Seasonal Sales Work for Me - Lynne Garner
A few of years ago I wrote two picture book stories 'Where
It's Always Winter' and 'The Perfect Christmas Tree.' As the titles suggest
they both have a festive or seasonal link. Once I'd completed
them I sent to various publishers who I believed (because I'd researched their
previously published titles) might be interested in them. Again and again they
were rejected, which is something you sort of get used to as a professional
writer. However a couple of the publishers didn't send me the standard
rejection letter. They told me they'd enjoyed the stories but were withdrawing
from seasonal books so weren't in a position to take.
This is where my journey into becoming a publisher started. MadMoment Media Ltd was set up and with a very limited budget we had these two picture stories (plus a few others I'd received good feedback on) into apps for the iPhone
and iPad. This meant a steep learning curve and a fair few hours spent in a
recording studio, as yours truly narrated them.
By the end of 2010 they were ready and uploaded onto the iTunes store. A
few months later we converted all of the stories into picture eBooks and
uploaded onto Amazon (Amazon UK, Amazon US). Our non-seasonal stories sell a
few copies all year round. However although 'Where It's Always Winter' and 'The
Perfect Christmas Tree' are seasonal we sell as many if not more of
them than our non-seasonal titles.
Now you may be wondering why I'm sharing this with you.
Well I wanted to demonstrate that just because a large publishing house doesn't
see the point of selling seasonal picture books it doesn't mean there isn't a
market for them. So if you have a book that's received good feedback but isn't
marketable all year round why not give it a go yourself. It's worked for me it
could work for you.
Lynne Garner
I also write for:
The
Picture Book Den - all things connected with picture books
Awfully
Big Blogging Adventure - subjects connected with writing
The
Hedgehog Shed - concerned with hedgehog rescue
Fuelled
By Hot Chocolate - my own ramblings
The Craft Ark
- craft how-to blog
My online classes with WOW
starting January 2014:
5 Picture Books In 5 Weeks (advanced)
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