Book Marketing Success Stories

[John Kremer]

This is a forum to allow people to showcase the things they've done that have worked well for them in marketing their books. Please share your stories here. Then we can all read them and learn from them. If we work together, we will all be much stronger and more successful in marketing our books.

[Mark David Gerson]

This is low-tech tip but potentially high-impact:
I have a very compelling book cover for my fantasy novel, The MoonQuest. So I went to vistaprint.com and had a t-shirt created with an 8x12 cover reproduction. I wear it everywhere all the time (having ordered several so I could do that) and it definitely attracts attention.

Recently, for example, at the front desk of my hotel: "What's that about?" the assistant manager asked pointing to the shirt. "Wait, I'll show you," I said, pulling my ever-present copy of The MoonQuest from my backpack. "Wow," she said. "Where can I get one?" "Right here, from me," I replied. And a sale was consummated. I don't get a lot of comments on the shirt, but I get enough to make wearing it (and carrying a copy of the book, of course) worthwhile.

Mark David Gerson
The MoonQuest
http://themoonquest.com

[Revvell]

I like it!!! Thanks! Can get shirts, mugs, etc. from CafePress.com as well methinks.

Revvell

[Marvin Double]

Self promotion is a challenge, not matter what you are selling. I'm sure that it's very gratifying to get direct feedback and better yet sales from readers.

At one time I had a small importing and distribution company. I sold other peoples products to store buyer for major chains and also through a network of sales reps. After some time I began developing my own line of products. I found an interesting shift in the way in which I approached buyers when it was my own stuff on the line. To my surprise I was much more timid, reserved and conservative when selling my own lines. I had to learn the skills of self promotion which for a time made me a bit uncomfortable, but I did get past it.

[Nicole Davis]

For my mom's book "Women, It's OK to Marry an Ugly Man," we attended BEA to create some industry buzz behind the release date. We had a wedding theme and gave away wedding favors with a picture of the book to help others remember us. We also had press kits designed like wedding gifts. After BEA, we sent out news releases with titles like "Is it really OK to Marry an Ugly Man?" and "New Book Proposes Solution to Curtail the Divorce Rate in America." We'll be doing a few more press releases in the coming weeks to add buzz. We've also incessantly scoured the Internet to find press contacts and mail out review copies of the book. And we've created an online presence by responding to blogs and news stories. It is much easier to comment and add a signature on established blogs than it is to start and market a new blog. However, we do encourage our authors to start a blog. As a result, we've received several orders from Amazon.com, newspaper coverage/articles, radio and podcast interviews. We are now planning a 12-WeekEnd Book Tour to visit Borders, Barnes & Noble, and independent stores this fall. We are also pursuing special sales since it is a gift book. We hope to sell 50,000 copies by the end of the year!

About the book
Title: Mama Peavy says, "Women, It's OK to Marry an Ugly Man"
Subtitle: 5 Good Reasons Why It's OK
Author: Mary R. Butler
Category: Humor-Relationships; Gift Book
Release date: June 19, 2007
Publisher: Green Olive Tree Publishing

[Marvin Double]

A very interesting title for a book. From an entirely male point of view, I must say that my first thought was that it was a perhaps a bit Chauvinistic. Weather that's entirely accurate or not I can say one thing for certain - the title caught my attention. From a publishing point of view that's a very good thing.

[John Penberthy]

Knowing how tough it is for an unknown author to get published and knowing how difficult it is for an individual to nationallly market a self-published book, I did everything bass ackwards and it has worked beautifully!

After self-publishing my book, To Bee or Not to Bee, a year and a half ago I got a website made www.ToBeeBook.com which included a 60 second trailer. Then I identified email addresses of over 100 foreign literary agents through internet research and sent them a brief descriptive email with the link to the trailer. This piqued the interest of a dozen or so who requested a review copy. Several of them took me on and offers for translation rights from foreign publishers started coming--Korean, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Slovenian, Chinese and Romanian--with advances totaling nearly $40k. Several other languages are in the works. I strongly recommend using literary agents (as opposed to contacting publishers directly); they are worth their weight in gold.

With this track record I sent out 50 books to American literary agents, several of whom responded. I chose one and within 2 months had a contract with a nice advance from Sterling Publishing, a subsidiary of Barnes and Noble, for World English Rights. To Bee or Not to Bee will be re-released in hardcover in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Australia this fall.

If you feel your book has universal appeal I recommend going this route. I'd be gald to provide details and some sites that have lots of foreign rights agents listed.

[Marvin Double]

Fantastic tip, great information and I'm sure aspiring authors, myself included, will be very encouraged by your success.

[Deborah Rummelhart]

Hi John:

Thanks for telling your story. I would love to know the names of the websites with foreign rights agents listed.

I have published a funny book about my experiences of the benefits of yoga, to encourage others to try yoga and reap the benefits. The book is titled "Where Are My Ankles? How Iyengar Yoga Rescued Me From Stress, Fear and a Very Bad Back." The book also offers a coupon for a free yoga class.

You can check out the book at www.funnypath.com and reach me at [e-mail]

Best wishes,

Deborah Rummelhart

[Alicia Castillo]

Hi John:

The trailer is sooo beautiful. and the web is fantastic.

I'm buying a couple of your books. I loved it.

Who did you use to do the trailer and the web and the cover?

Well done!

[Penny Wantuck Eisenberg]

Even if you're not famous, but do get published by a major publisher, the publisher will still expect you to do a lot of your own publicity. I had to hire a publicist for my first cookbook (Macmillan) because they had no plans to send me anywhere and did not have contacts within the Jewish community, my target audience. They did get me terrific press. My second book was published by another large company, Morrow. This time around I did not hire a publicist and sales fell well short of their expectations. They also did not send me on any tours - virtual or otherwise. So lots of these ideas are pertinent whether or not you do manage to get published.

[XoXo Publishing(TM)]

great idea! book trailers are an awesome tool.

[Tom Tuohy Kiss of a Dolphin]

John

Thank you for the great advice. I would be interested in the details and the sites with foreign rights agents.

Tom Tuohy
www.kissofadolphin.com
www.dreamsforkids.org
[e-mail]