The Special Challenge of Marketing & Promo as Kidlit Writers

Hi guys! I've been thinking a lot about marketing lately. Writing for this audience, we all know that we have special challenges as far as marketing and promotion goes: our readers are not always the buyers of books--their parents are. Also, they do not utilize social media as much as adults, and so reaching them through traditional online avenues can be a challenge.

As a writer striving for publication, thinking about this whole side of things is a bit scary. I asked Author Janice Hardy to come by my blog and offer her strategies on Marketing (Here & Here), and the response from readers clearly showed me I'm not alone in how I feel! She came up with some great ideas, and other people are also commenting with their own marketing strategies in the second post, which is great. Blog posts can get lost tho, so I'd love to make a sticky spot here where people could add their ideas on how best to market and promote their books to kids.

Authors, will you guys share what you know--what worked and what didn't?

Thanks. I hope we'll get more people posting tips here--this is such a tough area of the business, and because it can take a lot of time, I think everyone likes to get feedback on what worked and didn't before diving in.

AWers, if you are an author or network with authors and have marketing ideas to share, please do!