The hustle bustle of the major holiday is over. Once you finish up the leftovers, toss the turkey bones or use them in soup like we do, put away the tree and gifts, you look forward to getting back to normal.
But is this the best plan? Is it wise to settle back down into your comfort zone or would you be doing yourself and your book a favor if you stepped it up a bit? Perhaps you have been slacking a little when it comes to promoting your book. You haven’t been promoting as assertively as you could be. You’ve been ignoring opportunities to showcase your book and you certainly haven’t been out looking for book promotion opps.
If you are feeling too comfortable in your writing world, you may also notice that you aren’t selling many books or articles/stories. You aren’t stretching, thus sales aren’t improving.
I’ve read articles by a couple of authors lately who say, “Books don’t sell themselves.” It is an almost laughable comment. Who would think anything would sell itself? But there are still authors who expect sales without effort. They believe that there is a system of selling and all they have to do is get their books into the system and it will begin to sell. In other words, write it and they will buy it. But this is not so. You will discover that each book you sell has, in most cases, required your explicit involvement. Either you talked to the individual in passing about your book and they bought it. Or you spoke to an audience and sold a few copies. Or someone emailed you on the topic of your book and you sell him one. Or you sell a few after your article appears in an appropriate newsletter of magazine.
What sells books? Your action sells books.
Here’s a review recently posted about my latest book, Talk Up Your Book. Check it out and then read more reviews at Amazon.com. http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-talk-up-your-book