Twenty-Three Things to do for
Small Press Month
For Small Presses &
Independent Publishers

  1. Contact your local bookstore or library and suggest they put together a special display for Small Press Month. You can obtain posters from: Small Press Book Month Coordinator, Publisher Marketing Association, 627 Aviation Way, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266, Phone 310/372-2732. Order form below.
  2. Suggest that your local bookstore offer a discount off Small Press titles this month. Offer a special 20% discount on all of your titles.
  3. Hold a seminar on "How to get Published" or on a subject related to your books. You might wish to cooperate with other small presses in your area to get this event off to a roaring start. You might wish to charge a nominal fee for the seminar.
  4. Contact the book review editor at your daily newspaper about any events that you plan, and the calendar editor, if your paper has one. Also speak to the features editor. The business editor is always interested in a successful publishing story.
  5. Send Publishers Marketing Association a list of participating bookstores and libraries. PMA can send them publicity and display material.
  6. Be sure to inform PMA and the Small Press Center about any activities you have planned for Small Press Month. That way, PMA can include your plans in their national database and mention them when they are in touch with the media.
  7. Get in touch with any weekly papers in your area about events.
  8. Approach an interviewer at a local radio station about airing a segment regarding the problems and rewards of running a small press, or set one up for an author.
  9. Make arrangements with any local non-bookstore outlet that is appropriate for any of your books. For example, if you publish cookbooks a grocery store might stack them up near the door for a month, particularly with a special discount as an incentive.
  10. Try for an interview at your local daily paper or the weekly paper, remember that the media is always pleased to find to find that there are successful publishers and writers in the neighborhood. So pitch not only yourself but your colleagues.
  11. If you have a personable, articulate author who is available to speak in his or her area, try setting up interviews with the local media.
  12. Band together with other small presses and compile a combined exhibition of titles in a subject area. Offer your library the ready-made exhibit of locally published books in the areas you choose.
  13. Schedule an interview for yourself at the TV station. Be sure to offer visuals if available. Footage of an author doing exciting research in a jungle, a sports book author on the ski slopes, for instance, would be helpful to getting TV time. Focus on the unique angles of your books and authors.
  14. Find a college or university that would be receptive to a roundtable discussion on a topic like "What is a Free Press" or "The First Amendment and the Mass Media."
  15. A goodwill talk to high school students about how to become an author could be a highlight of the school programs during the month.
  16. Use excerpts from a current or upcoming book on your website. Remembering that an entire excerpt, a whole recipe, for example, is more productive than a tantalizing tidbit.
  17. Arrange readings and signings from your list to be held during Small Press Month at your local bookstore and library.
  18. Take Small Press Month posters to your local bookstore or library and be sure that they are displayed and distributed.
  19. Join with other small presses and take out a co-op ad in your local newspaper.
  20. Be sure that every club or local organization to which you belong to displays a poster about Small Press Month and has your catalogue available as a handout for Small Press Month.
  21. Keep your alumni magazine up to date about you and your small press.
  22. Host a wine-a-cheese party in your office for the press, booksellers and other friends of your publishing house. Celebrate Small Press Month!
  23. Gather together all your press cuttings and document the successes of Small Press Month and please send to Karin Taylor for use next year. Send to the Small Press Center, 20 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036.

    CELEBRATE SMALL PRESS MONTH:
    MARCH 2003

    LET EVERY VOICE BE HEARD!
    SUPPORT AMERICA'S SMALL INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS

    We invite bookstores and libraries across the country to join in celebrating Small Press Month. Events include: special promotions; readings; workshops; lectures and book fairs.

    To find out how you can receive free Small Press Month posters, call Publishers Marketing Association, (PMA) at 310-372-2732. You can also visit the PMA website to find your nearest PMA affiliate or e-mail: lisa@pma-online.org; OR call Small Press Center at 212/764-7021, e-mail: smallpress@aol.com, Website: www.smallpress.org.

    Name _______________________________________________

    Publisher _______________________________________________

    Address _______________________________________________

    City ________________________ State ________ Zip ____________

    Tel:_____________________ Fax _______________

    E-Mail _______________________________________________

    Please send information on Small Press Month.

    Please send ____ Small Press Month posters.

    Please send information on the Small Press Book Fair.

    Please send Small Press Center membership information.

    Please send Publishers Marketing Association
    membership information.

    Mail this form to: Small Press Month Coordinator
    Publishers Marketing Association
    627 Aviation Way
    Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
    Phone 310/372-2732