Class of 2K8 at NJSCBWI

The Class of 2K8 panel at NJSCBWI:

Daphne Grab, Nina Nelson, Marissa Doyle, & Nancy Viau

Members from the Class presented an afternoon workshop on guerrilla marketing called 28 Great Marketing Ideas from the Class of 2k8. Nina Nelson, Marissa Doyle, Daphne Grab, and Nancy Viau spoke about marketing their debut novels, individually and as part of a group, to a packed room full of energetic attendees.

They began with the basics—have a signature line for every email that includes your information, create a professional-looking website that reflects not only your book, but you as an author. People nodded and smiled, and scribbled notes in the spaces left on the handout. Press kits were discussed, along with publisher/author communication, tie-ins to national organizations, and what can be done to create consistent buzz. People scribbled harder!

Nancy, Daphne, And Marissa

Half way through the presentation, Nina, Marissa, Daphne, and Nancy addressed the nitty-gritty of marketing and had a little show-and-tell of popular swag like posters, tote bags, pins, candy, and bookmarks. Library visits, school workshops, signings, movie trailers, and blogging were discussed as ways to spread the word about books. A topic that got a lot of interest was that of social networking, and numerous attendees had questions about the usefulness and safety of promotion through MySpace, Facebook, JacketFlap, etc.

Daphne, Nina,Marissa, and Nancy

The panel was a hit! Questions kept coming long after everyone filtered out into the hallway.

Check the Class website for more 2k8 presentations coming to local, regional, and national conferences this year.

Stay tuned: more pics from the NJSCBWI conference coming tomorrow!

More fun in the sun

Today's Totally Important Post is about class member Daphne Grab. Teen reviewer Gela gushes about Daphne's book, Alive and Well in Prague, New York. Check it out.


Now, back to this week's topic: Group Marketing...

Debbie Reed Fischer is the other person who was part of the dynamic duo that took SCBWI Florida by storm in January. Let's find out what she has to say about doing a workshop with another author.

Debbie?

Chatting online every day for months creates a very unique bond with someone, and that is especially true in 2k8. Like the rest of the class, Jody and I had already spent hundreds of hours discussing book promotion, as well as sharing opinions, triumphs, disappointments and jokes. So when I arrived at the conference and we found each other, it wasn't the polite, tentative greeting that usually takes place when meeting someone for the first time. From the moment we hugged in the main conference room, I felt as though we'd been friends forever. When we did sit down to discuss our presentation, there was a comfort level of two people who had been working together for a long time. It made planning and executing our presentation as easy as two friends talking about a common interest. That was a direct result of being in the Class of 2k8.

The really great thing about 2k8 is that members have professional backgrounds in areas other than publishing. How is that a plus, you ask? Well, when Jody and I were speaking about book promotion, I was grateful she had worked in the related field of advertising for many years. It was reassuring to have her expertise handy.

One attendee told me, "You usually see workshops on the same thing at all these conferences. This was something truly different." That 'something different' is another thing 2k8 brings to the table, and Jody and I were eager to talk about it. We have mutual enthusiasm for the group and its purpose, which really showed in our presentation. Our Class of 2k8 brochures were received with interest and curiosity, and a lot of people wanted to know more. Another attendee complained that our workshop wasn't long enough, after we spoke for an hour and a half! Not to mention it was the very last workshop of a three-day conference!


M.P. Barker also knows how important group marketing is...

Being part of 2k8 has helped me because I'm a terrible procrastinator, very disorganized, and know absolutely nothing about marketing. I'm very bad at meeting personal deadlines if I'm not responsible to anyone but myself, but fear of shame and humiliation makes me very good at meeting deadlines when they're imposed by somebody else. Having a group to be answerable to forces me to get my act together and get things accomplished. It's also great to have a support group of people whom I can learn from and who are going through all the same things I am.


Liz Gallagher simply puts it this way:

It makes the fish a little bigger in that big pond.

So, if you're thinking of joining a group to help you get the word out about your books,

JUMP RIGHT IN

and

MAKE A SPLASH

that the publishing world won't soon forget!