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As an independent author, you have certain marketing advantages in the weeks before the holiday
season that aren’t available to you any other time of the year. The problem is that there are so many
other personal things to do during the holiday season, book marketing can easily get pushed aside.
But think about it: If you are busy with holiday preparation, so are your readers!
Take the guesswork and a good measure of stress out of holiday marketing by planning and
implementing smart strategies before crunch time. Here are some practical approaches to help you
be ready to sell!

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Published by Outskirts Press, 2018-09-25 15:25:58

9 Ways to Maximize Holiday Book Sales

As an independent author, you have certain marketing advantages in the weeks before the holiday
season that aren’t available to you any other time of the year. The problem is that there are so many
other personal things to do during the holiday season, book marketing can easily get pushed aside.
But think about it: If you are busy with holiday preparation, so are your readers!
Take the guesswork and a good measure of stress out of holiday marketing by planning and
implementing smart strategies before crunch time. Here are some practical approaches to help you
be ready to sell!

Keywords: outskirts press,self publish,holiday,marketing,book,sales

9 Ways to Maximize Holiday Book Sales

As an independent author, you have certain marketing advantages in the weeks before the holiday
season that aren’t available to you any other time of the year. The problem is that there are so many
other personal things to do during the holiday season, book marketing can easily get pushed aside.
But think about it: If you are busy with holiday preparation, so are your readers!

Take the guesswork and a good measure of stress out of holiday marketing by planning and
implementing smart strategies before crunch time. Here are some practical approaches to help you
be ready to sell!

1. Think big picture

It is difficult enough to remember everything that needs to get done during the holidays. Add book
marketing into the mix and it really gets crazy. If you haven’t already, have a holiday marketing plan
and/or marketing calendar in place by August so you can identify what you need to do during the
holiday season.

Your marketing plan should spell out what you are willing and able to do to market your book.
Depending on your time and resources, your plan might include:

• creating author platforms on social media
• blogging
• setting up book signings
• public speaking events
• seeking media coverage
• securing book reviews, endorsements and awards
• booking radio interviews

An accompanying marketing calendar will assist you in planning each of these marketing approaches
by tracking important deadlines and goals. You can create your own marketing plan and calendar or
ask a book marketing professional to create these for you.

2. Start Early

Many early bird shoppers are already looking ahead toward the gift-giving season before Halloween
supplies are even up on display. Even trickier, holiday book marketing requires a lot of lead time:
Many gift guides, Christmas bazaars, print advertising slots and other popular holiday marketing
options start filling up in the summer or fall and are sold-out by the time the holidays start feeling
“real.”

For example, advertising in the annual Outskirts Press New York Times Book Review Co-op
Advertisement starts selling in the summer for ads that run over the holidays. If you wait until
November to start nailing down your marketing, your best options may no longer be an option for
you.

3. Be ready for Tech Tuesday

No matter what genre you are published in, an e-book should be considered an essential part of your
holiday book marketing. After all, one of the most elementary rules of selling is simply making it easy
for people to buy. An e-book can be created quickly and inexpensively for multiple online bookstores.

By offering e-book versions of your book, you’ll automatically expand your exposure to many millions
of NOOK, iPhone/iPad, Kindle and Android users who read on their electronic devices. Plus, putting
out e-book editions is your big chance to appeal to savvy online shoppers who loathe the long
checkout lines at the mall!

4. Get buzz going

Got kudos? Now is a great time to enhance your book cover with rave reviews and book award
badges. Shoppers gravitate to eye-catching badges and are influenced by positive feedback from
other readers.

If you do not yet have awards or reviews to use in your marketing, reach out to bloggers, friends,
family and others who purchased your book and ask them to leave reviews of your book on Amazon,
Barnes & Noble, Goodreads or other retailers. Even if there is no time to update your cover with
words of praise this year, you can get the ball rolling for next year. Successful book promotion never
really stops.

5. Think local

When it comes to targeted marketing, it is always better to reach 100 appropriate leads than 10,000
inappropriate ones … and there are few more appropriate audiences than the hometown crowd.
Newspapers, bookstores, libraries, radio and TV stations, writer’s organizations, reading clubs and
other businesses in your area will be inclined to give you opportunities you might not otherwise get,
simply because you are local:

• Ask for news coverage or air time from your hometown media.
• Offer to do book signing events or speaking engagements in the area.
• Trade website advertising space with local businesses.
• Offer your book on consignment at area bookstores or retail shops that sell things related to

your genre or book topic.
• See if local medical and dental offices will keep a complimentary copy in the waiting room.
• Ask if you can hang a book poster in the local mom-and-pop store.
• Sponsor your high school sports team.
• Donate a stack of books to the local rescue mission or thrift store.

The name of the game is to raise your brand awareness. Even if you cannot sell directly, there are still
plenty of ways to get your name out there, so think outside the book!

6. Stay current

Put holiday themes to work for you. Remember, it is the season of giving! Think of creative ways to
engage your readers with giveaways of your own. Run a buy-one/get-one book coupon in your local
newspaper. Celebrate the 12 days of Christmas with daily book snippets, trivia, fun holiday photos or
giveaways. Or, if you’re a children’s author, get “Santa” to read your book to children at your
hometown library.

And small, selfless gestures make a big impression, too. Give sincere holiday wishes to your readers
and friends on social media, asking nothing in return. Accompany your message with a beautiful
graphic or personal photo. Do the same for area businesses who helped you promote.

7. Don’t forget the visuals

Present a polished image in all your marketing. Frilly words are fantastic but make sure to make a
visual impact as well. Hire a graphic designer with experience in book marketing to create art you can
use on social media and email. Everything bearing your name should be professional-looking, so you
can present a polished, credible image to potential customers.

8. Get into the giving spirit

Everyone loves gifts at Christmas time! Be ready to delight fans and buy a little bit of goodwill with a
giveaway centering around your book. It goes without saying that you can give free copies of your
book. Considering signing some of them to make them even more unique, personal, and special.

For example, have Facebook friends like and share your holiday book posts for a chance to win an
autographed copy. Promote limited-time flash sales to create a sense of urgency. Offer free holiday
shipping, or reward gift-givers with a sweet buy-one/get-one deal.

Books make an excellent gift but consider other giveaways, too:

• colorful book posters
• T-shirts with your full-color cover on the front
• bookmarks with your book information on them
• large gift basket with your book, hot chocolate, a warm blanket, socks and other cozy items for

comfy reading on a blustery winter day

Some Outskirts Press children’s authors have even created custom stuffed animals that look like
characters in their books! Then they bundle the toys and books together. Brainstorm with friends on
social media or with a book marketing professional to see what clever prizes you can come up with.

9. Shop around for selling opportunities

Half of selling is simply recognizing and being prepared to act on the opportunities that come your
way. As you’re out and about doing your own holiday shopping, take note of them and take action:

• Stock up on copies of your book and always keep some with you.
• Note businesses and organizations along the route to your shopping destination that might be

useful in your marketing efforts: bookstores, retail shops, libraries, churches, schools, etc. Duck
into a few doors if there is time or snap a photo with your phone as a prompt to follow up
later.
• Leave a sales sheet, coupon, custom bookmark or postcard with your ordering information at
area bookstores and libraries. Or, if permitted, you can place promotional materials on car
windshields outside the mall.
• Wish total strangers Happy Holidays! With everyone in the spirit of the season, you may strike
up conversations in which you can suggest your book as a gift. Have book copies—or your
book ordering information at the very least—with you and don’t be afraid to ask for the sale.
• Make your holiday shopping and errands work for you without trying: Place custom auto
magnets or window decals on your car to promote your book while you’re out and about.
There are even business card holders designed for this purpose! Print author business cards
with your ISBN, book selling page and other buying information and put them out there for
shoppers. Park in the most prominent spot you can find to get the most views.

Recommended Marketing Options
Related to This Tip Sheet

Do you know need help developing your holiday book marketing
plan? Our professional book marketing specialists will help you
map out, and execute, your holiday book marketing plan.

Amazon is the number one retailer in America, and the Amazon
Kindle is the #1 e-reader. Make sure you have this valuable
edition available for last minute shoppers.

There are MILLIONS of books available on Barnes & Noble's
NOOK. If your book isn't one of them, you are missing out on
tapping a very important, and growing, market of readers. Make
sure you have this valuable edition available for last minute
shoppers.

Millions of iPads have been sold and iPhone revenues account for
over HALF of all smart phone revenue in the United States. Is your
book a part of this growing market? It can be, simply and
conveniently, with enhanced, independent distribution of your
own iPad/iPhone electronic edition of your book through Apple's
iBooks bookstore. Make sure you have this valuable edition
available for last minute shoppers.

Save time and money by bundling all three of our e-book editions
together. This e-book publishing package is one of our most popular, and
no wonder! It includes formatting and distribution of an Amazon Kindle
E-book Edition with distribution on Amazon, an Apple iPad/iPhone E-
book Edition with distribution through iTunes and the iBooks bookstore,
and a Barnes & Noble NOOK E-book Edition with distribution through
the NOOK bookstore on Barnes & Noble's website.


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