| |
| |
|
Book Marketing Information |
|
|
|
How to Schedule a Book Signing
How would you like to sell more copies of your book? Would you like to read excerpts from your book to a captivated audience? Book signings are the cornerstone of an author's post-publication foundation. But how do you set them up? Organizing book signings, readings, and public appearances is one of the most important parts of a successful marketing campaign. A book signing or reading is a bookstore event that features you and your latest book. This is your opportunity to meet potential buyers face to face. Plus it adds a personal touch to your promotion efforts. Many customers may feel more motivated to purchase a copy of your book if they hear it explained or read from your point of view. And the opportunity to get a copy signed by the author doesn't hurt, either! Independent book stores and larger chain retailers both organize book signings. Your chances for finalizing an appearance are greater with the independents. They have to compete with larger chains and are therefore more willing to support local authors. In order to pinpoint potential book stores, check your local newspapers or see if book retailers in your area offer a "calendar of events" or post upcoming events on a public bulletin board. By asking around for the owner of the store or the communications manager you can typically find the appropriate person with whom to discuss your event. In many cases, both the large and small retailers will have their events planned weeks or even months in advance. Plan early. When you have a list of people and/or stores you plan on contacting, prepare your pitch. Have a small script that outlines what your book is about and why people would be interested in meeting you or reading the book. The store manager or PR person will most likely ask. If your subject matter is timely, all the better! Remember, this is the point during which the store manager or book buyer will be screening your presentation skills, either over the phone or in person. If they are not captivated by your presentation, they will have very little faith in your ability to captivate a crowd. Be extroverted and dynamic. It also helps to be concise. Understand that these are busy people. You want to sell them on your event fast. Have your press release and/or sell sheet ready. It's helpful in case they ask for a copy or if they ask about specific information about the book. They may want to know the retail price, the retail margin, and the ISBN number immediately so they can order a review copy themselves prior to deciding. Advise them of the publication date after which they can order the book wholesale through the Ingram or Baker & Taylor databases, or retail from your own webpage address. Provide them with your URL. They might be impressed enough by your initial marketing initiatives to go forward with the book signing. Offer to help them with promotion. Especially if you're targeting smaller book stores, they will be more interested in offering to host an event if they know you will be absorbing some of the burden of marketing it. Tell them all your friends and family will be attending the event (and then make sure to invite your friends and family!), and if it's within the scope of your marketing budget, offer to advertise in the local paper at your expense. Remember, the easier it is for the book store, the more likely they'll say yes. Follow-up with prospective book stores who have not confirmed dates. Selling yourself and your book is a number's game, and as any salesperson will tell you, the amount of contact is directly proportionate to the amount of sales. So be persistent without being annoying. If, after three or four unsuccessful attempts with a particular store or person, move on to another prospect. Brent Sampson is the President & CEO of Outskirts Press Publishing at OutskirtsPress.com and author of Publishing Gems: Insider Information for the Self-Publishing Writer. Information at http://outskirtspress.com/publishinggems
MORE RESOURCES:
Book-Marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Sell More Books With an E-mail Newsletter NOTE: Because many words in this article are likely to trigger sp^m filters, we've disguised them with symbols (e.g. What Service Do You Need to Make your Book Sell? Whether you are just starting or almost finished with your print or eBook, you wonder, "What step to take next?" Who can help me find the right publisher? Who can partner with me to make my book a solid seller? Check out your choices to be sure you get what you need. Many writers think that all they need is a good editor and their book will be ready for publishing and promoting. 28 Reasons Why Publishers Will Buy Your Book Editors will buy a book for one or more of the following reasons. By knowing what these reasons are, you can then design a marketing plan with those features in mind. Successful Book Marketing The Natural Way - Part 1 Is your mind muddy on book marketing? Do you wake up each day and say, "I'm not a social person and I hate to beat the drum for my book" or "I just wish someone else could market my book for me"?If you could market your book a pleasurable way, you may not think it a chore. Natural marketing refers to the action you take to get the word out about your service and product that rings true to your heart. The Perfect Book and Where to Find It! If I was asked to describe the perfect book, one that's in high demand, moves off the shelves quickly, costs little or nothing to produce, involves the least amount of work possible, and offers multi-income streams, I'd say it included one, preferably more of the following features:It Must Be Quick To ProduceTime is money and the sooner your book is ready to sell, the sooner you'll make money from it.So let us consider just a handful of many ways to create a book in a day, or less than a day, perhaps in just a few minutes!1) Profit From Resell RightsResell rights - a confusing term with conflicting definitions, but a great way to acquire best selling books quickly, at little cost, complete with marketing materials, web sites, representing the easiest and fastest way to start your publishing business. Increase Book Sales: When a Sale Is No Longer Just a Sale Do you have books sitting in your garage that you haven'tsold yet and looking for ways to move them? Then you willwant to know about these five outrageous ideas that aren'tdifficult and can be just plain out fun. Dede Hall, author of The Starving Student's Cookbook hadvery poor sales for her books. How to Send Press Releases to Newspapers About Your New Book There are over ten thousand daily, weekly and monthly newspapers in the United States and Canada. For the first time author they are a valuable source of free publicity. Media Events for Book Promotion "How do I set up a media event?" -- As a publisher, that's a good question to have an answer for.Media events and public appearances can fall into any number of categories and include any number of venues (book stores, radio interviews, television interviews, writing group speeches, presentations, chat room interviews, online book tours, public forums, and more). Promotion - Credibility Extras For many of us, marketing our titles is one of the most tedious tasks of being an author. Even authors who published with large New York houses are expected to take part in marketing and promotion. Book Titles that Make Big Bucks Do you know how readers decide to buy a book? 1) They get a referral from a friend. 2) They see an interesting book title on the best-seller list. Book Publishing Without Pain When I meet an author with a great book concept, one who's definitely the right person to write that book, right away I'll often encourage her to self-publish. This is because I know that, if that author is thoroughly invested in what she has to say, and if she is determined to create a buzz about her message, she'll discover5 Fantastic Benefits of Self-publishing1. 4 Questions to Answer Before Contacting a Book Agent Obtaining agency representation is your first step toward getting profitably published. Most publishers won't even look at unsolicited manuscripts. Plain Speaking - 4 Secrets For Getting Your Book Purchased What can be more infuriating to a potential purchaser of a non-fiction book than chapter headings which give no clue as to their contents? After all, if someone is looking in the non-fiction section of a book store, it implies they want facts, not a fancy and "clever" table of contents! Here are 4 sure-fire ways to make your text grab the reader's attention:1. Make sure the text on the front and back covers is compelling. Top Ten Getting Started Tips to Market Your Book and Business Want to sell a lot more books? Want clients calling every day to find out more about your service? Most emerging businesses forget the #1 way to promote anything--the Internet. Specifically, writing and submitting articles. 8 Ways to Find Good Reviewers for Your New Book Review Your Reviewer: You will be sorry if you do not take the time to get a pretty good picture of your reviewer. Use e-mail, snail mail or anything else you've got to pop a few questions to your reviewer. Publishing Your Book-What Way is Best For You? - Part 1 Your print or ebook is nearly finished. You wonder if you should try to get an agent to represent you to the publisher. Self Publishing Success Starts With Marketing Self-publishing is not for the faint of heart. The publication process is lengthy, involves a considerable number of detailed, administrative tasks and can be expensive. Navigating the Amazon Sales Ranking First, the disclaimers: Since the algorithm Amazon uses to generate its sales ranking is proprietary, the details contained herein are extrapolated from research and field tests. The resulting consensus finds Amazon's system to provide marginal sales data at best. Sell More Books on Amazon.com Why Should Your Book Be on Amazon.com? Credibility. Book Signings Are Pure Gold So you've written a book, had it published by a publishing company and you are now facing the dreaded book signing or book launch. Your palms sweat at the thought of facing droves of people and actually having to talk to them.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
