I caught up with Sammy Bosch, Director of Marketing & Publicity at Mighty Media Press. I am honored to share our interview here.
Sammy: Mighty Media Press publishes 6-8 books per year.
Carrie: Why does Mighty Media take a hands-on approach in assisting with promotions?
Sammy: Mighty Media Press believes in forming strong relationships with reviewers, bloggers, and consumers. With a hands-on approach to promotions, we believe that those promotions are stronger as a result. People who care, share. We also know that there are a lot of books out there. How can a reviewer get to all those books to review? How can the author make his or her presence known with so much out there? A hands-on approach from marketing is essential to give that book and author a boost.
Carrie: What are some of the specific things that Mighty Media does for its authors/illustrators?
Sammy: The marketing team at MMP schedules a book launch tour for every author, and continues to book tours for each author in subsequent seasons. We also plan out year-long promotion opportunities for each book—collaborative book trailers, partnering with organizations, social media promotions (e.g., giveaways, Twitter chats with authors, news reveals, etc.), the use of new technology to promote a title, blog tours, holiday promotions, special swag and event kits for key titles, and much, much more! We schedule interviews, guest blogs, and media hype for each author as well.
Carrie: Has this philosophy contributed to Mighty Media’s return and future visions for its list?
Sammy: We always pick books based on our mission goals: Mighty Media Press delivers captivating books and media that ignite a child’s curiosity, imagination, social awareness, and sense of adventure. We want our titles to create imaginative, adventurous, creative, curious, and socially conscious kids. When we build a marketing campaign for a title, we are always aware of this fact. Our future lists will also match these goals. We want to inspire kids to be different, diverse, and inquisitive. And our promotions are always based on this mission.
For example, one exciting Spring 2016 title we have coming up is The Ugly Dumpling by debut author Stephanie Campisi, illustrated by award-winner Shahar Kober. In this fairytale retelling, an ugly dumpling and a cockroach embark on an eye-opening adventure, leading the dumpling to learn its true identity and realize that being different is beautiful after all. This book teaches kids about self-esteem, self-acceptance, and unconditional love. We feel this gender-neutral diverse picture book fits our mission.
Carrie: You’ve blown the-impressed-me straight out of the water and replaced her with a beyond-impressed-me! Thank you for taking the time to broaden our awareness of Mighty Media's generous support.
If you are interested in submitting a manuscript to Mighty Media, they open their reading period from September-June. Right now, they’ve been super busy cranking out copies and shipping super secret boxes of their almost-born newest babies. Take a look!
There is still time to enter the GOODREADS giveaway HERE, but hurry...it ends August 11!
-Review by Carrie Charley Brown
You can enter the GOODREADS giveaway HERE until September 1 and follow Paul Czajak's publishing journey HERE. (6 books already in 2 short years! Go Paul!)