Three Tinseltastic Tips for Holiday Book Sales

By Greenleaf Team - May 19 , 2007

By Ashley Marion

It’s the most wonderful time of the year—holiday shopping season. Maximize your exposure and let the holidays work for you. Follow these three tinsel-tastic tips and you can deck the halls with boughs of book sales:

1. Black Friday Ah, the joy of waking up at five AM the day after Thanksgiving only to go to the mall, park miles away from the door, wait in a line with a hundred of your closest friends, and then push and shove your way into the halogen light heaven that is After Thanksgiving Day Sales. Black Friday, or Blitz Friday, has become the day to shop for the holidays, which means you have the opportunity to expose your book to thousands of shoppers looking for the perfect gift for their loved ones. (Although the day itself offers a lot of opportunity, these techniques can be effective for the rest of the holiday shopping season as well.) Make sure your local bookstores have copies of your book on the shelves. If your best friend owns a gift shop, why not incorporate your book into a holiday display? Contact locally owned businesses about setting up a charity event in which you will donate some of your proceeds to the local food bank if they will agree to sell your book during Black Friday. Be creative, but get it out there!
2. Cyber Monday Last year we saw a trend emerging, with online retailers launching digital campaigns and promotions the Monday following Thanksgiving Day: Cyber Monday. This is a great opportunity for you to get your book involved in a new shopping tradition. Offer book deals on your book’s website, perhaps a two-for-one deal or a 20 percent off coupon. Send emails to everyone you know with a coupon attached for 50 percent off the cover price of your book if they buy it through you and can provide you with three email addresses of friends who might also be interested in your book. There are no limits to the simple online promotions you can try to boost sales for the holidays.
3. Work the Trends One of your most important duties in marketing your book is to be constantly aware of the trends, and I don’t just mean publishing trends. The worlds of advertising, PR, and marketing constantly change. Know where consumers are going to be, when they are going to be there, and how you can be there with your book. For instance, one of the hottest trends this yearhas been the growth of online social communities like Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube. Try running a holiday promo through your MySpace page. Utilize your online social network and offer them a special deal.

And remember, ’tis the season to be jolly. Have fun with holiday promotions, don’t let them stress you out.