We authors are always looking for a way to promote our books. I’m trying an idea that I think will do that for mine at the same time it will help my favorite nonprofit cause—animal rescue. For any ebook or paperback of my books sold between October 1st and December 25th, I'm donating a portion of my royalties to two animal rescues. In turn, the rescues help me by promoting my books to their animal rescue contacts throughout the state and country. Believe me, their network extends far!
I'm also donating copies for fundraisers one of the rescues is running. They plan to make up baskets with one book and soaps made by the head of the rescue, or maybe a book and donated coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. They will be raffled off along with other items at the fundraiser.
I’ve written a press release that the rescues will put in the local papers, and we’ll post flyers around the area. I and two other authors are scheduled for a book signing at my county’s library in November, so that will also help promote the books. I and the rescue people will post to Facebook and other social networking sites.
I would encourage anyone who is trying to get the word out about their book(s) to find a cause that they care about and do what I’m doing this holiday season. The way I see it, it’s a win-win. We can make more people aware of our work at the same time we’re helping a cause we care about.
Some advice:
First, be sure to okay it with the organization you want to work with. The two of you should work together on this.
Second, do the math. Figure out what your royalties are and how much you can afford to donate out of that. I found that I needed to raise my book prices slightly. Otherwise, I would have gone in the hole on paperback sales from the Amazon site. I would have been okay at the old price if readers purchased from my CreateSpace store, but let’s face it—most people are going to go straight to Amazon. We don’t necessarily have to make any money on the sales; after all, we often give our books away for free to promote them. This is better than free, because our favorite cause can benefit.
Third, keep good records from the start. Amazon, Smashwords, etc., are great at keeping a record of sales, so that’s easy enough for us to track. But don’t overlook any sales you make in person. Remember, you’re still responsible for taxes on all the sales, but your charitable donations can be deducted from that income.
I will be doing a blog post about this promotion and I will post periodic updates about how it’s going. Again, I encourage all of you to give this a try. By doing this, we can get the word out about our books and do some good this holiday season.
I'm also donating copies for fundraisers one of the rescues is running. They plan to make up baskets with one book and soaps made by the head of the rescue, or maybe a book and donated coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. They will be raffled off along with other items at the fundraiser.
I’ve written a press release that the rescues will put in the local papers, and we’ll post flyers around the area. I and two other authors are scheduled for a book signing at my county’s library in November, so that will also help promote the books. I and the rescue people will post to Facebook and other social networking sites.
I would encourage anyone who is trying to get the word out about their book(s) to find a cause that they care about and do what I’m doing this holiday season. The way I see it, it’s a win-win. We can make more people aware of our work at the same time we’re helping a cause we care about.
Some advice:
First, be sure to okay it with the organization you want to work with. The two of you should work together on this.
Second, do the math. Figure out what your royalties are and how much you can afford to donate out of that. I found that I needed to raise my book prices slightly. Otherwise, I would have gone in the hole on paperback sales from the Amazon site. I would have been okay at the old price if readers purchased from my CreateSpace store, but let’s face it—most people are going to go straight to Amazon. We don’t necessarily have to make any money on the sales; after all, we often give our books away for free to promote them. This is better than free, because our favorite cause can benefit.
Third, keep good records from the start. Amazon, Smashwords, etc., are great at keeping a record of sales, so that’s easy enough for us to track. But don’t overlook any sales you make in person. Remember, you’re still responsible for taxes on all the sales, but your charitable donations can be deducted from that income.
I will be doing a blog post about this promotion and I will post periodic updates about how it’s going. Again, I encourage all of you to give this a try. By doing this, we can get the word out about our books and do some good this holiday season.
Last edited: