Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Coming to a Mailbox Near You

Operating under the “people can’t buy/read your book unless they know about it” principle, I mailed out a few postcards.

To be exact, I mailed 1376 postcards to bookstores and libraries.

I didn’t use postcards for my first book, but I thought I’d give this “low-tech, old-school” approach a try.

I designed the postcards using Photoshop, and I got them printed by Printplace.com  (affordable and good quality).

Here’s the front:

KR postcard front

And the back:

Brochure 5.5x8.5 - Back - Landscape

I spent hours sticking on labels and stamps. (And boy, were my arms tired!)

The mailing “dropped” last Friday, so the postcards should be arriving this week. As is often the case with marketing/promotion initiatives, I’m not sure how I’ll be able to tell if this effort was “successful.”

Unless I happen to hit a bestseller list. Then I’ll be mailing postcards for all my books.

This has been another “behind-the-scenes” glimpse at the promotional efforts of a mystery writer.


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5 comments:

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Love the postcards, Alan! Hope the mailings are successful. :)

Anonymous said...

Alan - In the words of Tony the Tiger, "They're...grreat!!

Ricky Bush said...

Yeah, Alan, if you figure out that the postcards did help significantly, get back to us and let us know. Every little bit helps, so it's bound add to the mix.

Stephen Parrish said...

What Ricky said. Where did you get your address data base?

Alan Orloff said...

Elizabeth - Thanks! I know you've done postcard mailings in the past. We'll have to compare notes.

Margot - Thanks! I loved Tony. Is he still pitching cereal, or has he moved on to bigger and better things? (Didn't I read that he was in rehab at some point? Trying to kick the sugar habit?)

Ricky - Yeah, it's all a matter of cost/benefit. I'll let you know if I figure it out.

Steve - Purchased the lists through MWA, a truly worthwhile member benefit.