Marketing and the Phoenix Libraries

by Joe Carroccio

On Saturday, July 16, Marti Edwards and I had our second book signing at Revolver Records, located in downtown Phoenix. We didn’t sell many books, but we had a very good time promoting 16 in ’64. We are looking forward to doing more book signings at music-oriented stores. I am presently working on making this happen.

When it comes to progress, it takes a delicate balance between making things happen and letting things happen. Please allow me to digress.

We held our initial book signing in March at the Phoenix Mesquite Library. In April, Marti learned about the Tempe Book Festival, held at the Tempe Library. I asked her to set up a meeting with library so we could speak to them about our book and request their input about how they would proceed with marketing.

In May, we met with Jill Brenner from Tempe Library and embarked on a new marketing path. Per our conversation with Jill, we initiated a complementary project to promote our book. On October 5, 2016, I will be presenting “The Great Music Transition of the 60s,” which will be sponsored by the Tempe Library and 16 in ‘64. Our intent is to have more libraries sponsor this program and, in turn, promote 16 in ’64.

Last week, we attended a presentation at a Burton Barr Central Phoenix Library and started the ball rolling for us to present the same program there. We also met Liz Warren, director of the Storytelling Institute at South Mountain Community College. We are looking forward to having a discussion with her.

Back to The Beatles. In August, there will be the Fest for Beatle Fans in Chicago, the longest running Beatles celebration, which started in 1974. We cannot attend, so we took out a full-page ad in their the event program, which will be distributed to more than 3,000 people. We should get a great deal of publicity out of it, and maybe even sell a few books.

We also partnered with author and Beatles scholar, Aaron Krerowicz, who will be speaking at the Festival. He will have a booth there and has agreed to offer our books to the fans. Networking is one of the keys we have found to promote the book, and networking with Aaron has been very productive.

We have been adding to our website, continually making revisions. We also continue to build followers for my Facebook page, which is entirely devoted to The Beatles and, of course, networking.

Remember, making things happen and letting things happen: always a delicate balance is needed.

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Joe Carroccio is the coauthor of 16 in ’64: The Beatles and the Baby Boomers. Learn more at: 16in64.com.