Which Airline Will Give Out Free Books?

 

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