Marketing

Rugged Land Publisher Shawn Coyne wants people to pay attention to books the way they pay attention to music videos. That’s why Rugged Land, a book publishing and film company, created a 40-second commercial trailer for one of its debut novels, Henry’s List of Wrongs, by John Scott Shepherd. The promo is due for release on the Rugged Land Web site on April 16 to coincide with the book’s publication date.

The first lady, Laura Bush, will appear on a Get Caught Reading (GCR) poster to be released around the time of her second annual National Book Festival, scheduled to be held in Washington, D.C., on September 21, 2002.

This week, BTW presents a preview of the latest Book Sense 76 list, but, increasingly, booksellers are using a backlist title’s selection as a Book Sense pick as an ongoing marketing tool, promoting the selection, for instance, in shelf-talkers or by stickering titles. In addition, earlier Book Sense titles are often great candidates for reading groups.

The April white box mailing to stores with Book Sense includes advance reading copies, a listening cassette, numerous sell sheets, blads, special offers, and other materials. Booksellers should be on the lookout for these boxes to arrive in mid-April. Here’s a preview of some the items you’ll find: Advance Reading Copies Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation, Olivia Judson, published by Holt The Fruit of Stone, Mark Spragg, published by Riverhead (Penguin Putnam)

By Carl Lennertz First of all, thank you for the great nominations, especially from all the first-time nominators, whether at a specialty or general store, who feel as if books in their specialty now have a national voice! And people are noticing:

Now is the time for bookstores interested in participating in the 2002 Prescription for Reading marketing program to sign up and receive promotional kits, along with 200 copies of this year's book, Sylvia Long's Mother Goose, published by Chronicle Books.

Book Sense, as well as individual Book Sense 76 picks, will be spotlighted in several advertisements in upcoming issues of The Atlantic Monthly and The New Yorker. The March 2002 issue of The Atlantic Monthly will feature Burning Marguerite by Elizabeth Inness-Brown (Knopf, 0375411968) in a black-and-white Book Sense ad.

This April, booksellers can celebrate National Poetry Month with a custom poetry CD (which was exclusively produced for participating Book Sense stores, by Sourcebooks, publisher of the book and CD set, Poetry Speaks) and a poetry writing contest for high school students. Stores can use the offerings -- from "Poets Speak Back, A Poetry Writing Contest," sponsored by Sourcebooks and Book Sense -- as the basis of their National Poetry Month events or as a complement to planned readings and activities.

Book Sense and recent 76 picks will be featured in print advertisements that will reach hundreds of thousands of consumers in the upcoming weeks. Book Sense "bookmark" ads in The Atlantic will feature The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland (Viking, 0670894494) in February; Burning Marguerite by Elizabeth Inness-Brown (Knopf, 0375411968) in March; and What Do We Know by Mary Oliver (Da Capo Press, 030680994X) in April.

Booksellers know that the Book Sense 76 is a great marketing tool. But now booksellers are finding out that adding their store's logo on the front of the flyer makes it an even better marketing tool.