(Many thanks to Julie Sykes for this guest post. Julie will join us as a regular contributor on 26th April.)
It’s no
secret that I’m a massive fan of Ally Carter. Her Gallagher Girls spy school
series is top of my list of ‘things to take if ever stranded on a desert island’.
I loved Heist Society too. So when I heard about Ally’s new series, Embassy
Row, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the first book.
Note the
word book!
For reasons
to do with space and convenience I’ve turned to the dark side and buy most of
my books on an e-reader. Real book buying is a luxury restricted to favourite
authors or books with brilliant illustrations.
So, early
one Saturday morning, after my weekly trolley dash around Waitrose, I ran into
Waterstones with the sole aim of buying a copy of All Fall Down before my
frozens melted in the boot of my car. But as I reached out to swipe a copy from
the promo table I found myself drawing back.
What was that thing attached to the
book with shrink wrap?
A mascara
wand. Really?But I only wanted the
book. I started to go through the pile to see if I could find a book without added mascara before I realised
I was wasting my time. Disgruntled, I took the book (and free mascara) to the
check out desk.
Driving home,
I thought about the reasons why publishers feel the need to entice readers to
buy a book with free gifts. Thousands of new books are published every year. Children
and young adults all lead busy lives. There’s a whole other world out there in
cyber space competing for their free time. It’s small wonder then that publishers,
marketing gurus and authors too, have to be as creative in the promotion of
their book as in the actual writing of it.
Then I
remembered something! When my own Silver Dolphins series launched my publisher gave
away a free silver dolphin necklace with book one, The Magic Charm.
Hadn’t I
been thrilled at the time, wearing my necklace 24/7 for the first month? Didn’t
I almost go into melt down when fans of the new series emailed to tell me how
much they loved their free necklace
because it made them feel as it they might be a Silver Dolphin too!
