Case Study Category: Audience Growth

When Holocaust survivor Laureen Nussbaum set out to share the story of her family’s escape — with the help of a little-known German official, Hans Calmeyer — her memoir Shedding Our Stars deserved global attention. But in a crowded market of Holocaust-related titles, standing out would require a strategic and creative publicity plan.

Overcoming Visibility Challenges with Smart Targeting

Despite the enduring historical significance of the Holocaust, new titles often face steep competition for coverage. Books Forward stayed resilient, persistent and adaptable, utilizing highly specific media targeting. We built a list of journalists who consistently covered:

• Holocaust survivors and memoirs
• Anne Frank (whom Laureen knew personally)
• Stories of Germans who resisted the Nazi regime
• Local human interest stories in Seattle, where Laureen resided

This granular focus helped us find fresh entry points for outreach and enabled highly personalized pitches.

Strategic Pitching Leads to International Media Wins

Thanks to our targeted efforts, Shedding Our Stars earned feature stories, reviews and interviews in major international outlets including:

• The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (syndicated to The Jerusalem Post and Jewish News Syndicate)
• The Jewish Voice and the Jewish Journal
• Aish Magazine and The Dutch Review
• A prominent local feature in The Seattle Times

These placements built strong early momentum and meaningful reader engagement.

Real-World Impact and a Successful First Print Run

As a result of this strategic media campaign and Laureen’s powerful story, the book’s first print run sold out within just a few months, triggering a second printing. Perhaps most importantly, Laureen achieved her personal mission: spotlighting Hans Calmeyer’s brave acts of resistance. Readers wrote in asking to learn more about him, demonstrating the profound impact of sharing untold stories with the right audience.

When New Zealand author Christopher Parker came to us with his debut novel The Lighthouse, we felt we had discovered something truly special, and we couldn’t wait to help U.S. readers discover Christopher’s storytelling as well!

To introduce Christoper’s author brand and debut novel to a wide audience here in the States, we knew our best strategy was to get his book directly into readers’ hands. We designed a gorgeous promotional #JourneytoSeabrook box mailing full of interactive swag to introduce readers to his mysterious and fictional town of Seabrook, Oregon. We implemented a strategic mailing to top American social media influencers and were gratified to see the buzz building quickly!

We also coordinated a Little Free Library giveaway that got Christopher’s book placed in 50 prime locations across the U.S., and we managed an advertising campaign to entice prospective reader fans and grow his email list.

Post-launch, we wanted to build on the momentum already rolling by coordinating a comprehensive e-newsletter campaign for The Lighthouse. We worked with Christopher to discount his ebook (for a limited time to $.99) and put it in the inboxes of thousands upon thousands of avid readers, dramatically helping boost the novel’s review count and stateside awareness. We also made sure to share his audiobook on industry platforms, where it was well-received by dozens of librarians, educators and reviewers.

Christopher’s readership continues to grow after our work together. To date, his book has more than 2,000 reviews on the American version of Amazon and an ever-expanding audience worldwide. He told us:

“It’s definitely crazy to go back through that document and review all the milestones and achievements we were able to reach. Definitely a lot to celebrate. Just yesterday I had the librarian from a town in Parkersburg, West Virginia email me to say how much she loved the book and she’s promoting it around the library and it’s now got a waiting list on it. To get messages like that is just crazy and really demonstrates how far and wide the book has been able to go (and it’s not over yet!)

Thank you again to you all for your hard work and the effort you put into publicizing my novel, and thank you also for your encouragement and support along the way. It was definitely a nervous process sending my baby out into the world but knowing I had you all in my corner and championing the book made it a lot easier.”

Big cities like New York and L.A. get plenty of literary attention, but did you know that setting your book in a smaller city–especially one you have a real-life connection to–can have big advantages?

Mystery author Roger Johns went to college in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. And since the town has always had a special place in his heart, he decided to set his Wallace Hartman mysteries there. This was a smart move, as the relative scarcity of books set in Baton Rouge helped Roger’s books stand out from the highly competitive mystery crowd. 

Books Forward highlighted Roger’s local connection and tenaciously pitched Baton Rouge media, which responded well to the series. We landed a full page spread in the local newspaper (which has a 100,000+ daily circulation), a feature in Southern Distinction magazine and made a splash on local radio. 

Roger’s local connection also caught the interest of indie booksellers, who were eager to promote a book set in their backyard–and his fun and gregarious nature did the rest! We knew he’d be perfect for events, and prioritized his book tour to give him a chance to shine. Roger happily hit the road and appeared at multiple bookstores, festival and conferences. The many personal connections he made with booksellers and readers ultimately paid off, securing him return-spots at events in the coming year.

Leaning into your local connections, no matter how “small,” can give your book a big boost!

As one of the most respected Christian publishers in the industry, Tyndale’s authors have traditionally found success among Christian booksellers and readers (also called the Christian Booksellers Association or CBA market). The publisher knew their titles could also find a wider readership beyond the CBA market. When Tyndale approached us about creating a strategy to promote their titles to a more mainstream audience, we were happy to assist!

Christian and mainstream markets intersect the Southern U.S., (which was also where some of the Tyndale authors were based), so targeting booksellers and readers in that geographic region was a natural first step to not only maximize Tyndale authors’ genre influence, but extend to a broader, receptive audience. We positioned Tyndale’s authors for optimum visibility at the Southern Independent Booksellers Association Tradeshow (SIBA), where they were able to network with and promote to thousands of mainstream Southern booksellers and influencers who were not exclusively faith-based.

We also coordinated blog tours and secured coverage for Tyndale’s authors, including now New York Times bestseller Lisa Wingate, with online reviewers and influencers who cover a diverse variety of genres, which helped expose these wonderful books to mainstream readers across the worldwide. 

With some strategic geographic positioning and creative online exposure, we’re pleased to say that Tyndale’s titles did indeed find a host of new fans beyond their original genre market, growing the publisher’s and authors’ platforms!