Promo Postcards


001

I’ve succumbed to the lure of Vistaprint. My books are digital, so why would I want to promote them with paper products? The answer is that there’s something satisfying in a tangible object. Maybe it’s even acquiring a touch of nostalgia for those of us caught up in the new digital world? Or it could be that promo postcards, bookmarks, etc feed my lifelong lust for stationery 🙂

For the newest postcard, I used a snap I took of Bathers Beach, Fremantle, as the coloured front, then added the cover for “Drawing Closer” to the back. Since “Drawing Closer” is set in Fremantle, I thought that worked well. The question is, should I have emphasised the cover by putting it in colour? Me? I thought the stark simplicity of the cover worked in black and white.

But it does bring me to an interesting point. Is there value in oblique promo? by which I mean, instead of shouting “buy my book”, you promote something relevant to the story and link it to your “buy my book” intent. Is my thinking becoming over-convoluted or is this a way to reach through the chaos of social media?


2 responses to “Promo Postcards”

  1. I much prefer “oblique” promo to “buy my book” promo. The reasons are two-fold.

    1. You offer something useful, inspiring, or entertaining when citing something relevant to the story.

    2. Straight out pimping is old school. People are so immune to the noise I don’t think it works anymore.

    By the way, I like the B&W on one side and the color on the other. Works for me.

    • Thanks, Maria, you're my guru on marketing — everyone go and snap up Maria's advice distilled in her free book "Self-Publishers' Punch List" which is useful to all authors, not just those brave enough to self-publish. http://mariazannini.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/self-

      I was thinking about that growing deafness to pimping (I think immunity is a better word – will use it!) and it's a big question how you get around it.

      I'm fascinated the MySpace is trying to make a comeback as a centre for music. Goodreads is pretty good for talking books, but I find some of the interaction difficult with its set up. I wonder if anyone starts something MySpacey for books?

Comments?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.