Last week, I picked up my little one from school.
As my child came out of the classroom, his teacher handed me a piece of paper.
The headline of this flyer read, “So-and-So Author Visit Is Almost Here“.
The introductory paragraph read, “If you haven’t already ordered books and would still like to do so, please return this form with payment by Date. Thank You.”
There was a list of 9 books with prices, and at the bottom of the page, it asked:
- How many books?
- Total Amount
- To whom should the book(s) be personalized?
Being the marketer that I am, I brought the paper to my desk and opened my browser to Amazon.
The prices marked on the books on the paperwork are all higher than what I could buy the same books for on Amazon, with a price difference of $0.75 to $4.73.
Think about this for a moment…
- The author sent out the paperwork in advance of her visit to my child’s school.
- She set the prices above what it cost her to purchase her books directly from Amazon at full retail.
- She is offering to “personalize” each book for the student.
All orders are paid in advance, and delivered on the day that she comes to the school to read a story to the children.
From a marketing standpoint, this is beautiful. She sells the books in advance, and she hand-delivers them to the school, with none of her own money invested in the process!!
If you create children’s books, please pay attention.
The author lives about 60 miles from where I do, and she has set this deal up with the local school system. She will be hitting all 4 grade schools in 2 days, going to one school in the morning and one in the evening…
She is getting direct access to several hundred children in two days, presenting a shopping list with 9 books on it, with a total marked retail value of $113 (books that could be purchased on Amazon for right at $96)!!!
If you ask me, this is brilliant… And, if you create children’s books, you should be drooling at the possibilities of doing this in your neighborhood…
Bill Platt