World Book Night Publicity Revving Up

With less than three weeks to go to the April 23 celebration, World Book Night’s national publicity campaign and indie booksellers’ local outreach are already paying off, said U.S. executive director Carl Lennertz.

In addition to widespread coverage of comedian Amy Poehler’s appointment as honorary chairperson of  the event, a sneak preview of the campaign appeared as a half-page item in Costco Connection and a mention appears in the “Aww and Awesome” column in this month’s Oprah magazine.

Local coverage for the hundreds of bookstore and library giver receptions due to take place the week of April 14 has already begun, with a column by Anderson’s Candy Purdom appearing in the Chicago Tribune and by John Evans of DIESEL, A Bookstore, in the Malibu Times.

“This is well ahead of the last two years, and there’s more to come,” said Lennertz. “The Costco mention is a thoughtful gesture on their part; they are not carrying the WBN picks. Along with all the giver receptions generating local press, we have just finalized the 23-author launch event schedule for April 14 – 22. I’ve also heard of some stores — City Lit in Chicago and Greenlight in Brooklyn — having authors in for the giver receptions!”