In an earlier post for WU, I wrote about the process of writing my audio-first novel for adults, A Hundred Words for Butterfly, and how it had differed from other novels I’ve written, because of the fact I specifically created it for the audio format. Well, this week the novel has been officially released by its publisher, Spineless Wonders Audio, and is available now for purchase on lots of different platforms, including Google Audio, Kobo, Nook, Libro, Authors Direct, and others. Audible will also follow shortly. It’s been an amazing and exciting process, seeing and hearing the audiobook take shape as narrator (Sarah Kennedy) sound engineer (Echidna Audio) cover designer (Bettina Kaiser) and producer (Spineless Wonders) worked on different aspects of the book. It’s an absolutely wonderful production, making my story, characters and setting come to warm and evocative life, and I hope listeners will enjoy it and take it to their hearts. (You can watch a lovely trailer for it, which features extracts from the narration, here). But today what I want to write about for this post is highlighting the absolutely brilliant marketing strategy that was devised by the Spineless Wonders team, in consultation with me, to create as much buzz as possible around the book in the lead up to its release. And I thought my observations might be of interest and inspiration to other authors, and not necessarily just in relation to audio novels.
In Australia, Spineless Wonders are known and highly respected for their innovative and dynamic approach to publishing, and their marketing strategy for all their books and events has always been focused on imaginative community engagement. And as we worked on our plan for the marketing of A Hundred Words for Butterfly, that engagement became more important than ever, because a large number of Australians, including but not only in our two biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, were (and still are) in lockdown due to an outbreak of the Delta strain of Covid19. (All of us working on it were in that boat). So it was even more crucial to come up with great ideas for activities that would offer people something fun, exciting and creative to do even when they were stuck in lockdown. After much discussion, we decided on three main themes/prongs for these.
First was writing, as represented by the #100words4butterfly writing competition, asking people to submit 100-word stories, poems, etc, inspired by four clever prompts linked to motifs in the book. (Prizes included a copy of the audiobook, plus entries published in a special digital magazine.) This comp was framed and run directly by the Spineless Wonders team and attracted lots of entries and great social media engagement, encouraged by striking marketing assets.
Second was a focus on the beautiful and fascinating Northern (or French) Basque country, which is the setting for most of the book. For this, I created intriguing blog posts and videos around what the Basque country, which is where my mother’s family comes from, means to me and my family. These were then shared on SW social media.
And third was food, represented in particular by a Zoom/Facebook Live Basque cook-along event, an idea devised by the SW team, who facilitated event planning and hosting, while I was presenter.
This was also a very popular activity with lots of people taking part on the night. I centered the cook-along around a simple but delicious fish soup called ttoro, which originates in the French Basque fishing port of St Jean de Luz and is very much a part of my family’s cooking repertoire. I confess I was pretty nervous before it started, but had done as much prep as I could, including creating a little video well ahead of the day to inform people of all the ingredients they would need to gather, buying a decent lapel mike and having test tech runs with the SW team. I’d decided too that the event couldn’t just be about making a soup, or even linking it to my book but also about taking viewers and participants on a journey: to the Basque country, its culture on both sides of the Pyrenees, into my family stories and traditional stories, and how my book fitted into all that. And of course taking people step by step through the cooking of the soup itself. It was quite an experience and I found myself enjoying it greatly as the initial nervousness about facing an audience ‘out there’, unseen but very much present, left me. It was something I’d never have thought of doing without the warm encouragement and support of the Spineless Wonders team, but it felt very good to be able to offer something to people that went well beyond the usual marketing and created a feel-good experience that, what’s more, ended in a delicious soup you could have for your dinner. (If you’d like to see a bit more about the soup, including some of the versions made by people during the cook-along, have a look at my recipe video here.)
All this is culminating on Wednesday September 15 with an evening online event on Zoom celebrating the launch of the book. It’s going to be a launch like no other I’ve experienced, with not only Q and A’s with me and the narrator Sarah Kennedy, but also readings of work by winners and runners-up in the #100words4butterfly competition, a Basque color-themed cocktail and pintxo (Basque tapas) party everyone’s invited to join in from their own homes, plus a fun trivia quiz and lots more. The digital magazine of winning entries will also be launched on the night, and will include some of my recipes as well. Once again, the focus of the event is on highlighting the book through community engagement and I for one can’t wait. (All are invited—please feel free to join in.)
All of this has very much been food for thought for me. For sheer freshness, imaginative scope and immersive feel-good atmosphere, I can honestly say this has been the best marketing experience that I can ever remember, for any of my books. Of course, it has worked because of the amazing team behind it, especially the inventive and passionate Spineless Wonders publishing assistants who came up with such great concepts and worked so hard on delivering them so successfully. I have absolutely loved working with them all and hope to do so again in the future. This has been a marketing experience I’ve been really happy as an author to wholeheartedly embrace, because it appeals to my own wish to involve the reading community in a playful yet meaningful way. And it’s really got me thinking about the way books are showcased through marketing, especially online.
I’d love to hear about your own experiences of successful and unusual marketing strategies, for your own books or other people’s. What do you think are the key elements in creating buzz?
