I was book page editor of The Commercial Appeal newspaper in Memphis from 1988 to 2003. Contact between book marketers and publishers and me was usually via a letter followed by a phone call, or, as time went on, just a phone call. This method was extremely effective. Even when email gradually came to dominate the conversation, I considered a phone call more direct and personal. All these years later, I still have contact with some of those people on Facebook and Instagram.
This is great Kathleen! Would you consider writing a bit more about author and brand collaborations? Where you’ve seen it work well? Some of the possibilities? Or have you written about this previously? Thanks!
Thanks for your take on the key tactics, Kathleen! A great list that goes beyond the standard tatics we've seen/heard before! I like the idea of reaching readers directly; however, as someone who's worked in marketing and studied direct-to-consumer brands' social media/mktg strategies, I know how time- and resource-intensive this can be. Any frameworks for how authors can think about 1) how to get up the learning curve of this particular tactic, 2) what success could/should look like and how to measure it, and 3) how to budget both time and $$ for this vs. other tactics? Could be a great paid class!
I was book page editor of The Commercial Appeal newspaper in Memphis from 1988 to 2003. Contact between book marketers and publishers and me was usually via a letter followed by a phone call, or, as time went on, just a phone call. This method was extremely effective. Even when email gradually came to dominate the conversation, I considered a phone call more direct and personal. All these years later, I still have contact with some of those people on Facebook and Instagram.
This is great Kathleen! Would you consider writing a bit more about author and brand collaborations? Where you’ve seen it work well? Some of the possibilities? Or have you written about this previously? Thanks!
I’ve written a little bit about it previously. The truth is, there haven’t been many cases of it.
Great point about investing in upskilling publicity staff with marketing skills. Also, I just did a brand collab with my book and it worked well.
Thanks for your take on the key tactics, Kathleen! A great list that goes beyond the standard tatics we've seen/heard before! I like the idea of reaching readers directly; however, as someone who's worked in marketing and studied direct-to-consumer brands' social media/mktg strategies, I know how time- and resource-intensive this can be. Any frameworks for how authors can think about 1) how to get up the learning curve of this particular tactic, 2) what success could/should look like and how to measure it, and 3) how to budget both time and $$ for this vs. other tactics? Could be a great paid class!
Ah, clarifies some thoughts. Merci.
Very informative piece, thank you!!