Book Marketing Tips and Author Success Podcast
Ready to supercharge your author journey? Join bestselling author and book marketing maven Penny Sansevieri and savvy publishing insider Amy Cornell for lively, no-nonsense conversations filled with smart strategies, creative inspiration, and publishing know-how you can actually use.
Whether you’re self-published, traditionally published, or somewhere in between, this podcast delivers real-world advice to help you sell more books, build your platform, and thrive in the ever-evolving publishing landscape. From clever promo hacks to critical industry insights, each episode is designed to move the needle on your success.
Fresh ideas. Actionable tips. Unfiltered talk.
If you’re serious about your author career, hit subscribe and tune in—your next big breakthrough could be one episode away.
Book Marketing Tips and Author Success Podcast
Beyond Boredom: Your Book Could Be Every Parent's Summer Solution
The summer break scramble is real! Parents everywhere face the same challenge when school lets out: keeping kids entertained without surrendering to endless screen time. For authors of children's and young adult books, this presents a golden opportunity to connect with an audience hungry for solutions.
Drawing inspiration from Jennifer Garner's brilliant parenting strategy (she tells her kids they can have social media once they find articles proving it's beneficial for children), we explore how authors can position their books as the perfect summer entertainment option. Parents are actively seeking recommendations, activities, and reading materials to keep young minds engaged during the long break—and they want decisions that are easy to make.
Whether your book was published yesterday or five years ago, now is the perfect time to refresh your marketing approach. We share practical strategies and easily implemented tips and ideas!
Don't let another summer pass without maximizing this perfect marketing opportunity. Your book could be exactly what a parent needs when they hear those dreaded words: "I'm bored!"
Buy Penny's book The Amazon Author Formula
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Hello listeners, this is Penny and Amy, and we are. We're really excited. We're running the first of two special summer shows and, Amy, this was one that I know you had actually originally designed when we did it in 2023. Why do you think the show is important right now? Oh my gosh. Okay, so Sorry, I just totally put you think the show is important right now.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. Okay, so sorry, I just totally put you on the spot. No, no, it's like I have all the it's. This is perfect timing, because I am approximately not that I don't have a countdown calendar, but I am like legit nine days into summer break and it is. It is time to start coming up with ideas, because my kids are already bored. I can't tell you how many times a day I hear that I'm bored. I'm bored Mixed in with I'm hungry, but you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Your book can't help them with that, but right now, parents are definitely looking for things to keep their kids busy. So if you are an author that has written for the kid or teen space, do not sleep on how hungry parents are for ideas right now and, honestly, they want to make decisions, they want easy decisions. So these actually could be very easy sales for you, and I know the show goes into a bunch of different ideas and ways to be really clever and fun. But keep it interesting, keep it unique. And again, I think the big point, penny, is that you want to make it easy for parents to say yes, right, don't bury the lead, just throw it right out there. Take a chance. This is why my book is amazing. This is why your kids will love it. It'd be a good time to potentially do a discount, a limited time discount. So many ideas in the episode, but now is the time to move on this, because, no matter where you are in the country, the kids are roaming free Right they need things to do.
Speaker 1:This is really. This is great, so we hope that you enjoy the show. This is one of two special drop-in episodes. They were super popular when they launched, so we hope that you enjoy it and we will see you in the next episode. Bye-bye, hello, and welcome back to the Book Marketing Tips and Author Success Podcast. This is Penny Sansevierian, amy Cornell, and today's show is actually going to be run by Amy, because this was her idea, which was great, and we're going to start talking about our BFF, jen Garner Jennifer Garner, even though she doesn't really know who we are, which sounds a little creepy. But, amy, talk us through. You came up with this idea for the summer break for young readers. Tell me a little bit more about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and again, jen Garner was kind of. I love how we have a nickname, we get to call her Jen, we get to call her Jen right Was kind of the catalyst for this, because I have two kiddos and I can tell you from personal experience and the fact that I know I'm not the only one out there with kids. We are so excited that spring sports are coming to a close soon and most of us live in parts of the country where it's just too hot to do sports in the summer anyway, so we get a little bit of a break. There's summer break coming up. Kids will be out of school and, believe it or not, despite what the general consensus is about young kids these days, most of us still don't want them to sit in front of an iPad or the TV all day during during summer break.
Speaker 2:And again, jen Garner recently this was. I saw this on social media and I loved it and she said that she's pretty strict with her kids about social. And her kids are older now. You know they're not young young, so definitely old enough to where you wouldn't be shocked if they had a phone and they had all the things you know. But she tells her kids that they can have social media and screen time and things like that, once they can show her articles that prove social media and screen time is good for kids. And I loved that so much. I was like it was such a mic drop mom moment. You know, if you can prove to me that this is good for you, then then you can do it, then you can have social media.
Speaker 2:But, the whole point being, parents are very much open to getting book recommendations and ideas to keep their kids busy over the summer, yeah, and a lot of people just want their kids to keep reading one, because you know we're not selling anybody listening on the benefits of reading, but, truly like, parents still really pay attention to that. Despite, you know, technology and all the other things that they could be doing, parents still very much love getting solid book recommendations for their kids, and so I just thought what a great time to remind anybody that's written a book for young readers anywhere from young kids to, you know, young adult and even teens that you have so many opportunities right now to get in front of your buyer market, in front of parents, and just kind of, you know, wave your arms around, essentially virtually, and say, hey, I've got a book here. It's going to keep your kid entertained. Take a second look, buy it. You won't be sorry, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I think that's a really good idea. I think that and I think that we, um, I think it's a. It's a it's a market segment that when summer shows you know we always talk about summer beach reads, but I think it's something that we often. You know that book that authors often overlook. You know that book that authors often overlook.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think so too, because again we all, as a parent I can say like we want to put our head in the sand, like no, school's not going to be out soon, but it's literally right around the corner. And then all of a sudden like, oh crap, how are we going to keep them busy? You know, all day long. So the sooner you can get in front of parents and really sell them on a slam dunk you know, pitch for your book, the better, because we are hungry for ideas right now to keep kids busy. So we can be a very easy sell, if you may, if you have the right approach, you know.
Speaker 1:Well, and I think that it's a good opportunity to do so. So this is and I'm just going to make this statement regardless of how old your book is, if it serves a particular purpose like, let's say, for example, your book teaches some kind of a craft, or, you know, it could just be a great summer read. So it doesn't necessarily have to be that specific, but you could very easily go out to mom bloggers and books, to grammars and, you know, using the the the summer break read for young readers idea. Um, so you're not necessarily asking for a review, although you're not going to say no to a review or or an excerpt, but trying to get a shout out, like you know. Here's a way if you want to. You know, keeping your kids busy, getting them to read, uh, learning a new craft again, whatever, um, this is a great idea.
Speaker 2:Yes, and to your point, penny, I agree. I don't think the age matters as much as if you can sell your book on the relevance, then that's that. That is what people are looking for. And I would say, definitely if you have a series, if you've written multiple books um, my chatting with kids at book fairs and things like that kids love a series. You know they love they really. They are so easily they're sponges, they're so easily trained to go back to the familiar. So I can tell you, at the book fairs I've volunteered at, kids just eat up anything in a series. They're like is that book here? Oh my gosh, they always want the next book in the series. So that's another one too. So it doesn't matter how old your book is. If it has something going for it, that's all that really matters. And, yeah, even a social media shout out from somebody is all you're asking for.
Speaker 2:And a lot of these influencers are, like I said, parents are hungry for ideas. They're putting together lists, penny, like, as you know, influencers love putting together lists because they love to be resources, and so even just getting your book, a mention on a list of ideas or reads or things for your kids to do this summer could mean thousands of new impressions and traffic to your book. And then we've got a list of a few other things. Consider doing a special discount price for the summer kickoff. You know, especially if you can back it up with some social media posts and announcement in your newsletter, something like that, to kind of bolster that limited time discount. So maybe you discount your book for the first half of June or something like that. It doesn't have to be a discount for the whole summer. You can if you want to, if you're in a position to do that. But a limited time is always adds an another layer of urgency and timeliness.
Speaker 1:You know, yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, letting parents know that your book is discounted for the first couple of weeks of summer break, you know is is another great reason to shout it from the rooftops.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely the other thing and this isn't necessarily I know Amy loves it when I just sort of ad hoc my way through the podcast.
Speaker 1:This isn't necessarily on the list, but it occurred to me that. So when I, when I was a young person which of course was in the Stone Age, but when I was a young person the last like couple of weeks of school was just, it was kind of a, it was a little bit of a free for all, like the teachers were ready for summer break. We were ready for summer break and our schools in particular had a lot of they had a lot of different fun guests that came in, right, so they, you know, we had like this camping guy and then we had, you know, a couple of authors come in. You know we had like this camping guy and then we had, you know, a couple of authors come in. I would think and maybe things have changed, amy again, since that was such a long time ago but I would think that it would be a good opportunity if authors really wanted to do any kind of a school event or do a reading or you know whatever. The end of school year is a great time, right?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, and we've talked about this penny before and working up something that, really a great package or something like that.
Speaker 2:But teachers are also more than happy to take a prerecorded video of you talking about, you know, talking about your book, talking about what it means giving them ideas for discussion questions, because essentially what you're giving the teacher is, at minimum, 30 minutes of time where his or her kids are engaged in doing something interesting. You've given them a break from the lesson plan and from keeping them busy, like Penny said, in the last couple of weeks, where all their brains are just kind of haywire anyway. So those pre-recorded videos where you talk about everything that they can play when it's convenient for them, and then the teachers can take questions and send them to you later, you know what I mean. Like, don't discount what an impact you can make by pre-recording some content that you can give to teachers as well. That's a great idea.
Speaker 1:That is a great idea. The other thing, too, is that if you are, and even if school is out, right, and you're too late to do the event or too late to do the prerecorded stuff, your local media. So this is a really good opportunity for you to get out in your local media and talk about, talk about your book, right, talk about the the. You know, um, why kids love it, why it's a fun, you know whatever, why it would be great for a sleepover, or you know whatever. It is the local media. It's a great local angle for you too. So that's that's, you know. That's another thing I love doing Amazon ads. I run the Amazon ads. I, um, you can definitely highlight your book, depending, obviously, on the age of the reader. Depending, amy, do your kids, without giving up, obviously, too many details. Are the ebook readers or print book readers?
Speaker 2:They read. They honestly read both. I will say they kind of. Obviously, because of their age they are still in elementary school, so their immediate access independently is to print books. But my, um, my older child, who is just getting out of fourth grade, has a Kindle that she reads off of and so she definitely has eBooks that she reads because it's kind of nice at night, you know she'll sit there and read and then she doesn't have to have the light on and wake up her sister. Really, it's all about keeping the peace.
Speaker 1:Right, right, exactly, but, yes, absolutely. So I love, so I you know. I wanted to ask that because I love doing Amazon ads, which I know, depending on how you've published, tends to tether to the ebook. But, as we've always said, if the ebook and the print book are connected, the rising tide which hopefully they are on Amazon that's a different show. The rising tide floats all boats, so that's the other. You know that's sort of. The other piece of this too is that you can do some special promos. I mean, amy, you do a lot of, you run a lot of our book Bob ads and our good read stuff. Do you want to talk about that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely book Bob ads. Highlighting again we love book Bob ads. They're very intuitive to utilize, create. They have templates for you that are actually really impactful, so there's no reason not to use them. But calling out again, calling out summer read, summer vacation read, things like that I mean just again, parents are hungry for this. You just got to use the right words and get their attention easily. You know, it really is that simple. Same thing with the Goodreads giveaways Also a great time to just get your book in more hands. You know, it really is that simple. Same thing with the Goodreads giveaways Also a great time to just get your book in more hands. You know, because word of mouth, you know, do a Goodreads giveaway, do it for print books, especially for kiddos, I would say, if you can, because those print books end up in their rooms, they end up outside with them, their friends see them. You know what I mean. There's really a lot to be said for just getting more books in hands and Goodreads giveaways are great for those as well. And, penny, you mentioned Amazon.
Speaker 2:Book descriptions are not a set it and forget it. We always talk about how you can tweak your book descriptions at different times of the year, depending on what's going on, and what's going on even in the news cycle sometimes. So don't forget to update your book description when there's something interesting you can highlight. So starting your book description by introducing your book is the perfect summer vacation read for kids. It's such a simple thing, but the more of those boxes you check off for the parents that are actively looking, the better, because it makes them they can say yes a lot quicker, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, exactly. And then the other piece of it, though, too, is that doing. Obviously, you know we're dropping this show at a time when your kids may already be out of school. Maybe it's too late to plan and do events, but many times local libraries have pop-up events and things like that that you could potentially do.
Speaker 1:Um, you know, do a, you know, do a book signing. We have here in my town on the 20th of May. Um, we have our little parade, our little yearly parade, which is really cute, and they have a craft fair. And I know for a fact, because I talked to a couple of the vendors last year they said, oh yeah, we just, we just let them know last week that we're, you know, that we wanted to come in and they had some. They had several authors there actually who were, you know, signing books and a couple of them sharing a table and things like that. So, any kind of summer events that you can do, do you think, amy? Any kind of summer events that you can do, do you think, amy and this is a- really random question I'm going to throw at you, so feel free to tell me to shut up.
Speaker 1:I love this one. I just started this stuff. Are there particular types of books for young readers that you think would do well as summer reads, or does it not really matter?
Speaker 2:Really dependent on the kid Got it. You know my kiddos have, especially my older ones. I mean we have a neighbor and I actually gifted one of our author's books to him and he really enjoyed it. One of our authors that did a series because he just loves like epic, like just he loves to dig in, he loves the series, he likes thick books for kids. I mean this kid's amazing, he is like the ideal kid.
Speaker 2:Wow, okay, any author would love to get in front of. But I think it's, and that's one of the things too is that getting kids interested in reading is working with their personality type, working with their interests, you know. So I really think it's fair game for anyone. But I love your local author reminder, penny, because I can tell you that anytime I'm out somewhere and a local author is selling books, especially kids' books, I buy it every single time. Yeah, I buy it every single time because it is such a cool experience for the kids it gets signed. I mean, we have so many signed books from authors that the kids have gotten to meet. I think you know I don't want anybody listening to discount what a cool experience that is for kids and adults alike. For sure you know it's absolutely worth your time.
Speaker 1:Well, and the other piece of it, though, too, is that, again, even if you can't do like, if the events are off the table, if the parade already happened, if the craft already happened, whatever, there are a lot of different places around town that have kid, you know kid camps like YMCAs, and different places that you could potentially leave some signed copies, maybe for them to resell, depending on you know what.
Speaker 1:But I will tell you right now. We had an author, and this is a very different kind of situation, but we had an author a number of years ago, and she used to put she would go around and leave a few copies of her book in hair salons. She sold lots of books. Because you get done with your whatever you're doing, and you're only maybe five chapters in the book, you're like, oh, I have to know how this ends Right. So leaving books and you know rec centers and sporting facilities, gyms, things like that, um, where they're they have activities for kids or kids are spending a good amount of time is a great way to get recommendations, get kids reading your book.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a really good point. Penny Rec centers like gymnastics gyms, places where kids kind of get dropped off and left for multiple hours at a time because parents are like yay, they are great somewhere. You know those kids need stuff to do while they're there. Even if they're there for a camp, there's still downtime. You know there's still the occasional kid that just gets burnt out and needs a break, and counselors and coaches and things like that get that. So having something available at the facility where like hey, why don't you go sit and read for a minute, like, take a break, chill out, it's cool. You know that absolutely is a very that's a very real thing that happens. So having your book in those places for those kids to start reading and get into, and then when their parent picks them up they're like I need this book, I started reading this book, I want this book, like that is the best thing that can happen.
Speaker 1:And yes, it absolutely is the best thing that can happen, and none of this stuff that we talked about, um, that we've talked about in the show, is, uh, time sensitive in terms of your book has to be new to be able to. Your book could be five years old, right, exactly as long, and it's. It is a great way. And, you know, maybe even at some of these events, some of these rec centers, some of these things, I mean they might even be open to having you come in and, do you know, read a few chapters for the kids and leave a couple of books behind, or something like that too.
Speaker 2:So leave your book and your contact information.
Speaker 1:Very good point, yeah. So, really, I'm so glad that we talked about this today. This is such a great idea and I hope that it has inspired you Certainly. Um, it's an. I'm like thinking about some of the authors that we I know, right, Like, yeah, I'm thinking about some of the authors that we've worked with over the last year, Like, oh, I need to get out to them and tell them get your you know, get your young reader book out in the hands of some of these hungry, hungry readers and desperate parents.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly, I am one of them. We exist, we want to be seen. Make it easy for us to like find your book and buy it, because we're ready to start putting that list together of things we can put in front of our kids when they say they're bored. Like, look at all these great books and things we have for you to do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, exactly. This was such a great idea for the show. Thank you so much for organizing and for coming up with the idea.
Speaker 2:Sure, and if any of you have books, please send us. We love hearing from you. Let us know about your great kiddo read.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, we, especially obviously Amy's already put it out there that she's desperate for book titles. So here's another, here's another. We're going to get so many book recommendations, but, yeah, and again, whether or not your book is new, it doesn't, does not matter. None of this stuff matters. It's a great read. It's a great way to get, keep kids off of screens and immersed in reading, which we all need to do a lot more of. Thank you so much for tuning into the show. This is Penny Sansevier. It's a great idea for a show, amy. So Penny Sansevier, it's a great idea for a show, amy. So Penny Sansevier and Amy Cornell, and we will see you next time. Bye-bye.
