I know I can safely confess this here-- as a child, Santa Claus scared the bejeezus out of me. I wished to God I was Jewish. Or that my parents belonged to any other religious persuasion that didn't involve this annual torture. I dreaded going into Sears anytime in December because HE might be there. I hid in the bathroom as long as I politely could while my extraverted sibs lined right up salivating. ( I know you'll all so get this.)WHY I HATED TRIPS TO SEE SANTA
1). He was extremely loud2). His clothes were too red
3). I was supposed to sit on a stranger's lap???
4). I was always worried that the elf might try to kiss me when I wasn't looking
5). When it was my turn, all the other kids and their parents stood in line watching
6). Stood waiting.
7). Stood listening.
8). Santa wanted to know what I wanted, and there was no confidentiality like at Confession.
9). And he almost always wanted me to "SPEAK UP, Honey!"
10).Being an INFJ, albeit a young one, I had a sneaky feeling he wasn't all he was dressed up to be.
So, in case any of you have a similar dread about your wish list, Robin and I are going to make it easy for you! Starting today, we will be accepting your Holiday Wish List for Marketing & Promotion in 2009. Wow. I know!
Whatever your socio-politico-economo-spirito views about December are . . . you must agree that it is a very potent and magical time of year. The quality of quiet, light and stillness never fails to stir me. I'm in Texas for this entire month, and I'm looking forward to falling asleep tonight to a symphony of rain and thunder, with a cowdog Hank snoring next to me.
What magic are you ready to have in your life? If you weren't feeling a little shy about asking, what would you ask for?
I'll start, and let's see if we can get Robin to come on line and post hers. :-] And, we'd love to hear from you! I happen to know for a fact that at least one New York editor, publicist, and agent read our blog, and an awful lot of people in all sorts of roles in the biz, so here's your chance to put your wish out there. You just never know. . .
Mary Hershey's Marketing & Promotion Wish List for 2009
* I want Michelle Obama to start a monthly Kid's Book Pick and interview the author at the White House, which would then be aired on national television. This will translate into ginormous $ale$ and well-paid school visits. I get to go first, but then I want every single one of you featured you in the ensuing months. (If Michelle is too busy, Ellen DeGeneres could do this, too.)* I want to interview all these people for SVP: Anne Lamott, Ann Patchett, Henry Winkler, Marion Dane Bauer, and Cynthia Rylant.
* I want the-secret-thing-that-I-just-applied-for to come through.
* I would like Random House to hire a nice eco-friendly blimp to make the rounds of major cities for a few days each month advertising my books. And if they could shower school grounds with Whopper's during recess without head or eye injury to anyone, that would be swell.
Robin LaFever's Marketing & Promotion Wish List for 2009
(a-hem. . .)
Can't wait to hear from all of you! And as always, if you want to put your wishes out there in Universe, but want some privacy, you can email me at Here's my 2009 Wish List!
Grace and peace,
Mary Hershey
12 comments:
I'm going to delurk to throw my marketing wish out there. (When I get published) I want all the local bookstores to use bags with my book on it, thereby assuring that all of their customers will know of my book. And, being at college and also in the center of my target audience, I want to put doorknob hangers on every dorm room door, advertising my book.
Not as funny/exciting as having Michelle Obama interview authors, but nevertheless efficient :)
Of course, I want - plan - to:
1)get a passionate agent who thinks outside the box,
2) be blessed with a multi-book deal for my YA Thriller series, and...
3)do a virtual reading/book signing/vlog on the Huge Megatron Screen in Times Square!
4) oh yeah and...world peace!
:)
shelli
http://www.faeriality.blogspot.com/
When my Middle Grade Fantasy is published I want:
1. To have my daughter, the sixth grade teacher at a public academy for the gifted, to have her teacher's guide for my book published also.
2. Then, I want to be able to go to every school possible (to do a reading and interview about writing) and hand out a copy of the teachers guide to the librarian, as well as my own designed booklet,to the children in the class, to encourage children to write and draw their own stories, possibly for a chance to win one of my books.
3. I wish to get a web site designed to go with the book that will entertain and educate and which will become the talk of the cafeteria. Obviously a bit above my web design capabilities.
4. I wish each of these things will happen, thereby ensuring that eventually, I will be going to auditoriums to do readings and interviews rather than just classrooms.
5. I want my Middle Grade Fantasy to be published in recyclable paper and with a cover that is authentic looking to the book and to sell for $10, thereby causing children to say, "But, Mom, it only costs $10." And, ensuring the first book in the series sells enough to make the publisher want to publish the second one.
6. I want Oprah to pick it up and say, "Gosh, this is good. You'all need to get this for your kids because it is entertaining and they will also learn something from it, without even knowing they are learning, 'cause it's fun."
I'm mostly a lurker because I am only an introvert in private situations; not when I have a purpose, such as teaching or promoting my book.
Welcome lurkers! We L-O-V-E hearing from you when you feel like it! ;-)
Ahhhh, the Times Square mega-tron--bang-on idea, Shelli! College doorknob hangers-- excellent and maybe with a Starbuck's coupon on the other side for sleepy kids needing to study. Love the mother/daughter wish list. Very nice!
Mary
My Wish List
1) To eventually find--and stick with--a professional editor that doesn't cost and arm and both legs.
2) Better succcess with my third book than my first two.
3) That my YA series will be picked up by Nickelodean or Disney. Or maybe the CW, seeing as how some of the language might not be appropriate for those other two channels.
4) To submit my books to Oprah and suggest that she create a Teen Book Club (after all, that school she opened in Africa needs books, right?)
5) And much success for a project I'm working on.
My Wish List
1) I'd love to see my book in the Bargain Bin because that would mean it got published.
2) I'd love the back page in a magazine for my hiLARious observations. But, being ever the realistic, I'd settle for the back page of the Penny Saver.
3) I'd love to get an article published in Rolling Stone, but if I'm wishing for that I might as well wish for my old ass back.
3) I wish, I wish, I could get paid to comment on blogs! So fun.
Ha! I am an ENFP, and a Jewish one to boot. So, I don't share your Santa fears. But I do agree that nothing could beat being on a Michelle Obama kids book list!
Seriously, Mary--the Michelle Obama idea of a monthly Kids' Pick is a fabulous idea. You should write her about that.
Back to me, I want Jon Stewart to call me for an interview on The Daily Show. He has all kinds of other authors--why not a kids' author? I've written joke books--we'd click!
I'd also like for my recent book to receive some kind of award, preferably a children's choice award. Not sure of the liklihood, but I can still wish, right?
My wish list:
1. A few writer soul mates who not only write brilliantly but give insightful critiques, who benefit from my suggestions and encouragement, and with whom I can share my writing journey for a long time.
2. A passionate, intelligent, kind agent who is enthusiastic about my work.
3. That my MG multicultural novel will be published here in the US and Malaysia, the country it takes place in.
4. That I will have a contract for two sequels, one when my cast of characters goes on tour to Australia (where I spent 4 memorable years) and the other to the Middle East (where world peace is restored through the magic of music and true friendship, the themes of my books.)
(I am slightly embarrassed now that I've verbalized these vague wishes in my mind, but here they are.)
Yat-Yee, I'm applauding your courage in taking the plunge!
Thanks, Robin!
OK, it feels really presumptuous to put these things in writing, but on my marketing wish list...
I wish Clarion would make posters and postcards and bookmarks for me forthcoming book and also invite me to IRA (since I live in the city it's in next year!).
I wish I would magically feel no fear, only excitement, when I arrive for the school visits I've arranged for this spring.
I wish for the chain bookstores to actually stock my book, even though it's poetry.
I wish for people to like my book enough that they just tell their friends about it. Maybe the best marketing of all:>)
Thanks for giving us a safe place to dream big!
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