How do you market your books? Do you tend to market them to men or women? Obviously we want everyone to read our books, but many naturally fall into a female/male divide.

With the exception of books with “Women” or “Men” in the title, I don’t see today’s book marketing to be especially drawn by these lines. Rather, the book is presented and the reader chooses what to buy.

As with last week, let’s take a fun trip down the proverbial Memory Lane with ads that were geared to women. Daddy kept car races and football on the TV most of the time (he still does) and seeing these corresponding ads helped me, as a little girl, get a glimpse of what it might be like to be a woman one day.

To wit, the voiceover for these three Virginia Slims cigarettes ads scoffs at “the fat cigarettes men smoke.”

Benson and Hedges was marketed to men, so held no appeal for me. Except for the cool song.

Ace was the place with the helpful hardware man. Ironically, there’s a woman in the front row!

Here is an ad for Soft N Dri. Shouldn’t a female octopus know a thing or two (or eight) about underarms? I liked that the octopus was a cartoon, even though her voice was a bit husky. She sounds like the Virginia Slims voiceover, doesn’t she?

Even as late as the 1980s, Secret was billed as “Strong enough for a man but made for a woman.”

Mercury Cougar seemed to gear this ad to women. I want mine in red!

I’m still a sucker for women-centric marketing. I bought this Women’s Study Bible for myself:

I leave you with the cool Benson and Hedges theme song, “The Dis-advantages of You” by The Brass Ring. Visit the link. You know you want to!

Your turn:

Do your books appeal more to men or women?

How do you reach your intended audience?

Just for fun, what do you think is the coolest theme song ever?