Promotional tools for book industry partners

Capture the attention of indie booksellers throughout the Midwest

We make it easy for publishers, authors, wholesalers, sidelines companies, and book industry partners to reach independent booksellers. Your promotion will target indie booksellers in the Midwest as well as the book industry at large. We require all promotions to link to sales outlets that support indie bookstores.

To book a promotion, please contact Melissa Peterson at melissa@midwestbooksellers.org.

Average Open Rate: 39%

Average Click Rate: 8%

List Growth: +11%

Events in 2023

Spring Road Trip · May 2-3, Des Moines, Iowa

Visit the Spring Road Trip event page. Event sponsorship and author placement opportunities will be available soon.

Heartland Fall Forum · October 12-14, Detroit, Michigan

Our annual trade show is an exciting event packed with opportunities to reach independent booksellers. They will be posted on Heartland's website in early 2023.

Newsletter Sponsored Content

The heart of our communications, our weekly e-newsletter is our go-to resource for indie bookstore information. Organically host your content alongside ours or reserve an entire newsletter.

Ideal for: Content-rich information. Get our attention and link to anywhere.
Open rate: 35%
Clickthrough: 8%
Reach: 1,500

View full specs and samples

Type	Features	Price
Classic Feature	One clickthrough One photo, 75 words	$150
Deluxe Feature	Full column Two clickthroughs Two photos, 150 words	$250
Mega Feature See a sample	Entire e-newsletter Promoted story across Facebook and Instagram social media platforms Unlimited clickthroughs Five photos, 600 words	$400

Classic Feature

One clickthrough
One photo, 75 words

$150

Deluxe Feature

Full column
Two clickthroughs
Two photos, 150 words

$250

Mega Feature

See a sample

Entire e-newsletter
Promoted story across Facebook and Instagram social media platforms
Unlimited clickthroughs
Five photos, 600 words

$400

E-Blasts & Banners

Our most popular promos for a reason. Easy, convenient, and effective. All graphics can be jpg, png, or gif.

Ideal for: Distributing title info, galley requests, call to action, creative assets alert, etc.

Type	Features	Price
Dedicated E-Blast 32% open rate 5% click-through 1,200 reach View samples	Supply an image to send to the inboxes of our bookseller and industry members. One click-through link, custom subject line 600 W x 800 H - max file size 5 MB	$250
Social Media Upgrade Twitter: 3,032 Facebook: 2,144 Instagram: 1,488 View samples	Upgrade your e-blast to include static posts on our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram feeds Use the same image as your e-blast or create different images specific to each platform	$100
Banner Ad Website: 326 unique visits, 686 page views weekly Newsletter: 34% open rate, 5% click rate, 1,500 reach Bestseller List: 32% open rate, 5% click rate, 1,200 reach View samples	Place a banner ad 1) in our e-newsletter, 2) in our weekly bestseller list, and/or 3) on our website. 600 pW x 125 pH / one click through	$150 each / $350 for all 3
All-Regional Banner Ad View samples Brought to you by SIBA, MIBA, GLIBA, NEIBA, NAIBA, PNBA, CALIBA, and MPIBA	Get instant national weeklong industry exposure on the homepages of eight regional trade associations Two formats required: Horizontal (440 W x 125 H) and Vertical (125 W x 440 H)	$999

Regional promotions

For regional promotions, either the author or the content of the book must have a strong tie to the Midwest.

MIDWEST TITLE ALERT • $150

Digital sales rep! Make your forthcoming regional titles available directly to our booksellers. Each season, we feature your galleys of regional interest through a standalone email to our booksellers (300 emails), on our closed bookseller Facebook group, in our weekly e-newsletter, in our weekly bestseller list (and printable pdf), and on a dedicated webpage. Titles are automatically submitted for Heartland Booksellers Award consideration (a $25 value).

Supply: Book cover image, link to galley request form, 50 words of copy
Run time: January 5, May 1, and September 1

HEARTLAND BOOKSELLERS AWARD • $25

Our annual book awards reflect handselling at its best, as all the books are selected directly by independent booksellers. Finalists are boosted via free custom book stickers to our stores, and the winners are celebrated at our awards ceremony in October at the Heartland Fall Forum. Submit your Midwest titles to be included on the list of potential titles for bookseller nomination.

MIDWEST INDIE BOOKSTORE ROADMAP

1/2 panel $1,200; 1/4 panel $800

Your roadmap partnership includes print AND digital placement. Perfect for specific titles or general awareness of opportunities from publishers, organizations, sidelines vendors, and book festivals.

Reach: 80,000 distributed

Support: Consumer-facing promotions and contests

Run time: In circulation for one year. Released on Independent Bookstore Day and available until supplies run out

Dedicated social media posts across our most popular channels

WINTER CATALOG

Increasing sales for booksellers and publishers during the busy holiday season.

View our 2022 ad rates

Our book lover’s winter catalog is a highly valued, direct-to-consumer marketing piece featuring about 100 gift-worthy books in a wide range of subjects for adults and children of all ages. Designed as an interactive winter traffic-builder, our catalog drives indie bookstore sales in-store and online during the busy gift-giving season. The catalog is a time-tested and proven marketing tool. Stores report a higher rate of traffic once the catalog is in their customers’ hands.

JOB BOARD • Members: Free / Non-members: $75 per post

For our book industry job board, we accept positions of special interest to our independent booksellers. Jobs do not have to be based in the Midwest. Placing a listing here is free for bookstore members to encourage circulation among the book industry. For industry members, posts are $75 for the full duration of the job’s availability.