Monday, November 28, 2011

Spreading the word about Love at the End of the Road.

Shortly after hearing about Love at the End of the Road, Rae Roadley’s memoir about life on the Kaipara Harbour, Joann Steiner invited Rae to hold a book signing at her Dargaville café.
Rae immediately accepted and also offered to speak, knowing people are always interested in the story behind the publication of a book. She then invited local retailer, Moran’s Bookshop, to sell books.
Then a Kaipara Lifestyler journalist saw the advertisement, wrote an article ahead of the event, and dropped in to Jo’s Home Cookery on the day to take a photograph.
Moran’s Bookshop bought extra copies from Penguin Books and sold several at the event. But the far bigger bonus was the number of books bought in the preceding days by people who’d heard about the signing but couldn’t attend.
“Then we sold another six copies on Friday in the shop after your visit to Jo’s café,” Sarah Moran reported to Rae, a trend she expects to continue, having found books which include local history do well and have longevity in the marketplace.
Rae, meanwhile, spent the day in Dargaville. “Everyone I bumped into, including retailers, knew about the book and the signing. The café did good business, Moran’s Bookshop will continue to sell books, and readers will spread the word. Jo’s idea really worked out well.”

3 comments:

Jenn J McLeod said...

Love a good book, a good cafe, a good coffee and a good recipe. now why aren't I in NZ and I'd have some good company?

Anonymous said...

hiya, do you think this would work just as well for fiction or only for non fiction.

jane

Rae Roadley said...

I think it could, and perhaps best in a small town or at a new cafe that wants to promote itself. The cafe's advert was picked up by the newspaper, but no reason the author couldn't talk to directly a journo. A key, I think, was including the local bookstore.