March is the month to promote! With that in mind, here are 31 ways you can take advantage of small press month, one for each day of March. Time to start!
March 1st: If you don’t have enough author’s copies on hand, contact your publisher and request more so they arrive in time to follow these other tips throughout the month.
March 2 – Reach out to other independent published authors in your area (through local associations you may belong to) and pool your resources to make the most of the opportunities this month. There’s a lot to do, and four hands are better than two.
March 3: Contact local bookstores and suggest that they offer discounts on Small Press books. Bring your own and offer it to them at a discount to get them started. Show them the rest of this calendar as a way of indicating your commitment to making your event a success. Offer to leave them a free copy along with a sales sheet.
March 4 – Contact your local newspapers and let them know about Small Press Month (in case they don’t know). Suggest they write a small article or event calendar for Small Press events in the area, specifically the ones you got on March 3rd. Tell them that you will send them a press release on the 5th.
March 5 – Send out a press release to local media (newspapers, radio, TV) mentioning Small Press Month and your independently published book. (If you secured any events on March 3, please mention them in the release.
March 6 – Follow up on your press release yesterday with the local media via phone. Reiterate Small Press Month, your planned community events, and your Small Press book. Offer to write a review that they can use as a basis. (Less work for them).
March 7 – If you haven’t published your book yet, today is the day to start. Go to http://www.outskirtspress.com to learn about the future of book publishing today.
March 8: Contact your local libraries and suggest they include Small Press titles, including yours. Offer to leave them a free copy, along with a sales sheet. Your free author center generates your sales form automatically if you have published with Prensa Afueras. You can even change it and update it first.
March 9: If you haven’t submitted review copies for the book yet, now is the time. Outskirts Press’s free author hub has many book reviewers listed in the Resources for Authors section, available no matter where you’ve published your book.
March 10 – Contact local schools in your area and let them know about Small Press Month. Mention that you are a local published author and offer to speak at your assembly about how to achieve your dreams of being published. This is particularly effective if you have a children’s book that you can sell after the assembly.
March 11: Contact local universities and colleges. Same concept as yesterday: promote yourself and his book by sharing your knowledge on how to write a book and get it published. Sell copies of your book in the back of the room.
March 12: Schedule a “How to Write and Publish a Book” seminar or teleseminar and offer a “Small Press Month” discount on the registration fee. Submit a local press release about your class.
March 13: Contact other sales channels outside of the bookstore that may sell your book. This can include websites related to the subject of your book, gift shops, hardware stores, supermarkets, boutiques, etc. Look at your book and ask yourself where your readers may be buying.
March 14: Contact local art studios, designer boutiques, or other independent small businesses in your area. Offer them the opportunity to cooperatively share some publicity initiatives (also, if appropriate, offer to host some events at your venues).
March 15 – Join other independently published authors and host a co-op ad in local media, using dollars earned from the local businesses you spoke to on the 14th. In addition to simply promoting your book, promote your upcoming events to get people to attend. The other authors can join the events, which can lead bookstores to be more interested in scheduling it (even on such short notice).
March 16 – Get in touch with all the local radio producers in your area. The Outskirts Press Author Center makes it easy, with free contact information in your local area.
March 17 – Think about St Paddy’s Day thoughts. Next, make sure your Amazon.com online listing is all it can be.
March 18 – Contact major newspapers about Small Press Month. They’re likely to write something if enough authors contact them, and you’ll want to be among the reams of information they’ve received:
NEW YORK TIME: 229 W 43rd Street, New York NY 10036-3959 (212) 556-1234
USA TODAY: 1000 Wilson Blvd, Arlington VA 22209-3901 (703) 276-3400 and 535 Madison Avenue, 20th Fl, New York NY 10022-4212 (212) 715-5410
WALL STREET JOURNAL: 200 Liberty Street, New York NY 10281-1003 (212) 416-2000
WASHINGTON POST: 1150 15th Street NW, Washington DC 20071-0002 (202) 334-6000
March 19 – Contact your local community center and let them know about Small Press Month. If you’ve assembled a band of local authors, this will be more effective. Schedule an impromptu event to celebrate Small Press books.
March 20 – This may be the month to switch freelance publishers if you’ve published elsewhere. Is your retail price too high? Is your profit too low? Is the price of your author’s copy too high? Compare and save with this free price calculator at http://outskirtspress.com/pricing
March 21 – Join a Yahoo group dedicated to newspaper trading, including tactics for writing newspaper articles, as well as contacts for promoting your book. Send a blank email to:
[email protected]
March 22 – Sign up for Outskirts Press’ teleseminars on “Book Signing Tactics” from their free author hub by signing up at http://www.outskirtspress.com
March 23: Contact the Learning Annex (or an adult education program with a similar theme) in your area and offer to teach a class on the subject of your book. As a published author, you are qualified to teach on your subject as you are an expert. Your book may even be required reading for every student!
March 24 Start writing reviews online. Write reviews of all the books you have read. Mention that you are the author of your book at the bottom of each published review. If people like the writing style of your review, they may research your book, especially if you write reviews of books in the same genre as yours.
March 25 – Contact public libraries in each state and mention your participation in Small Press Month. Send them information about your book. Here is a link to help you get started: http://www.publiclibraries.com/
March 26 – Start preparing for April (National Poetry Month), especially if you have a volume of poetry you’ve published.
March 27 – Help other writers you know get published and earn a 10% referral commission after your book is published. Sign up for Outskirts Press’ exciting affiliate program at http://outskirtspress.com/cgi/affiliate_login.cgi
March 28 – Start a blog and keep it active and up to date. Submit it to blog directories so others will start reading and participating. There are many blogging programs to help you get started. Do a Google search for the one that works for you.
March 29 – Submit your published book to the Google Base listings. It’s free. http://base.google.com
March 30 Publish a “large print” edition of your book. With the world’s demographics aging, “large print” editions are becoming more popular. With 14 or 16 point fonts, these editions appeal to the senior community because they are easier to read. You’ve written the book, now republish a new “large print” edition to increase your revenue and double the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. It’s easy to post here.
March 31 – Take a breath. It has been a busy and productive month.