I promised I would talk about exposure today. Exposure is one of the most valuable benefits you take away from nearly any of your promotional efforts. The exposure benefits are especially prevalent and important to authors who get out and speak to their audiences. Whether you are speaking to a group, talking casually with people at a signing, book festival, flea market or conference or you’re just chatting it up with potential readers, you are getting exposure. One or 1001 people (or more) now have the opportunity to learn about your book. This may be the first or twenty-first time they’ve become aware of you and your book. It doesn’t matter. If it is a book they can use or would be interested in reading, they will eventually do so, but only if they know about it.
Stay hidden behind your computer reaching only those people who happen across your website, stop in once in a while to read your blog, subscribe to the newsletters you write for, communicate with you via FaceBook, etc., and you will miss out on a lot of valuable exposure.
The fact is:
• People are more apt to buy books from an author they meet and like.
• The power of persuasion is more effective in person.
• When someone bothers to hold a book in their hands, they are more apt to buy it.
• The memory of a real-time experience is greater/stronger than that of one occurring online.
While some people purchase books they’re interested in on the spot without much contemplation, others need time to consider the book. The more times they see, hear, read about or are otherwise aware of you—the author of the book they’re considering—the more apt they are to eventually purchase it.
Exposure has other positive side-effects, as well. I’ve known many authors who have attended book festivals, signed books and spoke to groups, for example, and were disappointed because they didn’t sell many books. Some of them have vowed never to do that activity again because they sold so few books. What these authors didn’t consider, however, were the benefits outside of making that on-the-spot sale. For example,
• Awareness of you and your book expands every time you speak to new groups and individuals.
• You are reaching even more people when you publicize these activities and events.
• While out talking to people, you may meet someone or your publicity might reach someone who wants to purchase your book in bulk for an event, who invites you to speak to a large group of your potential readers, who has a radio show and wants you to appear, etc. It happens. I’ve seen it happen more times than I can count.
The next time you speak before a group, are interviewed on the radio, do a signing at a small bookstore, reserve a booth at a book festival, etc., don’t view this so much as a bookselling opportunity as one for exposure. Look at the bigger picture—how widespread can you direct the publicity? What opportunities might present themselves beyond just making those immediate sales? But you have to do your part.
You must get out of the office and mingle with your readers. You have to direct the publicity far and wide. You need to keep an attitude of gratitude which will help to open you up to whatever comes your way. And stop thinking so much about sales that you miss those opportunities that can lead to greater success.
For more about how to have more successful speaking engagements, book festivals, signings, etc. be sure to order your copy of “Talk Up Your Book.” It’s available in print and on Kindle at http://amzn.to/ZMJndK
I cannot agree with you more regarding the paramount gravity of writer exposure; however, while striving for virtually universal exposure is important, there are other foundational factors which I believe are of coordianate importance in the cosmos of writing and selling books. For some arcane reason or other, the number of people who are deeply interested in readign is relatively small; this pits writers in a strange struggle with failure. If the readers are not there, why write books: Merely having an avid passion for writing is not enough, especially in view of the exorbitant cost of print writing today. The paradox of print writing’s exortionate cost, in view of the digital revolution, is an interesting one indeed. The upshot of all this is that writers must find fresh ways to get people interested in reading. The drought of readers is an acute problem that afflicts the writing industry–and it needs to be addressed by writers. Additionally, the indiscriminate flood of nonwriters into the writing industry has not helped the situation at all. The net result of the these two cruel factors impinging on writers’ success is that good writers are going to have to become even better at what they do in order to stand above all the fray and noise from the turbulent flood of poorly written books gushing through the market every year. Morever, writers are also going to have to become smarter, in terms of the audience to which they appel. There is a trick that I have discovered that I would discuss here; but audience appeal is the ultimate book-selling driver. Far too many books are written that fail to address the tremendous pain and anguish in the world in which the people find themselves. I think people, who are really honest with themselves, are genuinely looking for answers in a world that has gone stark mad. The insensate madness of the world is a quaint writers’ opportunity. You may want to take a look my website http://www.crashingstreamsofchange.com and see the kind of content that I am putting there. It has been wonderful talking to your audience; thank you and be good to yourself.