BrokeBook Fever -- Spreading the word on our book: news, brainstorming, etc.

[PatSinnott]

I called a company named "InSightOut Books", a GLBT bookseller division of "Book of the Month Club" in Mechanicsburg PA.  The rep I spoke with said we would need to get our book publisher to call them to have them start offering the book to their members. 

Their website is www.insightoutbooks.com.  Their phone number is (717) 697-0311.  Press 0 for operator and asked to be connected to InsightOutBooks.  I just got a rep on the line, and he explained that the publisher would need to make the call.  I'm guessing WingSpan Press is the publisher, and one of you must have a contact over there that can use this info.  In their mailing it names Michael Connor as the Editor.  He'd be the one to speak with.

Here is their mission statement:

InsightOut is decidated to:
     *providing an inclusive and welcoming book-lover's community for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender readers and their friends and families.
     *sustaining the voices of our community by supporting emerging LGBT writers and preserving our essential LGBT classics.
     *supporting LGBT organizations and events that are making a difference in the fight for LGBT freedom, equality, and free expression.

[LoveEmBoys]

1) I have set an e-mail signature for Outlook 2007 that provides a little blurb about the book’s release, a small image of the cover, and the link to the Beyond Brokeback site. This way, I don’t have to mass e-mail everyone. Each e-mail I send will have it attached at the bottom. It’s fairly simple to set one up, and you can also pick and choose when to attach the signature. I know that Entourage (the Mac version of Outlook) also allows signature lines. Just go to the Options Menu, choose the Mail Format tab, then Signature, and new.

wow, those are all great ideas, goaboydc.

i highlighted #1 there, because it's something everyone can do--much more lowkey than a spam blast.

but i'd like to see if we can do the others as well. i had not thought of #2 or 3, but i really like them.

Hope you don't mind Dave, but I added creating an email signature to the first post on this thread as #3 in the 5 things anyone can do...

[paintedshoes]

3) What if people in cities that have GLBT bookstores (There are at least two here in D.C.) were to donate a copy to the bookstore (I personally would be willing to make that expenditure) so that the person in charge of purchasing could review it? You could include a flier about how to get more information or place orders. Don’t know if this would be too hard to coordinate, but it would be a way to get the book in the hands of booksellers.

I can't believe I just found time to get to this thread.  I love all the ideas, but have one question about this one of goaboydc's?  Why only GLBT bookstores?  I checked with the manager of Olsson's Dupont Circle store and they seemed interested, as well. We might as well go for everything we can...   

[BayCityJohn]

Thank you for bringing that up Jackie.

I agree 100%

The GLBT bookstore market is pretty limited. It's a good place to start, but we'd be missing the boat if we limit ourselves to this market.

[KittyHawk]

I called a company named "InSightOut Books", a GLBT bookseller division of "Book of the Month Club" in Mechanicsburg PA.  The rep I spoke with said we would need to get our book publisher to call them to have them start offering the book to their members. 

I'll be glad to ask WingSpan to do that today, Pat.

Thanks,
- Lydia

[goaboydc]

Why only GLBT bookstores?  I checked with the manager of Olsson's Dupont Circle store and they seemed interested, as well. We might as well go for everything we can...   

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound exclusionist. I mentioned GLBT bookstores as a place to start with complimentary copies basically from an ROI perspective. I would expect a GLBT bookstore to be more inclined to order a book such as our because it fits their niche to a greater degree than general booksellers. I also expect persons wanting to buy a book like ours would probalby check with a local GLBT bookstore before checking others such as Olsons, Borders, etc.  I certainly don't see why more mainstream booksellers can't be approached in an initial distribution of complimentary copies. That being said, I do think that we should keep in mind where we will get the most "bang for the buck" as it were. We certainly don't want to end up in a situation where we're "trying to sell air-conditioners to Eskimos." In short, I think a definite strategy of which stores to target, when to target them (either chronologically or in order of greatest possible return), and how we approach them with complimentary copies might be worth investigating.

Again, if I have offended anyone, it was not intentional.

FWIW

goaboydc

[BayCityJohn]

I don't think anyone is offended.
Certainly not me.

It sounds like we're all on the same track.

[PatSinnott]

In case anyone is creating a spreadsheet of contacts, I've sent the press release and a jpeg of the book jacket to Daniel Kusner, Lifestyle Editor, and Arnold Jones, Staff Writer, both with the Dallas Voice. 

[KittyHawk]

WOW! Super!

Also, Pat, after I sent an email with the subject "Book of the Month Club" and then went on to copy your message, I got an email back from our publisher who knew of the Michael Connor you mentioned in your suggestion above about InSightOut books. He's supposed to call him today.


- Lydia

[paintedshoes]

I don't think anyone is offended.
Certainly not me.

It sounds like we're all on the same track.

I have no problems, either.  We ARE all on the same track.

[LoveEmBoys]

Web hits for the book pages over the past 4 days:  (they are compiled once every 24 hours.)

3/5:    56
3/6:   262
3/7:   863
3/8:  1292

[KittyHawk]

YESSSSSS!!!

[CBY]

Hi folks,

Though I rarely post here anymore, I wanted to let you all know that I was thrilled to receive the news that the book has been published! I have ordered two copies and plan to tell all my friends and family members. Congratulations! I remember when it was just a glimmer in the forum's eye!  I can't wait to read it.

Fondly,
Cara Young

[BayCityJohn]

4920 Emails were sent in this blast.  523 AOL email accounts were excluded.


535 were returned as undeliverable.

39 asked to be removed.

[RochesterMommy]

Hi Guys - tried to copy and paste the info. from the first page of this thread on MySpace, but apparently I am a moron.  I can't seem to get the codes to work.  I know nothing at all about HTML or codes or whatever.  Could someone help me so I can post the stuff to MySpace and also to LJ?  Thanks.  ~A