by Karen Whiting @KarenHWhiting
Twenty-five percent of print books are sold during the holiday season, so it’s an important time to promote books. Consider who might want each of your books and what ones can be bundled. Create a gift catalogue if you have lots of titles plus special bundles.
Pin for the Holidays
Create a Holiday Book Shopping Board. Use the word gift in the board’s title such as or Books by (your name) for Gifting. Make a pin with a Christmas background for each book and list reasons it makes a great gift. Share how you’ll wrap and send the gifts directly to the recipient. Create pins of bundled books with reasons why the bundle will make life easier or more fun for the recipient.
Make a second pin for each book with items that can be added to make it a gift basket or larger gift. This might include favorite drink items and brownie mix for fiction books plus a comfy blanket. For a cookbook add cooking utensils or spices. For devotionals, add a journal and stickers or colored pencils. For a kid’s book add a list of jokes or small toys related to the title.
Extend the Pinterest fun by creating a group board for author friends to join, where you can all add your holiday pins. Ask each member to include pins that showcase each member’s catalog with a link to their buying page. One pin can have all the links in one place for easy shopping.
Freebies For Buyers
Everyone loves something free. Offer PDFs and eBooks that can be emailed without expense, so consider grouping articles you wrote such as parenting articles, or create one sheets, such as tips on organizing. Create great tip pdfs of recipes, traditions, or patterns for crafts. These can be sent with a purchase, or receipt of purchasing online or at a store.
For fiction, consider creating printable cards or Pinterest boards from your characters that share their holiday traditions or express holiday cheer. Create some games to play for book clubs that read your books or children’s games to match your book. These freebies could be sent ahead with a note that here’s a Christmas freebie from (name of buyer); watch for your Christmas gift to arrive later.
If mailing print books, offer a specially made mug matching a book title, a fun pen to go with journals, or a toy to go with a child’s book. Note that you may need to mail books separately from items to save on postage.
Countdown to Christmas Ideas
Use the 12 days of Christmas as a theme to share a daily tip and if you have a dozen or more books, tips related to one of the books with that book cover. Or choose a theme to use for the week such as a daily romantic tip, tradition, family fun/faith tips for the holidays, holiday organizing tips, or 12 mysteries related to Christmas like the unknown number of magi.
Post one a day for twelve days before Christmas and start as early as December 1st. Make a meme for each and post it on Pinterest or Instagram and then other social media. Or create short live videos for each day with your Christmas theme.
More ideas
- Contests. Play some games and share prizes that can be pdfs or an eBook. One could be holding one of your books while wearing an ugly sweater or standing by decorations or a nativity set. For photo contests, allow a few weeks before the deadline so people can buy a book.
- Post about your holiday fun on your blog and guest post on other blogs. Cross-promote with sharing posts or pins with friends.
- Hold an online Christmas tradition or recipe party where you and several authors share favorite traditions or recipes and have games and prizes for participants.
- Create your own cute gift cards for buyers to send a card with a choice of your books that are all the same price so #Christmas15 for books that are all $15 including postage.
- Add bookmarks the books you mail to share other titles.
- Include your newest bookmark with Christmas cards sent early enough for people to buy gifts. Include a link to your holiday shopping catalogue or site. For ecards attach the pin of a bookmark.
- Encourage people to buy books for angel trees and toys for tots. At bazaars and other live book events have a box for them to purchase and drop the books for you to deliver them. My newest releases include a devotional for boys and a family book on prayer and those types of books build faith all year. That’s the message you want to send in promoting giving books.
- If you have books that are great for ministry leaders or other church staff, suggest they buy a gift for those people.
- Team up with local authors and contact the media to print a holiday reading guide with links to the author websites.
- Ask readers to share a favorite holiday story to win a prize. Also ask permission to use the stories in future books.
- Use popular holiday hashtags like #Christmasgiftideas, #Bookgiftideas, or #Gifts for him (her or kids).
Choose one or more ideas to focus on this shopping season. Also remember to focus on the reason for the season with sharing a faith-based tradition or the reason behind your writing.
TWEETABLE
Karen has a heart to grow tomorrow’s wholesome families today. She has written more than eight hundred articles for more than sixty publications and loves to let creativity splash over the pages of what she writes. She writes for Crosswalk. Connect with Karen on Twitter @KarenHWhiting Pinterest KarenWhiting FB KarenHWhiting
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