TAKING WORD OF MOUTH TO A NEW LEVEL
Los Angeles, CA – Faced with a tough economic landscape and dwindling page space dedicated to book reviews in the nation’s newspapers, authors are utilizing a new but increasingly popular way to publicize their new books: they’re having the readers do it. Having lost a traditional avenue for promoting their work, writers have had no choice but to stretch their creativity beyond the printed page.
Author Kyra Davis is using that approach for her upcoming book Lust, Loathing, and a Little Lip Gloss, fourth in the popular Sophie Katz murder mystery series. The first three books have been translated into four languages and sold in more than a dozen countries. “Newspapers have been one of the hardest hit industries the last few years. Several of those that reviewed my debut novel, Sex, Murder and a Double Latte don’t exist anymore,” noted Ms. Davis. “Many of those that do exist no longer have separate book sections. To get a buzz going you need to be featured in places where you wouldn’t necessarily expect to find a book review, like a personal blog. And book trailers posted on YouTube are great.”
Authors have long used enticements such as contests as publicity tools, but in years past these were often designed simply to get readers to buy the book. Now, as publishers increasingly shy away from expensive book tours, those contests are designed to get readers to not only buy the book but publicize it as well. Last summer Lynn Messina gave away a free camcorder to the reader who produced the best book trailer for her young adult novel Savvy Girl. Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez used the internet to encourage readers to host launch parties in celebration of her recently published novel Dirty Girls on Top. “I truly believe the parties boosted first-week sales for me in a way no other method could,” Ms. Valdes-Rodriguez noted on the partylaunch.com website.
Ms. Davis was inspired by these authors’ efforts and decided to take it a step further. “Sophie Katz has frequented many businesses during the course of the series, most of which I’ve identified by name. It only seemed natural to come up with a contest where I would bring the winner to San Francisco and take her or him to those establishments and include them in the publicity campaign.”
Several businesses have been happy to take part, including San Francisco’s historic Roxie Theater.
CocoaBella Chocolates, another sponsor, will be introducing a limited edition specialty box named after Sophie Katz. “When Kyra approached us, we were first and foremost flattered by our cameo in her novels, “said Michael Freeman, owner and founder of CocoaBella Chocolates. “But then we saw an opportunity to reach global audiences while promoting her book to our customers. This is the perfect tie-in for CocoaBella, as it is our strategy to take advantage of new media and non-traditional marketing trends.”
“In this economic atmosphere it’s important to think outside the box,” Miss Davis says. “The traditional methods of book publicity aren’t available anymore, at least not to the degree that they used to be. Publishing is in a transition and it’s going to take time to readjust. In the interim authors are going to have to find ways to fill that void. It’s a matter of survival.”
