Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Street Team

Have you heard this term, Street Team? I first heard it only a few weeks ago, although I think it’s been around a bit longer than that. Now it seems to pop up all over the place.





No, it’s not a gang. Well, it’s sort of a gang, but a good one, not a bad one. No tattoos or felonies required.

The originator of a Facebook group, Murder and Mayhem Cozy Mysteries, a gal who calls herself Southernstate of Mind, stepped up and offered to be a member of my street team. However, I didn’t really have one before that moment. Another reader and reviewer offered to distribute my bookmarks after reading my books, then another. Now, I’m looking for more members!

What do you have to do to be a member? You have to like my books. If I haven’t written anything you like, that sort of disqualifies you. So, IF you do like my books, it requires telling other people about them, talking them up, suggesting them to mystery readers, and handing out bookmarks to interested people. I, of course, will supply the bookmarks. You should probably be getting my newsletter (where I think I’ll repeat this information). Lastly, you have to let me know you want to do this. (Email me at kayegeorge@gmail.com)

Since I have three series currently in publication, I hope that you like at least one of them. For the Imogene Duckworthy books (3 are published, all by me), I have bookmarks with all three covers on them. For the Cressa Carraway Musical Mystery series (1 is published by Barking Rain Press with sequels in the planning stages), the bookmark has the one cover. This bookmark was designed by the publisher and is a step up! For the first People of the Wind mystery, Death in the Time of Ice (also just one published--by Untreed Reads--sequels planned), I have postcards featuring the cover. No bookmarks for this last one since this book, at the present time, is an e-book only. My 4th series will come out next year, the Fat Cat series, but it’s humming along on schedule so far.

Other optional activities are leaving reviews on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads, and the publishers’ sites; including mentions in blogs, if you have them; asking local bookstores and libraries to carry my books (it’s awfully hard to get the big ones, B&N and Books a Million, to go for this, but local, independent  bookstores are more receptive).

If you’d like to promote one series, or all three, I can mail you 10 or 20--or 30--bookmarks or postcards for each and would love it if you could hand them out and say a good word about Kaye George books. A discussion is underway on one of the online lists I belong to about swag for street teams. I’m thinking of having drawings for things. Maybe tee shirts (mugs? tote bags?). That means I’d have to design something.

KST
Kaye’s Street Team
[clever logo goes here]










[or clever saying]
Mysteries to Die For?
Books You’re Dying to Read?

Maybe less emphasis on the death of the reader would be good.

Any and all ideas greatly appreciated!



photo from © Ioana Grecu | Dreamstime.com

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