Today, we’d like to talk about some of the innovative and successful campaigns publishers are creating with Bublish. Danielle Childers, marketing coordinator at BelleBooks, Inc. and Bell Bridge Books in Memphis, Tennessee has been kind enough to join us to talk about some of ways they’ve used book bubbles to engage readers.
Bublish: Welcome Danielle. Tell us a bit about Belle Books and Belle Bridge Books.
BelleBooks: BelleBooks, Inc. was founded in 1999 with a focus on Southern fiction and has since broadened its offerings with the addition of a second imprint—Bell Bridge Books—in 2008. Currently the company publishes in all genres and is home to several NY Times and Bestselling authors.
Bublish: You joined Bublish a few months ago. How many authors do you currently have on the platform?
BelleBooks: We currently boast over 200 authors in our publishing house. Over 10% are on Bublish with more joining every day.
Bublish: How are you using book bubbles at Belle Books and Belle Bridge Books?
BelleBooks: We use book bubbles alongside many other marketing strategies and as a one stop shop attached to an electronic book cover. Once click and readers access excerpts, synopses, an author interaction, and the ability to purchase.
Bublish: What kind of feedback are you receiving from your readers when they are introduced to book bubbles by your authors?
BelleBooks: Our readers are attracted to the clean and aesthetically pleasing visual of our marketing materials. Clicking to a bubble is easy and convenient for browsing and purchasing a title.
Bublish: What do your authors think about Bublish and book bubbles?
BelleBooks: Our authors love that the bubbles are easy to share!
Bublish: You’ve had some impressive conversion numbers — 27% and 47% for some titles! What’s the secret to your success?
BelleBooks: It’s really about a multitude of things. Fantastic authors. Great titles. Marketing strategies. We pair bubbles with a direct call to action for our readers. Author insights are a great extension of engagement for readers.
Bublish: In addition to having great books to share, we think part of your success has to do with the wonderful stories you share in the author insights section of each bubble. What’s the workflow for generating these “stories behind the stories”? Do the authors email them to you? Are your publicists generating them?
BelleBooks: We really pull author insights from a variety of sources, and it of course, depends on the author. We pull from interviews, fan questions, statements, and sometimes even biographies depending on information that specifically relates to the title. Anything to extend an interaction for the reader and is authentic!
Bublish: How do you see using Bublish in the future?
BelleBooks: Currently we’re using it alongside marketing strategies and as widgets. Because it’s such an easy tool to use, in the future we’d love to amp up the author insight in a way that there is an additional call to action. Right now, booksellers are saying “But this book,” and we’d love to get to a place where we’re saying “Love this author.” If you love the author, you’ll find the books. As a reader, nothing is better than finding a great book or a great author, and we have both!
Bublish: Well, you’re going to love what we have planned for the future of Bublish then. Thanks for joining us Danielle. We really enjoy working with you and the team at Belle Books. If you’re interested in learning more about how Bublish works publishers, please drop us an email. We’d love to give you a virtual tour: info@bublish.com
Below are links to transcripts from two @BublishMe Twitter live chats with the team @Bellebooks. We had a lot of fun and enriched the chat with plenty book bubbles.
Bublish Chats Summer Reads with Belle Books (4/25/13): https://storify.com/bublishme/bublish-chats-summer-reads-with-belle-books
A Valentine’s Day Chat with Belle Books (2/14/13): https://storify.com/bublishme/a-valentine-s-day-chat-with-belle-books
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