Long Weekend Sales and Marketing

 With Labour Day fast approaching it is a good time to talk about sales and marketing, and specifically targeting long weekends...

Why Long Weekends Mean Bigger Spending — and Bigger Opportunities for Sales

Long weekends have a way of loosening wallets. Whether it’s the extra day off, the festive atmosphere, or simply the psychological boost of a mini-vacation, people tend to spend more when they have more time to enjoy themselves. For retailers, this isn’t just an observation—it’s a proven sales opportunity.

Why Spending Spikes on Long Weekends

Long weekends often coincide with major holidays, seasonal shifts, or cultural traditions. These events naturally encourage activities like travel, dining out, shopping, and entertainment. Consumers also feel more relaxed and willing to indulge when they know they don’t have to be back at work right away. This combination of free time and celebratory mood creates fertile ground for increased spending.

There’s also a practical side: many people use long weekends to tackle big purchases or projects they’ve been postponing. Home improvement, car shopping, electronics upgrades, and even wardrobe refreshes are more likely to happen when consumers have a block of free time to browse, compare, and buy.

The Sales Advantage

Businesses have long recognized the sales potential of long weekends. Think of Memorial Day mattress sales in the U.S., Boxing Day blowouts in Canada, or Bank Holiday clearance events in the UK. Strategic discounts and promotions during these periods can draw in customers who are already primed to shop.

Retailers often enhance the sense of urgency by making these offers “long weekend only” or “ends Monday at midnight,” tapping into the fear of missing out (FOMO). This not only drives foot traffic and online orders but can also clear out seasonal inventory, freeing up space for new stock.

How Businesses Can Capitalize

1. Plan Ahead – Announce sales early to catch planners who want to make the most of their weekend.

2. Targeted Promotions – Offer discounts on items tied to the holiday or season.

3. Bundle Deals – Encourage bigger purchases by packaging products together.

4. Omnichannel Approach – Combine in-store events with online specials to reach more customers.

5. Leverage Social Media – Use countdowns, sneak peeks, and exclusive codes to build excitement.

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Indie Authors and Long Weekend Sales

The long weekend spending spike isn’t limited to retail giants—independent authors are learning to take advantage of it too. Book buying is a leisure activity, and long weekends are prime time for people to load up on reading material for trips, lazy afternoons, or simply to indulge themselves.

Here are a few examples of how indie authors have successfully tapped into the long weekend sales surge:

• “Labor Day Launch” – A romance author in the U.S. released the first book of a trilogy on Labor Day weekend, offering it at 99¢ for three days only. She promoted it heavily on social media and in book deal newsletters, pulling in thousands of downloads that jump-started sales for the entire series.

• “Victoria Day Value Bundle” – A Canadian fantasy author packaged three of his ebooks together at a reduced price for Victoria Day weekend. The bundle’s limited-time availability encouraged binge reading and pushed his box set into Amazon’s Top 100 in its category.

• “Bank Holiday Bargain” – In the UK, a cozy mystery writer timed her 48-hour Kindle Countdown Deal to start the Friday before the August Bank Holiday. She paired the sale with a free novella download for newsletter subscribers, doubling her email list size while boosting sales.

• “Thanksgiving Weekend Treat” – A U.S. thriller author ran a Black Friday–Cyber Monday promotion with all paperbacks at a deep discount through her direct sales website. She advertised it as “signed copies for holiday gifts,” making it both time-sensitive and personal.

• “Easter Escape Reads” – A British travel memoirist offered her ebook at half price during Easter weekend, branding it as the “perfect companion for your long weekend getaway.” This positioned her book as part of the holiday experience rather than just another purchase.

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Why It Works for Indie Authors

1. Readers Have Time to Browse – More free time means more scrolling through Kindle, Kobo, or indie bookstore websites.

2. Impulse Buys Increase – Low prices and limited windows create urgency.

3. Gift Buying Rises – Long weekends near the holidays encourage people to buy books for friends and family.

4. Seasonal Themes Sell – Matching a book’s theme or cover art to the holiday can make it more appealing.
   

Plus as this trend of marketing books on long weekends grows, it is becoming a bit of an event wherein many books are on sale during long weekends, including both trad authors and indie authors.

For indie authors, aligning a promotion with a long weekend can transform a modest marketing push into a record-breaking sales period. It’s about timing, urgency, and tapping into the “treat yourself” mindset that these weekends inspire.

Why do Book Ratings, Reviews and Rankings Matter So Much?

In a nutshell, they matter because without them many readers won't take a chance on a book that is unrated, unreviewed and doesn't even have a ranking. Let alone a book by an author they've never heard of.

When you are trying to market a book it is different from marketing various other things on the internet. It is closest, in my opinion, to marketing music... With the big difference that is fairly easy to provide free samples of the music.

Less easy to provide free samples of a book that entices people to go buy it. You can post to various websites, blogs, forums... But there's no guarantee that people will go out and buy it.

The problem is the issue of "personal taste".

Not everyone likes reading murder mysteries for example. Not everyone is into fantasy books, and even less people are interested in fantasy murder mysteries like Charles Moffat's "The Coven's Wolves" because it is more of a niche topic.

Plus, even amongst those who do enjoy fantasy murder mysteries, how many people want to read a murder mystery involving wolves and a witches' coven?

 

Now you will note that the book in question currently has 2 ratings, both 5 stars, so evidently people who read it did enjoy it, but it hasn't received a lot of ratings.

And if you go to Amazon and view the book in question there is 1 review, and it is ranking in multiple categories such as:

• Witch & Wizard Mysteries
• Dark Fantasy Horror

But clearly something is missing. So what's wrong with the marketing for this book?

Well, it was released on March 1st 2021, during the pandemic, so that might be a factor. Bad timing.

During the past year and a half it has only received 2 ratings, when really what you want is at least 10 ratings. Ideally 100+ would be even better.

1 review isn't nothing, but again it would be nice if the book had 5 reviews, or better yet 10+. (It is much easier to get a rating than a review.)

And rankings wise what you really want is to be in the top 10 of a category, or the top 100.

Of course, there is a fundamental difference between this book and a book you might find in a standard bookstore:

It is self-published.

It is very difficult for self-published authors to compete with publishing companies when it comes to the issues of book ratings, reviews and rankings. The vast majority of self-published authors don't sell a single copy of their book and then give up on their dream of becoming a successful author.

But not Charles Moffat.

With over 40 published works to his name, the author isn't one of those people who gives up. Just look at the rankings for one of his other books, a coming of age fantasy book: "The Assassin's Trail".

 

Currently the book has 9 ratings, averaging 4.5 stars. Now that's more like it. It is also ranking in "fantasy anthologies" and "coming of age fantasy ebooks".

So not fantastic rankings, but almost.

Proof that while it is difficult to become successful as an indie author, it isn't impossible.

The Importance of Trust in a Business Relationship

By Charles Moffat - January 2010.

When meeting your clients you need to convey a sense of professionalism and trust. You certainly don't want to come across as a "untrustworthy scumbag with a big sales pitch".

The most important aspect in any relationship is trust. If you can't trust your business partner you're probably not going to do business with them. Thus its important that if you're going to be successful (and not end up in prison like Bernie Madoff) you want to keep your business honest and on the proverbial up-and-up.

15 Ways to Build Trust

#1. Keep Your Promises & Contracts.
#2. Never Tell Lies or Stretch the Truth.
#3. Keep Confidences.
#4. Communicate as Fully as Possible, the Whole Truth.
#5. Have No Favorites, Treat People Equally.
#6. Forgive Mistakes, People are only Human.
#7. Follow Through on Agreements.
#8. Listen Attentively.
#9. Lead by Example.
#10. Don't Talk Behind Backs.
#11. Pay your Bills Promptly and in Full.
#12. Keep Records of EVERYTHING.
#13. Remember your Body Language & a Firm Handshake.
#14. Don't Mix Business & Pleasure.
#15. Don't Give Excuses, Give Apologies.

Once lost you can never get trust back. By behaving honestly in your business practices your business partners will give you references to other people who may need your help.

There are a lot of books on the topic of Trust within business practices:

Building Trust: In Business, Politics, Relationships, and Life
By Robert C. Solomon & Fernando Flores

The Truth About Trust in Business: How to Enrich the Bottom Line, Improve Retention, and Build Valuable Relationships
By Vanessa Hall

Inter-Organizational Trust for Business-to-Business E-commerce
By Pauline Ratnasingam

Do Business with People You Can Trust: Balancing Profits and Principles
By L.J. Rittenhouse

The Workplace Revolution: Restoring Trust In Business And Bringing Meaning To Our Work
By Matthew Gilbert

For those of you who are more visual there is also quite a few YouTube Videos on the topic of Trust in Business.