Many of you who read this blog are authors. I have a question for you. Are you selling many books? Or are you rather disappointed in book sales? Are you getting tired of promoting?
Most of us go into authorship with a full plate. I mean our dance card is already full when we decide to come out with a book. The book is an afterthought—something else we wanted to accomplish in this lifetime. It isn’t as important as our job. It isn’t as important as our family. It isn’t even as important as our hobbies. Does this ring true to you so far?
You produced a book because it seemed like the thing to do at the time and because you could. You have been promoting it as well as you can under the circumstances—you still have a full-time job, you are busy with your family, you have other outside interests… It has actually been kind of fun showing your book around, doing book signings and composing press releases and sending them to all the local newspapers. But now you’re beginning to resent your book’s intrusion in your life.
You’ve discovered that it isn’t so easy to sell copies of your marvelous books. It is taking more of your time than you wanted to devote to this project. And your efforts aren’t generating the sales you expected. So what’s next?
Maybe you’re not spending enough money to market your book. Perhaps if you pay to have it reviewed, buy some ads, purchase that expensive promotions package your pay-to-publish company is offering or send your book to be displayed at a trade show, sales will improve. Perhaps, but probably not.
It has been my experience and observation that there is no way around the author expending time, energy and effort when it comes to promoting his or her book. If you want to sell books, you have to pay your dues and I don’t mean, necessarily, by spending money.
You’ve probably already learned that, when you put in the effort, you sell books. When you relax, book sales slow down. If you’re like most authors, you feel as though you are hand-selling every book that goes out the door. And this is not likely to change anytime soon.
Here’s what I suggest to my clients who are ready to start throwing money at their projects in order to sell more copies or they’re ready to throw in the towel:
• Assess your methods. Which sales tactics are generating the most sales at this time? Continue pursuing these.
• Keep it local. There’s a lot you can do right in your own community before you start taking your book out of town.
• Use the skills you have developed over the years—public speaking, writing (articles, stories, press releases, blog), researching new venues to showcase your book and get reviews, etc.
• Add a new activity from time to time. But be sure to chisel out the time needed to implement it. This might be arranging to present a workshop at a conference related to the theme of your book; soliciting customers, clients and colleagues to post reviews at your book’s Amazon page; doing a virtual book tour, etc.
No one ever told you that book promotion was easy. Although, your pay-to-publish company might have indicated this by offering to sell you one of their promotional packages. If you are an author, you know now that book promotion is the hardest, most time-consuming part of authorship. If you are in the process of writing a book for publication, this is meant as a warming and a wake-up call.
Please, if the message in this post comes as a shock to you or if you choose not to believe it, stop the forward motion on your book now. Spend several weeks studying the publishing industry. I recommend my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.thml
Maybe you haven’t heard that over three-quarters of authors fail. And the reason is because they don’t understand enough about the publishing industry before getting involved. Learn how the industry works, what your options are and what your responsibilities as a published author are.
When it comes to selling your book, if you don’t plan to devote time, effort and energy in promotion over the long term, you will not make it in this fiercely competitive business.
This might be a good time for you to order a copy of my latest book, Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. It’s in print and Kindle at Amazon.com. http://amzn.to/oe56Ia>/a>
Learn more about me and my work:
http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com
Note: In yesterday’s blog post, I offer a choice of 3 books for authors FREE. Be sure to check it out.