Can Book Boxes Be an Effective Part of Your Launch Strategy?
Send your cheer squad an experience
Enjoy this guest post by author mystery and thriller author Carmen Amato.
There are a zillion ways to promote the launch of a new book. Press releases. Book signing. Social media posts.
I mailed boxes.
Not because people need to do more cardboard recycling, but because I was worried.
Starting from Scratch (Almost)
By the time my latest book, Barracuda Bay, was slated for release In February 2025, it had been three years since readers had gotten their hands on a new Detective Emilia Cruz mystery.
The big gap between Narco Noir, Book #8 in the series, and #9, Barracuda Bay, is the pandemic’s fault. No, I wasn’t incapacitated by illness, but drawn to a passion project that meant a great deal to my late mother.
Every evening during the lockdown, I called and distracted her with questions about her childhood in upstate New York. I promised to write a tale based on her memories and her father’s stories of being a deputy sheriff during Prohibition.
That promise became the four-book Galliano Club historical fiction thriller series. My late mother would have loved to see how her hometown and Italian heritage were portrayed in the books, yet pausing the successful Detective Emilia Cruz series in order to write an obscure saga in a different genre was not a commercially savvy thing to do.
As I considered the launch of Barracuda Bay, I knew some readers were still interested in my protagonist, the fictional first female police detective in Acapulco and her life in a stew of cartels, corruption, and machismo, not to mention family secrets and an often rocky relationship with hotel manager Kurt Rucker. They occasionally emailed to ask about the next Detective Emilia Cruz mystery and commented on the excerpts I included in my bi-monthly Mystery Ahead newsletter.
But I worried that the series’ momentum had largely petered out.
The Plan
Big publishers use book boxes to send new releases and cool book-themed swag to influential book reviewers. But I needed book cheerleaders.
Two months before the release date, my newsletter issued a call for twenty readers to join the Barracuda Bay “Cheer Squad.” In exchange for a box containing a complimentary advance copy of the book and assorted goodies, Cheer Squad members would help spread the word by posting on social media and reviewing the book upon release.
The response was heartening. Instead of just twenty, I expanded the size of the Cheer Squad to twenty-eight. Boxes were mailed a month before the book’s release date.
Cost
Each box contained:
Signed paperback
Custom tote
Mini poster
Bookmarks
List of all of my books with ISBNs to give to a bookstore/library
Card with QR code and stamped envelope to send to a friend
Fish taco seasoning packets (to make the recipe in the book)
Personal note from me
The cost of 28 book boxes was around $500. Besides the wholesale cost of the books, I spent money on clamshell cardboard boxes and packaging materials. Feeling very clever, I color-matched tissue paper to the book cover.
Canvas tote bags were custom printed by Canvastry.com for less than $10 each. The mini posters and bookmarks were already in my swag inventory. I used PirateShip.com for the lowest shipping prices.
The time investment for organizing and assembling the boxes was greater than expected. My upstairs hallway became a makeshift factory, lined with boxes being filled.
Cheer Squad Program
Along with the boxes, I created a whole program of Cheer Squad activities. Weekly emails prompted Cheer Squad members to post on social media, mail their recommendation card, drop off the ISBN list, and post reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, and BookBub. To create a sense of an exclusive community, I organized a Facebook Live event (which ran into a tech snag) and a Zoom call which came off perfectly, plus sent a Goodreads tutorial about adding books to Goodreads lists.
The Cheer Squad emails continued for 6 weeks after release. At one point a member replied to an email saying that he felt like part of an exclusive club.
Was the Juice Worth the Squeeze?
Yes!
Cheer Squad enthusiasm was high. Almost everyone posted their swag and book on social media. One person flaunted the tote on a cruise while another made the recipe in the book and sent a picture of his dinner plate! Their friends commented and reposted.
Over the course of three weeks the book boxes created:
Word-of-mouth buzz on Facebook, where my ideal reader hangs out,
Reader-supplied photos I could use in my own marketing efforts,
Reviews on three platforms immediately after release,
The book on multiple Goodreads lists,
Higher than expected sales for the first 90 days after release, and
28 readers proud of their role as book ambassadors and willing to do it again.
New voices (not just me) touted Barracuda Bay before the launch. This built anticipation, reminded readers of Books 1-8, and definitely minimized the 3-year time gap since the last Detective Emilia Cruz novel.
For many authors, $500 for book boxes might seem extravagant. But compare the outcome to the price of a Kirkus ($450) or Clarion review ($579). In my view, the book boxes delivered a greater impact than any single editorial review.
Lessons Learned
The book box plan worked, but there are a few things I’ll do differently next time.
Cheer Squad parameters: There was no requirement for joining the Cheer Squad besides enthusiasm and a US mailing address. Next time, Facebook and Instagram accounts will be required.
Smarter social media: Book boxes are good subjects for social media. I should have done “Pack with Me” reels and Instagram Stories with a link to the book’s preorder page.
Highlight exclusivity: More Zoom events would maximize the sense of exclusivity for the Cheer Squad. Each event could have a theme (e.g., inside look at a character or teach something) to give book cheerleaders more to talk about.
Less work: Also, packing and shipping 28 book boxes was a ton of work; 15-20 would be more manageable.
Last Words
Book boxes are a little-used launch tactic that can deliver real value. But be prepared for a significant investment of time and money.
My best advice is to create your book box so that the recipient takes action and becomes your partner in the book’s success. One they get the box, what do you want them to do? Post images? Write reviews? Mail a note to a friend? Leave swag in a bookstore?
Next, have a program of regular communication to stay connected with box recipients and remind them of the actions you want them to take. Foster a sense of community.
Don’t just send a box. Send an experience.
Carmen Amato is the author of the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series, pitting the first female police detective in Acapulco against Mexico’s cartels, corruption, and social inequality. Starting with Cliff Diver, the series is a back-to-back winner of the Poison Cup Award for Outstanding Series from CrimeMasters of America. Optioned for television, National Public Radio hailed it as “a thrilling series.”
Carmen is also the author of the Galliano Club historical fiction thrillers inspired by her grandfather who was a deputy sheriff in New York during Prohibition. Murder at the Galliano Club, won the 2023 Silver Falchion Award for Best Historical. Revenge at the Galliano Club, was nominated for the same award in 2024.
Her standalone thrillers include The Hidden Light of Mexico City, which was longlisted for the 2020 Millennium Book Award.
A 30-year veteran of the CIA, where she focused on technical collection and counterdrug issues, Carmen is a recipient of both the National Intelligence Award and the Career Intelligence Medal. A judge for the BookLife Prize and Killer Nashville’s Claymore Award, her essays have appeared in Criminal Element, Publishers Weekly, and other national publications. She writes the popular Mystery Ahead newsletter on Substack. Originally from upstate New York, after years of globe-trotting she and her husband enjoy life in Tennessee.
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Sharon, thanks for the opportunity to share my 📦 story! Let's make book marketing creative again 😀
This was an awesome explanation of how to use a street team. Thanks!