Rae Padilla Francoeur
In his new book about local marketing, Rockport author Scott Channell asserts: “For local businesses, most ideal clients, revenue, profits and referrals come from within 15 miles of their location. Your brand, word of mouth and general reputation are strongest locally.”
His message resonates with me. As a former newspaper editor and writer with local name recognition, I sold the most copies of my memoir “Free Fall” in three places where I lived, where I worked and where I grew up. I’m hardly unique. I recall an interview I conducted with the late Gloucester author Peter Anastas. He published independently and saw that most of his sales were on Boston’s North Shore where he lived and grew up. He made good use of this dynamic by distributing and promoting his books locally.