Book
Sales Getting Musty?
Adapted
from the multi award-winning Frugal Book Promoter (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) Aslo available on Kindle
In the world of publishing as in
life, persistence counts. Of course, there is no way to keep a book at the top
of the charts forever, but if you keep reviving it, you might hold a classic in
your hands. Or your marketing efforts for one book may propel your next one to
greater heights.
I can’t tell you how often I’ve
seen authors who measure their success by book sales give up on their book (and
sometimes on writing) just about the time their careers are about ready to take
off. I tell my students and clients to fight the it’s-too-late-urge.
Publicity is like the little
waves you make when you toss pebbles into a lake. The waves travel, travel,
travel and eventually come back to you. If you stop lobbing little stones, you
lose momentum. It’s never too late and it’s never too early to promote. Rearrange
your thinking. Marketing isn’t about a single book. It’s about building a
career. And new books can build on the momentum created by an earlier book, if
you keep the faith. Review the marketing ideas in this book, rearrange your
schedule and priorities a bit, and keep at it.
Here are a few keep-at-it ideas
from the second edition of The Frugal
Book Promoter:
Run
a contest on your Web site, on Twitter, or in your newsletter. Use your
books for prizes or get cross-promotion benefits by asking other authors
for books; many will donate one to you in trade for the exposure. Watch
the 99 Cent Stores for suitable favors to go with them.
Hint: Any promotion you do including a contest is more
powerful when you call on your friends to tell their blog visitors or Facebook
pals about it.
Barter
your books or your services for exposure on other authors’ Web sites.
Post
your flier, brochure, or business card on bulletin boards everywhere: In
grocery stores, coffee shops, Laundromats, car washes, and bookstores.
Offer
classes in writing to your local high school, college, or library system.
Publicizing them is easy and free. When appropriate, use your own book as
suggested reading. The organization you are helping will pitch in by
promoting your class. The network you build with them and your students is
invaluable. Use this experience in your media kit to show you have
teaching and presentation skills.
Slip automailers into each
book you sell or give away for publicity. Automailers are envelopes that
are pre-stamped, ready to go. Your auto mailer asks the recipient to
recommend your book to someone else. Your mailer includes a brief synopsis
of your book, a picture of the cover of your book, your book’s ISBN,
ordering information, a couple of your most powerful blurbs, and a space
for the reader to add her handwritten, personal recommendation. Make it
clear in the directions that the reader should fill out the form, address
the envelope, and mail it to a friend. You may offer a free gift for
helping out, but don’t make getting the freebie too tough.
Proof-of-purchase type schemes discourage your audience from
participating.
Send
notes to your friends and readers asking them to recommend your book to
others. Or offer them a perk like free shipping, gift wrap, or small gift
if they purchase your book for a friend. That’s an ideal way to use those
contact lists you’ve been building.
While
you’re working on the suggestion above, put on your thinking cap. What
directories have you neglected to incorporate into your contact list? Have
you joined any new groups since your book was published? Did you ask your
grown children for lists of their friends? Did you include lists of old
classmates?
Though
it may be a bit more expensive than some ideas in The Frugal Book Promoter, learn more
about Google’s AdWords and AdSense and Facebook's ad program. Many authors
of niche nonfiction or fiction that can be identified with
often-searched-for keywords find this advertising program effective.
Check
out ad programs like Amazon’s Vine review service. You agree to provide a
certain number of books to Amazon and pay them a fee for the service.
Amazon arranges the reviews for you. It’s expensive, but it gets your book
exposed to Amazon’s select cadre of reviewers who not only write reviews
for your Amazon sales page but also may start (or restart!) a buzz about
your book.
Some
of your reviews (both others’ reviews of your book and reviews you’ve
written about others’ books) have begun to age from disuse. Start posting
them (with permission from the reviewer) on Web sites that allow you to do
so. Check the guidelines for my free review service blog at TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com.
Connect
and reconnect. Start reading blogs and newsletters you once subscribed to
again. Subscribe to a new one. Join a writers’ group or organization
related to the subject of your book.
Record
a playful message about your book on your answering machine.
When
you ship signed copies of your book, include a coupon for the purchase of
another copy for a friend—signed and dedicated—or for one of your other
books. Some distributors insert fliers or coupons into your books when
they ship them for a fee.
Adjust
the idea above to a cross-promotional effort with a friend who writes in
the same genre as you. He puts a coupon for your book in his shipments;
you do the same for him in yours.
Win an award (win, place or show!) and promote it like crazy--promote it everywhere!
Use the fun little QR codes on your business cards and other promotional material.
Explore
the opportunities for speaking on cruise ships. Many have cut back on the
number of speakers they use, but your area of expertise may be perfect for
one of them. I tried it, but found ship politics a drawback. Still many
authors like Allyn Evans who holds top honors in Toastmasters and Erica
Miner have used these venues successfully. For help with the application
process from beginning to end, contact Daniel Hall at speakerscruisefree.com.
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the multi award-winning author of the HowToDoItFrugally series of books for authors and retailers. She was named Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment by members of the California Legislature and is an instructor of UCLA Extension's renowned Writers' Program.
