Writing and Publishing News

Many first-time authors are so focused on selling books that they neglect a very important aspect of marketing and promotion: Exposure.

I’ve seen authors complain at the end of a day at a book festival because they sold only 12 books. Never mind the fact that hundreds of people saw the book, dozens picked it up and discussed it with the author, 130 people walked off with his brochures, he was invited to appear on a radio show and he met two people who use speakers at their monthly meetings. Yes, he may have lost money if the booth cost him $100, lunch was $8 and he paid $5 for parking. But, in my estimation, he still gained more than he lost.

He has 12 new customers who, if they like the book, will talk about it with their friends. He can add those new customers to his mailing list and let them know when his next book is out. And he collected several leads that, if he follows up on them, could result in numerous sales. This is what’s known as exposure.
There’s an old marketing concept that says someone must see or hear about your product (be exposed to it) 8 times before he or she will buy it. So, as authors with books to sell, we must consider each opportunity to talk about our book or show it to someone as a step toward selling it to that person (or a whole audience of persons).

That’s why I always suggest to those who are out giving presentations related to their books, attending book festivals and so forth, to have a signup sheet. You want to establish a connection with people who express an interest in your book. You want to make contact with them again and again. One way to accomplish this is to offer something for free. Have a signup sheet for those who want to receive your free ebook in the genre or on the topic of your book. Offer a “report” they might be interested in—8 tips for using garlic in cooking, tips and techniques for photographing your pets, how to handle your money in this economy or some of your favorite short stories.

Offer services for free. I offer free manuscript evaluations, for example. If you are an accountant with a book on family budgeting, offer a free email consultation for all or a few of those who sign up. Maybe your expertise is health and fitness. Offer your latest reports on fitness tips for the elderly, for example. Come up with something that members of this particular group of people could use and they will sign up for it—providing you with names and contact information to use in promoting this and any future books and/or services.

Do you see how valuable exposure can be? You may decide, “I don’t want to purchase a booth at that small book festival, even if it only costs me $75, because there won’t be enough sales.” But, I suggest thinking like a savvy promoter and signing up for that booth with a whole new attitude. Think exposure! Don’t be irritated with the folks who just walk on by your booth or who pick up your book, listen to your spiel and then put it down and move on. Be honored. Be grateful for the opportunity to connect with this person. Make sure he or she takes something with them—your brochure or business card, for example. Invite them to sign up for your freeby. And thank them profusely for stopping by.

Always consider each and every visitor at a book festival and member of any audience a potential customer or client who could purchase your book or contact you for your service at any moment. It may take exposure to your book or you a dozen times or more before they buy. But, if you neglect to connect in some way with that person the first time around, or if you let your disappointment show, you will likely never hear from them again.

For more about book promotion and getting exposure for your book, as well as how to work a book festival so it works for you, purchase my book, “Promote Your Book.” It’s available at amazon.com in print, Kindle and audio as well as most other online and downtown bookstores.

You might also want to sign up for my online Book Promotion Workshop. It’s a great way to get hundreds of dollars worth of personal attention from me for only $200. http://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookpromotion.htm

It seems these days that some authors believe in the computer as their marketing tool, and others stick with more traditional means of promoting their books.

While some authors rely on Internet book review sites, their own fancy websites, active Facebook sites, You Tube videos, email blasts and so forth to promote their books, others find their comfort zone in more hands on activities. They still do an occasional book signing, get out and speak about their books, visit bookstores and specialty stores and ask for consignment deals, approach libraries with their books, reserve booths at book festivals and such.

Which author are you? I recommend that you do as the Osmonds suggest and be a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll. In other words, incorporate both high tech and traditional activities—mix it up. It’s important to go out and meet your potential readers. But you really should also have a website where they can learn more about you and your book and order it. You should speak to those readers who are hooked on social media as well as those who don’t own a computer.

What are you doing to promote your book this long weekend? Here are some suggestions:

• Create a marketing plan for the second half of the year.
• List those activities you want to pursue and haven’t done yet.
• Prioritize those activities.
• Make an action list to get you started with the first three on your list.
• Create a timeline to accomplish those actions—step one starts today!

I’d love a report on how you did with this exercise.

For help initiating this exercise and for understanding more about book promotion, choosing those activities that are right for you and for your fiction or nonfiction book and implementing those activities, order your copy of “Promote Your Book,” today. It’s at amazon.com in print, Kindle and audio. You’ll probably find it at your local mega bookstore, as well.

What’s the next book promotion activity you have planned? Do you have a booth reserved at an upcoming book festival or other outdoor event? Have you applied to speak at an appropriate scheduled program or convention (on an aspect of business, networking, writing, relationships, parenting, spirituality or…)? Maybe you are setting up your own workshop where you’ll teach tips for gardeners, how to cook with herbs, safe hiking tips, how to set up a webpage, photography, woodworking or…).

Or are you sitting around waiting for an opportunity to drop in your lap? Are you one of many who believe that you’ve done enough to entice readers by building a website? Or, perhaps, you are still expecting a large onslaught of orders to come from the presentation you gave at the library last year.

Unfortunately, book promotion is not a one shot proposition. This is especially true today with so many books vying for attention and so many authors with the energy, ideas and interest in actively promoting their books. If you want to continue selling copies of you book, you really must keep the momentum going. How? Here are a few ideas:

• Join writers and publishers groups and organizations and participate. Network with other members to learn about book promotion opportunities.

• Read the organization newsletters from cover to cover. You’ll find out what others are doing to promote their books while discovering opportunities that might work for you.

• Encourage communication from discussion groups, organizations, etc. because you never know when you’ll receive an intriguing invitation to promote your book.

• Search out opportunities through local newspapers and your industry publications.

• Spy on other authors. Visit their websites to find out how they are promoting their books. Consider using some of the same tactics.

Granted, there is a whole lot of information and material out there that doesn’t relate to you or your project. But don’t close off so completely to the world around you that you miss out on some interesting and lucrative opportunities.

For additional ideas, tips and techniques related to book promotion, be sure to read my book, “Promote Your Book,” by Patricia Fry. It’s available at amazon.com in print, kindle and audio. It’s also at most other online and downtown bookstores.

Check out SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network). Consider joining today:
http://www.spawn.org

Download my latest FREEBIE 50 Ways to Sell Books Using Your Personality http://www.patriciafry.com

Do you ever think about this? You should, because no one will buy your book if they don’t know it exists. And didn’t you write it and produce it so it would be read—so people would buy it?

How can you find out how many people know about your book? Now that’s a tough one. You might have a counter at your website that clicks each time someone visits. But does it count unique visitors or every visitor, including spam? Even though I have a barrier in place here at my blog site to keep spam out, spammers still find ways to bypass it. I get around 20 to 40 spam “comments” here every day.

You can count your facebook “friends” and your twitter followers. If you’ve been diligent in your promotion, they may know about your book. What is that, maybe a total of 200 people? 2,000, maybe? Don’t forget to count those on your mailing and email lists—another 500, perhaps?

What percentage of those people have or will purchase one or more copies of your book? Maybe 5 or 10 percent? That’s 125 to 250 books, right? Not bad. This may pay your publishing expenses. But don’t you want more? Wouldn’t you like to sell thousands, instead of hundreds of copies of your book? Then you need to become more well-known how? Here are ten ideas to get you started:

• Continue adding to your mailing/email list and use it.
• Offer free reports, chapters, stories, etc. at your website.
• Blog every day and speak to your particular readers.
• Get out and speak to groups of your potential readers.
• Get tons of publicity for your presentations before and after the events.
• Join appropriate organizations and participate.
• Get involved in online discussion groups related to the theme/genre of your book.
• Get speaking gigs at conferences related to your book content.
• Sell your book at book festivals.
• Continually seek opportunities to become known to your potential audience.

So how many more people will know about you and your book after you’ve involved yourself in these activities for six months or a year? Perhaps another 1,500 to 5,000 people or more? And that could be another 75 to 500 (or more) copies of your book sold.

No one will buy a book they don’t know about. And some people won’t buy a book they’ve seen or heard of until they meet or know something about the author. Personality sells books and certainly exposure sells books. That’s why I wrote my latest book, “Talk Up Your Book, How to Sell Your Book Through Public Speaking, Interviews, Signings, Festivals, Conferences and More.” Available at amazon.com in print, Kindle and audio. Also available at most other online and downtown bookstores. Or order your copy here http://www.matilijapress.com

You’ve all seen them—those complimentary blurbs printed on the back of the books you read. Sometimes you even recognize the names of those who wrote them.

What are they for, who should have them and why? Here’s the deal, for many decades—maybe forever—authors have relied on credible experts in their fields to endorse their nonfiction books. Authors of fiction try to get well-known writers in their genre to write testimonials for them. And authors may solicit endorsements by psychologists, educators and so forth for their children’s books. These brief statements by known and/or credible experts are thought to help sell books. Think about it, if you see an endorsement by your favorite author on a book or by someone you admire or trust—even an actor you like—aren’t you more apt to purchase that book? Possibly.

How do you get testimonials? Well, you determine who would be the greatest influence in enticing people to read your particular book and then contact them. This may be someone you know or someone you’ve only heard of. It could be someone quite well-known or someone with a book or who leads an organization related to the theme of your book. If he or she likes your project, they just may say yes. After all, a testimonial on your book cover affords greater exposure for their own books or organizations. So even high-profile people in your field, especially if they have a new book out, may be most pleased to write you a favorable endorsement for your book cover. Note: a testimonial from a very well-known person could even go on your front cover.

Another way you could use someone else’s name to bring attention to your own book is by asking them to write your foreword and then put their name on the front cover of your book—say, for example: Foreword by George Clooney…

How many endorsements should you get? For my nonfiction books, I request a dozen or more. I may not hear back from everyone. If I end up with too many for the cover, I list the others on a page in the front of the book.

Sometimes the people you ask for an endorsement will want to read the book or at least a summary of the book and your table of contents before agreeing. Others just allow you to write an endorsement and put their names to it. I’ve even had experts in my field give me a sampling of possible statements and I choose the one I want to use. Some people who are asked quite often for their endorsements have learned to write rather generic testimonials. They focus their comments on the industry rather than the book itself. Does it matter? Not if it is worth having this person’s name on the back (or front) of your book.

Reach out early in the game. Not everyone is as prompt as you are when it comes to responding to a request. So you’ll want to start early gathering testimonials from those names that you most want on your cover. And be sure to follow-up.

If this person does not know you, offer an introduction, a link to your website and a good description of your book. Also, of course, offer to send all or part of the book to them.

The testimonial or endorsement is still a popular method of promotion. It comes under the concept of building promotion into your book even before it is a book.

For more about testimonials, building promotion into your book and hundreds of other book promotion ideas and activities, order your copy of “Promote Your Book.” It’s at amazon.com in print, Kindle and audio as well as at many other online and downtown bookstores.