What's Working for You?

[John Kremer]

I'd like to start a new forum where people can talk about what's working for you right now in marketing your book.

I think this will help other authors to prioritize their activities if they can find out what's working for other people. This would be especially valuable to new authors.

I've share the hottest tool that I'm using right now. And that's Twitter. As you will note on the main page of this Book Marketing Network website, both my http://www.bookmarket.com website and this network have been rising in Alexa ranks (and visits) because of my use of Twitter.

[John Kremer]

Thanks for sharing. Any sharing always helps others. Much appreciated.

[Catherine White Creates Worth]

What's working for me in my PR & Marketing is continually working it, always seeking new avenues and outlets, and a refusal to be intimidated by the Big Boys in the business.

Persistence.

[Susan Klopfer]

Oh, thanks for this help. It does get tiring and sometime intimidating. I can't co-process very well so most of my time is still spent writing. But each day I'm trying to do some marketing, too. We can't let the Big Boys always have their say. ;>)

[Earl Sewell]

What’s working for me is setting up events where I have an audience. Also having an act when speaking to groups helps a great deal---for example, I write fiction, and instead of just reading the work, I turn it into a dramatization and get the audience to participate. The Call and Response method works great for me. This also helps me to sell myself as an entertainer.
Two weeks ago I did a book release party with a book club in DC. I ordered 100 copies of my book from my publisher and let the book club pre-sell Have Mercy. Since Have Mercy is an erotic thriller, part of the program included a lingerie fashion show. About 35 people showed up and when it was my turn, I put on a great show for my fans. The book club kept the remainder of the books and hand sold all of them for me.

During my book signing in Kalamazoo, MI I asked a local book club there to join me at walden books. I asked that they were their book club t-shirts and walk around the mall handing out my promo cards. They did this for me and for the first time, I got a crossover audience. The ladies, whom I’d known for three years told every woman in the mall what a great writer I was and they came over. Some purchased books while others were just curious.

I also write Y.A. fiction. What’s working for me there is dealing directly with high school librarians. They’re always looking for great books to purchase for their students. I also do creative writing workshops and publishing workshops. I charge a nominal fee for doing this plus I get the schools to order the books at a discount from my publisher.

In addition I have a special website for my Y.A audience and by staying in direct contact with them has helped because they tell their friends about the book and then get them to join my website. I have contests and prize giveaways for them.

However, even with all that I do, I still can’t get my sales numbers to sore the way I’d like them to. It’s a very very tough market out there and getting a name brand to stick without a large marketing budget is no easy task. However, this is my passion and no matter what, I’m going to keep moving forward.

[albertasequeira]

Wow, Earl! Great work. You're right about working so hard. I was told it takes a good 5 years to get known "if you work at it constantly."

Getting the audience into your talk is wonderful. It's hard for me talking about alcoholism. My speaking engagements on the topic is good for rehabs, half-way homes, high schools and college. Now I'm trying to think of how to do the talks to grammar school kids, keep it to their level, and keep their attention.
I'll be thrilled when I discover this program.

Thanks for you information.

[Stacy-Deanne]

Yep, Earl's great when it comes to promotion! He's a solid name in the African-American genre by the way. He is an Essence Magazine Best Selling author so he knows what he speaks! LOL! We also had the same publisher, LOL.

[Susan Klopfer]

When I worked for a book publisher, I learned that many good books are ten year projects. So just keep it up!

[Steve Miller]

I have a friend who self-published his first novel and has sold, in the past 8 months, over 200 books in a local (not chain) restaurant. A check-out person said, "Here's how I see it working: people are waiting in line to check out. One starts thumbing through the book. The person behind him says, 'I read it. It's great!' The person buys it."

Outcome: Maybe we should take a harder look at local, non-bookstore possibilities for selling our books. After all, there's no competition with other books in that restaurant. If someone's just finished a book and is looking for the next read, voila!

I recommended that he try to place it in similar restaurants (locally owned, where lots of locals eat) in nearby towns. He can tell the owners, "It sold over 200 copies in this other restaurant, making them this much money." Businesses are looking for extra income these days. If he found 20 restaurants that could sell 300 per year, he'd sell 6,000 per year.

[John Kremer]

Neat. 200 copies of a novel in 8 months is more than most authors sell of a self-published novel.

Steve's recommendation to his friend is on target. If something is working for you, expand in that direction. Offer the same deal to more restaurants. Start local, then go regional.

[Susan Klopfer]

The 200 book figure always makes me feel good. It's achievable!! After one year, I've sold 1,000 of my self published version of Where Rebels Roost, an 800 page nonfiction history of civil rights in the Mississippi Delta. When I feel badly, I think of this figure and know more can be sold. Of course, I've trimmed it down and it will soon be an e-book. Thanks for your help!

[Jim Donovan]

Right on, Steve. I've sold my self-help books everywhere from restaurants, to Mail Boxes, to my local pet store!

The pet store owner was a friend who liked the book. My rationale was that, if you're in a pet store and read self-help, my book was the only one you saw:-) He probably sold as many copies of the original edition of Handbook to a Happier Life as any book store wit the exception of my local indy.

[Stacy-Deanne]

I've just started Twitter but I must admit that I don't see what's so great about it. To me it's just like every other social network except that you can list what you're doing every second. You can now do that on Facebook and MySpace so now Twitter's not that different. I am not one who is able to sit on Twitter all day tweeting, so maybe that's why I don't see the big deal. I check in to see who is following me and check up on a few tweets but that takes a few seconds and I am gone, LOL. It's kind of boring to me and I really don't see the big deal! As far as helping with book sales, I don't know because I haven't used it long enough. Some authors say it helped them IF they could make contacts with the right people but it's not a miracle in book selling like some folks think. It's also very hard to find other writers and authors on Twitter and that's my biggest problem. Their search method sucks.

For me, online method as a whole is working best. I also think it's too hard for an author to say what's working and what's not. You can't know what's helping you sell or what brings people to your web site. All you can do is promote the best you can and use what's best for you. There is no way that an author can be sure of what site or mode of promotion brought them sales. You gotta just go with what you enjoy doing and that way you'll work with it long enough for it to work.

One thing I've learned is that no one mode of promotion works for everyone. You gotta do what works for you and what you're comfortable with so you'll be successful. It also depends on where you live. It's easier to do on-foot promotion if you live in the East Coast and especially New York because there are tons of literary events and opportunities for authors. I live in Houston and we do not have tons of events or other literary things though we do have a lot of authors here. So, your location plays a factor. Some folks do better with events and others do not. Some cannot afford to travel or just aren't able and others are. You gotta do what works for you and I suggest not breaking your pockets to do it. Most authors think they gotta go to EVERY event in every city and this is not effective at all. Most authors who do book signings and festivals don't sell as much as authors who never do them. I now have a rule. I stay close to home with events unless my publisher pays me to go somewhere. It's not worth it to bleed your pockets and not get the books sold in return.

Best Wishes!
http://www.stacy-deanne.net