Do you listen to talk radio? Do you notice that all of the guests on every show and on every topic have books? A book has become as common as the business card and it is used as casually to establish credibility, to give individuals an identity…
Whether I am listening to a radio program or watching one on TV related to spirituality, religion, parenting, politics, gardening, health or writing, every guest is promoting a book on the subject. In most cases, however, these individuals did not speak on the topic until they came out with their books. They were not considered experts in their fields until they became authors. Now the former bank teller is doing radio interviews and TV appearances to talk about her book on childhood abuse; the homemaker/homeschool teacher guests locally to share her book of tips for homeschool teachers; the retired accountant travels around talking about his novel; the long-time tax preparer provides information from his book on family budgeting and the extensive traveler shares stories and lessons learned from her travel memoir.
If you’re writing a book (and millions of people are these days), do you plan to join the parade of ordinary people turned performer in order to promote your book? Are you honing your public speaking skills and are you coming up with ideas for programs you can present on radio and TV, at bookstores, conferences and so forth? Or would you prefer to just remain in the shadows with your book and hope it will sell through your website?
Yes, there seems to be a real flood of authors guesting on every talk show around. If you attend conferences in your area of interest, you see no lack of speakers on that topic. At writers’ conferences, for example, every imaginable subject and angle related to writing, publishing and book promotion is covered by savvy experts—most of them with books of their own.
Do authors sell books through live presentations? Absolutely, they do. Some people are impressed or inspired by the program and purchase the book on the spot. Others will take a brochure or business card and eventually buy the book online. Still others will hold off on the book until they read an article or two by this author, hear him or her speak at another event, discover their blog and/or have another professional in this field recommend him or her.
This is how it works. And, if your book is conducive to live presentations, you really should be thinking about how you’re going to go about them. What will you talk about? How can you make a presentation featuring the topic/theme of your book fascinating and/or informative? Do you have what it takes to effectively speak in public? Can you come up with a variety of interesting programs?
Here’s what I suggest:
1: Join a local Toastmasters Club. Find one near you:
http://www.toastmasters.org
2: Put yourself in situations where you have the opportunity to speak up in public. Join a networking group or a writers’ group, perhaps. Volunteer for a project at work or for a committee outside of work.
3: Practice pulling sub-topics from your book and developing potential programs from them.
4: As you consider your live audience, this might give you some insight into your readership and assist you in fulfilling your obligation as an author during the writing of your book.
5: For more about honing your public speaking skills, read some of the articles at my website under “Book Promotion.”
http://www.matilijapress.com/articlespublishing.htm
Download your FREE copy of “50 Reasons Why You SHOULD Write That Book,” here http://www.patriciafry.com