August book promotion opportunities: 27 fun, funky, and frivolous holidays

Sandra Beckwith — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Lighten up your book marketing near the end of summer by linking your book to one of these August book promotion opportunities.

Ahhhh, August.

It brings with it the last 11 days of the 2024 Summer Olympics and the dog days of summer.

For many Northern Hemisphere families with school-age children, it’s also back-to-school shopping time.

August is when many in Europe enjoy holiday time off, too. The same goes for the U.S., where people take advantage of a typical business slowdown before things kick back into gear in September.

August also offers lots of quirky and unexpected holidays and occasions you can use to have more fun than usual with your book promotion.

How to take advantage of August book promotion opportunities

What’s the best way to take advantage of so many fun August book promotion opportunities listed below?

Once you identify those occasions that are a good fit for your book or promotion goals, how can you use them?

Here are a few examples to get you started.

August is Romance Awareness Month

If you’re a romance writer, this is your time to shine!

Think of the potential! How about polling your social media connections and newsletter subscribers about their most romantic experience ever? One of them might even inspire a book!

Ask them to tag you in a written post or in a social media video where they describe it, or to reply to your email newsletter request.
Turn snippets of their responses into social media quote graphics you can sprinkle out for days or over coming weeks.
Use what you learn from trends in responses to create a tip sheet about how to be more romantic that you send to the media, bloggers, and podcasters.

August 4, International Forgiveness Day

Are you a yoga or meditation instructor, or a lifestyle coach?

Is forgiveness a theme in your novel or children’s book?

Use this occasion to help people learn how to forgive those who have hurt or harmed them. Here are a few ideas:

Create a short, instructional video for social media.
Host a short, live training webinar.
Create an Instagram carousel post with the steps to follow.

August 17, National Thrift Shop Day

Is one of your novel’s characters uber-thrifty?

Are you a financial advisor?

Do you write about upcycling, re-purposing, or sustainability?

According to the 2024 ThredUp Resale Report, the global used apparel market is growing three times faster than the overall global clothing market.

Leverage this trend to:

Create social media images and posts about how to shop at thrift stores.
Share images of your favorite thrift store finds.
Create a YouTube video showing how you upcycled a thrift store gem.

Keep in mind, too, that variations on what you might do to link your book to National Thrift Shop Day might also apply to National Garage Sale Day happening a few days earlier on August 10.

Your August book promotion opportunities

Here’s a partial list of the august August marketing opportunities you can add to next month’s book promotion calendar. Get the full list on the Holiday Insights site. (And while you’re there, look ahead to other months.)

Romance Awareness Month
August 1 Mountain Climbing Day
August 1 National Girlfriends Day
August 1 Mahjong Day
August 2 Find a Four Leaf Clover Day
August 4 Friendship Day
August 4 International Forgiveness Day
August 4 Sisters Day
August 5-11 National Simplify Your Life Week
August 6 Wiggle Your Toes Day
August 8 Happiness Happens Day
August 10 Lazy Day
August 10 Middle Child’s Day
August 10 National Garage Sale Day
August 12 National Vinyl Record Day
August 12 World Elephant Day
August 13 Left Hander’s Day
August 15 Relaxation Day
August 16 National Tell a Joke Day
August 17 National Thrift Shop Day
August 17 Neighbor Night
August 20 World Mosquito Day
August 21 National Spumoni Day
August 22 National Tooth Fairy Day (and/or February 28)
August 25 Kiss and Make Up Day
August 26 National Toilet Paper Day
August 31 National Eat Outside Day

Be sure to check out the list of book-related occasions during August in our 2024 literary calendar, too.

Need a book marketing coach to help you determine where to put your effort with book marketing, publicity, and promotion? I can help! Learn more here.

Which of these crazy August occasions speak to you? How will you use next month to help generate conversation and call attention to your book in a lighthearted way? Please tell us in a comment.

Wacky May holidays bring promotion opportunities

Sandra Beckwith — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 12:00:10 +0000

It’s time to inject a little fun into your book promotion.

I always get so many happy comments and emails when I run these wacky holiday lists that I’m going to try to do it more often. These unusual special occasions give you a chance to get creative – and smile.

The goal is to find one or more wacky May holidays from the short list below or the expanded list on HolidayInsights that relates to your book. Use that occasion as a starting point for any number of book promotion tactics.

Winning ways with wacky May holidays

If you haven’t done this sort of thing before, here are some ideas to get you thinking:

Write a blog post that connects the holiday to your book. Do you write mysteries? Use May 11, “Twilight Zone Day,” to reminisce about the episode that scared you the most. The author of a book on how to get organized can use “Lost Sock Memorial Day” to write about how to avoid honoring that holiday by using a simple trick that prevents lost socks.
Host a contest. Ask your readers to nominate their favorite school nurse for May 9, “School Nurses Day.” The winner you select will receive a copy of your book as a thank you gift. As part of the nomination process, require people to do something specific, such as like your Facebook page or follow you on Pinterest or Instagram.
Write and distribute a tip sheet related to a holiday with a connection to your book. Is your book about wealth management? Create a tip sheet for “Be a Millionaire Day” that provides advice on how to do that for longer than a day.

May’s wacky days

Let these wacky holidays inspire your creativity.

May 1 Mother Goose Day
May 3 Garden Meditation Day
May 4 International Tuba Day
May 6 Beverage Day
May 6 No Diet Day
May 8 No Socks Day
May 9 Lost Sock Memorial Day
May 9 School Nurses Day
May 10 Clean up Your Room Day
May 11 Eat What You Want Day
May 11 Twilight Zone Day
May 12 Limerick Day
May 14 Dance Like a Chicken Day
May 17 Pack Rat Day
May 18 No Dirty Dishes Day
May 20 Be a Millionaire Day
May 25 National Brown Bag It Day
May 25 National Towel Day
May 25 National Wine Day
May 25 Tap Dance Day
May 28 National Hamburger Day

Don’t forget to use the more traditional May occasions such as Mother’s Day, college commencements, and high school graduations as jumping off points, too. Reporters and producers in particular are always looking for a fresh approach to an old favorite.

Have you ever used a holiday to help promote your book? What did you do? Tell us in a comment.

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