10 Weeks of Holiday Book Sales

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

The next 10 weeks of the Holiday Season is as important to book sales as it is to any retail product. People buy books during the Holidays for themselves and for gifts. A large percentage of annual book sales are sold during the Holidays and writers need to be on top of the season and top of this sales opportunity. So where do we start?

Start Today with a Social Media Blitz – Those following you on social media are already fans, readers and followers. They know you and your works and will be receptive to your Holiday push. Start with putting them in the Holiday Spirit. Many people look forward to the season and will welcome your recognition of their favorite time of the year. This lets them know you too are on board with the Holiday Cheer. Prepare to present them with a daily contact for the next 10 weeks. This may sound like over kill but each message will be different.

Begin with the thought of Giving – Help them with their search of those needed gifts for family and friends. Make suggestions of your book or books as that perfect gift. Keep this in front of them daily beginning now. Remind them of how much they enjoyed your book and they would want to share that with others.

Giveaways- Early on begin giving away a book a day. Have them enter for the drawing with their name and email address. Then notify them and thank them for their interest and inform them if they won. When you notify them tell them, if they are not opposed, you would like to add their name to your contact list and notify them of future giveaways. You may also offer them a discount should they want to buy the book. You now have an additional contact to reach out to with each promotion. These can be daily, first come, first three contacts etc. Mix it up and keep their interest.    

Change your approach as we near Black Friday / Cyber Monday – As we near Black Friday November 23rd and Cyber Monday November 26^th we need to step up our approach just as retailers do. Begin various promotions to draw interest and sales.

Discounts- Expectation of discounts are a given this time of year. Some are waiting for this which tells them now is the time to buy.

BOGO- Buy one get one. One for yourself and one to give as a gift. Or you could offer buy one title get a second title free. There are various methods to use find one you are comfortable with or mix them up.

Cyber Monday – Now is the time to discount your eBook. Expectations dictate this with your readers/customers.

Hanukkah (Dec 2-10) - Have a promo each day of Hanukkah. A book giveaway or if you have 8 books give a different one away each day.

Christmas – Last minute gift giving is the approach going into Christmas. Sell that sense of urgency and offer a solution. After Christmas their gift cards may be used for additional book purchases. His could be a book they did not receive or discovered at gift giving time.

New Years – Have you made you New Year’s resolution to read more? Gear your promotion towards that.

With your due diligence by the end of these 10 weeks you should have made sales and picked up additional contacts for your email, newsletters, blogs and social media. Use all of these to announce each promotion as you go through the 10 weeks. If you need additional ideas just look to your local retailer and shadow them. They are experts at this!

Happy Holidays and many sales during the Holidays!