When you produce a book, you become an expert. It’s true. As soon as your book is published, whether it is on how to get over your fear of the dentist, kite-flying, de-matting a cat, quilt-making or scone-baking, you become an expert on the subject. Your self-help book or memoir focusing on alcoholism, teen dating, cooking for the diabetic or youth mentoring makes you an authority on the subject. Even if you publish a novel or a children’s book, just the fact that you are published gives you professional status among those who still yearn to write a book. And people will come to you with their questions.
Are you prepared? Do you have the information they need? Do you know how to locate it? Are you interested in helping others with their questions? You should be because many of them are your readers.
The more wide-spread your book promotion, the more questions you will receive. Some authors who publish books in a particular niche, produce newsletters to help keep their readers informed beyond the book and to attract new readers. The blog seems to be taking the place of newsletters and e-newsletters, for many. But it doesn’t seem to matter how much information, how many resources and facts you put out there, people still have questions.
I’ve had some interesting experiences with people along these lines. But which ones will I share here this morning? My head is spinning with stories of rip-off artists (there have been very few, thank heavens), clueless advantage takers, people who want to argue with your responses to their questions, folks who do not respond after you answer their question in great detail and more. But, for the most part, I hear from serious writers and authors with legitimate, intelligent questions. I love the questions and I encourage them. Every time I hand-sell a book or hand out a brochure, I always say, “And if you have any questions, please contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com.
Okay, here’s one from my file of “irritating questions”: Along with friends and family, I presented a full-on Hawaiian luau for a party of 100 strangers once as a way to promote my Hawaiian luau book. A local reporter said that if I would stage or even present a luau, they would cover it. I did and they did. I had a great spread on the first page of the Life and Living section.
Well, the day that the article came out, I got a call from a woman who had lots of questions about some of the dishes we prepared. (A few of them were published in the newspaper.) She talked like she had a copy of the book in her hands and I proceeded to spend almost an hour with her on the phone discussing the recipes. I’d refer to certain pages in the book and she’d go along with me. Come to find out, she had not purchased the book and now she didn’t need to because I had responded so completely to all of her questions. Boy did I feel used.
I get emails from people asking such things as, “How do I get my book published?” and “How do I promote my book?” This is like someone saying to you, “I see that you wrote a book on cooking what you grow. I’d like to do this—can you tell me how?” You just want to say, “Read the book! That’s why I wrote it, after all.”
If you have questions for an author, stop and think about what you’re asking. Many people need to go back to the drawing board with their questions and try to come up with something more pointed. A better question for me might be, “How do I go about finding a publisher or an agent?” or “I’ve written a book of poetry. I’ve had it reviewed and X, Y and Z sites, I’ve done readings at a dozen local coffee-houses, I’ve submitted a few poems to various competitions. Do you have any additional ideas I can use for promoting this book?”
For the garden cooking book, better questions might be, “Can I grow a garden year-round in the northwest?” “I’d like to learn how to use all of the kale I grow. Do you have recipes for kale in your book?”
I love responding to pointed questions for serious writers and authors. It’s those questions that have prompted most of my articles and books on writing and publishing. It’s those questions that drive this blog and my online courses. And it’s those questions that keep me actively researching and locating new material for books, the blog and the SPAWN Market Update, which I write each month for the SPAWN website. For those of you who haven’t visited the SPAWN website in a while or ever, here’s the link. http://www.spawn.org
We’re heading toward spring—I’m enjoying a spring shower here in California this morning. It’s a good time to gear up for your writing career, for publishing that book, for starting your book promotion or for setting up a publishing company. But first, you’d better educate yourself. Check out my online courses for writers and authors at http://www.matilijapress.com/courses.htm
And purchase my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. http://www.matilijapress.com While you’re there, take a look at the handsome guy on the Catscapades book of cat stories. The reviews for this book are amazing!