With the tightening of Amazon’s rules on what constitutes “low” content books, the days of cranking out repetitive or blank pages with a clever or attractive cover are over. At least, from a revenue-generating perspective.
Calendar companies have long known this, which is why desk calendars with interest-specific factoids and trivia are still popular in a world where calendars are built into every device. Brains of all ages still absorb new information like paper towels.
So, if you’ve been wracking your grey matter for ideas on how to up your no/low-content book line game, may I suggest the simple inclusion of facts or trivia on each page. Not only will that keep your pages from being repetitive and keep you in Amazon’s good graces, it will honestly make your offering more robust and attractive.
If your specialty is journals or planners, there’s a good chance you make them year-and-date specific, if only to offer fresh product annually. Planners and calendars typically specify federally-recognized holidays and most religious holidays, but if you’ve noticed recently, calendar companies are bending over backward to recognize dates that reflect a growing cultural diversity. This alone can be a useful approach to your product – it will widen your potential customer base.
For this piece, I’m going to suggest going wider.
EVERY DAY IS A REASON TO CELEBRATE
You may not be aware until the social media memes or your news app of choice inform you, but the third Wednesday of July is National Hot Dog Day.
You’ll probably scratch your head wondering a) “Who the hell thinks of these things?” and b) “Who the hell celebrates these things?” as you unconsciously reach for the buns and mustard next to your barbecue.
The truth is, as the world becomes smaller, the enthusiasms of people with diverse tastes, interests, cultures and, well, quirks all have something they share with like-minded individuals. To commemorate these interests, a day is proclaimed -somewhere – and it gets national attention.
This, dear readers, is a potential gold mine for your planners and journals. Each of the 365 pages of your books can have the same lined grid, but if the days have some kind of significance to someone, it will exponentially increase your product’s appeal.
A simple Googling of “weird holidays” will produce long lists of celebrations from the obscure to the humorous to the downright puzzling. Here are just a handful of the “holidays” that can enhance your work, if even by raising an eyebrow:
“DITCH NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION DAY” – JANUARY 17
Most people have already done this a few weeks after January 1st, so they probably don’t even need an official reminder. However, this is officially celebrated annually on the 17th of January, day of the week notwithstanding. It doesn’t mean you have to ditch all your resolutions, but at least the ones that are causing stress, discomfort or just too damn hard to stick to.
“RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS DAY” – FEBRUARY 17
Founded – no, really – by the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, it is celebrated on the 17th of February each year. It was created to motivate people from all walks of life to share some neighborly love, just a few days after many folks suffer through Valentine’s Day.
“NATIONAL SIBLINGS DAY” – APRIL 10
Like most of you, I earned about this when I was tagged in a Facebook post by my sister, (who I don’t talk to anymore). As you can guess, it was created to honor those who we grew up with and share the special bond through the common hatred of our parents. It was also most likely created by the greeting card companies who are seeing their industry decimated by texting.
Still, this is far from the most important holiday of the month. National Grilled Cheese Day is April 12 and National Wear Your Pajamas To Work Day is April 16.
“WORKAHOLICS DAY” – JULY 5
Most likely created by those of us who forgot to take off on July 4 because we had a deadline (*waves at Neil*). It’s meant to remind us all of a healthy work-life balance and its coming in the middle of the year is timed so that we remember not to spend the rest of the year working. In all seriousness, it is said that no-one’s last words on their deathbed is “I should have spent more time working.”
“NATIONAL EAT A WAFFLE DAY” – AUGUST 24
But isn’t every day?
“NATIONAL EAT AN EXTRA DESSERT DAY” – SEPTEMBER 4
Ditto.
“INTERNATIONAL TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY” – SEPTEMBER 19
Humor columnist Dave Barry brought this low-key parody event to world prominence and it is AAARRRRR-guably the one weird holiday that shows up in everyone’s social media feeds. That said, it was created to raise funds for charities such as Marie Curie Cancer care and Childhood Cancer Support and gives a secular, non-denominational reason to hold off-season events for donations.
“INTERNATIONAL COFFEE DAY” – OCTOBER 1
By far, the most solemn and holiest day of the year. Second only to October 7, Frappé Day.
“SADIE HAWKINS DAY” – NOVEMBER 13
In a year of weird holidays, November has a couple holidays that don’t age well. Sadie Hawkins was a character in the old “Lil’ Abner” comic strip who was unable to find a husband, so her father declared “Sadie Hawkins Day” as a day when women could ask men out on a date. Following shortly after “Men Make Dinner Day” on November 7, the modern woman is more likely to look forward to “Take A Hike Day” on November 17.
“FESTIVUS” – DECEMBER 23
Long before George Costanza’s father popularized the critique of Christmas commercialism on an episode of “Seinfeld”, it was created by author Daniel O’Keefe in 1966 as a humorous way to resolve family tension and not take life too seriously.
His son, Daniel O’Keefe Jr. went on to become a sitcom writer. Yeah, you guessed it.
This is just a fraction of the calendar’s most unusual, unique or funny days of the year. There is no shortage of strange holidays which can either be used in their entirety or cherry-picked to lean into a particular topic or genre.
If your no/low-content sales have been flagging because you haven’t made the time to freshen up your product, there’s no reason to wait. Unless you’d prefer to do it on September 6, Fight Procrastination Day.
