THE 13TH SIGN PREORDER CONTEST (BY KRISTIN O'DONNELL TUBB)
The 13 Days of THE 13TH SIGN Preorder Contest
I currently have a Preorder Contest going on for my book,
THE 13TH SIGN (Feiwel & Friends, January 8, 2013). Here’s how it came together…
The premise: My editor said, “Hey, you know what’s good for
books? Preorders.”
Me: “Really? Okay…I guess I could encourage those…” *thinks
about the horrors of self-promotion *
“BUT! If I make it a contest that also benefits Reading is
Fundamental? THAT I could really encourage! And I’ll make it 13 DAYS LONG as a
handy-dandy tie-in!”
So I put together 13 prize packets and recruited 13 bloggers
to each “sponsor” one day of the contest. Putting together the prize packets
took about a day (the actual assembly of them is still ongoing); recruiting 13
bloggers took about 3 weeks.
We’re now on Day 12 of that contest. Here are the results to
date:
The things I’ve learned:
-A 13-day contest is like running a marathon. (More like a
half-marathon – 13.1 miles – I suppose!) It was a great tie-in to my title, and
I’m delighted to meet and work with 13 different bloggers on this contest. But
3-5 days will likely be sufficient for most contests.
-HOWEVER. 13 days gave me plenty of time to try out
different marketing techniques, messages, and delivery methods. So it was fun
to have the time to experiment with what worked best.
-People like free things.
The things that have surprised me:
-The blog spam! My blog is getting attacked 10x the normal
rate.
-New Twitter followers. The average has been between 6-10
new followers a day.
-People will do amazing things for you if you just ask.
(This refers to the 13 fabulous bloggers who said, “Sure, you can post things
on my blog!”) This hasn’t *surprised* me, per se, so much as reaffirmed my
faith in how amazing the kidlit publishing industry truly is.
The 13 Days of THE 13TH SIGN Preorder Contest
I currently have a Preorder Contest going on for my book,
THE 13TH SIGN (Feiwel & Friends, January 8, 2013). Here’s how it came together…
The premise: My editor said, “Hey, you know what’s good for
books? Preorders.”
Me: “Really? Okay…I guess I could encourage those…” *thinks
about the horrors of self-promotion *
“BUT! If I make it a contest that also benefits Reading is
Fundamental? THAT I could really encourage! And I’ll make it 13 DAYS LONG as a
handy-dandy tie-in!”
So I put together 13 prize packets and recruited 13 bloggers
to each “sponsor” one day of the contest. Putting together the prize packets
took about a day (the actual assembly of them is still ongoing); recruiting 13
bloggers took about 3 weeks.
We’re now on Day 12 of that contest. Here are the results to
date:
The things I’ve learned:
-A 13-day contest is like running a marathon. (More like a
half-marathon – 13.1 miles – I suppose!) It was a great tie-in to my title, and
I’m delighted to meet and work with 13 different bloggers on this contest. But
3-5 days will likely be sufficient for most contests.
-HOWEVER. 13 days gave me plenty of time to try out
different marketing techniques, messages, and delivery methods. So it was fun
to have the time to experiment with what worked best.
-People like free things.
The things that have surprised me:
-The blog spam! My blog is getting attacked 10x the normal
rate.
-New Twitter followers. The average has been between 6-10
new followers a day.
-People will do amazing things for you if you just ask.
(This refers to the 13 fabulous bloggers who said, “Sure, you can post things
on my blog!”) This hasn’t *surprised* me, per se, so much as reaffirmed my
faith in how amazing the kidlit publishing industry truly is.
The things that have worked best:
-Most of my preorders came when I posted on Facebook after 4
p.m. Central. Before then, the message seemed to get lost. After then –
especially the posts that included a giveaway – saw quite a lot more activity.
-More preorders came when I gave away 13th Sign t-shirts
than any other gift. I paid $6 a shirt for them through Vista Print; you can
likely cut those costs in other places. So YES, technically, giving away a
shirt with each preorder is losing money. But think of all those people wearing
the 13th Sign cover all over the country! *tingles*
-Having a wide variety of bloggers – librarians, book
clubbers, authors, illustrators, and out-and-out book lovers was one of the
smartest decisions I made.
The things I would do differently:
-I wouldn’t spend any money on promoting posts through
Facebook. It is a $7 fee (so, inexpensive) but I never saw any increased
results from this. I tried it twice – once with a giveaway and once without –
and didn’t see corresponding results.
-I’d remember to tell people about the book! The first blog
post (maybe the first two?), I forgot to include an About the Book section.
Oops!
-I think that beforehand, I’d recruit a handful of close
friends who would be willing to Retweet/Share posts on certain days, ESPECIALLY
if the contest goes for multiple days. It makes sense that my friends/followers
shared and RTed the first few days, but then that activity lessened. If you
designate this ahead of time to some close friends, you could guarantee a more
even flow of activity, I think.
Welcome to DAY AQUARIUS of 13 Days of THE 13TH
SIGN Preorder Contest! AQUARIUS is traditionally considered to be the eleventh
sign of the zodiac. AQAURIUS characteristics include: unique, creative,
intelligent, insecure, unpredictable, and focused.
(Want to learn more about your 12-sign horoscope, your
13-sign horoscope, and which horoscope sign you ACT like? Take THE 13TH SIGN quiz!)
Smack Dab in the Middle is happy to host Day Twelve of this
contest!
So. What is this
contest all about?
If you preorder a copy of THE
13TH SIGN by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb, you will be entered into a
contest! Where you can WIN THINGS! And there are new prizes every day!
And. EVERY preorder will be *matched* by a $1.00 donation to
RIF, a literacy program committed to placing
books in the hands of kids who need them most.
About the book:
What if
there was a 13th zodiac sign?
You’re
no longer Sagittarius, but Ophiuchus, the healer, the 13th sign.
Your
personality has changed. So has your mom’s and your best friend’s.
What
about the rest of the world?
What if
you were the one who accidentally unlocked the 13th sign, causing this
world-altering change, and infuriating the other 12 signs?
Jalen
did it, and now she must use every ounce of her strength and cunning to send
the signs back where they belong. Lives, including her own, depend upon it.
What can I win TODAY?
If you preorder THE 13TH SIGN today, Tuesday,
December 4, you could win:
-star charm
-Signed copy of SELLING HOPE by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb
-signed THE 13TH SIGN swag
-signed KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES by Shannon Messenger bookmark
-a FREE 1-hour Skype session with a school or writer’s group
of your choice
-signed paperback of AUTUMN WINIFRED OLIVER DOES THINGS
DIFFERENT
-a 13th SIGN tshirt
How do I enter?
Preorder THE 13TH SIGN! You can preorder it
through Amazon,
Barnes
& Noble, Indiebound,
or through your local independent bookstore. Then email your receipt TO KRISTIN
at ktubb@comcast.net. You will be
entered into that day’s drawing, the grand prize drawing, and your purchase
will be *matched* by a $1.00 donation to RIF!
Are there other ways
to enter the contest?
Yep! You can be
entered into the daily prize drawings by doing one or more of the following:
-Each preorder of THE 13TH SIGN = 10 entries into
grand prize drawing and 10 entries into that day’s drawing
- Each person who blogs about the contest = 10 entries into
that day’s drawing
-Each person who changes Twitter or Facebook avatar to cover
= 5 entries into that day’s drawing (for each day it is present)
-Each Tweet or Facebook status mention of the book and
contest = 2 entries for that day’s drawing (must include hashtag #the13thsign)
-Each RT of book and/or contest = 1 entry for that day’s
drawing
BUT. You have to preorder THE 13TH SIGN
to enter to win the grand prize and to have your purchase matched with a RIF donation.
ALSO. To make sure you get the correct amount of entries,
please let Kristin know if you’ve done any of the above! You can email her at ktubb@comcast.net with everything you’ve
done to enter.
What is the grand prize?
A
Nexus 7 ereader! BOOM. The grand
prize winner will be announced on Kristin’s
blog on Friday, December 7.
How long does the
preorder contest last?
13 days total! You can visit these other blogs for each
day’s prizes:
DAY ARIES: The Book
Vortex
DAY VIRGO: S. R.
Johannes/Market My Words
DAY LIBRA: Elizabeth
O. Dulemba
DAY OPHIUCHUS: Young
Adult Books Central
DAY SAGITTARIUS: Bloggers [heart] Books
DAY CAPRICORN: - Middle Grade Mafioso
DAY AQUARIUS: Smack Dab in the Middle
DAY PISCES: From
the Mixed-Up Files of Middle Grade Authors
Good luck! And don’t forget to take THE 13TH SIGN quiz
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