Dave Kessler of Richmond, Indiana writes:
“For the last 50 years I’ve sold everything from airplanes to caskets. But I’ve got a challenge now that is proving more difficult.
“One of my ebooks published by Amazon.com (in the Amazon Shorts program) is The Crapper Digest #1. It’s available for 49 cents, and readers can download it for their lifetime use. It’s a collection of the humor, doggerel and vulgar verse that I’ve collected from restroom walls all over America for the last six decades.
“Astute wall readers have sent some of the best they’ve found and exampes are included that date from 1896 to current days. An old school teacher, undertaker, truck drivers and college students have joined the fun sending me their finds which are included.
“What can I do to let the world know about this soon-to-be-coveted treasure of multi-generational pop art?”
Charge more. At just $.49, you’re telling potential buyers the product isn’t worth more. If it’s going to be a “treasure of multi-generational pop art,” charge like it!
Also, this would make a great coffee table book. You might want to outsource the actual “dirty work” of photographing the bathrooms!
And then of course, send out a press release about the ebook!
Susan Payton
Egg Marketing & Public Relations
http://www.eggmarketingpr.com
http://www.eggmarketingblog.com
Hi Dave,
Geezo Meezo, that is really bizarre, I love it 🙂 A few issues back I think Joan mentioned something about Google Alerts. So I am going to recommend if you haven’t already done so to go sign up at http://www.google.com/alerts to get notified of topics/keywords that are related to potty, toilet, poo poo or whatever. Whenever a website post, blog entry or article goes up with that related term you will be notified in your email and can see where it posted. Then you can go to that site and either make a post/comment yourself that is related to that post and include a link to your book in your signature line and/or you can contact the journalist and try to get featured in their publication. In just a short time (perhaps a few weeks, a month or so) I imagine you will find both the good and crappy places to promote your book 🙂 Best wishes with your new endeavor.
This ebook seems like an excellent candidate for a Digg campaign.
Kessler can put up a blog post on his website sharing “Ten Funniest Notes Found on Bathroom Stalls,” put information on how to purchase the book on Amazon, and link to the post on Digg and related sites.
He should encourage reviews on the Amazon page, start by emailing all the contributors and asking for their feedback. Offer like-minded bloggers a free copy to encourage them to blog about the ebook.
I think the title might sell better with a more creative looking virtual cover. A ramshackle outhouse and some $%%&*%^#!!!! characters, maybe?
If he has gathered text from restaurants like the Dinosaur in Syracuse or Rochester, write a press release to the local media (especially the freebie alternative magazines) featuring the scrawl in question. Don’t forget newspaper blogs!
Kathleen Lisson
You need to have a Facebook promotion because within Facebook you can leave a message on someone’s wall. That’s the exact topic of your book, so drive traffic to see your Facebook wall and offer them a discount on ordering your book.
1) Send copy to Howard Stern
2) Assuming this is from Men’s restrooms come up with version taken from female bathrooms
3) Start blog commenting on America’s growing gutter culture become the acknowledged expert on it
Hi Joan,
The January panel of the Independent Writers of So. Calif. (www.iwosc.org) featured new trends in publishing. One panelist was the Community Relations Manager at LA’s hottest Barnes & Noble store at The Grove, a small, upscale mall adjacent to the famous Farmers Market. He happened to mention that one of his store’s biggest-selling books over the holidays was a little book with a brown cover titled “What’s Your Poo Telling You?”
I just searched the word “poop” on amazon.com and that book came up first. What’s more amazing is that there are over 20,000 entries available for that search word! So my advice to Mr. Kessler is to write a review of that book and post it on amazon, and to use that book’s title in his next press release.
Happy birthday, Joan!
Send a copy to the writers at Leno and Letterman. They could eat this up and then you’d have broad word of mouth publicity.
Hounds, I was on the fence about whether to use this Help This Hound question, and I’m glad I did!
Your ideas are fabulous.
Can you figure out some mutual-benefit partnership with Gordon Javna of Bathroom reader? Maybe he could include your e-book with orders and pay you something either in money or in publicity value (like a press release to all his contacts).
Shel Horowitz – Marketing Strategic Planning, Consulting, and Copywriting
focused on Ethical, Affordable, Effective Approaches
413-586-2388, http://www.frugalmarketing.com
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