PITCHBOOK
The Gatekeeper’s Saga, by Eva Pohler: A Marketing Plan
IMMEDIATE GOALS:
To consistently sell 50+ ebooks a day
To break into brick and mortar stores across the country
FUTURE GOALS:
To get my young adult books on Texas Accelerated Readers’ Lists
and Bluebonnet Books
To get my books in schools and libraries across the country
To increase foreign sales
To make the USA Today and New York Times Bestsellers Lists
FAR DISTANT AND PERHAPS FANTASTIC GOAL:
To reach out to the film industry and secure a movie deal
THE GOALS
The Goals
The Gatekeeper’s Saga is a six-book contemporary young adult fantasy
series based on Greek mythology combining adventure and romance for
readers thirteen and older. As readers progress through the series, they
are introduced to more and more gods.
When fifteen-year-old Therese falls in love with the Greek god of death,
she doesn’t know what she’s in for—and neither does he. Some gods give
her gifts; others try to kill her. To prove she’s worthy to be among the
immortals, she must avenge the murder of her parents and complete five
challenges issued to her by Hades. She also must discover her purpose
and contribution to the pantheon. Becoming a goddess symbolizes the
young adult’s journey into adulthood.
Later in the series, Therese must work to reform the pantheon by standing
up for the equal treatment of mothers and daughters with the Athena
Alliance against Zeus and his supporters.
THE PRODUCT
The Product
The Mystery Book Collection consists of three suspense
novels for adults: The Mystery Box, The Mystery Tomb, and
The Mystery House . Box depicts a forty-something soccer
mom whose life is turned upside down when a box is
delivered to her by mistake and she is lured into a
haunting tale that strangely affects her. Tomb tells of two
women, one dead and the other a budding archaeologist,
who share a shocking past aching to be discovered. House
(forthcoming) is the story of four best friends and empty
nesters who, while flipping a house, find eerry signs of
torture and captivity, which compel them to solve the
mystery.
The Purgatorium , the first of a contemporary
young adult trilogy, portrays an island where
suicidal teens are terrified by Dr. Hortense Gray
and her staff into loving life, but as the series
progresses, seventeen-year-old Daphne
discovers that things are not as they seem.
THE PURGATORIUM
Additional Product
Eva Pohler writes fiction and teaches writing and literature at
The University of Texas at San Antonio, where she lives with
her husband and three children.
She is the author of The Gatekeeper’s Saga, The Purgatorium,
and The Mystery Book Collection. She has taught at the
university for over twenty years. She especially enjoys
teaching Young Adult Literature, an upper-division English
course focused on the literary analysis of books written for
teens.
In addition to writing and teaching, Eva frequently presents at
writers’ conferences to share what she’s learned in her journey
and to help her fellow authors.
THE AUTHOR
The Author
Teenage girls who love to read are the primary target market, especially those who fell in
love with Rick Riordan’s middle grade books but aged out of middle grade and are hungry
for more fiction based on Greek mythology. Teenage boys and women who love reading
young adult fiction are secondary markets.
The competition includes books written primarily for teenage
girls that combine contemporary romance with the adventures
of Greek mythology.
The Gatekeeper’s Saga is different from these books in that it
features an ordinary teenager wishing to become a god. The
other books on the market feature teens who are either
demigods or gods already possessing powers who just don’t
know it yet.
POSITIONING
Positioning
The Gatekeeper’s Saga is priced competitively in several markets.
The ebook editions are lower than the average Nook book at $2.99 to
$3.99 with the first book free.
The paperbacks for online distribution are priced similarly to the
competition at $8-$12 per book.
The paperbacks for brick and mortar store distribution are also priced
competitively at $9-$11 per book.
The audiobook editions are priced by Audible.com and are running at
$13.99 for members and between $19 to $24 for non-members.
PRICING
Pricing
Develop brand awareness
Build a website following
Connect website to other social media outlets, specifically Facebook, Twitter,
Goodreads, Instagram, and Pinterest
Use an author Facebook page to reach more readers
Connect the Facebook page to Twitter to reach additional readers
Use Goodreads to interact with fellow readers and offer giveaways
Form alliances with other authors and industry professionals to cross
promote
Speak at writers’ conferences to share, learn, and find more fans
Solicit reviews from bloggers and professional trade reviewers
Keep the ebook edition of the first book in the series free as a marketing tool
List the free book on every free and cheap site
Use BookBub periodically for more downloads
Use a street team to reach more readers
Buy Facebook Ads, Goodreads Ads, and Google Adwords to target advertising
Schedule book signings
Create and promote book trailers on Youtube
Keep the buzz alive all year long with teasers, cover reveals, giveaways, and
frequent book releases
PROMOTION
Promotion
Muted pastels are combined with sword and shield and iron gate to create the brand of Greek
mythology for girls. The pastel colors are meant to appeal to a feminine audience, while the
sword, shield, and gate suggest strength and adventure. The brand appears on my website,
Facebook page, twitter account, book covers, book marks, business cards, and swag (such as
buttons and t-shirts). This serves as both the series brand and my general author brand since all
my books focus on women fighting battles, either literally or metaphorically.
BUILD BRAND AWARENESS
Build Brand Awareness
DEVELOP A WEBSITE FOLLOWING
Develop A Website Following
EVA POHLER BOOKS
HOME ABOUT ME APPEARANCES BOOK CLUB PICKS BOOKS CHAT WITH ME
KATASTEEMA! MENTIONS TEEN BOOK REVIEWS TESTIMONIALS TALK SHOW
I use my website to notify fans of upcoming releases and appearances,
to reveal covers and teasers, to offer giveaways, to show book trailers,
and to sell promotional merchandise, such as buttons, jewelry, and tshirts. My website is connected to multiple social media outlets.
http://www.evapohler.com/
GREEK MYTH JEOPARDY
I use my Author Facebook Page to interact with fans.
https://www.facebook.com/EvaPohler
My Facebook page is connected to my Twitter account.
http://www.Twitter.com/EvaPohler
I have recently experimented with creating Twitter accounts for two of my characters.
My thirteen-year-old daughter is helping me with Instagram accounts for those characters.
My son has helped me to create funny videos for Youtube.
My Goodreads page is also connected to both Twitter and Facebook.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4888434.Eva_Pohler
USE SOCIAL MEDIA
Use Social Media
I exchanged back matter with Alison
Pensy, author of the young adult
fantasy series, The Custodian Novels.
We also cross promote on one
another’s websites.
I frequently participate in giveaways including multiple
authors, to share fan bases.
I donate books to book
bloggers to make
connections with their
fans.
I regularly attend
conferences and
participate in author
Facebook groups to
make new author
friends.
FORM ALLIANCES
Form Alliances
I have spoken at several writers’ conferences
and am scheduled to appear this year at The
Fredericksburg Writers’ Conference
(Fredericksburg, TX 1/09), The Johnson City
Writers’ Guild (Johnson City, TX 2/12), RT
Booklovers’ Convention (New Orleans 5/13) ,
UtopYA Con (Nashville 6/21), and Authors and
Readers Convention (Phoenix 10/16).
I share with other authors information I have
collected about craft, publishing, promotions,
and sales.
PRESENT AT CONFERENCES
Present at Conferences
I have submitted my books to both book review bloggers and professional trade reviewers, such as
Midwest Book Review and Kirkus Reviews. I plan to promote these reviews and solicit more to gain
credibility and reach more readers.
SOLICIT REVIEWS
Solicit Reviews
Sales of all books increased significantly after the ebook edition of the
first book in the saga was made free on July 1, 2013. You can see a spike
on the graph. I will continue to use this as a marketing tool.
KEEP THE FRIST BOOK FREE IN EBOOK
Keep the First Book Free in Ebook
BOOKBUB STATISTICS:
Teen and Young Adult
Mysteries
160,000+ subscribers
880,000+ subscribers
1,500 to 11,500 Downloads
4,300 to 29,000 Downloads
30 to 820 sales
260 to 4,950 sales
MY STATISTICS:
The Gatekeeper’s Sons was downloaded as a free offering 10,389 times the day of the ad (September
2, 2013), 4000 times the day after, 2000 times the next two days, 1000 times the next two days, 500
times the next two days, and 250 days for four more days. I averaged 100 downloads a day for the
rest of the month of September. My total ebook sales have averaged between 30 and 50 books a
day ever since the ad.
The Mystery Box was downloaded as a free offering 70,000 times the day of the ad (February 10,
2014), and at the time of this writing, is approaching 109,000 downloads. My total ebook sales have
averaged 60 books a day since.
PERIODCALLY ADVERTISE ON BOOKBUB
Periodically Advertise on BookBub
I invited a dozen loyal fans to join a street team, which
they dubbed “Eva’s Divas.” We now have nineteen
members and continue to grow. Each month, I issue
“missions” and “rewards.” A mission might be to
spread the word about a new release or to review an
advanced reader’s copy. A reward might be a free
signed copy or a promotional t-shirt.
My divas also volunteer to beta read and to help with blog
tours, social media promotion, and other promotional
events.
UTILIZE STREET TEAM MARKETING
Utilize Street Team Marketing
Facebook, Goodreads, and Google provide useful
advertising services that can be targeted to very specific
demographics. I have successfully used Facebook and
Goodreads and am currently experimenting with Google
Adwords. So far, I’ve had the following results in key
word searches on Amazon:
BUY TARGETED ADVERTISING
Buy Targeted Advertising
I have been fortunate
enough to sign at three
different San Antonio
Barnes and Noble
locations and at
another in Plano. I plan
to use my street team
to help me to book
tours all across the
country.
SCHEDULE BOOK SIGNINGS
Schedule Book Signings
I continue to promote book trailers on
Youtube to reach a different audience.
PROMOTE BOOK TRAILERS ON YOUTUBE
Promote Book Trailers on YouTube
Each month, I stimulate sales with
something to talk about on social media
sites. One month might be a teaser, the
next might be a cover reveal, the next
might be a giveaway, and the next might be
a new release. I make sure to always have
something new to tell my readers, to give
them a reason to think about me and to
anticipate my next release.
KEEP THE BUZZ GOING
Keep the Buzz Going