Welcome to our list of September observances and content ideas for your monthly author marketing plan!
If you’re committed to making this year one of your most successful yet – we can help you do that.
If you haven’t downloaded our Monthly Book Marketing Planner yet you can grab that at the bottom of this piece in our resources section. We’ve updated it for 2020 with even more prompts and tips to make life easier!
Remember, without regular connections to readers, you’re just another book on the shelf (literal or virtual) they have no vested interest in…so take the time to make yourself stand out by using our monthly observances and tips to create interesting content with your own unique twist.
This is part of building your brand!
Another great reason to bookmark this author marketing resource full of unique content ideas? Timely content that uses popular and trending search terms and hashtags, is a great way to enhance your visibility and improve SEO in a very simple way.
And what’s really key: content ideas don’t always have to stem from your genre or topic.
When it comes to author marketing and building a brand, ensuring fans and followers have ways to connect with you on a more personal level is equally as powerful as ensuring you also make time to really speak to your genre and topic.
How to Use My Content Ideas
Below are holidays and just plain wacky and fun September Observances for 2020.
I’ve also included a few content ideas and angles to help spark your creativity!
Remember, not all these are worth an entire blog post or article, but nearly all of them can be turned into a fun or thought-provoking social media post or blurb in your newsletter – so it’s like getting triple the ideas!
There are always a lot of holidays around food, drink and cooking, so get ready to share recipes or tag local fave establishments and ask followers to share theirs. Same goes for activities, this is a great chance to take selfies, share a bit about yourself outside of being a writer.
These also open up opportunities for you to make recommendations for products, no, not official ads, but again, people love to follow someone who’s a great resource, so think outside the box when it comes to figuring out ways you can help people out and make their lives easier or more exciting.
Keep in mind: ALL your posts should encourage your fans and followers to respond, chime in, share their feedback, insight, stories, etc. so don’t forget to work in that angle to let them know you want to hear from them.
I mention it as part of my recommendations occasionally, but please know that encouraging engagement is always the goal – never post “flat” content, always get creative with how you can pull others into the conversation, and easily.
And if you’re feeling a little guilty about the lack of promotion planning you’ve done so far this year, use this list as a productive kick in the rear, commit to writing some form of content every day, use it on social, for your blog, in your newsletter – get creative – but giving yourself a bar to reach is the first step in upping your game.
Do polls, giveaways, fan art contests, remember to make it about your readers – not about you – and you’re guaranteed to see better engagement.
If you need some additional support on how to translate these ideas to actual content and posts, please consider signing up for email coaching with me and we’ll get personal!
Monthly Observances for September:
Be Kind to Writers and Editors Month – I vote you shamelessly ask for ratings and reviews on sites like Goodreads and Amazon, let your fans know that’s one of the best ways to “be kind” to you during the month of September!
Classical Music Month
Fall Hat Month
Hispanic Heritage Month
Honey Month
Library Card Sign Up Month – The ALA has created a super cool press kit and resources page with images, fun facts, etc. that you can use to help promote this!
Little League Month
National Courtesy Month
National Piano Month
Self-Improvement Month – If you’ve written a book in this genre then hopefully you’ve had promotions planned for awhile, but if not, you can hustle! Plan a series of tips on social or on your blog, create a useful quiz, discount your book for a bit, run ads on Bookbub, the list goes on.
National Sewing Month
Weekly Observances for September:
- Week 3 – National Indoor Plant Week
- Week 4 – Banned Books Week
Daily Observances for September:
September 4
Newspaper Carrier Day – Are you still a fan of reading a print newspaper? If so, shout it from the rooftops, you’re a rare breed in modern society, and consider giving your delivery person a special treat, even a $5 Amazon gift card is super generous, or if there’s a chance they might fit your reader demographic, a signed copy of your book!
September 5
Be Late for Something Day – What are you always late for? Or are you that person that’s never late for anything? It sounds simple and silly, but sharing things like this really humanizes you to your audience and gives them aspects of your personality to really connect with. These connections create loyal fans and readers who recommend you to others.
Cheese Pizza Day
National Tailgating Day
World Beard Day – Any romance authors out there with a handsome, bearded leading man should have fun with this day. Maybe it’s a cool “behind the curtain” look at your inspiration, images of what famous leading man would play your character in a movie, get creative.
September 6
Fight Procrastination Day
Read a Book Day – Have fun with this, make some book recommendations, share your fave reads lately, ask fans and followers to do the same.
September 8
International Literacy Day – There’s so much you can do on this day, from fun and free giveaways, a donation of books to a nonprofit, sharing some of your local library’s content on social, be a part of the movement in a meaningful way.
National Ampersand Day – Come on writing geeks – find a fun way to honor the ampersand!
September 10
Swap Ideas Day – What a fun inspiration to ramp up your networking! Act fast and see if you and a fellow author or professional in your network can swap blog content, a promo on social media, get creative and find a mutually beneficial way to expand both of your networks.
September 13
Defy Superstition Day
National Pet Memorial Day
Positive Thinking Day – This is a fantastic opportunity to share something meaningful with fans and followers.
Uncle Sam Day
September 16
American Legion Day
Collect Rocks Day
National PlayDoh Day
Working Parents Day
September 18
National Cheeseburger Day
Read an eBook Day – This is a great reason to plan a special eBook promotion! If you can schedule a limited time discount to include September 18 that would be fabulous. Or run a fast and furious newsletter sign up promo, where everyone who signs up within 48 hours gets a free eBook, or a free eBook to gift to a friend if they’ve already read all your work.
September 19
International Red Panda Bear Day
International Talk Like a Pirate Day
National Dance Day
September 20
Dear Diary Day – What a fun concept, share a “dear diary” moment that speaks to your personality, have fun with this, don’t take it too seriously, sometimes we just need a little inspiration to get more creative with our social content. Don’t waste this chance!
National Pepperoni Pizza Day
National Punch Day
National Women’s Friendship Day – This is a great topic for your social, or a great inspiration to share more about a character friendship featured in one of your stories.
Penny’s Birthday – The team couldn’t resist! Happy birthday Penny!
Wife Appreciation Day
September 21
International Peace Day
World Gratitude Day – What a fabulous “get to know me” topic for social media.
September 22
Autumn Equinox
Elephant Appreciation Day
Hobbit Day
Women in Business Day – If you’re a woman who’s had some notable success on your author journey share a bit about how you got there and things you’ve learned along the way. This could be a great blog or newsletter piece.
September 23
Dogs in Politics Day
September 25
National Comic Book Day
Native American Day
September 28
Ask a Stupid Question Day – This could be a fun Q&A opportunity for you and fans.
National Good Neighbor Day – Spread positivity and share what you’ve done and encourage others to get out and make their neighborhoods a better place.
September 29
Confucius Day – Try your luck. Get a Fortune Cookie! Create a fun game on social media using a free site like http://www.myfortunecookie.co.uk/ and ask fans to share their fortunes.
The Takeaway
Remember, being an author demands creativity, and it also demands authenticity.
Coming up with unique content ideas as part of your author marketing plan is a great way to take your success seriously, without taking yourself too seriously! And these September observances should really help.
Have plans for a fun take on any of these ideas? Share below in the comments!
Resources and Free Downloads
Monthly Book Marketing Planner
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