GumboWriters: Gumbo Marketing Why Work with Us?

GUMBO MARKETING

Writers: Why Work With Us?

With increasing costs for print advertising and shrinking avenues to publicize and promote
books, online marketing has become not only the newest but the most timely and cost-effective
way to spread the word about forthcoming and backlist titles directly to consumers.

The marketing and publicity departments of many publishing houses are overwhelmed with the
deluge of books constantly needing their attention. The result is that only a select few receive the
attention worthy of a title that will reap returns. Staff is overworked, agents and authors feel
neglected and publishing houses don’t receive the revenue they anticipated.

The challenge for niche multi-cultural outlets is even greater. Something has to change.
This is where we come into the picture: In 2004, Jeff Rivera self-published a Latino-themed book entitled Forever My Lady. With no budget, he built a massive online platform which led to over 10,000 books in circulation. And he did it all in cyberspace—through online efforts.

He then single-handedly garnered reviews in popular and diverse national magazines, television and radioincluding: The Boston Globe, Miami Herald, Rotarian Magazine, Urban Latino Magazine, VOY, Right On! Magazine, NPR, Midwest Review, Publishers Weekly, American Latino TV, and SITV. He was also awarded the Best New Author and Best Urban Fiction Awards by the Mahogany Media Review. His MySpace social network hosted nearly 5,000 fans, and created a blog tour with over 100 bloggers who all spread the word to people who probably would never have been exposed to his work.

Hachette Book Group, USA took notice of these successes and quickly acquired Forever My Lady. Improving on the already successful strategies used to promote his book, Jeff teamed with SEO experts as well as world-wide online marketing representatives to create the first multi-cultural online book marketing company. The coordinated efforts between Jeff, his diverse team and your publicity and marketing departments, will give your selected titles the attention they deserve.

Unique in his plan is not only the ability to cover the exposure specific to your company’s vision,
but to keep down overhead expenses by overseeing virtual, outsourced marketing representatives.