EXACTLY WHAT IS ADVERTISING? Like it or not, we’re always in an advertising mode from how we present ourselves to our publics to a book cover design. Building an author’s platform goes with the territory for getting published. It’s mandatory not a maybe. And since advertising can be imaginative versus expensive, it is important to rethink how and where we can utilize its power to sell books.

BE DIFFERENT: I subscribe to a weekly email newsletter headquartered in Amsterdam. Established in early 2002, the company tracks more than 400 global offline and online business resources using more than 8,000 “spotters” in over 70 countries.

Many of the following ideas are credited to Springwise while others were discovered from various resources. As a collection, these ideas are fresh giving a new meaning to the word advertising and promotion. Hopefully they will inspire even better ideas for growing your book’s readership. 

SUBWAY BOOKSELLER: Unless you ride the New York subway you may not have heard of Fred Gleeck. Fred hawks his $10.00 book on the subway—honest! In fact, he has sold over 48,000 books in three years this way and he is still going strong. It’s all cash with an approximate profit margin of 75 percent. You do the math.

FOAM LOGOS IN THE SKY: A special effects company mixed soap foam with lighter-than-air gasses, created logos and floated them through the sky. Dubbed Flogos (flogos.net), the floating ad lasts over a half hour, can travel over 30 miles on a breeze and then evaporates without a carbon footprint. This idea could be tied into a book signing, some local TV and radio interviews to hopefully capture the imagination of, say, one of the network morning shows. Your publisher might foot the bill on this one.

PLUG YOUR BOOK: PUT THE COVER ON A T-SHIRT: An award-winning agency (everydaymodels.co.uk) in London matches everyday models with advertisers who want to display their messages in unlikely places, e.g., T-shirts, clothing, houses, bicycles, motor scooters and the like. Because the agency works worldwide, this too could be tied to a campaign like the Flogos and follow your book signings wherever you go. PS: Publishers usually think traditionally; introducing fresh ideas might loosen their purse strings.

POST TO A FLASHCARD-TYPE SITE: Popling (popling.net) helps learning by breaking the material into small parts. Their pop-ups work like flashcards and you may also create your own. This is an excellent idea for authors writing for young learners or professional trainers wanting to offer their students a quick way to learn something new. How about your book? Maybe even a mystery novel would benefit from a popup quiz that leads your reader toward a conclusion. Popling isn’t the only site with “snippet” learning or reading. DailyLit.com is another site worth visiting.

FREE PAPER CUPS WITH LOGO ADS: Of course, it depends on your genre but these ads are appearing on free paper cups (freepapercups.com), notebooks and notepaper for college-age and younger students. This is pricy but a corporate sponsor might find your book serves its image, product or objective.

For instance, what if a local bank wanted to finance autos and you wrote books about auto repair. A one month promo blitz in this local market would have appeal; even start a buzz about your book along with the bank’s promo. The same idea could apply to any number of genres: Travel agencies wanting to promoteromantic holidays and so on.

EMPTY STOREFRONTS GO DIGITAL: Popular in the UK, store owners with empty storefronts are turning them into hi-tech digital advertising space operated by an innovative company (motomedia-uk.com). Why not encourage a slew of your publisher’s authors to join forces with you and the publisher or booksellers to advertise your books. This complements local booksellers both on and offline since the MotoMedia is set up to broadcast an advertiser’s message—your book or many—throughout an entire neighborhood or region.

EASILY PERSONALIZE YOUR BOOK AS A MAGAZINE: Zinepal.com is a tool that
lets you convert your favorite online content into eBooks and printable, magazine-style PDFs that can be read on Amazon’s Kindle. Although Zinepal’s intent is to capture different blogs and a user’s favorite content from websites, why can’t it be used for capturing a book chapter, reviews and any viable media that promotes your book? You can even include advertising images at the bottom of each page. When complete, your personalized zine can be printed, emailed or posted on Zinepal’s site. It’s currently FREE.

NEXT: Co-Op Advertising: A $50 Billion Secret and What it Can do for Us

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