EDC Creations has a segmented database of 165,000+ opt-in subscribers. This list was built from Ella D. Curry’s 25 years in business as a online radio producer, event planner, blog tour host, bookstore buyer and marketing consultant.
Since 2000, Ella D. Curry and EDC Creations has partnered with community leaders, business owners, book clubs, publishers, reviewers, bloggers, podcasters, librarians, book stores and authors to bring readers the best representation of quality literature and products.
We are the masters at using Internet tools to reach millions! Let us tell the world about your book, event or business!
RESERVE YOUR NEWSLETTER SPOT OR EBLAST TODAY! MAKE PAYMENTS HERE AND SCHEDULE YOUR SPOTLIGHT.
Promote up to 3 books, events or products! We will submit your text and up to 3 images to our 165,000 readers as an email announcement. We will promote books from most genres including: business books, non-fiction, self-help, cookbooks, children/YA books, historical fiction, chick lit, poetry, art books, Urban lit, Romance, some Erotica and Sci-Fi/Paranormal.
The eblast will be posted at least 50 times, in 30 days, on our (3) Facebook pages, Instagram and on our (2) Twitter accounts.
Authors, your written interview, book cover and excerpt will be displayed on the front of Black Pearls Magazine blog for 3 months.
At this time of year, our email open rate is approximately 65%. Meaning that more than 107,000 of the 165,000 readers are opening the emails from EDC Creations. During different times of the year or different seasons, these numbers fluctuate. If our click through rate is 57%. This means that out of all the people that opened the email, 57% of them clicked on featured links while reading the opened email.
WHAT HAPPENINGS AFTER PAYMENT?
Once your make your payment, you will receive instructions from Ella D. Curry’s team on the material that we will need. It normally takes 3-5 days to send out the eblasts. The list of materials is posted at the end of this post.
The EDC Creations team will email instructions within 24-48 hours after payment. No refunds after the promotion has started. E-checks take 5-7 days to clear; we begin work AFTER the check clears the banks.
No revisions after the original eblast has been created or sent.
We do not share soft porn, sex scenes or violent material in our eblasts. Select excerpts from your book that can be read by a general audience that might be at work, school or in any professional setting.
Material Needed for ALL EDC Creations Packages
Here is a list of the materials needed to launch your new campaign. Email the material to this email account: edc_dg@yahoo.com ONLY.
Submit all material in the body of ONE email. All information must be in copy & paste format. Please make sure your information is correct before sending. Please take your time, edit well and spell check the final submission. If we have to edit the material after campaign starts, there will be an additional fee.
Obtain legal permission from your publisher to use all images, book reviews, book excerpts and audio snippets. The author is responsible for acquiring the permissions BEFORE submitting to us. We are NOT responsible for any copyright infringement claims!
We will need the following information:
— Date the book releases to the public
— Cell phone number for BAN radio interview
— Biography written in 3rd person in 200 words or less
— Title of book, genre and author’s name
— Book synopsis and any book reviews
— Include a brief summary of all the books in a series
— Chapter excerpt from the book in 600-900 words or less
— Excerpt must be in copy & paste form, no pdf documents
— Link to website, one bookseller or the Amazon page
— High resolution head-shot at least 800 wide x 800 length
— High resolution book cover image size: 700 wide x 1,000 length
The Power of Email Marketing
Sending out informative emails remain one of the most efficient and effective ways to reach consumers today. Do email blasts work? The answer is yes and eblasts are one of our most popular tools used to reach our EDC Creations and Crown Holder readers. We have represented more than 400 authors with our email newsletters and eblasts.
Sending out eblasts is an effective direct marketing strategy for launching a new book, business or product. We use email marketing as a way to send a message that is tailored directly to our consumer database.
Successful email marketing helps to raise awareness about you, helps to share your brand’s story & message and it introduces your products/services to potential customers and life-long supporters.
What is an eBlast or Email Newsletter?
An email newsletter is a branded message that is created to bring the latest news to a database of subscribers on a consistent basis. An effective email newsletter will offer value to the readers lives.
We send our email newsletter to a subscriber list of our existing literary ambassadors that have signed up to receive weekly newsletters that contains valuable content such as event updates, self-help guides, author interviews, products reviews, motivational tips & advice, community outreach announcements and other resources.
Our EDC Creations eblasts and newsletter are an essential part of the email marketing strategy for authors and business owners, as they allow us to share information that will ultimately drive traffic to our client’s websites or sales pages.
An eblast is a one time message about a new product launch or event update. This message is then syndicated across social media to make sure readers are aware that there’s a new product on the shelves. More importantly, it shares the WHY! It tells the audience how and why this product is worth their money.
How is our eblasts different or what makes them better?
We have spent over 10 years nurturing our contacts and by establishing ourselves as key players in the publishing industry. Our primary list of readers originally came from Karibu Books, the nation’s largest black-owned chain of bookstores. We obtained their database after the stores closed in 2008. So, these are die-hard readers who are seeking recommended reading material.
Ella D. Curry hosts a literary trunk show where she travels across the East Coast showcasing her clients. She expands her database from people paying to attend her live events, contest participants and from readers signing up for the newsletters from 130 different websites.
What Makes a Fabulous Email Blast
Your email eblast should read as though it was written for the individual reader. Speak directly to the reader in your interviews and in the marketing text. Make sure you share excerpts and product descriptions that will resonate with buyers.
Tell the buyer what this product will do for them and how it adds value to their lives, even if it is a novel or say a poetry book. Share three primary things that makes your product, service or event unique. Go beyond the synopsis or product description!
Quality is more important than the quantity to most readers. So, your first book can be just as impressive as a book from a veteran writer. Help the reader feel your passion with a well written interview and by sharing amazing product reviews.
Here are a few suggested components to include:
Clear marketing message – Make sure that the reader knows why the message is being sent and the intention of the newsletter. An effective call to action will entice people to take action toward your business. Create a direct call to action and provide all the details so that the reader can take action immediately. Give them the who, what, when, how and why.
There must be a purpose behind your submission. Whether you are promoting a service, business opening or letting people know about an upcoming event, make sure you include a way for readers to contact you too. Share all of your social media links, website URL, email addresses and possibly a cell number.
Engaging Graphics and Text – Submit high resolution images of the author and/or company president and quality images of the product. If you have banners or email flyers, they make great images for eblasts. Try not to use out dated, pixelated photos and definitely skip the selfies taken in the car. Adding visual elements to the blasts will help the reader to connect with the message and can be a great way to drive the message home.
Professional Content – To have success with your email blast, it requires much more than putting some content together and sending it to a bunch of people. It requires that you really put in the effort to entertain or educate the reader. Edit your material, don’t use offensive language and create material that speaks to the brand’s story. Let the reader slip behind the scenes to see who you hoped to impress and why you felt now was the time to create this masterpiece.
Inform and Educate Don’t Advertise – People will read and share the news if they feel like there’s a purpose stemming from the content. Make them FEEL the need to share your news! Skip the spammy verbiage and lean more toward sharing the excitement creating this product or event has brought you as the creator. Inform the reader by engaging them with a topic that relates to them and their network.
Why EDC Creations
EDC Creations has evolved from a one-person event planning operation to one of the nation’s leading African American woman owned, Internet publicity and book promotion firms. Ella D. Curry, the owner, has spent years studying, researching and creating relationships with publishing industry professionals as well as forging a unique bond with the foundation of the publishing world— the avid readers, librarians and book club owners.
While our expansion from boutique event planning and brand consultant agency to a multi-faceted public relations firm has greatly expanded the directory of our services and recognition, the fundamental driving force behind everything we do is a dedication to improve literacy, establishing our clients as leaders and to expand the online territory of our clients.
Adding a 360 degree view of the industry is easy, Ella was previously a bookstore buyer for the legendary Karibu Books chain, literary director for A Good Books independent bookstore, award winning Internet radio host, digital magazine publisher, motivational speaker, social media correspondent, corporate event planner and avid reader for 35 years.
Why Do We Care
Fantastic and memorable branding is the product of a clear vision, filled with purpose, and nobody knows more about vision than authors and small business owners. But, with limited resources, creating a brand identity and delivering it to the world can be tricky. Fortunately, building brand awareness on the Internet doesn’t need to take a lot of money or resources, but it requires a strong foundation, a good plan and a investment of your time.
EDC Creations has several marketing options to help you chart your course into branding YOU and your company. If you are a new business owner, small publishing house, or a published author—you will benefit greatly from becoming part of the EDC Creations network!
Let us take you to where the savvy 21 century consumer now lives– online. We can take your company to the top. We want our voices to be heard from the highest peaks. Literature, poetry, art, and music all define us as a people and leave a remarkable legacy. We feel as if it’s our job to help you become a part of history!
Newsletters created by Ella D. Curry, President of EDC Creations
Social Media Expert – Internet Publicist – Brand Strategist
About Me: http://about.me/elladcurry
Black Pearls Magazine Online-Founder
Black Authors Network Radio-Founder