There’s only one good way to sell a new book:
FAST.

From the beginning, the mission was simple. Sell as many books as possible – in the shortest timeframe possible. It helped that the book was of great interest to the area, containing 235 historical photographs never before seen by the public as a complete collection.

Both the author and VLA believed that personal book signings were the best way to build interest in the book. By creating venues at locations such as First Fridays, the public library and select bookstores, the author was able to connect conveniently with an eager audience that learned about the signings through regular “maintenance” PR listings in local media.

As marketing support for the book’s premier, VLA created a microsite designed specifically to promote the book. It included facts about the author and the book, information about local book signings and book excerpts. The site was promoted in press releases, on partner organization websites and on Facebook fan pages. Professional photography was also utilized both to reinforce the releases and to provide components for the microsite, posters and other marketing materials.

News Coverage

Although every client would like the big story in the local paper, you can never be certain that the media will feel as strongly about your subject as you do. For this campaign, VLA first circulated “the big story” to the media, with a focus toward later magazine and news coverage. After this distribution, the focus almost immediately turned to utilizing every “listing” section available in the local papers. In the Times Daily, for example, detailed book signing announcements were acquired in sections such as Go and Do, The Week Ahead, Day Planner and the Thursday Best Bets. Strategic relationships with local magazines were also established to provide the author with exposure while providing the magazines with additional content with a historical twist.

These efforts were duplicated for each book-signing event and resulted in the sale of 140 books at the premier signing, with nearly 80% of the inventory sold in the first 90 days. The effort yielded newspaper and corresponding web placements with an estimated 380,000 readers reached. Equivalent advertising spending for this audience would have cost $2,700. The program also yielded future commitments for news and magazine articles with additional equivalent advertising that would have cost over $6,000.