Print Publications Marketing
Plan
for Monica Burns
© Copyright 2005-2007
Product
Mirage is the first in a series of
books with similar Egyptian settings. The heroine of Mirage,
Alexandra has a good friend, Jane Beacons, who journeys with her
to the land of the Pharaohs. The next in this series will be the
story of Jane and her first love, Leighton Marlowe, Earl of
Tunbridge.
In each of these books, the hero/heroine
will be the main focus, but there will be an action plot as
well.
Customers
w
Customer Profile: Romance readers,
primarily women with varied age range
w
Promotion Methods: Traditional avenues
of promotions in the terms of advertising, ARCs submission,
Internet Radio and innovative ideas based on normal promotion
methods
w
Distribution: Independent
bookstores, Amazon, B&N, Waldenbooks, Books-a-Million
Sales
Forecast
Sales for a debut print author are always
difficult to predict, however with my publications at New
Concept Publishing (NCP), there will be a small, readership
built into the mix. There is value in the name recognition that
comes with the publication of my works, Rogue in Disguise,
and Love’s Revenge. Additionally, the sensual/erotic
market is hot at the moment, and this fact will enhance my book
sales through proper marketing channels. Rogue in Disguise
has received excellent reviews, and I participated in a Romantic
Times BookClub ad in the March 2005 issue to create name
recognition and boost sales of Rogue in Disguise.
Love’s Revenge is following in the footsteps of my first
release with rave reviews. I also have an ad for Love’s
Revenge scheduled in the August 2005 issue of the Romantic
Times BookClub.
Opportunities
w I recently attended the Romantic Times Convention
in St. Louis this past April to promote Rogue in Disguise
and Love’s Revenge both from NCP. I am already making
plans to attend next year’s convention in Daytona Beach as it
was a terrific success for me. I sold 32 of my eBooks at the
Book Fair in less than a four-hour period.
w The trend in the industry is that historicals are
making a comeback from the slump they’ve been in recently.
Industry sources state that Victorians will be hot in 2005 and
2006. This era is my specialty.
w I can drive traffic to my website with contests,
links and other offerings for visitors (readers and writers
alike). Since January of 2005, my site visits consistently draws
in 1800+ unique visitors to the site with an average of five (5)
pages read per visitor, per visit. There has been a steady
increase each month and it’s important to note that these
visitors are not users hitting the site and moving on to another
website. They are viewing pages. Over the past four months, my
page views have increased consistently to an average of 7500
pages viewed each month.
w My contests and networking have garnered me over
600 postal and email addresses to form the basis of an ever
increasing marketing database. All due to marketing efforts
focused on romance readers and booksellers.
w Will explore the possibility of a survey targeted
to men who may enjoy reading erotic romance
Threats
w Competition in the Romance industry is tough. I
will need to ensure that my marketing efforts target historical
readers first and foremost. Targeting this market is not
difficult, but it does require time and effort. Additional
target markets are romance readers who generally speaking do not
pick up a historical romance.
w Trends in the book industry are generally
unreliable, so it will be critical that the book hit the shelves
before the trend peaks and declines. If a trend is seen
happening, every effort will be made to capitalize on the trend
for the success of the current book or future books.
w There is always the potential for another book to
come ahead of one’s paperback that is similar in tone. There is
little that can be done to circumvent this issue, but being
aware of the competition can help in marketing my book.
Marketing is a critical factor in getting the book into the
hands of the reader
w Distribution problems – There are always
unforeseeable problems with book distribution that are out of an
author’s control.
Marketing Strategy
w
Partnerships
– Will partner with the publisher’s
publicity department to complement the house’s efforts in
marketing the book.
w Email database
– I have made it easy for visitors
to visit my website and sign up for my email and postal mail
newsletter. Currently have more than 600 email/snail mail
addresses for distribution of marketing literature.
w Advertising –
Currently purchasing ads in
the Romantic Times as well as purchasing advertising on popular
historical romance websites, such as Romance Designs, WriterSpace, The Romance Studio and others.
w Booksellers –
At the 2005 RT conference, I
networked with a number of booksellers and acquainted them with
my name. I also secured business cards from these individuals to
add them to my booksellers list which I will use for marketing
future print books. Booksellers are critical to an author
reaching their targeted market. For each print book distributed
I will prepare a packet of information for the bookseller.
Contents of the packet will include a fact sheet, SAS postcard
that enables the bookseller to request ARCs, shelf talkers and
other promotional materials they may want to have on hand.
w Book Signings at Conferences
– 2005 RWA National Conference in
Reno; 2005 NJ RWA Conference; 2006 RT conference in Daytona
Beach
w Book Signings
– will arrange for book signings at
Barnes & Noble, Waldenbooks and public libraries in my local
area and expand to signings within a 300-500 mile radius. Being
close to Washington, New York and other large metropolis areas,
I have an advantage not available to some authors as I am within
driving distance of these large cities, and can make book
signing arrangements with a number of stores for a 2-3 day
period.
w Giveaways
-
Have secured free giveaways for
distribution at the various conferences attending such as pens
and bookmarks, special individual giveaways to build name
recognition.
w Contests for readers –
Have already
developed ideas for contests to excite readers about my work. I
intend to offer free copies of my books, but also offer the
opportunity to win prizes connected to the theme of the book.
For example, Rogue in Disguise has an Eastern Oriental
theme threading through it. I have selected a number of prizes
that emphasizes that theme in my current contest. Love’s
Revenge also has a special giveaway that is tied to the
book. In the book the hero/heroine have a picnic, which is
filled with sexual tension. The prize for this book’s contest is
a picnic basket just for two.
w Internet Radio Show
–
Will schedule an hour spot on Jewel’s Way
and eRomance radio show on Artist First radio, an Internet Radio
site. Jewel’s Way is receiving a lot of attention on the
Internet, with more than 12,000 visitors to the radio’s website
during her first couple of shows. Artist First has now expanded
her show from one hour to two hours.
w Chat Room
– I have recently added a Chat room
to my website, which I will use for author promoted chats.
w Bulletin Board –
My website has its own
bulletin board that readers can use to discuss my books, the
romance industry and general question areas as they develop.
w Newsletter for readers
– I am developing a newsletter for
readers who have subscribed on my website. The newsletter will
be designed to present readers from my email list with
information about upcoming releases. It will be sent via email
initially, but as more books are added my backlist, the
newsletter will be expanded into a postal mailing.
w Articles
– I have a couple of articles on my
website currently, and will continue to enhance them over time.
I also am working with well-known authors in seeking interviews
with them to help drive traffic to my website, while promoting
these authors with links to their sites.
w Review Submissions
– Will target independent
booksellers and reader clubs. Will submit ARCs to reviewers at
the following websites and/or publications.
