Crass guerrilla marketing

So, the raging question on everyone's mind is "Just what did Jayme do all weekend at ConDFW?" I'll tell you: Marketing. For one weekend, I became an unabashed marketing whore. I figure I'm either a publisher's dream author, or their worst nightmare. I haven't decided which yet. I had some advanced copies of Voices of Vision with me, that I placed in the dealers room for sale. I knew well in advance that books might be available for the con, but even if they weren't, ConDFW was my target audience, the people who would boost my sales figures from 300 or so copies bought by adacemics and librarians to the several thousand that would net me royalties and ensure publication of a follow-up volume.

What would make an impact, potentially driving sales a month or so later when the book was officially released? Bookmarks and cover flats are a dime a dozen. And my book's an odd bird, not traditionally what SF readers go for. So what could I do--on a budget--that the average congoer would appreciate and respect. And then it struck me that I must exploit the average congoer's mortal weakness, a weakness that cut across gender and ethnicity lines to encompass the whole of fandom. No, I'm not talking kryptonite. I'm talking free beer.

Will my grand homebrew scheme pay off? I dunno. It was certainly a tactical success. Lots of people called me a guerrilla marketing genius. Four separate parties were coopted into impromptu book launch parties. Lots more people drank the beer, and nobody went blind. Two of the conventions whose parties I coopted invited me as a guest on the spot (the other two already have me on their roster). But was it a strategic success? Will the collectable bottles and good will toward me and my book translate into sales? Only time will tell.

Now Playing: Aerosmith Just Push Play