Let's Ask - Question #2

    Today is week two of my new series Let's Ask which will be featured every Thursday on my blog. Lately, I've had so many unanswered questions about getting published and marketing children's books I thought why not just ask the experts one question per week and then share their knowledge of the business with us. *Experts = most likely a friend/acquaintance with experience writing children's books or publishing them.

    For my second Let's Ask question I asked Eric Van Raepenbusch (see below for his bio info)

Here's my question for Eric:

Now that your books are published how do you market them and is it a difficult process? What are some of your favorite resources on how to go about marketing?

Eric's response:

My e-books, Three Ghost Friends: Learn About Colors and Three Ghost Friends: Learn About Opposites, have only been available from the Apple iBookstore since March 18, 2012. However, since then I have been working really hard at marketing them.

Click cover for purchasing details

Click cover for purchasing details

First, I thought about my potential customers. My e-books are aimed at very young children 2-6 years old. Therefore, I thought my two main markets were parents and preschool teachers.

Then, I thought about how I would reach these two groups in a cost effective manner because I am only charging 99 cents for each e-book. I started a blog, Facebook Page, Twitter Account, and Pinterest Board for The Three Ghost Friends. I was familiar with all of these ways of sharing ideas and thought it would be the best place to start. My first post to these places was a book trailer that I made using iMovie on my Mac. I kept the trailer short and simple. However, I quickly realized that these networks were not going to be very effective if I didn’t have followers.

In an effort to gain followers in social media, and as an experiment, I have joined other bloggers in promoting giveaways. The way this works is to purchase a “link” in the giveaway promotion. I chose to focus on Facebook for these giveaways. I spent roughly $30 to take part in 5 big blogger giveaways of iPads, giftcards, Kindles, etc. The most I spent to participate in an event was $11 but I also found one event that was free. Visitors to the participating blogs agree to “like” my Facebook page in exchange for an entry into the contest. Since, April 1st I have gathered over 1,300 Facebook “likers” for my Three Ghost Friends page, and it is growing every day.


Now, with subscribers and “likers”, I knew I had to stay visible and useful. I decided to market my e-books on Facebook exactly how I have supported authors on my blog Happy Birthday Author, by offering activity ideas and resources to go with the books. Each day I have been making a post to my blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest accounts, to stay active. The posts include an activity that families could do to extend my book beyond the iPad screen. We have made Ghost Dough, Ghost Footprint Painting, Three Ghost Foam and many more. My friend, Colleen at Raising Lifelong Learners even made me an awesome Three Ghost Friends Birthday Cake. This week I am sharing posts everyday to give families the ideas to have a Three Ghost Friends Carnival complete with games and tickets!

I have yet to determine if this marketing experiment is working, because it just started. However, I am pleased with the initial results and have been having a lot of fun with my family doing all the activities. I hope that other families see how much fun we are having and it will inspire them to try some of the activities in their own home – and hopefully buy my e-books!

Eric Van Raepenbusch is a stay-at-home dad, blogger, and read aloud extraordinaire. He creates memorable reading experiences by celebrating children's author and illustrator birthdays. His blog, Happy Birthday Author, shares his family's reading experiences to encourage other families to read together. He has self-published two e-books; Three Ghost Friends: Learn About Colors and Three Ghost Friends: Learn About Opposites. You can learn more about the Three Ghost Friends at http://www.threeghostfriends.com.