Clever marketing

What an awesome marketing plan! I'm sure you've seen this, but The Centers for Disease Control put out a blog post instructing people on how to prepare for a zombie apocalypse.

Yep, the genius who thought this up deserves a raise. Or a contract as a Hollywood promoter. :) How savvy, to tap into the current zombie craze to get out their  own message? Wish I could hire this person to promote my books.

Another example of an excellent marketing tool is this book trailer:



It looks more like a movie trailer, doesn't it? And it's only 30 seconds long. Oh, to have the big production bucks!

But the CDC blog post proves you don't need the big bucks. Just a great idea.

Have you noticed any really great promotions lately? Or have you thought of any for your books? Please share!

Hopping (late) onto the Author Blog Hop

THIS WEEK'S AUTHOR BLOG HOP QUESTION IS:

What lengths would you go to, to get noticed as an author/writer? Have you ever, or can you come up with the most extreme idea you can push your imagination to in how to market yourself and your book? (Or future unpublished book if you are not already published). Maybe what seems too extreme or whacky might actually work... Lets have fun and think outside the box for this!

Question provided by affiliate author Karen Cote.

Great question, Karen. Wish I had a really great answer! Marketing's one of my worst skills. Extreme marketing is beyond me. The wackiest thing I thought of was wearing a sandwich board outside a cafe where I had a booksigning to lure in people from the street, and maybe catching them on camera for an Author-in-the-Street poll. But I couldn't make the sandwich board in time, lol.

For an upcoming release, I had thought of something unusual. Rock Bottom is a contemporary romance about a rock star and music journalist, and while writing it, I could very clearly hear the songs in my head. I'd love to make a music CD or YouTube video to coincide with the release in June. Anyone know a musician who's willing to donate some time? lol Actually, I'd love to have Steve Miller, if anyone has an 'in' with him!

Last year, I did something a little crazy - my hubby and I went to a Spoon concert, and had won a backstage visit with them. I gave a copy of Surfacing to the lead singer, Britt Daniels. I never heard anything more, so he probably tossed it in a trash can, lol.

Seriously, though - I've done all the blog tours, interviews, chats, book trailers, and the usual. I may have forgotten to take off my Internet cloak of invisibility beforehand, because I don't think anyone noticed!

I'd welcome any extreme ideas, especially if it got Oprah's notice!