Use National Celebration Days (And Months) To Boost Your Book's Signal

As I've said time and time again, the thing you need in order to sell books isn't a perfect cover, a butt load of talent, or an amazing story no one has ever read before. Those things help, but what you need is buzz. Attention. An audience that is tuned-in, and interested in the product you're trying to sell them.

Managing that is by no means easy. However, one thing you can do is to tie your marketing efforts into a holiday, or observance. It makes for good synergy, and if you can perk someone's interest with a celebration they've never heard of before, then your book is going to be right next to it as a way for them to participate.

National Hot Springs Reading Day? Huh, I didn't even know that was a thing!

Promote The Day, Promote Your Book!

For a lot of us, this isn't exactly something new. After all, every October I always share around my  50 2-Sentence Horror Stories link around, along with reminding folks about collections like SNAFU: A Collection of Military Horror, as well as American Nightmare which have some of my work in them.

If you write romance, then you remind people about your releases around Valentine's Day. If your book is Christmas-themed (whether it's a steamy holiday love affair, or an end-of-year murder spree), then you make sure to crow about it when that time of year comes around. And so on, and so forth.

Is this the romance, or the murder? Get a copy to find out!

However, there are a lot of other celebrations going on throughout the year that you might want to check out. Not all of them will be for every author (though you can sometimes stretch and bend in order to fit your work under certain umbrellas), but some of the more interesting ones I've come across include:

- National Short Story Month: May is both National Short Story Month, and the month my birthday happens to fall in. It's why I always remind people that if they haven't grabbed a copy of New Avalon: Love and Loss in The City of Steam, and this year I'll mention The Rejects as well, it would be a great present for me, and for them.

- National Science Fiction Day: While unofficial, this day is on January 2, the birthday of famed writer Isaac Asimov. A solid day for anyone from cyberpunk to space opera to make a play for attention.

- National Poetry Month: April is National Poetry Month, and if you're having a tough time moving your books, this would be the time to get people to sit up and take notice!

- Romance Awareness Month: While not specifically book-themed, Romance Awareness Month is August. And if you feel you have a book that sets a good example for people to follow (or that provides a great escape) this is a solid time to let folks know. You might even go so far as to suggest a book exchange, and evenings spent together reading with your significant other for the month.

- Free Comic Book Day: May 2 every year, this one is usually only celebrated in comic book stores. Still, if you have superheroes in your book, or you actually put together a graphic novel, this would be a great time to boost your signal.

- Free RPG Day: Taking place in June every year, this one is great for folks who write roleplaying games, or whose books are Lit RPGs.

- International Fairy Day: June 24 every year is dedicated to celebrating these little creatures. And if you have fairies in your book, or just the fey in general, this would be a good time to let people know.

Don't Forget To Sweeten The Pot!

Whatever holiday or celebration you're using (and there are plenty I didn't list out), it's important to remember that just opens the door for you to make a pitch. It gets people's attention. However, it's a good idea to give them a little more. A reason to click-through, and to snatch a copy of your book right now.

Well, who could say no to that?

Perhaps the best thing to do is to pair a discount, or a giveaway, with an appropriate day/month. Because cheap/free books are always great, but if you're doing it to make an occasion, suddenly it feels like something a little extra special!

So keep an eye on your calendars, and ask what days would be ideal for a thematic offer. Because if you can hook them with one book, they'll come back for more. They always do.

Like, Follow, and Stay Tuned!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing! If you'd like to see more of my work, take a look at my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife as well as my recent collection The Rejects!

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!