Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Need Cool Ideas For Promoting A Children's Book

Posted by Anonymous on 1/2/2006 at 2:48 PM ET 500 Points
Happy New Year Everyone,

One of my client's recently wrote a children's book, and we are now in the process of planning the promotion of the book.

I would love to hear any suggestions you have with regard to clever and unique ways to promote the book both locally, on the internet, and any other way imaginable!

I look forward to hearing your suggestions.

Thank you all!

Angie
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 1/2/2006 at 3:00 PM Accepted
    Hi Angie,
    It's always wonderful to hear about another author's success. In addition to writing business copy by day I write fiction so I'm most interested in discussing your client's promotional efforts.

    Here's a newsletter site that offers advice on book promotion...https://www.bookpromotionnewsletter.com/) Another newsletter that has tons of tips on book promotion is distributed by Dan Poynter of Para Publishing. https://www.bookpromotionnewsletter.com/) https://www.parapublishing.com/getpage.cfm?file=/homepage.html&user=#user. He also has published books on the subject as well.

    M. J. Rose, a publishing phenomenon in her own right also teaches a class on book promotion. https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/BkDoctorSin/

    I hope this helps. I have a ton more resources that I could share. Perhaps, we can talk further about this offline. I'd love to explore this more with you.


    Warmly,
    Julie Ann Shapiro
  • Posted on 1/2/2006 at 3:54 PM Member
    If this is a serious project, there are a few questions:

    1. Who is the publisher? What plans does the publisher have for promotion/distribution? If your client is self-publishing, then he/she needs to start by defining the objective more clearly. Just promoting the book for the sake of promoting it isn't a very good strategy. What's the goal? What does success look like?

    2. Has your client read (and internalized) the information in Tom and Marilyn Ross's The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing? If not, I'd start there. Or visit the website for Dialogue Press and read the section for first-time authors.

    3. How do you plan to distribute the book (physically)? Do you plan to have it in bookstores, on Amazon, in toy stores? Via web sales? Other? That will make a big difference in your marketing plans.

    Hope this helps. In addition to the suggestions from juliethewriter, you might also suggest your client join PMA (www.pma-online.org). They have some very good support materials and promotion vehicles for members. And members are mostly authors and small, independent publishers.
  • Posted by Deremiah *CPE on 1/2/2006 at 4:31 PM Accepted
    Hello ahodges, (Happy New Year!)

    There are so many ways to approach this thing you shouldn't limit yourself. First of all let me commend you for working with a person who will go out of their way to create products for children. I hope it is extremely productive because many in the game world and Hip Hop music arena use our children's minds to communicate horrible ideas and concepts to.

    Remember NEVER LIMIT YOURSELF! OPEN UP AND THINK OUTRAGEOUSLY ABOUT IT. I mentor nearly 50 new children a year and can identify with topics centered around the subject of children. So here we go...

    Remember children are universally appealing so everyone who has a child or knows a child may have an interest in knowing about your product. Another way to look at it is consider involving children with your campaign and those who have the purse strings will follow. If you want to know more about this part send me an email.

    WHATEVER YOU DO COMBINE ONLINE PROMOTION WITH YOUR CAMPAIGN...THAT IS IF YOU WANT TO BE SUCCESSFUL!!!
    If you do online promotion I would highly recommend using www.prweb.com a great way to promote exclusively online to all kinds of news media groups. You'll be amazed at how many children's outlets and companies will read your press release and share the information with others. You can send it for free or you can have major impact with as little as $80.00 or $120.00. If you have a bigger budget I could show you how to do some pretty creative things with your PR release.

    I've had some amazing results with the above and you might be surprised how many relationships, radio interviews and newspaper stories I have grown out of my online PR. It's a great investment.

    SPEAK YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS...
    KNOCK SCHOOL DOORS DOWN...
    SCHOOLS LOVE FOR THEIR STUDENTS TO COME IN CONTACT WITH AN AUTHOR OF A BOOK.
    It will become imperative that you plan to self-promote. A good friend of mine and Children's author Melanie Gilbert and Snip Francis, writers of "Hey Look the Happy Book" and "Happy Stories" take this school touring thing to the max.

    CREATE A STRATEGIC PLAN OF ATTACK and GO LOCAL THEN BUILD>>>
    You can start out locally by calling the schools and doing readings. Up front find out if the schools will allow you to send home flyers telling the parents about whom they met or better yet do like Melanie Gilbert does...she obtained sponsorship from McDonald's Corporation and gave away books to every child.

    TEASE THEM A LITTLE, LIKE AMAZON...Give a sample
    Give away a chapter or two from the book in sample form that way they can take it home to share with their parents. You won't even have to ask the schools permission to give away in most cases but it never hurts to say "Do you mind if we give your students a chapter from our book?" Everyone will say yes to this!

    DRAW THE MEDIA IN AS YOU GO AND...

    JET PROPEL YOURSELF INTO STARDOM....THAT'S WHAT I DID!!! AND IT WAS EASY AS PIE.
    I created a greeting card with KIDS campaign and generated newspaper articles from 5 local newspapers that touched 17 suburbs and reached over 56,000 PLUS readers in less than 3 weeks and I did this without a budget and it was Easy! I mean I didn't buy one stamp just made a few phone calls and before I knew it people were calling me.

    DO YOU HEAR WHAT I'M SAYING?...IT'S ONLY AS DIFFICULT AS YOU MAKE IT---BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!
    Don't underestimate how you can use the media to take you to the next level. Everyone needs NEWS and the newspapers will help you if you let them know about what you're doing. Call up the press and send out PR Releases locally. As your campaign grows, well I can't give you all of my secrets. I think I've shared enough for you to take it to the max. If I give you anymore I won't have anything to put into my PR section of my next book. I think you get what I'm saying. I've got another great PR idea that I won't share here but if you send me an email I'll tell you more if you promise not to tell. Let me know how it goes. Is there anything else I can do for you?

    Your Servant, Deremiah, *CPE (Creating Propelling Experiences)

    or C-hild P-ositive E-xperiences
  • Posted on 1/2/2006 at 4:58 PM Member
    Angie,
    I'm glad my information was helpful. As a self-published author your client will find it difficult to get book reviews from the traditional channels. Also many book stores will not carry self-published books. Agressive grass roots efforts can get some local buyers to go against corporate and stock the book. But it will be a challenge getting that book sold in the traditional ways. Self-published fiction still has quite a stigma associated with it unlike non-fiction business or self-help books.

    Your client will need to put together a press kit if she hasn't already done so. This should include: the author bio, press release about the book, press clips, sample interview questions, excerpt from the book, blurbs from other noted authors.

    Since this a children's book you may even want to have her look into pod casting and or audio tapes of the book.

    Warmly,
    Julie
  • Posted on 1/3/2006 at 4:59 AM Member
    Children love to be involved and be creative. Why not have a competition around the themes/characters of the book?
  • Posted by michael on 1/3/2006 at 10:32 AM Accepted
    Angie,
    It may be listed in some of the links above, but local libraries are always looking for authors to read their own books during childrens time. Most parents hang around also.

    Not sure if you friend is also printing the book her/himself or someone else is.

    Michael
  • Posted by Deremiah *CPE on 1/3/2006 at 9:24 PM Member
    Hey Randall,

    could you connect me with your friend too. I have a client that is doing a children's book and I'm considering doing a book for children myself. Plus I would like to develop a network of Children's authors in order to begin to create a Children's book mastermind group. Thanks.

    Your Servant, Deremiah, *CPE (Customer Passion Evangelist)

    C-hild P-ostive E-dutainment
  • Posted on 1/4/2006 at 10:05 AM Member
    I find it fascinating that this post has generated so much interest. I didn't mention it before but I will be ghost writing a children's mystery for a scholastic publisher.

    I've also had more than twenty short stories published, but these are adult. My agent has my novel out in submissions land. Another novel is in the works. In case anyone is curious your can learn more about my fiction at https://julieannshapiro.tripod.com.
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