AN INDIE AUTHOR’S JOURNEY: Book Marketing, Phase One (Snail Mail)

LUNADAR snailmail campaign

I’m delving into the world of indie publishing. Some authors go the quicker route and use a source like CreateSpace or Kindle Direct to immediately get their books out there.

There’s nothing wrong going that route, but I’ve decided to take a different path.

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Now that the finishing touches on the actual production of LUNADAR: Homeward Bound is finalized, I can turn my attention to the marketing side of things. I know a lot of authors who really dread this part of the publishing business for various reasons. Either its too expensive or it’s too time consuming or the authors just aren’t skilled enough to put together a smart marketing plan.

In various jobs I’ve held over the years, I’ve always managed to dip my toes into the marketing side of things as I looked for ways to help promote whatever business I was working  for. I am NOT a marketing expert but I LOVE researching and learning so when I was waiting for  the release date of my LUNADAR print edition to be determined, I took the time to give some serious thought to how am I going to promote this new book of mine on a poor gal’s budget?

 

thinker

 

I have come up with several marketing ideas…some little, some big, some FABULOUS…that I will be trying out over the next 90 days to help get the word out and will then look at my results to see what worked and what bombed.

The first thing I did was create a book trailer and had it uploaded to YouTube:

 

lunadar book trailer.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVUOuctv3WI

Today I’m going to talk about my SnailMail Campaign.

Yeah, EVERYONE is on the internet and phone with texting, instant messaging, chatting, and posting. But part of me is “old school” and nothing says it better than a hand delivered letter with a postcard, business card, and mini “sell sheet” inside, hand addressed to the receiver.

 

LUNADAR sell sheet

As a writer, you are supposed to know your audience and for LUNADAR: Homeward Bound, I had many targets to look at :  

 

  1. Teenagers 13-18 years old
  2. Book Clubs who read YA fantasy
  3. Middle Schools
  4. High Schools
  5. Bookstores
  6. Libraries
  7. Video Game Stores
  8. Comic Book Stores
  9. Trading Card Stores
  10. Homeschool Groups

 

That was a good start. I then started making an actual mailing list of names and addresses covering individuals or businesses in any of these categories within a 50 mile radius of my home. I came up with 142 different locations to send my book info to. They break up into these various groups:

 

  1. Bookstores  36
  2. Specialty stores  4
  3. Libraries  33
  4. Newspapers  8
  5. Middle Schools  21
  6. High Schools  22
  7. Private Schools  18

 

If I go with the “six degrees of separation” theory, then just think of all the possible future readers of my book being created by sending these little packages of book love out into the world?

 

book love

Crossing my fingers while I work on the next phase of marketing, I like to call “The Twelve Weeks of LUNADAR”…based on the theme “The Twelve Days of Christmas”…

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lunadar

(Amazon)

 

Ruler by day, a reluctant pirate by night, 18-year-old Princess Ariana fights for her subjects in the waterfall city of Lunadar. In a kingdom surrounded by fairies and mermaids, and ravaged by deadly Drundles, only a chosen few are trusted to guard her daughter, Candra, as the secret heir to the throne.

But it only takes one ill-fated meeting for Ariana to suddenly be plunged into an escalating web of secrets found in her father’s journal, a deadly kidnapping, and an ever-weakening resolve to turn her back on the call of the merman’s song.

With Ariana’s world falling apart and the future of Lunadar at stake, how will she bring her father’s murderer to justice and fulfill a deathbed promise to protect Lunadar’s legacy?

 

donna

 

International best selling, award winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest book, LUNADAR: Homeward Bound (a YA fantasy), ebook edition, is now available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, Goodreads, and other online retailers.

Donna L

Hybrid award winning author; aspiring sketch artist; and 4th Degree Senior Certified Taekwondo Instructor. Host of BOOK NOOK REVIEWS. Member of SCBWI. Mom to fabulous son and adventurer delving into the tricky world of indie-publishing.

3 thoughts on “AN INDIE AUTHOR’S JOURNEY: Book Marketing, Phase One (Snail Mail)

  • August 27, 2018 at 6:59 pm
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    This sounds fantastic! What age would you suggest a child be to have this story read to him? It’s sounds like one that I myself would enjoy, so I will consider purchasing it either way.

    Reply
  • August 28, 2018 at 4:18 am
    Permalink

    Hi and welcome to my blog! LUNADAR was written mainly with ages 13-18 in mind, but so far kids as young as 11 have read it, all the way up to 60-year-olds. It has adult subject matter such as a child out of wedlock, light romance, and even death. I don’t know how old the child in question is so maybe you should read it first and then decide? The ebook is already out and the print edition will be out October 15th.

    Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

    Reply
  • Pingback: AN INDIE AUTHOR’S JOURNEY: Book Marketing Phase Two (Book Reviews) – Story Catcher Publishing

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