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Turning on the mischief marketing faucet

Turning on the mischief marketing faucet

Because Isis plays such an important role in Stan Finds Himself on the Other Side of the World, I feel like she should play a key role in the marketing. Subtle and understated, but hugely important. In considering the kinds of mischief marketing I’d like to get up to, though, I’m not quite sure how employ this loveable little Jack Russell terrier.

Mischief marketing is any form of nontraditional – and often outlandish – marketing. Leaving your bookmark in similar books in a bookstore. Writing your title in chalk on a sidewalk that gets lots of foot traffic. Attending a ballgame dressed up as a character in your book. I suppose I could order a passel of stuffed JRTs and recruit people to hide them in places around the world – making my very own Isis Search Squad. Yeah – maybe not. Could get confusing and political and stuff. Well, maybe go with the treasure hunt but use a different name.

jrt-dolls

Speaking of which, it came up the first time I did a public reading of Stan that the name Isis is also the name of a worldwide terror organization. One woman said she couldn’t focus on the story because of this. I actually thought – for a few minutes – about renaming Stan’s dog because of this. But I asked the rest of the room, and no one else had experienced such a distraction. Since I began writing this story in 2004, it far pre-dated the usurpation of the name Isis by this terror group, and thus, I decided, I’m keeping it. Reclaiming the name of the Egyptian goddess, even.

jack-russell-terrier-michel-keck

Other ways to incorporate Isis into my mischief marketing might include having a custom painting done and using that on stickers I distribute in well-trafficked areas and at well-attended events (like the big Desert Trip concert, which my husband and I had the vast joy and privilege to see live).

jrt-tattoo

Another idea is to have temporary tattoos made – and distribute them in the same manner as the stickers.

I realize the ideas are endless. All I need to do is turn up the faucet from a trickle to a strong flow.

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Read the FIRST 5 Chapters of Stan Finds Himself on the Other Side of the World.

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LAURA ORSINI is an author and self-publishing consultant who works with other authors who want to LO picchange the world. From concept to publication to the first-time author’s book launch, her expertise will help you make a better book and find more readers. Friend her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter, and check out her pins on Pinterest.

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Jingling all the way to the bank

Jingling all the way to the bank

According to that all-reliable, oft-cited reference behemoth, Wikipedia, a jingle is “a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans.”

radio-jingles

Most people probably wouldn’t think about creating a jingle to promote their books, but why not?

I have the benefit of being married to a very talented musician who has been dabbling in songwriting in recent days. He’s still reading a draft of Stan Finds Himself on the Other Side of the World, but has promised to help me fine-tune the lyrics I came up with for my song about the book. It’s too long to be a jingle, but it does rhyme, after a fashion, and with the right music, could become a useful marketing tool.

Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

Hitting the road – just Isis and me
Cute as can be, she’s my JRT
We drive, we fly, we train, we plane
We sneak her onboard – it’s fiction, so we can!

Eighteen months, around the globe we go
Meeting countless cool people
And some you wouldn’t want to know
We make it home safely – both to and fro
But along the way, we thrive and we grow.

Just as a quick disclaimer: I do realize it should be “Isis and I,” but I was lazy with the rhyming and that part may yet get rewritten. For now, though, I’m going to turn off the always-editing side of my brain and go with the wrong pronoun.

Please let me know what you think in the Comments section below – and if you have a suggestion, I’m wide open!

Happy jingling!

_______________

Read the FIRST 5 Chapters of Stan Finds Himself on the Other Side of the World.

_______________

LAURA ORSINI is an author and self-publishing consultant who works with other authors who want to LO picchange the world. From concept to publication to the first-time author’s book launch, her expertise will help you make a better book and find more readers. Friend her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter, and check out her pins on Pinterest.

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