Writing and Publishing News

We’ve all heard (and used) the term—“if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But what if it IS broken? What if your book sales are not what you had expected or hoped for? What if your promotional efforts (or lack of) are not producing sales? Then it’s time to change your tactics.

People ask me why my Klepto Cat Mystery books aren’t available for the Nook, for example. Well, Amazon offers an exclusive package through their Kindle Direct Program and, since sales have been amazing from the start of my relationship with this program, I haven’t considered making a change. I’m constantly trying to come up with ways to sell even more books, however, and to get more exposure for them. Wouldn’t you?

Are your book sales meeting your expectations? Maybe you’re offering your novel in print form only and sales are disappointing. I can tell you that novelists are devouring books on e-readers. Consider formatting your book for Kindle, Nook, etc. and see what happens.

Of course, you’d better also be promoting your book like crazy—getting exposure for your book. Contact reviewers of books in your genre, visit blog sites and websites related to the genre and post something, go out and talk about your book, build your own website and offer irresistible content—contests, fun facts about the era or topic of your book, etc.

Another way to ramp up your sales is to add to your “merchandise.” Create a series. The more books you have, the more sales you can expect. If your cover or the theme of your book is a real eye-catcher, offer coffee mugs, pens, note cards, t-shirts…

I’m a believer in opportunistic promotion. In other words, always carry bookmarks and offer a couple to someone you see wearing a t-shirt depicting the theme of your book–a cat, horse, antique car, movie or cartoon character, for example. Leave bookmarks lying around in restrooms, on picnic tables, on the bulletin board at the library… Carry a book with you and pull it out when you’re having lunch, sitting on a park bench, waiting for a plane. Yeah, read your own book. What better way to capture the attention of other readers…

Sure some of these suggestions won’t necessary garner huge numbers of sales, but these are things you can do in the course of your ordinary day. Why spend a day out among potential readers and not use the opportunity to get exposure for your book? In fact, you can wear a t-shirt with your book cover on the front—or back, have jewelry fashioned to represent your book title or theme, wear a baseball cap with the book’s title or carry a tote bag with the cover on it.

Be brash or be subtle, but do something that’s going to get your book noticed. If you don’t, who will? And if no one does, your book will die a very fast death.

If you’re still confused or intimidated by this thing called book promotion, be sure to read “Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author.” www.matilijapress.com/PromoteYourBook.html Also available at Amazon in print, for Kindle and audio.

It occurs to me that book promotion is something like gardening (or dieting, or parenting). Think about it, there are no absolutes in book promotion. What works for one author and one book might not work for another. Isn’t this true of gardening, dieting, and parenting? Your garden tomatoes might thrive one year and struggle the next. They might grow well in one spot and shrivel up in another. The diet plan that trims your friend’s figure, might add inches to your waist. Likewise, the method of weight-loss you used in your twenties, may not work when you’re in your fifties.

Book promotion is another one of those unpredictable activities. However, as in gardening, for example, there are some constants. Garden plants needs soil, light, food, and water. A book needs an audience. In a garden, our goal is fresh vegetables or, perhaps, a lovely landscape. Our goal as an author is readers—interested, paying readers. But, in either case, how we achieve the goal may differ tremendously.

There are hundreds of methods of book promotion. Sometimes it takes experimentation to discover those that work for you and for your particular project. But it is imperative that you know who your specific audience is, that you write for that audience and, when it comes time to promote it, you know where your readers are, and how to approach them. Then you must nurture them—keep your book in front of them, constantly remind them of the benefits to buying your book, and make it easy for them to purchase it.

The next time you decide to stick a plant into the soil, you’ll be more successful if you consider, not where you want it to grow, but where it will have the best chance to survive. If you apply the same concept to your next book—if you write the book your audience wants and keep them in mind while you’re writing it—it will have a better chance for success.

To learn more about publishing and book promotion read Patricia Fry’s books, “Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author” and “Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven , Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author.” Coming soon from Patricia Fry and Allworth Press, “Propose Your Book, How to Craft Persuasive Proposals for Nonfiction, Fiction and Children’s Books.”