Looking for the best ways to promote, market and distribute our forthcoming series of ebooks for young children?
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Apr 4, 2014
Hi, This is very general about your series of ebooks for your children. How young, are they preschool, middle school, high school. These are all different target markets.
From the tags, maybe preschoolers and toddlers. If this is the case, the material needs to appeal to the child so its very relevant, however the decision maker to buy is the parent, the mum and dad, the distributors are childcare centres, childcare workers, anyone and everyone that works or interacts with toddlers, preschoolers.
So you need copy which is very relevant, to this audience. Its about getting the emotional drivers of the parents to buy your particular book. Why will a parent buy your book over all the other books out their in this target market? Whats the point of difference to YOUR series of books.
Align with the childcare centres that have similar ethics of business and integrity with yourself. Sometimes people give the impression they CAN HELP, when really they can't, they CAN't follow through and get the sales results that you so desire.
If you really want to increase your sales, be brave enough to have a free 1 hour Skype coaching call with myself. In this interaction come with me, with the result you want in mind and I will work with you so this follows CREATE - concise, realistic, emotional achieveable, timed and you actually have an end result where you can SAY YES!!! I have that result.,
Apr 4, 2014
Jeff,
I would be interested in talking to you more on this. I have a e-commerce site in beta ready to launch in 2 weeks. The site is focused on children's pretend play with supporting crafts, costumes, and books. Maybe an opportunity!
Apr 4, 2014
Jeff - forgive me if I stirr up the conversation, but selling books to kids is just like the other end of the graph (55+) a matter of traditional paperback. Here are some stats:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremygreenfield/2013/11/19/hardcover-sales-growth-outpacing-ebooks-in-2013/
I have two kids and two tablets. Yet never they have asked me if they could read an eBook because schools, libraries, gifts from Grand parents etc. haven't jumped on to the bandwagon of digital. I once did a project for the "State Library" in Montreal and what worried them the most wasn't to migrate from paper to eBook - no it was to reduce video rentals vs. book loans for kids!
Wishing you nothing but success
Apr 4, 2014
I would like to get you to a self-publishing guru by the name of Dan Gamito. He's on Linked-In and Facebook. PM him and let him know in your PM that I personally recommended you to him. He will be able to help you in no less than one hour. It will be the best hour you have ever spent with this young, brilliant man.
Apr 4, 2014
You can use clickbank.com if you are ok with giving up a % for having a tone of marketers do all the work for you.
Also I know of a extremely good marketing course that is actually closing its doors to new people this saturday that would help tremendously in your promotion efforts on this project and anything else you plan to do in the future.
Message me if you want a link to a video overview of the course.
Apr 4, 2014
Jeff,
Check out BookBaby.com; also, work through religious, educational and non-profits, depending upon your subject matter. Work out an affiliate marketing relationship with them--or at least seek their endorsements to add credibility.
Apr 4, 2014
Thanks, Barry. Already have an account at BookBaby.com; Have sold my music over the years at CDBaby. I've targeted Kitereaders.com as a prime distributor and marketer. They specifically create, distribute and market picture ebooks for young kids. Bookbaby, Smashwords, Amazon, B&N are all backup possibilities.
Apr 4, 2014
As an addition to your answers already offered by my esteemed colleagues I would say your project is a dead match with Kindle Direct Publishing, you can set up a free account, upload your books and graphics for your covers present them to millions of customers and also utilize the advertising platform that is a part of the Amazon Kindle system. This way you avoid third party publishing headaches and have direct control over your ebooks-you should do this even if you plan to publish hard copies. I can highly recommend Kindle Direct Publishing.
Apr 4, 2014
Thanks, Michael. Appreciate your comments. Isn't it true that at this point the Kindle does NOT have color capability? I believe, however, in the near future, it will. Obviously, for me and my project, color/animation is important.
Apr 5, 2014
Jeff, your customer will be the child's parent so building a mobile responsive site is important. All ebooks are moving towards the tablet so hopefully your content is optimized for that as well.
Also partner with folks like @Neil Mccafferty who will help you in the long run.
Cheers,
Chacko
Apr 5, 2014
Thanks, Chacko. Totally agree. Hope to follow-up with Neil McCafferty.
Apr 5, 2014
I would Start with the Texas Children's Hospital, by donating some Books!! Then getting it placed on the Debra Duncan Show, Good Morning Houston. I personally know her!!
Apr 5, 2014
I have a list of sites for promoting ebooks for my former client. You should also do a social media blast for the parents.
Apr 5, 2014
With that demographic, I definitely recommend press releases and connecting with organizations that fit the age group your books are made for. Social media will be important but not as important as good reviews from key influence sources.
Apr 6, 2014
While the readers, will be children, you will have to gain the favor of the parents. I would guess that the Mothers will be a large part of your buying audience. Once they get the first book and they see the benefit, they will help build the audience for the rest of the series. If you are marketing through a web site for the series, make sure the name is short and easy to remember. Cable TV ads will help build interest, and can be done a few markets at a time. And some national magazines can help also. Some for the kids and some for the parents.
Apr 6, 2014
Three tactics: Blog Marketing; Public Relations (not just writing a release and putting it up online); Smart Online Advertising with extreme targeting that will remarket to those that visit your website, but have not yet purchased. And, the last item assumes you will build a promotional website at which engaged visitors can make a purchase.
Apr 9, 2014
Jeff,
What a great project you are working on. I'd love to hear more details about your upcoming children's book series. I think since ultimately you are trying reach the parents of these young children it would be great to perhaps do a book trailer that could be easily shared on You Tube. Also you could contact some of the highest ranked Mommy Bloggers and get them to review and chat about your series. Of course I would also create a Facebook and Twitter following for your series among other things. I'd love to help you in any way possible. Feel free to contact me to chat more. Have a great day!
Apr 14, 2014
I ´ve struggled with this issue myself as well. I´ve found that creating an audience BEFORE the actual launch of the product helps you build awareness and credibility. I´ve been using facebook ads to get likes to my page and it is unexpensive.
I´ve read many articles on the internet about this very subject and I´ve discovered that many independnet artists, publishers, etc, do just this. By the time they have an x amount of fans they start introducing their products. You start by giving little bits of free things/content on your facebook page and you can also discover what they like the most. Also contacting media is a great tool. The most awareness you can create for your product the more chances you have to become succesfull
There is an association in US Independent Book Publishers Association, I think it is worth suscribing to. They publish monthly newsletters.
I self published years ago a bilingual mexican cook book and they have lists of journalist that cover these topic, and other valuable resources.
Apr 15, 2014
Appreciate your comments, Blanca. I agree. It's critical to set the groundwork before moving forward with a product.
Apr 14, 2014
Hi Jeff,
I would look into building relationships with the mommy-bloggers and their networks. Co-creating content with established names or writing contributing posts for blogs/sites that already earn a high volume of traffic is a great way to spread the word organically which boosts your rankings from an SEO perspective.
Good luck with the series!
Aubrey
Apr 19, 2014
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Thanks, Martin. i don't doubt the veracity of the Forbes stats. But, I do think that there is a significant upside and future, especially, for picture ebooks for kids. There are aspects such as animation, interactivity, audio, music, etc. that traditional books can't have. I think there is certainly room for both. I do know, as a songwriter for young kids, the best way to translate many of my songs/stories is through digital media Appreciate your thoughts.