What's an arrow without a target?
Earlier this week Ms. Obie Joe viewed a new company promising all of the tools needed for a successful book promotion campaign. $100 for a press release (spell-checked and all!). $50 for bookmarks (also known as placecards). $200 for a web site. $125 for a book trailer.
All very well and nice, but without a strategy for these tools, what's the use? Meaning, you have a press release, but where is it going to land:
• Wide broadcast online via PRWeb, CSWire, etc.
• Mailing list to trade magazines, major media, TV/Print/Radio
• Online and mailing list to optimal vendors.
It's interesting to note that it's cheap to have a press release written, but twice the price for a customized list of targets for that press release. You could hire a firm to customize, but even after that, you should take your own chop at the list and customize it as you go along on your book campaign.
This is one of the reasons Ms. Obie Joe has lukewarm feelings for the enthusiasm for book trailers. (With the marked exception of any book trailer by Chip Kidd, of course). Book trailers just seem to flail at any old target, and unless your trailer features a sharp-shooter hamster, dressed like a Disney Princess, good luck on having your trailer seen on YouTube.
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