For a couple of weeks now, I’ve been engaged in promoting my Christmas book—the 13th in the Klepto Cat Mystery series A Picture-Purrfect Christmas. What a wild, crazy, and busy ride. One thing that occurred to me as I journeyed down that bumpy marketing road this time is that my books—and probably yours—have more than one audience and more than one profile of people who should receive the promotional material.
For me there are readers/fans (gotta love-em); reviewers (so important); bloggers seeking guests posts, books to feature and so forth; magazine/ezine editors at large, for publications related to my topic, and those for organizations I belong to; and then there are family, friends, and acquaintances who may or may not now or in the future read one of my books. As I work my way through my email list of nearly 2,000 addresses and research new online opportunities by way of blogs, ezines, etc., I continue to meet new fans and reviewers and I continue to add to my lists.
Keeping it all straight can be a challenge. Maybe some of you have ideas for doing that. As for me, I keep changing my way of organizing this process.
I also prepare different material with unique messages for each group of people I approach. While I want to invite reviewers and bloggers and editors of appropriate sites and publications to request a review copy or consider interviewing me, for example, my readers/fans receive something designed to entice them to scramble to Amazon and purchase the latest book. I send something more personal to reviewers and bloggers who’ve embraced the Klepto Cat Mysteries in the past and have given me lots of press. I present a more formal pitch to those who haven’t responded before, offering another brand of enticement and, of course, all the information they need. Likewise, I try different approaches with each book for potential readers at large—hoping this one will cause them to order a book for themselves or consider buying one as a birthday gift or for Christmas giving. An enticement might be a discount or a special gift.
This year, since I have a Christmas story to share, I ordered Christmas cards with the book’s cover on them and I’m collecting mailing addresses for key people—reviewers, colleagues, organization heads, and so forth. That has been a complex and complicated research project. Do you know how many people do not have a street (or even POB) address on their websites/blog sites? The process is taking some creative maneuvers along with some straight-forward activities such as emailing the individual asking for an address.
That’s working out nicely, especially since several of the people have asked for my address in return. How nice, now I have something to look forward to in my mail box come December, as well.
Yes, my Christmas card is more than a heartfelt greeting. It is also designed to prod the recipient to consider purchasing my Christmas edition of the Klepto Cat Mystery series as a gift for someone or several someones on their holiday list.
Let me know if you’d like to receive my special Christmas card offering this year. It may also include a bookmark. PLFry620@yahoo.com