In Part 4 about how to get schools to buy your book—culled from a plan of action created for my friend, client, and associate, Morri Stewart, and her fantasy novel Faltofar—curriculum developer turned creativity coach, Deborah Allen, brainstorms how to market a book to teachers:
It’s a simple fact: no one cares about your book more than you, so you’ll need to be the one to help spread the word. Marketing (blogging, social, etc.) is as important to sell a published book as trying to sell curriculum and instructional books with supporting materials.
The targeted segment of the market that you’d focus on is narrower than the segment you wish to sell your book. Keep in mind statistics such as the fact that a school district is usually one of the largest employers in a community. For example, Bend-La Pine School District is the second largest employer in Central Oregon. If you can find key teachers in various schools, then you can have the teacher facilitate a pitch meeting with the principal.
Teachers and artists get behind origin stories fueled by passion. They also have a strong BS meter, so be authentic. I [Deborah] love how Morri began her pitch with, “I used to tell these stories to my kids at bedtime.” Set the stage. Answer questions in your elevator pitch like: Where did the story idea begin? How did you develop characters and why? Did your kids participate in this nightly routine? Finally, tell us how you wove these nightly short stories into a book.
To sell curriculum and not just an awesome book, teachers need to know what students will learn and what the final outcomes and outputs will be. It can be as simple as the fact that Morri began with a desire to create a sci-fi fantasy for her children to safely explore the world and to, ultimately, cultivate a sense of wonder. Or perhaps she wants to share the world and humanity in order to teach her children how things work, where they may fit, and to develop their lens by using the vehicle of magic, adventure, culture, and exploration. Teachers will eat this up; they will tell their students this story; when they talk to their colleagues, they will tell this story to introduce this new curriculum that they are pumped about. Teachers are talkers; give them the crafted story. They will help you market by word of mouth.
Back to Linden:
Now that we’ve explored how to market a book to teachers, we need to consider how a philosophy of education can impact the potential sale of your book to schools. Tune in next week.
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