Marketing at Christmas

On Monday I sent out an unusual BookNews. It took me, with extensive assistance from Andy, over an hour to draft it. I was struggling with sending out what I had written; Andy asked why. I told him that I felt Christmas was already over-commercialized and I was just adding to the mess. He suggested I say as much in the e-mail.

Novel idea, eh? Bare my soul to over 2,000 people. Well, he helped me craft it Monday evening and it went out. I figured if I sent it to BookNews, I might as well share it with the 15 people who frequent this blog, as well :)

So, here is the relevant part:

BookNews from Eisenbrauns

Any other time of the year I enjoy making things available, but this season seems to flood my Inbox with gift suggestions; I'm sure it does yours, as well. I dislike the feeling of being perceived as a part of the consumerism that seems to be inherent in December. I like the things that Eisenbrauns sells; I enjoy creating the mugs (with a lot of help from others!). I like that people enjoy and use what we sell. But, I don't want to be one of those who is fighting for your holiday dollar (or Euro).

So, with that in mind, feel free to delete this message and get that final term paper done, or study for that exam, or grade those papers. Or, perhaps the best option, spend some time enjoying those you love and enjoying the lights that are everywhere this time of year.

If you did decide to read on, here's a table of contents for what ignited that soul-searching:
Sales:
1. SBL sale
2. Weekly sale
3. Monthly sale

Catalogs:
1. EAP
2. Scholar's Source
3. ANE

Gift stuff:
1. Gift certificates & wish list
2. T-shirts
3. Mugs
4. Brass bookmarks

<idle musing>
It's not perfect, but it sums up how I feel quite well. I hope you enjoy a peaceful—in the שלומ sense of the word—Christmas season.
</idle musing>