Of the various marketing techniques I’ve tried, word-of-mouth has been the most successful. I didn’t set out to employ this particular technique, it just happened.
About three months before my book's publication date, I started telling friends that I was writing a book. Pretty soon, the ones I saw most frequently began asking me how it was going. This prompted a mini-buzz.
A month later, I sent an email to my family and close friends letting them know that my memoir was coming out in June. I didn’t say what the memoir was about and of course, the curious wrote me back.
Over time I revealed the title, Searching for Jane, Finding Myself (An Adoption Memoir), and a few details... it’s about how it felt to be adopted… why I searched… what I found.
Before the book was available online, I sent the manuscript to my most connected friends, asking them for feedback. About a month before the publication date, I posted the book cover on Facebook, and asked the friends who had previewed the book to comment about it. By the time the book was on my website, I’d created quite a buzz. Book sales that first month were far better than I ever expected.
My family members couldn’t wait to find out what I’d said about them. My friends—especially people who knew me in high school (forty years ago)—became my biggest fans.
I’ve been actively marketing the book for the past four months. Initially, I thought my target market would be limited to people who have been touched by adoption, but I’ve discovered that the book has a much broader reach. Whenever anyone asks me what they can do to help me get the word out, I tell them to please recommend it to a friend.
-- Jan Fishler has joined the nationwide effort to create fair and compassionate adoption standards and is working to inspire the reform of antiquated state laws. For 20 years, Jan was a corporate scriptwriter, video producer, and a marketing and public relations consultant. She produced the DVD writing series, “The Path to Publication,” distributed by Films for the Humanities and Sciences, and is the co-author of a series of articles on post traumatic stress disorder published by VietNow National magazine.
Searching for Jane, Finding Myself is her first book. Order copies from Tin Cat Media at http://www.searchingforjane.com for $12.95.
