Saturday, July 9, 2011

GUEST: THE BOOK BREEZE



Today's Saturday Guest is Donna Keihle, publisher of a new, free hard-copy newspaper for readers - a direct-to-readers promotional avenue for you to explore .

Why did you establish The Book Breeze?
Because readers are always looking for something good to read and writers are always looking for a good reader.
What does The Book Breeze offer?
A reader targeted newspaper distributed to the places they frequent such as book stores, libraries, coffee shops and conventions.  As an entertaining and informative monthly publication, The Book Breeze offers:
·         Articles such as the one Cassiel Knight contributed for our July issue on paranormal romance
·         Behind the Book by Maggie Jaimeson
·         Karen’s Reader’s Choice Lounge
·         Reviews by Roberta Rogow
·         New releases
·         Puzzles
·         Short Stories
·         Writer’s Cave – a peek into the mind of a writer
·         Writer’s Challenge – a 50 word or less contest with prizes
What made you think of this?
I owned a restaurant on the Oregon Coast that served breakfast and lunch, until the day Subway opened up across the street and ended my lunch trade.  Every day we sat and counted the customers streaming into the new place in town.  At first, I thought they’d come back until I realized I would never be able to compete with Subway’s pricing and national advertising.
How did you survive with half your business gone?
I didn’t focus on my weakness but counted my strengths.  We didn’t just do breakfast; we had the best breakfast in town.  Everything was homemade, right down to the jam from berries I picked myself.  So I changed the name to Basically Breakfast and went after customers
People on vacation are more apt to splurge on breakfast, so every Friday afternoon I went to all the motels in Lincoln City with a handful of flyers and gift certificates.  I gave each desk clerk a free breakfast and left flyers knowing that tourists will ask a local where to eat.  In weeks my business was back up stronger than ever because I identified my customers, and then pursued them.
So the goal of The Book Breeze is to aggressively go after every writer’s customer – the reader?
Exactly, with distribution to coffee shops, book stores and conventions.
Our next issue will be in the 1,800 registration bags at the mystery convention - Bouchercon in September.  See our website for more information at: www.thebookbreeze.com  Deadline is July 20th.

There is one more thing I’d like to mention and that’s Operation Paperback.  As readers, we all know the value of escaping into a good book, this non profit organization supplies gently used paperback books to our military personnel overseas as well as military hospitals within the US.  They are looking for the following genres:  bestsellers, action, spy novels, murder mysteries, fantasy, and science-fiction.  The Book Breeze has a collection point at Jan’s Paperbacks in Aloha, OR but if you don’t live in the Portland, OR area and want to help, you can go to their website at:  www.operationpaperback.org to find out how you can show support for the men and women who serve this nation.  Also, if you know of someone in the service who’d like to benefit from this program, they can register to receive books from the Operation Paperback website.

14 comments:

Deena said...

I have to say, I really enjoyed reading my copy of the Book Breeze from RT! It's something I cans eeme reading over breakfast or lunch. Very enjoyable. I had contributed an ad, but was too late for that edition, unfortunately, but I believe I made it into the next one.

So my question is, how do I get my hands on Book Breeze now? Are they in Arizona at all? And, can we see archived issues online?
~Deena Remiel

Paty Jager said...

Great interview. I learned more about Donna and the Book Breeze. If I have my new banner before July 20th I want an ad. Thank you for providing an economical promotional opportunity for authors and a free way for readers to find us who don't always hit the internet.

Terri Molina said...

I love your story! Talk about perseverance. Like the others, I want to know how to get the book and how to advertise. =)

Sarah Raplee said...

Thank you for the wonderful interview, Donna!

Ladies, there's a link to Donna's website in the next-to-the-last paragraph, and the banner at the top is also a link. I just added the link to the banner. I apologize for forgetting to do so when I posted this.

ElaineCharton said...

Wonderful interview-Definitely a need for something like this. Both for writers and for readers.

Vonnie Alto said...

Great interview! The part about focusing or counting our strengths is astute advice. I'll be sure to think of that when I'm faced with adversity as a writer.

Diana McCollum said...

What a way to reinvent yourself. Basically Breakfast! I love it! How would I get a copy of Book Breeze in Bend, OR? If you need someone here to distribute copies, I'll volunteer!

Diana Mcc

Donna / The Book Breeze said...

Deena,

I'm delighted to hear you enjoyed reading The Book Breeze.

I'm sorry, we don't have back issues online. We do offer subscriptions for $12 a year for postal delivery or $6 a year for email delivery. Right now, with a paid subscription, I will send all the back issues.

Red Tail Books, in Casa Grande, Arizona, does carry The Book Breeze.

Thank you.
Donna

Donna / The Book Breeze said...

Thanks Paty! I look forward to hearing from you.

Donna

Donna / The Book Breeze said...

Thank you Sarah, for adding that link.

Donna

Donna / The Book Breeze said...

Diana,

Hello from McMinnville, OR.

I've tried to get The Book Breeze into a book store in Bend but they haven't responded to my attempts. Are you friends with any bookstore owners there?

Donna

Unknown said...

The Book Breeze is absolutely adorable!!! I fell in love with it when Donna first launched it and I thought, wow, this takes quite an artist with strong business sense to put this together. At the time, I didn't know Donna and as I've gotten to learn more about her, my appreciation and admiration have grown. Today's interview has revealed even more and continues to throw me in awe of this innovative and strong talent. Great interview, great magazine!

Judith Ashley said...

Hi Donna,

Thanks for a great interview! The idea of aggressively going after our audience/customer is good advice for writers whose stories don't fit neatly in one particular genre. That doesn't mean we don't have an audience/customer - we just have to identify who they are and let them know where we are.

Tam Linsey said...

What in inspirational story. And I love the idea of The Book Breeze and Operation Paperback. Great to have you here!