{"id":12046,"date":"2015-01-02T01:00:58","date_gmt":"2015-01-02T09:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=12046"},"modified":"2014-12-31T10:09:47","modified_gmt":"2014-12-31T18:09:47","slug":"book-publicity-idea-link-book-holidays-special-events-scott-lorenz-westwind-communications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2015\/01\/02\/book-publicity-idea-link-book-holidays-special-events-scott-lorenz-westwind-communications\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Publicity Idea: Link Your Book to Holidays and Special Events By Scott Lorenz Westwind Communications"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s\u00a0welcome\u00a0back\u00a0Scott Lorenz, book publicist and president of Westwind Communications, as he shares with us \u201cBook Publicity Idea: Link Your Book to Holidays and Special Events.\u201d\u00a0Enjoy!<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"image001\"<\/a>One creative way to get publicity for your book is to tie it to a holiday or special event.<\/strong> You\u2019ll be able to reach out to the media who often need a \u2018reason\u2019 to showcase your book right now. Furthermore you may be able to reach your audience on a more personal level by promoting your book alongside a national holiday, theme month, or cause. There are thousands of holidays that celebrate various concepts as well as traditional holidays that can be used to market your book; you just have to find them.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a terrific website that is perfect for authors by providing a searchable list of national days of \u2018this or that\u2019 for every day of the year. I searched \u2018book\u2019 and found dozens of relevant days. For example November 1st<\/sup> is National Author\u2019s Day. Who knew? The site provides background about who started an event, when it started and just enough info for you to tie your book in to the holiday. There are plenty of examples I could enumerate but check it out and see for yourself. With so many possibilities, finding holidays that can be linked to your book will be no problem.\u00a0 https:\/\/www.daysoftheyear.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

How do you tie your book in to a national month like Breast Cancer Awareness month?<\/strong> I once promoted Jackie Miles, author of Cold Rock River<\/em>, during Bipolar Disorder Awareness Month because she was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. I also tied a promotion of a horse rescue group in to the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont races because the country is focused and interested in horses during that time of year. I also once got television and newspaper coverage for a dentist when we came up with a sugar-free Easter basket. We offered parents tips on how to give non sugar-filled treats over the holiday and received tremendous exposure by doing so. This would be a perfect technique for a dentist with a book as well.<\/p>\n

I also promoted a book about sports clich\u00e9s tapping into the season of each sport and the author\u2019s commentary and collection of clich\u00e9s about that sport during its season. For example, we pitched sports writers about football during the time they are covering it and baseball during the summer months. I know it may sound basic but people don\u2019t want to hear about hockey in the summer so you have to tailor your pitch and timing accordingly.<\/p>\n

In my experience, subjects such as military books and novels do very well before anniversaries of dates of military and historical events like Memorial Day, July 4th<\/sup>, D-Day, Pearl Harbor Day, 911 etc. \u00a0<\/strong>Books on the topic of overcoming breast cancer will see increased sales during October due to Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Simply think about the subject matter of your book or any cause that is close to you, personally, and promote your book alongside the specific occasion, cause, or holiday.<\/p>\n

Other holidays and cause or theme months to consider include:<\/strong><\/p>\n