The Book Marketing Network

For book/ebook authors, publishers, & self-publishers

Does anyone try to sell books with gift promotions or publishing incentives for writers. And, if so, how has that worked for you? And, where would a writer find a list of possible participants?

Views: 33

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

I'm considering the same thing and I do have ideas for gift promotion in connection with my book. As for possible participants, you need to clearly identify your market/audience. Mine is huge - midlife and Boomer women.
As for gift promo ideas, you may want to try Vistaprint.com Hope this helps!
Hi Chloe and thanks for your input. I took a look at Vistaprint.com and they do have potential in regard to what I previously mentioned. Right now, I'm attempting to sell 8GB, 4GB and 2GB flashdrives at the regular retail prices found in stores, except with the entire collections of my novels and short stories included on the drives. And, they are new drives. Everything is formatted in PDF. What's your take on such a promotional item?
Another thought I've had as far as promotions go, is giving away a free laptop upon getting enough sales of my latest novel, "What Goes Around." However, the only way it can work out is with higher volume sales. The question is, will such an offer generate higher volume book sales, or does the reader think their chances are zip? Since it's a $15.00 book it does require some motivation to get a reader to fork out that kind of money. I admit the target audience is women and they easily spend such money on cosmetics and many other optional goods and services. In my opinion a good womens read is just another form of cosmetics and distinguishes the woman from the box of yard sale book buyers, and the intelligent, discriminating intelligent woman who purchases a good read at a premium price. Compared to any other form of entertainment, $15.00 for a novel is priced correctly.
Again, I've been promoting my books very aggressively, using as many avenues as I can find to list them. And now I'm attempting bulk sales with the following ad on EBAY.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180426871947...

However, in doing so I found an ad already there by another company who apparently purchased the remainders from the original printer. Muze, Inc., has my book, "Times, Thoughts... Words" listed, and have purchased another ISBN in their name. Since Muze is such a large media group, I feel this is a plus since they can popularize my writing abilities far better than the original printer.
Right now I am offering a 20% discount to buyers who order from my web site.
That's a good deal Chloe. I think in this economy and considering the other forms of entertainment, we writers and publishers have to crunch our numbers. If I can get people to act on bulk sales, I can do even bigger, better incentives in the future. To succeed it's going to require a few people to prime the pump in the beginning until I can make it sandard operating procedures.
I have a question for the forum. Are there any writers here who would write a review and post it on Kindle or CreateSpace if they received a free digital PDF version of my latest novel, "What Goes Around?" Like everyone else I want to save mailing cost and time mailing and eliminate mailing to normal channels such as newspapers and book reviewers.

http://www.amazon.com/WHAT-GOES-AROUND-ebook/dp/B002XDR22Q/ref=sr_1...



https://www.createspace.com/3411878
Are there any writers here that uses a paid email service to advertise their books. And, if so, how has that worked for you?
Thanks for the link, Don, but I'm finding it hard to work with. It doesn't want to open up. And then when it did, I didn't see anything about free promotions. I'm not necessarily interested in free as I am in seeking a new magic bullet. As the following link will display, readers give me great ratings.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1560023392/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=U...

What I want is volume sales, and I know that can be achieved if I hook up with serious readers who read for entertainment.
We here at ZLS Publishing, have an author store. Our products are there to help authors sell more books, especially during their book signings. We provide all customized author products. If you are a children's book author, we provide customized crayons, pens, pencils, etc. We have stuff that places like Vistaprint.com doesn't sell. We are authors and we work with authors, so we know what authors need to be successful. Everything is customized so that means that your book cover is put onto the product of your choice. We have over 30 products to choose from. Our best sellers are the customized crayons with Children's book authors, customized notebooks for Non-fiction authors and customized giftcards that Fiction authors really love. Authors as well as customers love customized products and they help with the authors sales. Take a look, place an order, see what we can do for you. www.zlspublishing.com/shop
Thanks for the link, but I already have some promotional items for my books. However, I've been seeking like minded writers who might want to pool their money to offer readers a substantial incentive for buying their books. Every reader purchases for the reason, "what's in it for me?" It's either a matter of prestige as when buying a Stephen King or Rowlings book, and it suggests the have brains and good taste, or it's like Publishers Clearing House, where they hope to win a million dollars. We writers can't do that, but we could offer laptop computers or even a car. The question is, "To be, or not to be?," is a good question, but when it comes down to it, it's more a matter of "to be cheap and unknown, or to be generous and be known?" that is the question.

RSS

© 2024   Created by John Kremer.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service