Gwendolyn, the Graceful Pig is the story of Gwendolyn and Omar--two pigs with very different dreams who find common ground and friendship through dance. I was so intrigued by author David Ira Rottenberg's creative marketing strategy for this self-published picture book that I tracked him down for an interview. Via email from his home outside of Boston, Massachusetts, David was kind enough to answer a few questions I had about his approach, which incorporates ballet into author events at bookstores! Thanks so much for sharing your experiences, David!
I love it that you integrate dance into your author events. How did you come up with such an innovative marketing strategy?
When it came time to market the book, events in bookstores were an obvious avenue to try, but I didn’t think kids would have much interest in me or in me reading my book. Then, I thought if I had a ballet dancer read the book, the kids (and their parents) would be a lot more interested. Over time, I’ve grown confident enough to read my book in bookstores, so now the dancers do more of a performance/dance demonstration.
How do you go about setting up these events? Is it a lot of work?
2 Comments on David Ira Rottenberg: Author to Entrepreneur, last added: 8/6/2011
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What a lot of work for a launch party. Now that's dedication. His book looks wonderful. I hope his book sells well.
Hi, Kathi. It does seem like a lot of work, doesn't it? But he's done many events, and they seem to be working well. He mentioned to me that he sees a spike in his Amazon sales after every event. I think it is a great idea!