Pajama Marketing

Sure, people laugh when I speak of "pajama marketing," but you know what I mean - putting in a few hours at your computer, marketing your work. Here's a great example of a way to market your work to independent bookstores around the country.

Sure, marketing your book requires a lot of work. But the writing did too. And even if you didn't write your book with this in mind, it's time to focus on expanding your readership by getting your book in more stores.

Did you know you can buy a mailing list of U.S. independent book stores from a reliable source (NewPages.com). The cost for over 1,400 book store names and addresses is $75, but they also list the addresses on their site, where you can snag them for free. You could copy and paste the addresses for the shops in your area into a word processing document, do a mail-merge to print labels or letters, and let your work fly! New Pages also has lists of public and academic libraries at the above link.

What would you send to stores? That's up to you: The book synopsis, colorful postcard, media sheet, telling them how to order from your publisher, and stating the handsome 35 or 40 percent discount you'll offer. Include customer comments from your Amazon page and other testimonials from readers. No need to include sales figures - they have easy access to that information.


Helen Gallagher
Release Your Writing