Bestselling author and biographer for Celine Dion launches grassroots campaign to encourage readers to call their local librarians and ask them to carry her latest book. For each phone call her readers make, they get an entry into a contest where they may win a "whole bushel" of prizes.
(PRWEB) October 22, 2004 -- 75,000 newsletter subscribers follow the tale of Jenna Glatzers writing adventures each week. This week, she invited her readers to join in a grassroots campaign to get her latest book, Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer, onto the shelves at more libraries and independent bookstores nationwide.
The idea? Jenna has asked readers to call their local libraries to make sure theyre stocking a copy of her book. For every phone call the readers make, they get an entry into the Call Them All Grassroots Contest. The grand prize winner will receive $312.47 worth of writing-related prizes, including hardcover and paperback books, e-books, a CD, a 2-year subscription to a publication for writers, and free advertising.
I have a very personal relationship with my readers because they read about my life every week in the newsletter, says Glatzer. They often ask me what they can do for me, and it dawned on me: heres something they can do that wont cost them anything, and might just win them a whole bushel of prizes.
Readers are on the honor system: To enter, they just send an e-mail to the author to let her know where they called.
The idea of a grassroots Internet campaign appealed to Glatzer as she neared the end of her round of book signings across New York.
Trekking around to bookstores to give talks and sign autographs is fun, but it can get disenchanting, she says. Typically for me, 20 to 30 people show up and many of them have already bought the book. Its a nice way to meet readers, but not the most effective way to sell books.
What would be effective, she decided, was more word-of-mouth. Although her latest book was available in most bookstore chains after it received an excellent review in Publishers Weekly, she especially wanted librarians to add it to their collections.
I remember when I started my career as a writer. I didnt have any money to buy how-to books, so I depended on the library. I somehow convinced my librarian to let me borrow most of the writing section, she says.
As Jenna built her credits and her relationships with top magazine editors, she knew she wanted to help other writers achieve success, too. Not just the writers who could afford to pay for her books, but the ones who counted on public libraries as she did, too.
Less than 24 hours after she announced the contest, readers had already written to let Glatzer know about their efforts to get her book added to their local libraries collections.
This isnt the first time her readers have come through for her. Just before her birthday last year, they helped to push another of her books, Outwitting Writers Block and Other Problems of the Pen, to #4 on Amazon.coms bestseller list.
The contest ends on Glatzers 29th birthday, November 27, 2004.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jenna Glatzer is the editor-in-chief of http://www.AbsoluteWrite.com, the most popular online magazine for writers.
Currently working on Celine Dions authorized biography, Jenna is the author of 13 books in print or soon to be released. Recent titles include Words You Thought You Knew, Outwitting Writers Block and Other Problems of the Pen, and Conquering Panic and Anxiety Disorders.
She is a full-time freelance writer whos written for hundreds of magazines, such as Prevention, Physical, Womans World, Womans Own, ePregnancy, and Womens Health & Fitness, and shes a contributing editor at Writers Digest and Contemporary Bride. Glatzer is also a columnist for MSN.com and has written for many anthologies.
A frequent media guest, she is the honorary chair of this years national I Love to Write Day, and a workshop instructor at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY.
See Jenna's official website at http://www.jennaglatzer.com for more details.
BOOK DETAILS:
Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer: How to Win Top Writing Assignments
By Jenna Glatzer
Publisher: Nomad Press
Release date: April, 2004
ISBN: 097220265x
Paperback
Size: 7 x 10
224 pages
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