Gretchen McNeil Enlists Fans for "An Army of Ten" Marketing Venture
September 13, 2012
When YA novelist Gretchen McNeil learned that Barnes & Noble would not be selling her new book, Ten, in their stores, she decided to take matters into her own hands with a guerrilla marketing campaign. She wrote up a blog post to enlist "An Army of Ten." That entailed asking her fans to promote her book by crafting tweets, blogging, designing homemade flyers and talking to independent bookstores. Participants received incentives including bookmarks and entry into a special gift pack giveaways which includes several signed books.
In an interview with Publishers Weekly, McNeil explained why she went to such lengths to promote her book: "It was a business decision on their part, and I understand that. But not getting the book stocked by one of the last major chains can obviously affect sales, and it made it imperative for me to connect directly to readers. Instead of giving up, I decided to create a promotion with an army theme to fight my way into the marketplace. The idea exploded from there—it’s basically guerilla marketing."