Case Histories
If there’s anyone who knows how to do a Meet-and-Greet, it’s author John Hewitt. He once sold fourteen books to passersby in just a couple of hours. One reason for John’s success is his clever use of props. Notice the “cactus” on the...
Case Histories
I recently heard Paula McLain speak about her early years as an author, and learned that even superstars start small. McLain wrote two books of poetry, a memoir, and a contemporary novel … and then broke out with The Paris Wife, which was on the New York Times...
Case Histories
By Julie Freestone and Rudi Raab A friend, who is a published author, commented when she received an invitation to our book launch party that she had never heard of a book launch. Book readings and book events, but not a launch. In fact we think we had several stages...
Case Histories
Fiction presents a special challenge when it comes to pre-launch communications, because the author can’t usually write about an area of expertise or the benefits of reading the book (beyond a generalized promise of inspiration or entertainment), or provide...
Case Histories
When Lisa Alpine published Wild Life: Travel Adventures of a Worldly Woman, she set up a reading event at her local library, bringing in other travel writers to read from their travel books. They joined together to invite their own friends and fans, pulling in a big...
Case Histories
Susan Alcorn wrote Camino Chronicle about hiking the pilgrimage trail called Camino de Santiago. Where did she find people interested in her book? At the outdoor sporting goods store REI — it turns out they were happy to let her have in-store author events, at which...
Case Histories
Lorraine Rominger had a secret weapon for marketing her memoir, The Rangity Tango Kids — celebrity friends. Robert Redford and Peter Coyote were kind enough to blurb Lorraine’s book, and her book designer (The Book Alchemist) laid out the front cover to allow...
Case Histories
My first buzz-building endeavor was completely accidental. I was looking at several cover ideas for my book, and decided to send out a simple survey to ask others what they thought. So I signed up for a free account at SurveyMonkey, followed their instructions to...
