Caroline Starr Rose

picture book and middle-grade author

1,662 Postcards: Marketing Mania!

17 Comments

In the last eight months, I’ve written, labeled, and mailed 1,662 May B. postcards. Yes, really.
 
Much of marketing a book is like throwing darts, but as I’ve learned, a personalized, audience-tweaked dart has more potential to hit the board than those thrown willy-nilly.
 
I can’t take credit for what I’ve done  — that goes to Saundra Mitchell and her bossy self-marketing plan. Using her suggested wording, I determined my audience and tweaked what I wrote for each.
 
My audience:
Kansas schools and libraries 
Why? May B. takes place in Kansas and is primarily a school and library market title. Also, Kansas Day is 1/29. Teachers are required to teach KS history on or around this day — perfect for an early January release date!
 
Plains state/frontier/pioneer museums
Why? May B.’s focus on the frontier era will ideally interest museums that focus on the plains and pioneer history.
 
Dyslexia schools and camps
Why? May B. (the character) struggles with dyslexia. While her story is one of a specific time period, ideally her feelings of isolation, shame, confusion — and ultimately hope — will resonate with children with disabilities now.
 
NM schools and libraries
Why? This is where I live! Hopefully that alone will be a start in drawing local interest, library purchases, or speaking opportunities.

My postcards:

For KS schools and libraries:
My historical verse novel, May B., is set on the Kansas frontier. It releases 1/10/12, just in time for Kansas Day! I hope you’ll consider it for the students of ________ school / for the _______ library’s children’s collection.
 
I’m available for Skype visits.
 
For plains state/frontier/pioneer museums and historical societies:
My historical verse novel, May B., is set on the frontier. I hope you will consider it for __________. It’s a great way to introduce young visitors to the pioneer era.
 
For dyslexia schools and camps:
My historical verse novel, May B., focuses on a child with dyslexia in an era when such struggles were misunderstood. I hope you’ll consider it for the students and families of _________ school.
 
I’m available for Skype visits.
 
For NM schools and libraries:
I’m a NM author. My historical verse novel, May B., will appeal to fans of Hatchet and Laura Ingalls Wilder as well as reluctant readers. I hope you’ll consider it for the students of ________ school / for the _______ library’s children’s collection.
 
I’m available for Skype visits.

Results:
Roughly 50 postcards have come back to me (incorrect address, no drop box at this address, and — sadly — vacant buildings).

Hits to my website increased with each batch I mailed, coming from the locations where postcards were sent.

Roughly 20 people have reached out to me — teachers, camp directors, directors of learning disability organizations, librarians, and a museum or two.

  • My publicist has sent on ARCs to several responders or contacted marketing to set up direct sales for gift shops. 
  • One teacher is using May in her classroom this year. 
  • One NM librarian scheduled an author program. 
  • Several librarians contacted me to let me know they’d already ordered or planned on ordering my book. 
  • One camp director would like to share May B. with campers this upcoming summer.

Most postcards probably went straight to the trash. But I have to think that even that brief exposure counted for one of those 3-7 times on average that marketers say a person needs to be shown a product before they respond. My cover in front of new eyes = never a bad thing. Besides, maybe a docent in a prairie museum somewhere took my postcard home to a granddaughter or a local teacher. I’ll never know for sure, but thinking this way was enough to keep me motivated.

Will I do it again?
Yes, though probably not as many. The last five hundred weren’t as exciting as the first thousand. In some small way, though, I’ve taken hold of my book’s success by spreading the word, one postcard at a time.

Comments

  1. Laura Pauling says

    I think that’s the only way to approach marketing your book. I like that. One postcard at a time. Whether that postcard be an actual postcard or not. One step at a time. Your book seems so perfect for the school and library market. Great job! Wow, that’s a lot of writing!

    Reply

  3. Barbara Watson says

    So much work, Caroline! But all for good. Know there are others who will spread word about May B. for you also. I plan to write blog about it in the next few weeks because I was taken by the beauty, simplicity, and bravery in May B.

    Reply

  5. Caroline Starr Rose says

    It really has been empowering to think about marketing in this way. While I’ll never know about results, I can be satisfied I’ve done my part.

    Barbara, thank you. Really and truly, word of mouth is the gold.

    inluvwithwords, thankfully I took a long time to do this: a couple dozen while my boys were at piano, a few more in the time between dropping off my boys at school and going to my weekly tutoring, etc.

    Reply

  7. Carol McGrath says

    Brilliant and now as a fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder and having crossed Kansas in 1978 and seen a rattle snake there and a museum where everything was carved in stone, I could be hooked!

    Reply

  10. Sherrie Petersen says

    I love that you’ve really approached your marketing from multiple fronts, electronically, in person and with your personalized post cards. I think hand written mail catches people’s attention because we get so little of it these days.

    Reply

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