Airlines used to provide meals on domestic
flights, allowed for patron smoking, and had a weight requirement for its
flight attendants. Sure, times have changed, some for financial, health,
safety, or legal reasons — and some just because societal needs and norms
evolve. But one practice that I would like to see return — with an upgrade — is
for airlines to hand out free reading materials.
They used to hand out newspapers or magazines — at no charge.
How about if they hand out a book to the flying masses? What could that do for
society, the book industry, and the flying experience?
44,360 average daily flights are handled by the FAA daily, according to the
government agency’s website. In any given day, across America, millions of
books can be placed in the hands of people.
From a customer services and branding perspective, handing out
free books is a win. People will talk about what they received. The first
airline to do this will get millions of dollars’ worth of free publicity from
the news media, social media attention, good will from patrons, and
word-of-mouth will spread fast.
The books that are handed out can have a bright, shiny, colorful
sticker adorning them, reflecting the airline’s logo. Millions of people will
be showcasing the airline.
Books get shared, regifted, and sold. Millions more may get a
second crack at these books, furthering the branding experience.
Should airlines spend millions of dollars printing and shipping
these books? For the publicity alone, I would say yes. But I bet they can
reduce costs by getting the books for free or a heavy discount from book
publishers who either have leftover stock of printed books or who would be
willing to print in bulk and produce less expensive copies of books that they
want to promote. This is “free” publicity and branding for the publisher and
author. So much buzz would be created by this.
Maybe to top it off, what if the theme behind the program was
read once, share twice. After you read it, agree to gift it to another or to
donate it to a library and agree to share a review on social media.
You might say why not just give out e-books? It would be easy
logistically and the airline would not be burdened by adding to a plane’s
weight. Digital can help reduce waste in the environment and would eliminate
printing and shipping costs.
But it would not have the same impact. A physical book literally
feels like a gift and others can see it and there is something that you can
hand to another. Besides, reading paper is a richer reading experience! A
physical book sticks out; a downloaded digital book on a device housing
access to infinite content does not.
Maybe I have a crazy idea here. Maybe not. A smart airline and
savvy book publisher should be able to figure it out. This will be a four-way
win — the publisher scores publicity and word-of-mouth sells books; airlines
get publicity and customer goodwill; the author gets readership and branding;
and society gets more books, helping to keep literacy top of mind.
If you throw in some advertising or sponsors, this can go from a
costly to a break-even to a profitable venture in no time.
Do You Need Book
Marketing Help?
Brian
Feinblum can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com He is available to help authors like you to promote
your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of
experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him
be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!
About Brian Feinblum
This award-winning blog has generated over
6,400,000 page views. With 5,600+ posts over the past 15 years, it was named
one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2021
and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” Copyright 2026.
For
the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He
formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the
head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the
director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many
first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with
best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen,
Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard,
Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C.
Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.
His
writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s
The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully) and (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/10-things-my-dog-taught-me-about-marketing-books). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs
He
hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and
has spoken at ASJA, three times at BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers
Association, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod
Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, five
times at Morgan James Publishing Red Carpet, and Connecticut Authors and
Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.
His
letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal,
USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester)
and The Washington Post. His first published book was The
Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook. It
was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.
Born
and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids,
and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.
You
can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum
