June 29th: Yesterday, I created a “Listmania” list on Amazon calling it “Summer Reads for 2008″ and listed my book among other top selling books in my category that came out this year. This list will pop up on the page of all the books I listed, so this is another quick way to lead readers to my book. Jeremy Robinson listed this technique in his book, POD People. I was excited to sign in to Amazon today and see that I have received my first review, and a 5 Star Review at that. It came from the Top 500 Reviewer who I sent a copy of my book to. Check out the review here!
Went to the Book House yesterday, which I mentioned in yesterday’s journal entry. WOW! Books line every wall from top to bottom, and I’m not joking! New and old too! I spent $77. The employee was more than helpful, and I felt really good about the whole experience. I also asked if they hosted signings, and they do. So, I plan on going back there again when my bookmarks come in and I have a few more marketing materials in hand to sell myself.
Speaking of book marks, I searched the web yesterday for other cheaper means, and came up dry. I emailed Earthly Charms (I’m not linking to them because I don’t recommend them.) for a quote asking them how much 1,000 bookmarks would cost. They replied wanting to know how many I wanted. ??? Delete. I have worked in customer service most of my life. If I’m speaking to you and you have to ask me to repeat myself, I won’t like it but I will do it, all the while thinking to myself that you need to listen. BUT, if I WRITE an email to you, and you reply with a ridiculous response asking for information that was in my original email, I’ll take my business elsewhere.
I’m losing time and getting tired of searching, so I ordered 100 book marks and 100 postcards from Lulu yesterday. That’s $34.95 for the bookmarks, and $39.95 for the postcards, plus shipping. Let’s add another $84.97 to my total investment. I searched a few stores yesterday for stationery and “gift” type items to include in my kits, and also came home with nothing. But, thanks to a Cafepress account I have had for a few years, I had a $20.00 credit I could use to buy stuff. I designed a magnet yesterday and bought a packet of 10 for $15.00. Using the credit, the magnets costs me nothing.
I’ve ordered notecards and postcards from Cafepress for some photography projects before. They have a fast turnaround and the product is great. I highly recommend them if you want to be able to design your own stuff quickly and buy it at cost. You can even open a store and mark the items up a few bucks if you want to do a retail product tie in for your book. You upload your files/pics, set the prices, then Cafepress makes the product when orders are placed. They ship it, take the cost, and you get the markup. I’ve probably made around $200 on odd items over about 3 years, mostly apparel. You can get your profit as a payout or use it as a credit to buy stuff, so having that to use toward these magnets was great.
I’m thinking about downsizing my marketing kit to cut costs. I wanted to send out a small box with a copy of the book, bookmarks, information sheets, and a few gift type items. But, as this project comes together I’m discovering the book, sheets, bookmarks, and now the magnet will fit in a flat mailer. If I come up with some personalized sticky notes or ink pens, that would also fit in a mailer. That would save a ton on shipping! More on this later, I promise.
One more note for today, one indie bookstore replied to my press release email and told me they wouldn’t order my book because they only get a 15% discount through Ingram. I replied and said I thought Ingram gave at least a 20% to bookstores, if not more. I know the wholesale distributor I work for gets 25 to 35%. The bookstore replied and said the industry standard was 40%. HA! I plan to call Ingram tomorrow and quiz them on why this bookstore might only be getting 15%. I’ll keep you posted.
Total investment on this project to date: $589.44
