Thanks to author Mary Hutchings Reed for this guest post!
One of the hardest things for me to do as an independently published author (a.k.a. “self-published”) is to hawk my own books. Yes, I know that every author, even those published by traditional presses, must market, market, market, buzz, buzz, buzz, and toddle around on platform shoes, but it’s much easier for me to make an ask for the benefit of others.
I’ve served on the boards of various social and charitable organizations and chaired a bunch of fundraising committees. I practice law in the advertising and sponsorship space, where cause marketing has become a popular tool for developing a meaningful relationship with customers—in our case, readers. So I guess it should have occurred to me—and it finally did—that I could align my book sales with a cause I cared deeply about.
When I connected my new novel, Warming Up to The Night Ministry, it became easier for me to promote my book and helped me reach a broader audience. The connection gave people a reason to read a book by an author they’ve never heard of—and it gave me something to sell them besides my own ego gratification. Call it affinity marketing.
Of course I believe in my story, and I believe that people will enjoy reading it—some have said, graciously, that they can’t put it down. But I also know there are lots of books out there like that, and readers have lots of choices, many of them good.
But now, when they buy Warming Up, 10% of my proceeds (that’s my gross, not net) are donated to The Night Ministry, which serves Chicago’s homeless and in particular, homeless youth. This new novel from She Writes Press is the story of a singer who doesn’t sing and a sculptor who doesn’t sculpt and how both their lives are changed by a chance encounter with a homeless kid named Kix. I didn’t write the book to explore or exploit the issue of homelessness, but when the manuscript was done, and the kid had played such an important role in giving my characters the courage to confront their own creativity, the tie-in with The Night Ministry was natural.
Together we sponsored my launch party, TNM inviting donors and potential donors, and me inviting not just my most loyal readers and supporters, but also those I knew to be interested in social causes.
One hundred and ten folks said “yes,” and on the day of, despite four inches of steady rain, eighty-eight showed up for wine and cheese, a very short presentation by TNM and a short reading and book signing by me. We sold 72 books that day! And I was invited to do another reading at the bookstore, Women & Children First, which had handled sales for us. I also collected a number of checks for The Night Ministry. Win, win, win!
I continue to promote TNM on my book cover and in my readings; TNM has promoted Warming Up in invitations, newsletters and follow-on thank you’s.
What makes this work for me and can work for you is that:
- I truly care about the cause
- The connection isn’t forced, but makes sense in terms of the novel’s subject matter
- The book is not polemic, that is, it was written for itself as a story, and not to or for the cause.
There is a genuine connection between the people who support organizations which help the homeless and my readers, and a synergy in the marketing which has been another deep satisfaction, for me, in independent publishing.
Readers – have you attached your work to a cause? Tell us about it with your comment below. If you’re looking for a charity in your book’s subject area, you might begin at Charity Navigator. They provide financial and transparency details on charities and now have data for all 1.6 million IRS registered non-profits on their site!
Mary Hutchings Reed is a Chicago-based attorney, author and playwright. She has served on the boards of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, YWCA of Chicago, Off the Street Club and the Chicago Bar Foundation. She currently serves on the board of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago; Steel Beam Theatre, and her longest-standing service involvement, Lawyers for the Creative Arts. Visit Mary’s site at MaryHutchingsReed.com
My novel Old Poison, is a PI thriller that has a lot of research and a lot to say about climate change, global warming, and corporate culpability, a subject close to my heart. The cover quote is even by Astrophysicist, Neal deGrasse Tyson, But since my book is strictly fiction, do you think an environmental group would want to partner with it? I mean they are often accused of fiction when they are reporting science.
So hard to say. You won’t know unless you ask! But not-for-profits often recognize the need to get the word out about their issues in different media. If they only talk to the types who read straight science, how else would they reach your readers? If your research is accurate, and any speculation is labeled as such, then I don’t see why they should object. Is Tyson on the board of any organization that would be a good tie-in partner? That could be your best bet!
I did this with my poetry collection. I had been a starving single mom who used the food bank, and I had a couple of poverty poems in the collection. I gave all proceeds from the launch to the food bank, and also asked everyone who came to the launch to bring food. I also held a raffle with proceeds going to the food bank. Resulted in several hundred dollars for the food bank. The FB board bought some of the books to give as gifts to each board member. The project kept feeding on itself, so to speak; I was able to write about it elsewhere and lead more people to help support the food bank. I think you’re absolutely right to align yourself with a cause that meshes with your writing project. Good article — well done.
That’s terrific, Julia. Another realy good cause!
This is exactly what I was looking for Mary. Thank you for the great advice. I am currently searching for a charity to connect with my upcoming book The Cause: Love & War. It is a historical fiction regarding the civilian side of the Civil War. There are many avenues I could use because of the tie in to history, historical preservation and education. Is it possible to have different charities sponsored when appearing at different events? I would be interested to know your thoughts.
Thank you!
There are two ways to do this: one would be as you suggest, if you charge for the event, and give those proceeds, or do free events and give a % of the proceeds from books sold at that event–then it’s easy to support many charitable organizations, although each would be at a lesser level. Does give your broad exposure to a variety of different audiences for your work. The way I did it, I could use the charitable tie-in on the cover of the book. An author could also say on the cover that the she pledges x% of her proceeds to not-for-profit organizations supporting historical preservation and education..
Thanks for reading and responding. Good luck with your book!
I loved your comment about your book being written not as a polemic on homelessness but as an issue because it was endemic to the story. I started writing books to provide active fictional role models for the disabled because of my daughter’s disability. But the story had to be foremost and I think you said it best! Books do find a natural affinity with its readers and connecting them afterward, rather than because of a pushed affinity helps make it so. Thank you Mary. I look forward to reading your book. Sarah Yates
Thank you, Sarah. I just finished a novel about the mother of a disabled child–totally out of my personal experience, but imagined from my acquaintance with others with this issue–and I think when I publish it that the charity it supports won’t be “on the nose,” but will come out of one of the subplots….Endemic is a good word for it….
Mary,
Such a wonderful article. I am tweeting and sharing by email with close writer friends. I am such a believer in supporting a huge array of worthy causes through my radio program Clearstory Radio here in Nashville, and in my writing, work, blogging.
Just love this. Thanks for taking time to share.
River
Thank you! Is your radio program online?
River Jordan’s great book, Praying for Strangers, is one of our favorites. Y’all can visit her site and the link to hear the shows is at http://www.riverjordan.us/clearstoryradio/