Independent publisher David R. Godine, publisher at Godine, revealed that a successful direct mail campaign last December kept sales steady during the toughest recession booksellers have seen in decades.

Godine revealed his strategies in the conclusion of Conversational Reading's "How to Publish in a Recession" series. Godine is the publisher of The Prospector by Nobel Prize-winner J.M.G. Le Clezio and the Lark Rise to Candleford trilogy by Flora Thompson.

Here's more on the company's annual direct mail strategies: "For us, business has been about the same, maybe even up a hair. But I attribute this to a) the seasonal influx of orders we get in December as a result of our direct mail campaign and b) Le Clezio winning the Nobel Prize...I was surprised that our direct mail drop did as well as it did--both in terms of percentage of returns and the average $/order."