “It’s heroine is as bone-real and endearing as Opal in Because
of Winn Dixie.” The next book in the trilogy, Louisiana’s Song (2007) was equally well
received, being named a Bank Street College Book of the Year and a finalist for several
other awards. The third installment, Jessie’s Mountain, was published in 2008 to strong
reviews. Most recently Madden has completed a biography of To Kill a Mockingbird author
Harper Lee, which will be published in Viking’s UpClose Series in 2009. Madden
received the B.A. and M.F.A. degrees from the University of Tennessee and has been
honored as a Tennessee Williams Scholar and a Walter E. Dakin Fellow at the Sewanee
Writers’ Conference. She has taught creative writing at the University of Tennessee,
Ningbo University in China, UCLA, and elsewhere, and has visited schools across the
country as a guest author. Visit www.kerrymadden.com to learn more about Madden and
her work.
Angeles Times, Salon, and Sierra Club Magazine), and six books including Offsides, a
New York Library Pick for 1997, and Writing Smarts, a guide to creative writing published
by the American Girl Company. In 2005 she turned her hand to children’s literature with
Gentle's Holler, the first installment in what became the award-winning Maggie Valley
Trilogy. It earned starred reviews in both Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly, was named a
“Pick” by both the New York and the Chicago Public Libraries, and was the featured
children’s book of North Carolina at the National Book Festival. “It is the genuine article,”
wrote Rosemary Wells. “It’s heroine is as bone-real and endearing as Opal in Because
of Winn Dixie.” The next book in the trilogy, Louisiana’s Song (2007) was equally well
received, being named a Bank Street College Book of the Year and a finalist for several
other awards. The third installment, Jessie’s Mountain, was published in 2008 to strong
reviews. Most recently Madden has completed a biography of To Kill a Mockingbird author
Harper Lee, which will be published in Viking’s UpClose Series in 2009. Madden
received the B.A. and M.F.A. degrees from the University of Tennessee and has been
honored as a Tennessee Williams Scholar and a Walter E. Dakin Fellow at the Sewanee
Writers’ Conference. She has taught creative writing at the University of Tennessee,
Ningbo University in China, UCLA, and elsewhere, and has visited schools across the
country as a guest author. Visit www.kerrymadden.com to learn more about Madden and
her work.
Kerry Madden Multi-Published Award Winning Author www.kerrymadden.com http://mountainmist.livejournal.com/ |
TIPS TO SURVIVE BOOK PROMOTION
| HARPER LEE UP CLOSE ISBN-13: 9780670010950 |
| Gentle's Holler ISBN-13: 978-0142407516 |
| Louisiana's Song ISBN-13: 978-0670061532 |
| Jessie's Mountain ISBN-13: 978-0670061549 |
| To Purchase Kerry Madden Books Visit www.amazon.com |