Monday, August 11, 2014

Unconventional promoting

I'm finally sharing some of my vacation pictures. I've read some posts lately that we bloggers are getting to "promotional" and not enough "personal" - I tend to agree! Though, once you're published, the books do take over your life!

So today I will start with some vacation pictures...
the feet in the sand pic
the journey into the waves pic
football in the ocean
my oldest son's first oyster
outlet shopping!
took a cruise
the sunset pic
what's the most sought-after item in this picture?
but wait! i promoted at the beach!
Here's my unconventional promotion on vacation. I brought fun swag - I wrote "BROKEN BRANCH FALLS by Tara Tyler" on those beastly kite-looking things that sail through the sky like airplanes. I brought my "Stand up for yourself" footballs and I also dressed up some frisbees with Beast World on the larger ones and my BBF cover on the small ones.

So here's what I did... each day, I left my promotional items somewhere. Footballs in the pool, small frisbees at a bar and on a bench, and the days I went to the beach, I set out the display above. On the last day, I even set out my sign and some of my books when I snagged a table by the pool!

The results... not much direct response, but while I was reading at the beach, it was jam-packed and a girl next to me asked what I was reading (it was Kinetic by S.K. Anthony) I told her it was my friend's book and she was surprised I knew the author (hee hee) and I said it was because I'm an author too! She said she was part of a trading book club and would look me up and get my books - I gave her some swag and bookmarks. Yay!

And one last promotional bit - my Broken Branch Falls Blog Tour stop for this week is at Robin's nest, Your Daily Dose and I'll be talking about Musical Inspiration!

Hope your summer is wonderful! Have you been able to get away? (and hope you're staying warm, my down under friends!)

28 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Clever way to promote at the beach! Hope that girl picks up your book for her book club.
Most sough after item in the photo - the girl?
Will visit Robin!

mshatch said...

Wow, you are so clever! I'm impressed. I think I'll hire YOU to do my promoting :)

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Tara - can't say I'd agree with Alex .. but perhaps being by the pool or able to swim in it - would be my most sought after item - I'd need an airticket too.

Still looks like you had fun - and made fun for yourself promoting your book .. and sure hope the trading book club picks you up ..

Cheers Hilary

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Cruises are so much fun!

I'm a bit out of the habit, but I used to leave bookmarks for my books everywhere I went. You came up with some creative marketing ideas.

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

Fun pics! And great promotional ideas - you had your words working for you. :)

Madeline @ The Shellshank Redemption

Sarah Foster said...

Love how creative you got with the book promotion! I guess it helps to have swag on you at all times. :)

Dana said...

Very clever! It looks and sounds like you had a wonderful vacation!

Annalisa Crawford said...

All those ideas are really cool. I like the frisbee idea, because I'm a bad throw so I'd literally be hitting people with advertising :-)

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

What a great idea to combine fun and promotion. Hope it brings in some unexpected sales.

Carrie-Anne said...

I haven't gone on holiday yet this summer, though I'm still hoping to see my favorite aunt in Floriday before the fall holidays start. Once I have physical copies of my books, I'd like to promote them at the indie bookstore in my aunt's city when I'm visiting.

Unknown said...

looks SO nice and relaxing!! so glad you enjoyed your time. And how nice that girl got some bookmarks from you!

The Silver Fox said...

Your son's first oyster, and he's smiling? I love 'em, but I thought they were an acquired taste.

Well done, sneaking in little promos for BBF!

H. R. Sinclair said...

You're so sneaky!

Where's the picture of your son after he swallow the oyster. --or was that it?

Rena said...

What great promo ideas! Also you are very sneaky! And I like the toes on the beach. My favorite kind of vacation involves toes at the beach.

Trisha said...

Beautiful pictures! I live by the beach but this post made me want to ... go on holiday by the beach. :)

I love your promo materials! Sounds like you did a good job. And the way you did it made it fun for everyone.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Great ideas for promoting on your vacation! And congratulations on the book group future sale. I admit, I get a kick out of people's reactions when I can say I'm reading a friend's book. Probably because I forget that once I would have thought that was a big deal?

Optimistic Existentialist said...

Clever idea my friend :) that is why you will be successful!

Carol Kilgore said...

Beach vacations are the best! Great promo ideas, too :)

Unknown said...

These were some great promo ideas! (And lovely pictures.) You were ready for anything, lol. It's great that you were thinking outside of the norm. Nothing wrong with letting people know that your book exists if you ask me. You make me wanna go and buy some swag:)

Unknown said...

These were some great promo ideas! (And lovely pictures.) You were ready for anything, lol. It's great that you were thinking outside of the norm. Nothing wrong with letting people know that your book exists if you ask me. You make me wanna go and buy some swag:)

Maurice Mitchell said...

Great ideas Tara! I'll be looking for a message in a bottle with your website in it. ;)

Sandra Cox said...

What fun! And wishing you many sales on Broken Branch.

Heather R. Holden said...

Lovely photos, especially that sunset one! And wow, what fun ways to promote your book! I'll have to remember some of these ideas...

Crystal Collier said...

Doesn't it feel awesome to be at the end of the big push? Way to promote while on vacation. That's dedication. =) I had that once--chatting with a teenage girl, she was shocked I knew and author she'd read, and then she one-clicked my book on her phone. It was awesome.

Liz Blocker said...

Oh, your vacation looks so lovely!!! I'm so glad you got away. And got so creative about marketing!! Great ideas, I think :)

Cathrina Constantine said...

I need to learn some of your promoting ideas! Looks like a fun vacation!

DMS said...

Looks like a fabulous vacation and I think your marketing ideas are brilliant. You definitely got your name/book out there and they say people need to see a name numerous times. :). I hope the girl from the beach contacts you. Awesome that you had swag to give her! Yeah!
~Jess

cleemckenzie said...

What a great vacation! Some good marketing ideas as well. Let's hope they pay off.

Popular Posts