-Guerilla Marketing-

 

Full Disclosure:  This is going to be another one of those pages where I occasionally refer to myself in third person and talk about Jeremy Robert Johnson (JRJ) as if he’s a commodity and a product and not just a guy who loves to tell stories.  This page may later feature pictures of guerillas (or folks dressed as non-militaristic gorillas) hanging out at the library.  Or it may not.  And let it be known that this page and many of the ideas on it would not exist without the kind permission of DIY marketing guru and Bizarro literary socialist CM3.



Here are the brass tacks…

 

I Need Your Help!!!

 

      The truth: Underground authors rely 100% on "word of mouth" to sell books. We don't have BIG promotional budgets (or any kind of budget at all).

        Aside from the occasional review in small press publications, readers are our number one source of promotion.  Especially those (incredible) readers who like our books enough to tell everyone they know to read them.

        I am no exception.  These are the facts of my writerly existence.

        Without your help/support, I (JRJ) am likely to fade into nothingness. If you want this to happen, then that's fine; do nothing and I'll eventually die in the streets, toothless and alone, naked except for a pirate hat with the word “Shepples” stenciled on it.

        However, if you don't want this and want more JRJ books released every year, then please consider engaging in one (three or more would be even better) of the following methods of "spreading the word" and supporting JRJ.

 

WAYS TO HELP PROMOTE JEREMY ROBERT JOHNSON:

 

1) TELL YOUR FRIENDS - This is the easiest of ways to help promote JRJ. Just tell people about the books you like, email the www.jeremyrobertjohnson.com website link to whoever you think would be interested, or mention Jeremy Robert Johnson whenever a book discussion breaks out (unless the discussion is about books so deeply disappointing that the reader wanted to kill the author - leave me out of that shit). 

 

2) AMAZON.COM - 90% of JRJ's books are sold through amazon.com. If you really want to help promote JRJ, amazon.com is the place to do it. You can write a review or (even better) you can make a "Listmania" list. Just create a list of all your favorite books or movies and put JRJ's books at the top of that list. You can check out a sample one I made here (for Listmania) or here (for a So You’d Like To… guide).

 

3) ASK YOUR LIBRARY OR BOOKSTORE TO CARRY JRJ BOOKS - Most bookstores and especially libraries will order books that customers request. Libraries are one of the best ways for JRJ to reach new readers. Plus, if you can't afford to buy books, you can check them out and read them all for free.  Free is a very good price.

 

4) MEDIA - Review my books and send them to magazines (many magazines publish reviews from freelancers). If you or a friend of a friend of a friend of yours runs a magazine, independent newspaper, webzine, radio show, brothel or whatever else you can think of, see if they can promote JRJ in some way. I'm also available for interviews any time, and can speak about parasites, great white sharks, and ManOWar at length. 

 

5) BUY DIRECT FROM THE ARTIST – Okay, this isn’t exactly promotion, but it does help.  Amazon sales are wonderful, no complaints here, but books purchased directly through JRJ.com cut out the corporate middle-man and give me a couple of extra coins for things like tacos and housing.  And, when you buy from me the book is not only signed but “customizable” to your specifications.  No, this does not mean I can add lazers.  The lazers stay with me.

 

Sample of customized book-

You ask for an Amish guy snorting coke, you’re going to get an Amish guy snorting coke!

 

 

 

6) LINKS - If you have a website, link to www.jeremyrobertjohnson.com ... good odds say I’ll link back.  You can make a hypertext link, use the site name .jpg at the bottom of every JRJ.com page, or even use this eye-pleasing banner:

 

 

7) MESSAGE BOARDS/EMAIL GROUPS - Talk about JRJ as much as you can stomach in your online message boards and email groups (I know I incessantly mention James Ellroy to the point where he really should be sending me free books or something). Using the banner just above this in your signatures never hurts...  If you wanted to become some sort of insane advocate and go to every message board you know of telling them about the genius of JRJ and this website I would probably learn how to fight Kodiak bears and then fight one in your front yard.  If you wanted me to.  (But do me a favor and don’t jump around doing one-line spam-esque posts.  Nobody likes the spam.)

 

8) KEEP THE BOOKS IN CIRCULATION - Lend JRJ books to friend after friend, especially if they are unwilling or unable to pay for the books. Also, if you aren't into saving books, sell them to a used bookstore. Or donate them to libraries.  Or leave them at places where people have to wait, like barbershops or tattoo parlors.  Or build a catapult and just launch them into the stratosphere (I’ve always wanted to corner the Russian astronaut market).

 

9) COMMUNICATE WITH ME – Drop by the Bizarro Forum and say hello.  I visit it at least once a day if I’m not out trying to sell bootleg BetaMax tapes.  And your emails always make me happy.  Always.  Except for dAle4872@grointhrob.net who keeps trying to sell me bootleg Cialis.  That guy sucks.

 

10) FLIERS/BOOKMARKS - This would be a lot of work and I wouldn't expect many people to do this, but some people have actually made JRJ related products (even JRJ.com & Siren Promised t-shirts). If you want to make jeremyrobertjohnson.com fliers or bookmarks or other promotional material and pass them out or post them, you would be a tremendous help.

 

        If you have any other cool ideas, or have already done some of these things, send me an email. 

       

        And although keeping good art (and good artists) alive is definitely its own reward, there’s always the possibility that I’ll hook-up overzealous supporters with cool free swag.  Signed mags.  Terrible illustrations.  Rocks shaped like dictators.  Who knows?

 

Here’s another fun and only slightly heretical idea.  Throw a Book Burning Party!  Just make sure to buy thousands upon thousands of my books first.  And then don’t burn those.  Those books are sweet!  Just burn a bunch of wood and hang out and read my stories to each other.  You could totally make out and drink beers, too.  I won’t stop y’all.