Self-Published Author Takes Cross-Promotional Route, Increases Visibility, Sales

October 06, 2008 02:46PM EDT [general.addtranslation] Download Article (PDF)

Teacher writes, illustrates, publishes, and then markets her own book--with success.

In a book world where everything from publishing to reviews to sales venues are almost wholly owned by just a handful of multinational corporations that make it very difficult for those outside of this system to thrive, one Brooklyn self-published author has found a way to prove otherwise.

Brooklyn, NY (New York Independent Media Center) On Friday, Nehprii Amenii (www.NehpriiAmenii.com), the founder of Khunum Productions, unveiled her independent publishing company's new tactic in its marketing strategy. Khunum Productions, located in New York City, released its inaugural book this year entitled "Memories of the Little Elephant."

With the steady shrinking of the book publishing market and the inherent challenges that small, independent publishers take on within this market, Khunum Productions made the decision to distinguish itself from the rest of the pack. Its efforts are believed to be the result of greater visibility and increased sales of "Memories of the Little Elephant."

"On the one hand, we have a rather unique children-of-all-ages heritage book designed to uplift the collective self-esteem, self-concept, and self-image of the African community while promoting literary enthusiasm and cultural identity. On the other hand, we have as our founder an interesting Brooklyn-based public school teacher named Nehprii Amenii who wrote and illustrated the book over the course of several years during her accumulated hours of enduring public transportation to and from work and school," said L. Brandon Moore, the Director of Public Relations for Khunum Productions, "So, it just makes sense to us that this extraordinary story within a story be told and marketed in an extraordinary manner."

To this end, Khunum Productions chose the City of Cap-Haitien in Republic of Haiti as the site for the official international release of "Memories of the Little Elephant" in February, a full five months before it was unveiled before a standing room only crowd here in the U.S. on Independence Day at The Village @ Gureje in Brooklyn.

Khunum Productions, a member of the Small Publishers Association of North America and the Mid-Atlantic Book Publishers Association, is currently in negotiations with a few different entities, Books for Africa (www.booksforafrica.org), a non-profit organization headquartered in Saint Paul, Minneapolis; Asante Filmworx (www.asantefilmworx.com), a film production company in Baltimore, Maryland; and Embora Wellness and Movement (www.embora.com), a community-based total fitness and healing center in Brooklyn, New York.

They have already completed talks with The Village @ Gureje (www.gureje.com), a high-end fashion designing outlet; Joloff's, a Senegalese restaurant (www.joloffrestaurant.com); and Healthy Nibbles Organic Snacks and Juice Bar Lounge, all of which are African-owned establishments located in Brooklyn.

"Our goal is not just to increase the visibility for, and the income from, our own product," said Nehprii Amenii, "we are even more so interested in offering our product with value added to it. So, we are partnering with companies that provide certain information, products and services that we feel are beneficial to our customers on multiple levels beyond the pages of the book."

Once all of these deals are completed, purchasing a copy of "Memories of the Little Elephant" will also expose a book lover to various opportunities, such as, donating a book to a library in Africa, getting discounts on uniquely tailored original fashions, and receiving a copy of the new documentary on Kwanzaa entitled "The Black Candle."

Additionally, Khunum Productions has gone one step future with its cross-promotional campaign by partnering with both Google Book Search (www.books.google.com) and the International Children's Digital Library (www.childrenslibrary.org) to make available previews of "Memories of the Little Elephant" free on the internet for potential customers worldwide beginning this month. The International Children's Library has agreed to translate the into a variety of languages.