EFolk often ask often ask what I do after a new ‘Whimsy Wood’ book has been published to raise its profile and help in its promotion. The most recent ‘Whimsy Wood’ children’s book is ‘Fearne Fairy And The Chocolate Caterpillar’, and this was launched on Saturday July the 2nd. In the past, we’ve held book launches in various book shops within the beautiful county of Wiltshire that I live in. For example, book 7, ‘Posie Pixie And The Pancakes’, was launched in The White Horse Book Shop in Marlborough, Wiltshire, in June last year.
Launch of ‘Posie Pixie And The Pancakes’ at the White Horse Book Shop
However, we decided to launch book 9 online on the Whimsy Wood Facebook page https://goo.gl/uRQqr6 To celebrate this launch, we ran a competition from Saturday June the 25th until the official launch date of July the 2nd. The competition was to make, bake or create a chocolate caterpillar cake and then send the image of this chocolatey extravaganza to the Whimsy Wood Facebook page. Well, we had some fabulous entries, but in the end we managed to choose 2 wonderful winners, who received signed copies of this latest chocolatey instalment from my Whimsy Wood Series!
A number of book bloggers and reviewers had received advance review copies (ARCs) of ‘Fearne Fairy And The Chocolate Caterpillar’, via Authoramp who Abela Publishing use for promotional purposes. These bloggers and reviewers were invited to send their reviews to the Whimsy Wood Facebook page, on the official launch day of this 9th Whimsy Wood book. Here are the links to a few of the reviews :-
http://www.lovinglifewithlittleones.com/2016/07/a-new-favourite-read-fearne-fairy-and.html
https://www.amazon.com/review/RM3RVVC6L10HU/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv
Also, before the official launch date of ‘Fearne Fairy And The Chocolate Caterpillar’, Authoramp sent out a press release to national newspapers and posted it on their blog:- http://www.authoramp.com/2016/07/1956/ This press release I emailed to local newspapers and they kindly printed a piece about this launch and the incredibly exciting news that book 4, ‘Posie Pixie And The Fireworks Party’, has won the Chapter Book category in the international Children’s Literary Classics Book Awards!
The Gazette And Herald Newspaper Piece.
Following the successful launch of book 9 on July the 2nd, 5 signed copies of ‘Fearne Fairy And The Chocolate Caterpillar’ winged their way to the Payson Book Festival in Arizona on July the 23rd http://cts.vresp.com/c/?FiveStarPublications/81d5b63bb3/f67bc2cacf/e7a64f72d5 Book 9 will also feature in The Bath Parent magazine, which is distributed to all the schools and libraries in and around the fabulous city of Bath, near to where I live. This parenting magazine actually reviewed and featured book 8, ‘Fearne Fairy And The Dandelion Clocks’, in their previous issue.
Review of ‘Fearne Fairy And The Dandelion Clocks’ by The Bath Parent.
Finally, ‘Fearne Fairy And The Chocolate Caterpillar’, featured in the August issue of Wildlife Watch. This is The Wildlife Trusts’ children’s magazine and they ran a competition to win signed copies of this latest enchanting Whimsy Wood book. They also ran a really fun and engaging competition to win signed copies of book 5, ‘Posie Pixie And The Christmas Tree’ last year, so it made perfect sense to agree to a similar competition for book 9 this year.
Competition to win ‘Posie Pixie And The Christmas Tree’ in Wildlife Watch!
In the past, following a book launch, Abela Publishing have set up offers on their website, such as free Whimsy Wood colouring sheets and a free ebook for customers purchasing the latest Whimsy Wood book. We have also held Whimsy Wood book signings and I am often invited to local school and community fairs to have a Whimsy Wood stand.
Sarah Signing Her ‘Whimsy Wood’ Children’s Books At Knebworth Primary.
Finally, to aid promotion of my Whimsy Wood Series, my books have been submitted to various book competitions and award schemes and this, along with the other promotional activities above, is something I would highly recommend. For example, the 1st 5 of my Whimsy Wood books have all been awarded the sought-after 5 Star Seal from The Readers Favourite.
Front Cover Of ‘Posie Pixie And The Lost Matchbox’, Book 2 In The ‘Whimsy Wood Series.
Books 6 and 7, ‘Posie Pixie And The Snowstorm’ and ‘Posie Pixie And The Pancakes’, were tied winners in The Royal Dragonfly Book Awards. These books also gained the Story Monster Approved Seal. As mentioned earlier, book 4, ‘Posie Pixie And The Fireworks Party’, has very recently won the Chapter Book category in the international Children’s Literary Classics Book Awards and all these medals, wins and achievements help to raise your profile as an author and raise awareness of your precious literary creations.
‘Posie Pixie And The Fireworks Party’ wins the Chapter Book category in the 2016 international Children’s Literary Classics Book Awards!
One other thing I really like to do following publication of a new Whimsy Wood book, is to donate copies to local libraries and schools. At the end of the day, your book should be available to everyone, whatever their background or amount of money that they have in their pocket.
The 1st set of 7 Whimsy Wood hardbacks ready to be donated to local libraries.
Well, I’d better go and be creative elsewhere, so I shall bid you farewell and wish you a wonderfully whimsical weekend!
Sarah Hill, children’s author and creator of The Whimsy Wood Series.
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