by LindaAnn LoSchiavo, member of HWA, SFPA, British Fantasy Society, The Dramatist Guild
Marketing mojo begins when a manuscript is being written and promotional hooks are inserted.
News Pegs: As I was researching and writing Vampire Ventures, a chapbook of 19 poems, I built the content around more than a dozen news pegs. My news pegs included authors (Bram Stoker, Jane Austen, Romanian poet Mihai Eminescu), film (Wes Craven's Nightmare on Elm Street), popular culture references (The Playboy Club, Hallowe'en traditions, happy hour), online platforms (dating apps, Instagram) along with the vampire mythos. News pegs expand the public's awareness outside of the book's contents by tying its themes, keywords, or messages to current events or trending topics.
Link to Vampire Ventures on Amazon
Theme-Date Book Launch: The news peg angle also provided a logical book launch day: Bram Stoker's birthday. When Vampire Ventures was launched on November 8, 2023, a date close enough to Hallowe'en but not in competition with it, the announcement promised a festive horror poetry reading by "The Brides of Bram." I was immensely fortunate to have the participation of two outstanding Bram Stoker Award winners, poets Linda Addison and Angela Yuriko Smith.
"Brides of Bram" YouTube link
On-Brand Guest Posts: A history-oriented guest post was written timed with another news peg: Hallowe'en. Titled "Eternally Fascinating, the Vampire Endures," it explored how the folklore vampire, viewed as a social outcast, evolved into the literary vampire, seductive and aristocratic.
Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub guest post link
Building the Book Buzz: Tapping the veins of vampire book promotion, I drew upon these strategies as well as amplifying book buzz by more traditional means: an ARC on NetGalley, a book-specific website, social media activity, and an out-reach to bloggers who had favored my other spooky speculative poetry books such as Messengers of the Macabre: Hallowe'en Poems.
Vampire Ventures website link
Jessica Dickenson sample interview link
Hook of a Book sample review and promotional piece link
On-Going Sales Potential: Since my vampire Guest Post provided information that was new to many readers, it aroused discussion and inspired me to expand this material into an e-book before the next Hallowe'en. Since my latest release – – Always Haunted: Hallowe'en Poems – – also contains a few vampire poems, I plan to link my vampire e-book teaser to a book sales funnel attached to a book order form. Auto-responders will help re-target potential buyers for this book and others.
Announcement for "Always Haunted: Hallowe'en Poems" link
Bram Stoker's eerie bestseller Dracula is an epistolary novel that takes place within the same year, beginning on May 3rd and ending on November 7th and, since several of my vampire poems are based on his characters, Vampire Ventures will always have a logical news peg for the month of May.
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