Monday, November 03, 2008

60 days & 1st MBTA contest

After Murder by Dewey Decimal was published, I was asked several times by other self-published authors why the book sold so well -- for a self-published novel, that is. Some of its success, I hope, was that the book told a good story. The rest of it was my commitment to do 60 days of publicity for MBDD.

During those 60 days, I did something each day to let people know about MBDD and how to buy it. This ran from sending out emails to telling someone in my office about it. I made some mistakes last time. I won’t repeat those this time, but will probably make some new ones with the publicity for Murder by the Acre.

Here are my publicity ideas for MBTA’s 60 Days.

1. Email announcement on the day it was published. Done.
2. Sign on the window at my office. Done.
3. Give links each day on blog. Done so far, although I didn’t post yesterday.
4. Announce book on Facebook. Done.
5. Announce book on MySpace. Not yet.
6. Send out invites for book signings. I have 50 invites ready for the Ada book signing. I will mail them later this week. I need to put together a list of 50 names for the Sallisaw and Muldrow book signings and get those invites ready to mail next week.
7. Promote MBTA merchandise, such as t-shirts, boxes, etc. Not done much of this yet. Will soon.
8. Mail postcards to Oklahoma libraries. I will do this as soon as MBTA shows up in Books in Print so they could actually order it.
9. Print bookmarks for book signings and for giveaways. Done with help from Frenzied Feline who designed the front of the MBTA bookmark and did a great job.
10. Tell at least one person a day about the book. Done so far.
11. Solicit book reviews for online retailers’ sites. Weeell, I’ll do this if the book shows up there. Doesn’t look likely for Amazon at present. We’ll have to wait and see.
12. Post excerpts on blog. Will do.
13. Run contests on blog. Will do.
14. Print sales info labels and put on back of all mail sent out. Been doing this for a while.
15. Wear MBTA clothing around town. Haven’t don’t this yet, but will do.
16. Do book signings. Have three scheduled and am looking around for more.
17. Send press releases to newspapers, radio stations, TV stations, etc. Not yet, but will do.
18. Posters around town. Not done and not sure if I got any response from them, but maybe.

Well, that’s what I’ve thought of so far. What can you think of? That question leads us into our first contest.

Win A Bookmark

1. Think of something that I can do to get publicity for MBTA. (It has to be legal, cheap, and reasonable. By reasonable, I mean something possible that I could reasonably do.)
2. Post it on this blog on this post.
3. Email your snail address to me. Then you’ll get a nifty MBTA bookmark (one per request) while supplies last. (I have several hundred so your odds are good.) Contest ends November 30, 2008.

And now I’ll close for the evening. I have to work on those invitations. Have a great night. Talk to you tomorrow.

Click here to order Murder by the Acre in softcover.

Click here to order Murder by the Acre in hardcover.

Click here to order Murder by the Acre merchandise.

5 comments:

AK Huckeby said...

Here are a few ideas:



Cable One Advertising - it's cheap and you've got a nice eye catching graphic on the book mark. Use it to promote your local book signing.



Pay someone to tattoo the link to buy your book on their bald head and agree to keep a clean shaven head until at least one week before Christmas.



Stickers! Go into every public restroom you can find and unroll the toilet tissue by about 10 squares, apply your sticker, and roll it back up - what a nice surprise!



MBTA Urinal Cakes



This is a serious one - with the press release - issue a "writerly" photo of yourself. I know, I know...but this is as much about self promotion as it is promotion of the work.



And finally, MBTA auto wrap!


Good luck!!!

Adam

Anonymous said...

Urinal cakes?? I don't think I want to know!

I was thinking bumper stickers. You could send us all one and you'd be advertising across the country. :)

Donate a copy to Kirsten's library--gets the word out to those future teachers.

Advertise on the back window of your car.

Make up a half-sheet flyer and keep a stack in your car. Every time you go somewhere, leave one on the windshield of the car you park next to.

I've got a super busy day tomorrow, maybe I'll think up some more as I slowly go crazy. :)

Anonymous said...

You need a web site. About you and the books and link to merchandise and order forms. Let them place orders directly to you for a small fee and you can sign as you send out.

Anonymous said...

Ok that was Roen :)

Anonymous said...

How about doing a segment on my tv program, City Talk? Tri-City TV/Bartlesville. Give me a call 918 335-0079. Program broadcasts on Cableone 59 and on the internet at www.tri-citytv.net