7 Tips to Market Your Quilt or Creative Arts Book
May 11th, 2011 by MornaLots of our IAPQ members have published books, whether that’s through a traditional book publisher or self-published. Today we can go even further and skip the printed page and publish solely in an e-book format. Regardless of the format you use, marketing is key. Yes, if you use a traditional book publisher, they do much of the marketing. To ensure the highest level of success for your book, you need to do marketing on your own. Here are tips to market your book.
1. Call your local quilt and book shops and ask if they’ll host a book signing for you. Look for unusual places to do signings. For example, maybe your quilt book features quilts with dessert names. Try a signing at a local bakery. I remember talking with a novelist who was doing signings at the airport. Talk about a captive audience. Don’t forget to promote the signing with news releases.
2. Sponsor a contest. If your book is about adding embellishments to quilts, have entrants post photos of their work on your website and award a prize. You could even have viewers vote to get more people involved.
3. Set up a blog hop to promote your book. I mentioned the blog hop recently in conjunction with a post on blogging. You approach several other bloggers and ask them to review your book or interview you about your book on their blogs, introducing you to a wider audience.
4. Print bookmarks that include the cover image, details about the book and a link to your website. Leave these on tables at shows, and ask your local shop owner if she’ll put them out with other literature. Be sure to include a link to your site on the bookmark in case someone wants more information.
5. Look for opportunities where you can be interviewed about your book. I can think of three right off the top of my head: Art & Soul Radio, American Patchwork & Quilting Radio Show (previously Pat Sloan’s Creative Talk Network), and Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski.
6. Get others to sell your book for you. Many other teachers or lecturers offer books to their students. If your book compliments their topic, ask if they would consider carrying your book. Several years ago I sold books in the IAPQ booth for one of our members who gave a “Meet the Teacher” talk in Houston. She didn’t have a booth and wanted to offer her students a place to purchase the book. As soon as her talk ended, I was inundated with buyers. This was definitely win-win for both of us.
7. Create a Fan Page on Facebook just for your book. This lets you promote the book and encourage conversation among the book’s fans. Encourage sharing of photos of quilts made from the book. Share your tips for success with the projects.
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Morna McEver Golletz is the founder and CEO of the International Association of Professional Quilters, an association to help quilters, fiber artists and other creative arts entrepreneurs build business success. Her weekly e-zine offers tips, techniques and inspiration to help you craft business success from your creative arts passion. You can sign up for a F.R.E.E. subscription at http://www.professionalquilter.com.
Cheryl Lynch said:
To celebrate the publication of my book, Quilt Fiesta, I held an Open House. I emptied the downstairs of furniture and hung all of the quilts from the book. We served refrshments that went along with the Mexican theme. I sent invitation postcards to all of my neighbors and the local quilt guilds inviting them to see my quilts, see my studio and buy a signed book. It was a wonderful day.
Morna said:
Love the Open House idea. Chance for everyone to see all the quilts, too.
Jenny said:
Don’t forget SeamedUP! We not only have our What’s UP? page for industry news, we also have a publications and patterns library where you can be sure all your work is properly named and credited back to you. If you’d like to be a co-host for our podcast and talk about your book, we’d love to talk to you! Drop me a line at mail@seamedup.com for more info.