Sunday, March 10 marks the start of the first
National Read An E-Book Week.
Rita Toews (http://www.rtoews.homestead.com/) was
just another frustrated e-book author this time last
year. This year she is sponsor of Read An E-Book
Week.
Promoting a book is hard enough, but imagine if you
also had to explain how a book works (“Well, this is
the cover, then if you turn that you’ll find the
first page. When you’re finished that, turn it over
and you’ll find writing on the back, too.”). That is
the challenge faced by many e-published authors.
Toews decided that e-book authors and publisher
needed a special celebratory week to make it easier
to spread the word about electronic publishing.
“I’ve found it difficult to get the ear of the
press,” she says. “Now when I approach them and ask
‘Did you know that the second week of March is Read
An E-Book week?’ they pay attention.”
Toews says that many librarians and booksellers are
unaware that e-books are often available on CD-Rom or
disk, not just downloads, and that they could be
providing them.
“I’d like to see authors use the week to promote
themselves and e-books in general,” she says. She
also issues a challenge to authors and publishers to
“Step outside of their comfort zone and approach
someone, or some organization that seemed a little
out of reach before. For this one week they’ve got
the power of all e-book authors standing together
behind them.”
Toews will be doing just that, appearing on her local
television station and being interviewed on CBC,
Canada’s national radio. She will also be hosting a
display at her library, to introduce patrons to
electronic books and the mountain of titles available
to them.
So who are you going to tell?
Promotion Angles:
Rita Toews provided some great features and benefits
to highlight when promoting your e-book to a few
different audiences. You can use these ideas in press
releases, direct mail, email messages (to your opt-in
list, of course. No spamming, please), and in talks
and negotiations all over the place.
1. Marketing to Readers
Says Toews: “Readers will have more reading material
to choose from…a fresh approach to writing, free
from the formulas that the larger publishing houses
impose.”
2. Marketing to Librarians
Toews suggested that e-books will encourage younger
people to read. She explains,
“Younger people don’t have the love affair with paper
that the older generations have.”
As an added bonus, visually impaired people love e-
books because the type can be changed to suit them.
3. Marketing to Booksellers.
Booksellers, says Toews are generally under informed
about e-books. They may think they cannot sell them
because they are only available online, or that
people need special hardware to read the books. This
is just not true: but authors and e-publishers have
to get out there and make sure their local bookstores
know how to get hold of the books.
