Communication Strategy for a Self-published English Fantasy Book on the Czech Market

This bachelor's thesis aims to design a comprehensive communication strategy for a self-published English language fantasy book on the Czech market, published exclusively in physical format. The core focus of the communication is a crowdfunding campaign, upon whose success the realisation of the entire project depends. The thesis focuses on understanding the factors that shape the target group's purchasing and reading behaviour and on finding an effective way to communicate this specific product. The theoretical part of the thesis addresses the definition of the product, the specifics of self-publishing and crowdfunding, the characteristics of the book market, and the relevant principles of marketing communication and strategic planning. The practical part directly builds on this knowledge with original primary research. This combines in-depth qualitative interviews with a quantitative questionnaire survey. The aim of the research is to gain a deep understanding of the target group, identify purchasing barriers, and acquire crucial insights for setting an appropriate communication strategy. The research results show that the purchasing process of fantasy literature readers is highly impulsive and is fundamentally influenced by the visual aspect of the work and personal recommendations. Price, uncertainty regarding the book's content, and a lack of time to read desired books were identified as the three main purchasing barriers. Based on the research results, a communication strategy is proposed that aligns with the product's character, communication goals, and the project's financial constraints. The creative insight for maintaining a unified communication line across the campaign was built on the phenomenon of "TBR" (To Be Read) lists, which directly reflects the barrier of insufficient time to read desired titles. This insight enabled highlighting the product's key advantages and positioning reading as an immersive experience. In the conclusion, the applicability and quality of the proposed strategy are validated by an industry experts.