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Using Tech for Book Marketing

Kate Gingold from Sprocket WebsitesKate has been building websites with her husband Don since 1996 for all sorts of clients, including authors.

Kate regularly writes about online marketing for Sprocket Websites and provides tips and techniques for entrepreneurs and small-business owners. Since being an author today is not really different from being an entrepreneur with a small business, most of those tips are just as useful to authors.

Kate is an author herself. She writes books on local history, including the award-winning "Ruth by Lake and Prairie," a fictionalized account of the true story of Great Lake pioneering to the shores of Chicago and beyond to found Naperville, Illinois. 

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Author Tips and Tales

Real-Life Examples of Memorable Book Events
Kate Gingold Host
/ Categories: Author Tips

Real-Life Examples of Memorable Book Events

In the last post, we talked about finding partners who can help make your book signing or book launch truly memorable. Not sure how to make that work? Well, I have some real-life stories to share.

 

Partnering with a nonprofit

Earlier this year I attended a grand opening for a new facility that provides early intervention for children with disabilities. In addition to a ribbon-cutting ceremony, some testimonial speeches from parents and educators and tasty refreshments, part of the event included a book signing.  

The book was Azure House, a children’s book written by Lisa J. Becker and illustrated by Karen Light. Neither Lisa nor Karen had a specific connection with the facility – other than the fact that they shared the same marketing agency who put the two together. The facility benefitted by having an interesting addition to their grand opening and the book benefitted by getting in front on the right audience of readers.

 

Hosting your own event

The story of Murder in the Museum, written by Karen Shughart, takes place on the shores of Lake Ontario, so that’s where Karen held her book launch. She worked with the Sodus Bay Heights Golf Club to provide appetizers for her guests and let them buy their own preferred drinks. 

While Karen’s book launch was mainly for invited guests, other patrons of the club wandered in to see what the fun was all about and she sold more than 40 books that night!

 

Finding an unusual venue

My first books are about the 1830s in Illinois history and I was put in contact with the Autumn Pioneer Festival in Boone County, Illinois. The festival is full of tinkers and weavers and other folks who practice the old crafts. It attracts people from all over who are interested in history.

Everyone who exhibits during the festival must where period appropriate clothing and decorate their display accordingly. Few other people had books to sell and yes, I donned pioneer clothing to do so. I attended the Pioneer Festival for a few years, but it was a three-day commitment that I eventually had to give up. If it was a one-day event, I would absolutely do it again.

 

Professional event-planning

Jackie Camacho-Ruiz runs a successful marketing company and she knows her stuff. She is also the author of a bunch of well-received books. When Jackie held a book launch for her book Inspiring Latina, she welcomed over 600 guests. 600! And they paid $10 per ticket to attend!

As a pro, she checked off a number of important marketing items, starting with the fact that she invited 26 fellow Latinas to contribute to the book. Each of them, of course, brought their own friends and families to the launch. 

The evening was advertised to have an emcee, a well-known TV news anchor, and was sponsored by the likes of Verizon, Prudential and the National Association of Women Business Owners. Many local businesses were also sponsors and the book launch doubled as a business networking event.

What an author’s book signing or book launch looks like is limited only by their imagination and the effort they want to expend. We would all love to hear about really neat book events, so feel free to share and inspire someone else!

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Full disclosure:  Writing for Sprocket Websites is my day job, so if you have questions about digital marketing, I'm happy to help!

 

Marketing Author Interview

Following a presentation for In Print Professional Writers Group, Kate's husband (and publisher!) Don was interviewed by author Louise Brass for WBOM Radio. During the conversation, Don shared many of the marketing tips from his presentation. You can listen to it online here.

The Sprocket Report

The Sprocket Report is published every other week with Internet marketing tips, tools and techniques. The archive features articles from 2011 up to the present. You are welcome to read how business owners are using technology to market themselves and apply those tips to your author business.


 

 

Get a Book Siging Checklist and our Sprocket Report

Kate will be happy to send you her brief Book Signing Checklist. Treat your book promotion like a business - because it is!

AND, since much of your efforts will be online, she'll also enroll you in her Sprocket Report, an email newsletter sent every other Tuesday, that includes 2 Internet Marketing tips and a post from a guest blogger on related business.

No worries! She won't use your email address for anything else, and you can unsubscribe from the newsletter anytime, but the checklist is yours to keep.

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