As a small-press publisher, the biggest struggle is in getting attention for your products. Without the kind of advertising budgets possessed by the major houses, and with most mainstream industry magazines and Web sites ignoring those of us who aren’t major houses, you have to find other promotional outlets in order to reach your audience. Here’s the story of my most recent attempt to get some attention for Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1:
Last year I joined the Independent Book Publishers Association, an organization of… uh, independent book publishers (hence the name)—basically, small pressers like me, all of us vying for the attention of the book-buying public… and the storeowners who sell to them.
Being a member has worked well for The ’Warp—most notably in discount pricing at Lightning Source, the printing company I use—so this year I decided to take advantage of the IBPA’s appearances at a number of fall regional book-trade shows, and pay to have Blood Feud displayed at their booths. The idea is that the booksellers and librarians who attend these conferences may be intrigued enough by the material so that—in Blood Feud’s case— after the shows they’ll contact my wholesaler/distributor, Ingram Books, to order copies for their stores and libraries.
So, having been successful at comic book conventions and this year’s Brooklyn Book Festival in spreading the word about Blood Feud (did you know it’s on sale now?), how well did The ’Warp’s premier YA novel perform in other parts of the country?
The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) trade show was held in North Charleston, South Carolina, in mid-September, followed by the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) and Midwest Independent Booksellers Association (MIBA) trade shows, held in Atlantic City, NJ, and Minneapolis, MN, respectively.
As you can see in the photo, Blood Feud was definitely on display in South Carolina—although given its location three rows deep, it’s clear it would be difficult for booksellers to see anything more than the title. Great title design by Mat Postawa, but where’s the love for the beautiful Bob Larkin cover painting?
Unfortunately, since no orders came in following those three September shows, I can only assume that, as with its SIBA appearance, Blood Feud was lost at the other two conferences, placed behind books that blocked sellers from seeing the cover art and getting the full Zwieback Experience.
Okay, so that could’ve gone better, but there was a glimmer of hope. Mid-October brought the New England Independent Booksellers Association (NEIBA) and Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association (MPIBA) trade shows, in Providence, RI, and Denver, CO. As you can see below, this time Blood Feud got face-out display at the Denver event.
According to order numbers, there was a sales spike that month. No doubt the upfront display of a Young Adult dark-fantasy novel, at an event held two weeks before Halloween, had a lot to do with that.
So, after all is said and done, would I do this sort of promotion again? Possibly. Since Halloween would be a great time for booksellers to stock up on Pan’s adventures, perhaps Blood Feud and its upcoming sequel, Blood Reign, will haunt Colorado and Rhode Island in 2012—as long as folks get to see the covers, that is!
