My book sales are up. SPAWN membership is on the rise. Clients are requesting my assistance. The writing life is good. I hope you all can say the same. Are your extra efforts to get your articles published or to sell books paying off for you? Why shouldn’t they be?
Sure, we’re in a severe economic situation. But does this mean we should give up our dreams or our careers? What is the unemployment rate now—in some places it’s over 8 percent. But this means that 92 percent of us are working. Likewise, magazines are folding. But, believe it or not, new magazines are also being launched at a fairly good rate. Book sales may be down, but books are selling—why not yours?
This is no time to slack off when it comes to promoting your book or yourself. In fact, this is your opportunity to get noticed. Is the competition still stiff? Well, yes. But there are also many freelance writers and authors who have been scared off by industry rumors that the times are bad—that books aren’t selling and that magazines are not buying stories and articles. Think about it, this might be a perfect time to hit it hard—when others are retreating.
So what are you going to do this week to boost your book sales or get your articles or stories published? Here are some ideas:
Sell More Books
• Make news and then report it. How? Get involved in something pertaining to the theme of your book—develop a children’s hour at the local library, conduct a workshop for seniors who need help budgeting in these difficult times, open your offices to couples financial counseling FREE every Friday afternoon, establish a weekend sandwich or stew feed for local homeless and other struggling families, volunteer to read your entire novel over a two-week period to folks at a local senior center, for example. And then report it to the newspaper. Your book will get a plug. Parlay your publicity by getting folks in other communities involved in similar programs and get more press outside of your area.
• Travel around outside of your community on weekends and visit independent bookstores with your books. If you can coordinate a signing, a radio or TV appearance, a workshop or talk someplace locally, you’ll have a greater chance of getting into the bookstore AND of selling those books.
• Run a contest or another project to bring awareness to your website and your book. In preparing this program, remember to respond to your potential customers’ most burning question, “What’s in it for me?”
Get Your Articles Published
• Seek out new (to you) magazines—some of those that may be a bit obscure, but that pay pretty well. Approach them with some of your best article ideas or fiction stories.
• Contact those magazine editors with whom you have good working relationships. Ask for an assignment.
• Get out and around town. Visit new businesses. Attend festivals, art shows, plays, concerts, etc. seeking article ideas. Ideas might come through eaves dropping, from interviews with key people at the event or business or simply as a question in your own mind, for example. Expand on the idea and you may quickly generate a good article concept.
There’s a lot that we can do in order to increase our visibility and value as writers and authors. Sitting home and fretting about the economy and the future is not one of them.
So the theme for today’s blog post is “Get Out and Make Something Happen.” If you are in the process of writing a book or even if you are just thinking about doing it, order my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html
If your book sales are lagging and you, as a published author, are floundering, order my ebook, The Author’s Repair Kit. This book will help you to breathe new life into your failing book. http://www.matilijapress.com/author_repairkit.html
If you want a fun, frolicking, furry, purry read, order the ebook or print (comb-bound) copy of my newly illustrated (with over 80 photos of kitties), Catscapades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats. http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html
Thanks for these helpful tips. It’s so refreshing to read good news for authors and publishers in a season of doomsayers.
Another tip: Teaching locally or regionally really helps. I’ve boosted book sales for a book of personal essays that was published in 2005 by teaching workshops on writing and publishing the personal essay. The essays in my book were published several times, so I can use them as examples for students who want to get their pieces published. Students who take my classes buy my book before taking the class, but often buy extra copies from me in the workshops. (I make them available at a small discount.)
The workshops don’t demand too much of my time, because I know the material, plus I make money from the class fees in addition to the extra book sales.