Previews for books
So how do you help potential readers preview a book?
I remember a lot of paperbacks used to have a section at the end, after the main content, featuring an excerpt (10-50 pages) of another book from the same author or publisher. I used to see it primarily in science fiction and young adult paperbacks, though for all I know, it’s still common, and I’m just not reading as many mass market paperbacks as I used to.
I was recently at a hotel which offered guests a “welcome kit,” consisting of promotional freebie samples of various lotions, nutritional supplements, shavers, etc. I was pleasantly surprised to find a small book enclosed. It turned out to be a 96-page volume containing the first chapters of three new Harlequin novels. While I’m not part of the target market for Harlequin titles, I ended up skimming the sample chapters all the same. The sampler book at the hotel was a great way of getting their books out to people with some time on their hands — some of whom may not be reading Harlequin, others not reading at all. (It’s a strategy Gideon’s International has been investing in for the past century.)
Most of the “innovative” book marketing strategies I hear of involve ome combination of book tours, reading groups, and blogs. Its nice to run across something altogether different.
[Now reading An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore]