Did you know that Carlisle & Co. has experience in marketing campaigns for book releases? Currently, we’re working with Laura Diaz Freeland on the release of her upcoming memoir, Not What I Had in Mind: A Motherhood Origin Story.

In 2019, after 15 years, she closed her marketing firm (where she focused on hospitality and small business clients) with the intention to go back to graduate school. However, she soon found out she was pregnant with twins. She ultimately delivered the babies 17 weeks early — and fortunately, she had access to the best neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in the state of Florida. After their birth, Laura stopped working to handle their day-to-day routines, including their complicated medical needs.

This traumatic season of life had a silver lining though: Laura initially studied marketing because of her love of writing. Now, as a stay-at-home mom, she had the freedom to explore that passion!

Laura first connected with Carlisle & Co. during our rebrand at the beginning of the year.

As a self-publishing author with a background in marketing, she uniquely understood the importance of a strong marketing strategy for her book release. She admits that, as a former marketer, she was very particular in her search. She needed an agency that fell somewhere in between a small business without the necessary experience and a large company with a lot of overhead and high costs. As she explained, “This whole process is so nerve-racking. As an author, I put so much of myself into this book!”

To start, we set-up an initial call to discuss overall goals, areas of focus, target audiences, and other important details. She then shared her headshot, biography, and press mentions, all of which we used in our pitching efforts. With a planned release date in November — timed to National Prematurity Awareness Month — we worked backwards to develop a timeline that gave her memoir the needed momentum leading up to the launch. 

Thus far, our book release outreach efforts have focused on podcast interviews, pre-sales promotions, and an Instagram giveaway.

Pre-sales promotions of Not What I Had in Mind: A Motherhood Origin Story include public relations outreach and social media. These two branches of Carlisle & Co. work collaboratively to support one another’s efforts and create the best results possible. Pre-sales went live on Saturday, July 1st, and the book quickly climbed the Amazon charts, landing at number one best new release in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and number two best new release in Motherhood.

While we initially focused Laura’s budget on public relations outreach, we soon shifted our attention to social media. In conversations with Laura, we decided it’d be best to grow her Instagram following through social media ads and a giveaway in an effort to build brand recognition. It also brought a good energy to the launch!

“It’s easy to fall into a spiral of negative self-talk,” Laura explains. “The beauty of having this relationship with Carlisle & Co. is that you don’t have that spiral. They explain what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it. I can put it into their hands and trust in the strategy, just sit back and let it happen.”

Want to know more? Check out our June Instagram Live for our full chat with Laura. Plus, stay tuned for Laura’s guest spot on We Gotta Talk with Sonni Abatta in September!

If you’re looking to develop a digital marketing strategy and expand your online reach, please reach out to our team today.