So, you’ve written the book, you’ve gone the traditional route without success or you’re just a maverick and want to do things your own way. Way to go! But now that you’re a maverick – an industry revolutionary – a spy out in the cold, (to find a friendly pejorative for what you’ve just done,) you need to sell some of those alternative format books to someone other than your mama.
The dream most writers have had from the get-go is to see their literary darlings in the front window of their local bookseller. That dream usually includes visions of book signings with a line of avid fans trailing out the door à la John Grisham or Dan Brown. But a more realistic fantasy might just be standing beside a card table and chatting up a handful of potential customers. Yikes. Sadly, you’re about to get a big ol’ heapin’ helpin’ of reality. Your dreams, (even your little tiny day dream,) is about to be dashed when you realize that no bookstore wants to carry your book.
Part of being a revolutionary is getting shot at and if you’re fixated on selling at the local Barnes and Noble, put on your flak jacket. Your dream needs some adjustment. It’s not that your book is any less a book than the guy who conformed to popular fiction protocol and current industry standards. Your mistake was in thinking you could promote and sell your book in the same way a traditionally published novel is promoted and sold.
The problem can be encapsulated most easily in a single word: “returns.” Booksellers have long-established agreements with the publishers with which they work, guaranteeing that any book that doesn’t sell, can be returned. It used to come about that the bookseller paid for the books and was refunded for those stripped covers that were returned. Today, booksellers and publishers adhere to the “pay-to-scan” rule. Payment for copies sold doesn’t occur until the book is scanned at the register and after their run, (and run times vary,) any books unsold are returned… well, their covers are returned… or virtually returned… books destroyed.r not it was intentional, most works of fiction are set in a specific place. Setting can be your launch pad for promoting your book a specific area. Likewise, subject matter and themes can provide a niche audience and the organizations associated with There are obvious problems with this established practice when it comes to e-books and Print-on-Demand, (POD) books. Like most software sales, e-books are non-refundable unless the product can be proven to be defective. Likewise, the venue, a brick and mortar bookstore, might not be the venue your demographic, (software/e-reader users,) are using to shop. With POD, the product isn’t created until it is paid for. Thus, selling e-books and POD in a bookstore is like trying to sell hand-held flaming shish kabobs at a grocery store. You’re smokin’! But… you’re also a hazard to the store.
So I have put together a short “to-do” list for you avant-garde marketers to get your alternative format books out there – no flak jackets required:
Join writers’ associations Because of the type of books I write, I am a member of Romance Writers of America, the local Virginia chapter, and the young adult romance chapter. As well as the fabulous kinship and networking those organizations can provide, they define you professionally and align you with a genre (or sub-genre.) In my area, writers can also join a cooperative for which, in exchange for a nominal membership fee, members receive access to a professional space for writing. This is also used as a venue for giving or taking part in workshops and discussions, and more networking. Most fiction genres offer a professional organization.
Create Book Connections those connections provide another venue for promoting your book. For example, my latest book, set in Gloucester County, Virginia on the Poropotank River, will provide me with a specific excuse for approaching libraries in that area. The themes and lifestyles of some of the characters, as well as the fact that it is a young adult novel, lends itself well to my approaching schools and speaking on topics related to learning disabilities, alternative learners, and homeschoolers, as well as selling to the homeschool community – most of which connect through electronic means.
Create a list of e-friendly/POD friendly libraries By constructing a press release, you can pitch yourself as well as your book. Your release should include information about your book, where/how it can be purchased, as well as the workshops you can give. In turn, those workshops provide you with a venue for doing signings. Send your press release to libraries, alumni associations, sororities/fraternities you might belong to, college book stores, high-schools if appropriate, senior centers, etc.
Social networking Once upon a time, there was the quilting bee, stitch and bitch clubs, and the garden fence to network with neighbors. Today, your options are more far-reaching: Facebook, Twitter, and Yahoo groups, just to name a few, re-connect us with old friends, classmates, distant relatives, and former co-workers. Then there are blog-sites where, for reasons known only to your followers, they… follow… you, your words, your random thoughts… and you get paid for it! But it always helps if you have something truly profound to offer. In addition, your e-mail address book can constitute a social networking venue. Don’t forget the people who have warranted a personal e-mail from you. Maybe they would like to hear about your new book.
Web-sites, signature lines and brands And this is your virtual calling card. (Don’t forget your material calling cards as well.) Your web-site represents you and your books. If ever there was a place to shout your brand from a soap box, this is your platform. One place to look for your “brand” is to look at your book covers, (or the electronic thumbnail virtual cover.) That is the visual representation of what you do, (and hopefully, you had a voice in your covers – something which those who published via traditional formats rarely have.) Do your covers, web-site, and signature, all exude your brand? This is also a home where fans can turn for news about you and your next book. Consider setting up an elective mailing list option on your web-site. Don’t forget “free beer and pork rinds”! That’s code for incentives to visit your web-site – repeatedly. By offering readers free articles, insert chapters or alternative perspective chapters, you give them a reason to come back for more.
Contests and Reviews You’re never too old, or successful, to enter those contests. Be selective. Look for those that provide for electronic formats. Wins and finals can serve as promotional tools. Likewise, not all reviewers sites are created equal. Make sure the reviewers you submit to are e- friendly… or just plain friendly.
Book Trailers And finally, the latest rage… book trailers! From simple still shots, to interviews with the author, to full-blown motion picture type book trailers, they’re out there. Maybe it’s as great a pipe-dream as having your book sweep the traditional markets to make best-seller lists, but if you’re the book marketing maverick you claim to be, there’s no reason your trailer couldn’t go viral!
That’s just to name a few. Being part of a cooperative is the sharing of information. I look forward to hearing your alternative industry marketing ideas. Share your ideas by writing me at [email protected]. But I give you fair warning: I will collect your data for my mailing list, friend you on Facebook, and send you a bunch of branded crap before getting back to the business of writing… the next book.
Sofie Couch is pleased as punch to announce the release of her second novel, ANGELS UNAWARES, through alternative format – now available in hard copy POD through amazon.com and electronic copy at the Kindle store, (or even cheaper out of the trunk of her car.) Visit her at www.sofiecouch.com for free reads.