Giveaways as marketing tools

Ebooks are still in the process of gaining ground in the UK, but of course they have been around on the internet a long time.
So what has changed since their inception? Well, price for one. Free offers abound. Yet does this stimulate sales or simply devalue the worth of the book? It’s a tricky one.
As a general marketing strategy, one of the easiest ways to turn people on to your product is to give it to them. This is a proven tactic for products that people are likely to get hooked on and come back to buy more and more. Clearly, the same person is not going to come back time and time again to purchase the same copy of our book.
So what are the benefits of giveaways for ebook authors?
They include:
- generating reviews/ positive feedback that helps us to create a buzz about our book
- stimulating word of mouth recommendation
- creating goodwill
- reaching a new audience: people love getting something for nothing and the freebie deal will attract an audience you might not otherwise reach
- they can help us to build our mailing lists
But are these benefits lost in view of the sheer number of free giveaways on offer?
Also, does giving away our prized possession devalue its intrinsic worth? And how do we avoid this pitfall?
I believe it is important that we are excited about the book that we are giving away and that we convey our enthusiam by talking it up through sms sites like facebook and twitter. We need to make readers feel that the prize is something ‘special’. Posting review quotes or short extracts will help enhance the worth of the prize. Another tactic is to engage their competitive spirit and make them ‘work’ for the prize through events like scavenger hunts. Will they value the prize more if they have won it through some effort on their part over and above other entrants? I think so.
Of course giveaways are not limited to books – they can be trinkets, fridge magnets, pens or ‘bigger’ prizes like gift tokens or even a Kindle. Generally, larger sites can afford bigger prizes. It is a question of cost vs benefit and, of course, affordability.
'Buy one get one free' is a useful form of giveaway for authors with backlists i.e. buy the latest release and get a free backlist book.
For blog hosts, giveaways can also be considered a marketing tool in that they build awareness about your blog and gain new readers as well as rewarding regular ones
There is no doubt that giveaways are a much used marketing tool – some might say overused – yet I believe there is still mileage in them providing they themselves are marketed effectively.

Six Sentence Sunday blog - In the Name of Research

Research is essential if we want to give our work teeth. There will always be readers who are well versed in subjects we touch on and we have to be careful to ensure accuracy.
So how far would we go? There are times when we all have to step out of our comfort zone in the name of research. The most uncomfortable thing I have done is to visit a funeral parlour. To read more go to
http://www.meganjohns.blogspot.com

In the Name of Research

Maeve Binchy, oft described as the mother of chick-lit, bases her writing in her native Ireland and her work is distinguished by the depth of her understanding of the social structure of small Irish communities. It raises the question, however, of how effectively we can base our own novels in settings where we do not have firsthand experience.
I use a range of settings in my work, but they are always places I have stayed, if only for a holiday. Indeed,in the past, I have frequently booked family holidays to places off most people’s radar with the express intent of doing research. Of course, this was never declared as an overt motive and my then teenage daughter’s protestations about the obscurity of destinations chosen were, mercifully, always overridden by the end result.
For my part, I would not feel confident relying purely on the internet to research settings as I feel it cannot possibly give the same level of insight to the nuances of a society, or indeed replicate one’s own unique angle of perception.
Research is essential if we want to give our work teeth. There will always be readers who are versed in the topic under discussion and one has to be careful to ensure accuracy.
So how far would we go? There are times when we all have to step out of our comfort zone in the name of research.
For example Joanna Trollope, now a refined, sixty something grandmother, describes how she donned black jeans and dark glasses to go night clubbing in London. That takes courage. She must have stood out like a sore thumb and she tells how she attracted much attention as she lurked with her notepad. It was a worthwhile pursuit, however, and her great observational skills ensured the authenticity of her novel ‘Friday Nights’.
So what is the most uncomfortable thing I have done in the name of research? That’s easy. Whilst writing the Path of Innocence, I had a scene when the hero visited his mother’s grave, but I needed to check the length of time required for soil to settle before a headstone can be laid. I walked up and down the street outside our local funeral parlour many times before I finally found the moment and plucked the courage to walk inside. Even as I walked through the door, I agonized over how to make the initial approach. Should I be bright and breezy? Would that be considered disrespectful of the setting? And I admit the first few moments were tricky. However, once I had convinced the undertaker of my authenticity, he went into raptures and there was no holding him back. The result: I left with reams of information on graves, far more than I needed, and my scene was sorted.
We have to ensure we do research, no matter how uncomfortable it may be at times; otherwise it is a disservice to our readers and we should not fool ourselves that inaccuracies will escape their collective radar.

Six Sentence Sunday blog - Memoirs

Would I spill out my personal thoughts, feelings and actions in a memoir? The short answer is not for publication purposes - I am too private a person for that, but I may well write my memoirs at some future stage for the eyes of family and friends.

I am inspired by my late father who, in the later years of his life, incapacitated by strokes, spent much of his time revisiting his youth and writing his own memoirs. In them, he does not spill out feelings explicitly, but the story of a working class lad who defies all the odds through sheer determination and hard work carries a subliminal message of hope that if we believe in ourselves we can succeed. The result is a treasured legacy of stories which form a wonderful source of comfort, joy and pride to the family. Moreover, memoirs of this nature can be passed down to future generations so that our grandchildren and their children can gain an understanding from whence they came.

Memoirs

In answer to the Alternative Read blog question: Would you be honest enough to write your personal thoughts, feelings and actions in a memoir?

Memoirs, unlike an autobiography, are not necessarily a person's life story, but snapshots of selected aspects. They usually carry a theme or common threads which are woven through it and which carry a message, perhaps for the greater good.

Ideally, they should be as true to life as possible, but the vagaries of memory, as we all know, can play tricks. Does it matter if they are not totally accurate? No, I don't believe so. It is the communication of the core theme that is most important.

We generally associate memoir writing with people of advanced years, yet they are not age dependent. A person of any age, particularly if they have a powerful message to convey, can write their memoirs. For example, a child who has lived through abuse, a young person who has conquered drug/alcohol addiction, someone living and coping with a disability.

Writing about one's innermost thoughts and feelings, however, although a purgative, may also be extremely painful. So why do people do it?

In the case of victims, it may be altruistic, a desire to help others in similar situations, but many memoirs, as we know, focus on celebrities whose stories might carry little depth. So why do they sell?

Our obsession with looking into other people's lives is a type of voyeurism; some argue it is due to the fragmentation of cohesive family interactions, a substitute for the lack of a 'real' life of our own. Nor is this obsession limited to memoirs. Magazines pay dividends for people's anecdotal stories - and the more shocking, the better. TV soaps, confessional chat shows and fly-on-the-wall shows like Big Brother all exploit our seemingly insatiable curiosity about other people's lives.

But I digress. Back to the question, would I spill out my personal thoughts, feelings and actions in a memoir? The short answer is not for publication purposes - I am too private a person for that. However, I may well write my memoirs at some future stage for the eyes of family and friends.

Why? I am inspired by my late father who, in the later years of his life, incapacitated by strokes, spent much of his time revisiting his youth and writing his own memoirs. In them, he does not spill out feelings explicitly, but the story of a working class lad who defies all the odds through sheer determination and hard work carries a subliminal message of hope that if we believe in ourselves we can succeed. The result is a treasured legacy of stories which form a wonderful source of comfort, joy and pride to the family. Moreover, memoirs of this nature can be passed down to future generations so that our grandchildren and their children can gain an understanding from whence they came.