Archive for February, 2016

Good News for Authors–And Out-of-the-Box Book Promotion Tips

Saturday, February 20th, 2016

Publisher’s Weekly announced this week that sixty new independent bookstores were opened in 2015 and they’re scattered all across the US. There are several new bookstores along the west coast and the Eastern Seaboard and all throughout the middle states. I glanced at the list and saw that several have sprouted up across Ohio and Missouri. There are interesting new bookstores now in Utah, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Georgia, Florida and New York. See the complete list here: http://www.bookweb.org/news/60-aba-member-stores-open-2015-16-sold-new-owners

If you’re an author, you might want to find the indie bookstores closest to where you live and introduce the proprietors to your amazing book. Sweeten the pot by offering to bring in three or six other authors for a signing. But go in with a promotional plan—coverage in local newspapers, local facebook pages, and an email blast, for example. Put up posters in the library, community bulletin boards, and the bookstore. Provide a program of interest to bookstore customers and, of course, give something away. Make it lively and fun. Make it interactive. Do whatever it takes to get people into the store and in a book-buying mood.

If your book relates to animals, involve the local humane society or other animal shelter. Throw a pet parade in a local park sponsored by the bookstore and encourage kids to bring their pet puppies, frogs, llamas, and lizards. If it’s a scientific book for kids, create a hands-on project for children. Devise a contest for young writers and honor them the day of the signing.

Give a demonstration. This would be perfect for a book on animal training, a cookbook, one featuring organization techniques, relaxation techniques, and so many others.

This event might spur you on to set up workshops of your own based on your how-to or informational book on fishing, shopping, packing for a trip, travel safety, publishing/book promotion, healthy eating, elderly care, quilting, etiquette, dating and so many other topics.

All you have to do is create a lesson plan for your workshop. Then secure a suitable place and start spreading the word. You can charge for the workshop (which you’ll want to do if there’s a fee for the space) or you can make the purchase of your book a requirement instead.

These are just a few book promotion activities you can pursue outside of the Internet either through a local bookstore or at another venue. There are hundreds more. Find over 250 ideas for your fiction or nonfiction book in my book, Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven. Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. It’s available at my website, here: http://www.matilijapress.com/PromoteYourBook.html and at Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Promote-Your-Book-Techniques-Enterprising/dp/1581158572/ref=pd_sim_sbs_14_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=51uiPEeTYIL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR107%2C160_&refRID=0SD2DHVS7F0

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Book Promotion Means Taking Advantage

Wednesday, February 17th, 2016

I’m not suggesting you take advantage of people and situations in a bad way—but that you take advantage of opportunities that might result in book sales. First, you must be willing to watch for opportunities and recognize them. Then figure out how you can use them to gain a little exposure for your book. Remember, every opportunity, activity, event, occasion, prospect you come across and even pursue may not result in immediate gratification (humungous sales). But every time you put your book in front of a likely reader or the friend of a likely reader or a bookseller or a reviewer, for example, there is a potential for immediate, eventual, or residual sales.

I womanned a booth at the huge Los Angeles Times Festival of Books for many years with a variety of authors. Some were newbies and others were seasoned marketers. Sometimes authors would complain at the end of the weekend, “I sold only ten, seven, or even 0 books.” Yeah, that doesn’t make for a very happy author. But what most of them didn’t realize is the enormous exposure they got.

Not only was their book displayed before thousands of people—hundreds of them going home with a piece of their promotional material, but there were often other opportunities available to several of our authors. An invitation to speak at a local library, a handout asking for authors with interesting books and interesting stories to appear on either a regular or Internet radio show, teachers eager to bring their book into their school library, not to mention the opportunity to learn ever so much about book promotion from the more seasoned authors. Some of our authors met publishers, reviewers, newspaper and magazine reporters looking for a new book project or a scoop. One of our authors met a documentary filmmaker who brought his story to life on the big screen.

Authors, there are opportunities for exposure for your book in your daily life—practically every day. All you have to do is learn to recognize them and have the courage to reach out and embrace them.

This weekend, I had the opportunity to sell books at an event in our small town. When I showed up, I learned that the other authors all cancelled. I could have been discouraged and left. The foot traffic was almost nonexistent, so the band that was performing moved closer to the street. I could have moved with them or left and gone home. Instead, I enjoyed the shade (it was 90 degrees out) and I enjoyed the music from a distance. I also enjoyed talking to the few people who walked by. I handed out bookmarks, shared stories about my books, because I was there, the store owner put my books front and center for the week. And I sold 10 books that would not have sold had I gone home. Can you see the perks in this scenario or do you see only the negatives—no fellow booksellers to attract customers, very little foot traffic…?

This week I want you to watch for opportunities and take advantage of those that make sense for you and your particular book.

 

 

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Book Promotion–No Easy Task

Monday, February 15th, 2016

If you’ve been to a writers conference or club meeting, if you’ve read any books or newsletters on the topic of publishing, even if you’ve only spoken to an author or two while on your writing/publishing journey, you’ve heard the term book promotion. Unless you’ve done your writing in a cave without Internet service a million miles from civilization, you know book sales rely on exposure and that exposure relies on some sort of promotional efforts. The more studying you’ve done—the more publishing information you’ve perused or listened to—the greater depth of understanding you have about the necessity to promote your book. Yet, some of you still refuse to accept this fact.

You go merrily about your writing business—forgetting that, if you plan to publish, writing actually IS a business. When you do publish, you wonder why your book isn’t selling, why it isn’t getting reviews, why you haven’t been invited to do interviews, why no one is blogging about your book, why you feel like a failure. I can tell you why. It’s because no one knows about your book.

If yours is a viable product—a well-written book with an audience—there’s no reason why it should fail in the marketplace unless…and this is a big “unless”…unless you are not promoting the book.

Some authors do a few promotional activities when their book comes out. They build a website; email their friends; carry the book with them to show off at organized and chance meetings; show up at the next writers club meeting; and maybe even set up a book signing at a local bookstore. Whew! That was a busy few weeks and maybe even strenuous. The author feels he has satisfied his obligation to promote his book and he goes back to his life. Several weeks, months, years, down the road, he wonders why his book isn’t selling. What went wrong? Is it too late to repair the damage? In a word, “NO!”

I plan to write more about book promotion in coming weeks—so stay tuned to this blog. In the meantime, here are links to a few articles you might find interesting.

http://www.matilijapress.com/articles/BookPromotionPlan.htm

http://www.matilijapress.com/articles/BookPromotionoOpportunitiesMissed.htm

By the way, the bio at the end of the articles is old—let me catch you up: Patricia Fry has been writing for publication for over 40 years. She has 57 books to her credit, including several books for authors and 15 books in her Klepto Cat Mystery series. She is the past Director of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writer’s Network) and a member of several writing/publishing organizations. She continues to coach and guide her editing clients through the choppy waters of publishing and book promotion. PLFry620@yahoo.com

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Fresh Writing—Beyond the Thesaurus

Tuesday, February 9th, 2016

I’ve been writing for publication for over 40 years and I’m aware of the importance of fresh writing. That is, using a variety of words and phrases in your descriptions, explanations, etc. But this has never been as challenging an issue for me until I started writing fiction.

Do you spend a lot of time making sure that your writing is fresh—that you’re not repeating the same old phrases and terms? Or does originality come naturally to you? I’m guessing that many fiction writers approach their stories much as I do. I write the story using many instances of filler words and phrases just to get the story down—place holders. Then the editing begins. If you’re like me, you edit numerous times before your manuscript goes to the proofreader or hired editor. You edit for clarity in the story events as well as for flow and readability. You make sure the storyline is pure—cohesive—consistent. Then you begin nitpicking words and phrases. Have I overused a term? How can I say the same thing in a more unique or creative way?

I’m on book 16 of my Klepto Cat Mystery series and I’ve decided to create a Key Phrase List to help with this phase of my editing. While it was rather time-consuming to create, I believe it will be a time-saver as I attempt to develop my stories in the future. What did I include in my Key Phrase List? Terms, phrases, expressions, descriptive words that I might use in my story descriptions and dialog. And I imagine I’ll continue adding to it with each story that I write.

Now how will I use this list? I don’t know about you, but my memory is only so long. I might get a sense, when reading through my manuscript for the umpteenth time, that I’ve overused a word or a term, but I don’t know to what extent until I do a word search—which I often do. With this alphabetized list, I’ll note each instance of certain phrases and terms as I read through the manuscript and I’ll be able to see which ones are overused and get ideas for replacing them.

Sure, I’ve thought about the potential dangers—that my writing will appear mechanical or stilted. I had concerns that the creativity would diminish once I began manipulating the portrayals and action. But this doesn’t seem to be the case. After all, the story is written by the time I start working with these important details. All I’m manipulating is some of the language and the way it’s presented.

Why go to the trouble to create your own list of phrases when others have done it for you? Because you have a different way of approaching a story and the dialog and description within it. There are readers who like your style—your way of approaching a story, developing your characters, etc. You may not know it, but you have a certain way of telling a story that is unique to you and you use certain words and phrases. So it makes sense that you create your own list, at least to start with. Because these are the terms you use most comfortably.

For additional help in making your stories read fresher, here are a few sites you might visit.

http://boostblogtraffic.com/power-words/

http://awritersguidetowords.com/

http://www.word-mart.com/html/glossary.html

Happy writing!

 

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