I\u2019m back in my home office and happily so, except that there is a lot of work awaiting my attention. But that\u2019s a good thing. Without work, there\u2019s no money for travel and when I travel, I’m able to help hopeful authors. <\/p>\n
I\u2019ve had some interesting feedback related to my last blog entry about “Yellow Book Promotion.” One freelance writer told me her story. She had a booth at a flea market where she was offering merchandise she collects and sells. A woman, whose niece had similar wares, stood in front of my friend\u2019s booth directing potential customers to her niece\u2019s booth. She said that this woman literally grabbed the arms of some of the browsers and ushered them away. Unfortunately, this soured my friend against participating in another flea market. <\/p>\n
If this happens to you, speak to the event coordinators. They’ll take care of it. It’s bad practice, not to mention rude. Yup, this falls under the term, Yellow Book Promotion.<\/p>\n
An author I know tells the story about another author, who was sharing a booth with him, attempting to lure his customers away during a book festival. Instead of waiting for the potential customer to walk away with or without having purchased his book, the other author would reach across the display of books and hand a copy of her book to the undecided shopper. No, no, no!! This is not good practice.<\/p>\n
I’ve seen authors in an audience raise their hands, during a presentation, and pitch their books. Often, other audience members will begin to ask questions and soon the focus is on the author rather than the presenter. That’s plain rude. <\/p>\n
Okay, on to more positive things. I had a great time visiting the Professional Writers of Prescott (Arizona) earlier this week. They invited me to speak to their group. And, even though it was the same night as the presidential debate on TV, we had a nice turnout of interested and interesting writers at all stages of publishing. Most had been published. Hopefully, everyone walked away with something they can use to reach their individual goals. And those without unreasonable expectations, I trust, did.<\/p>\n
I learn something almost every single time I meet with other writers\/authors, converse with other writers\/authors and even when I am speaking to a group of newby writers or hopeful authors. I’ve met freelance writers and authors, however, who are so set in their ways and so determined to succeed and still stay within their comfort zones, that they are not open to new ideas, nor do they recognize information they can use. These authors walk away saying, “Well, I didn’t get anything out of that talk.” They stay closed. They discount those things they keep hearing and reading. They live in denial. These are generally authors who are stuck in grooves. Some of them are spiraling downward in their attempts at publishing success and they still won’t reach for a lifeline. <\/p>\n
They may read books and articles and attend presentations hoping to learn how to reach their goals some easy way—hoping that someone will give them a hand up. Only they don’t recognize it when they see it. They walk out of a presentation believing that they heard nothing new and certainly nothing of value to their project. They don’t want to grow or try anything new. They hope to sell more books, but they don’t want to change anything in order to do so. They will poo poo all of the statistics, facts, resources, suggestions, recommendations and ideas they hear because these are not within the realm of their comfort zone. <\/p>\n
If this describes you, do your self and your project a favor and try reaching out into unknown territory on behalf of your book. Start by taking just one idea or suggestion and exploring it at least a little. Maybe you have a website and are waiting patiently for your readers to find it and start ordering your book. You feel this is enough—you certainly don’t want to do public speaking or otherwise make a spectacle of yourself. But you can do a couple of simple things to bring attention to your book without giving presentations. In fact, there are plenty of things you can (and really should) do. Start by soliciting book reviews. It’s a simple task, doesn’t take much time and can be quite rewarding. How?<\/p>\n
Use Writer’s Market <\/em>to locate magazines related to the topic\/genre of your book. In most cases, you’ll find dozens of them. Study the magazines on the racks at your local mega bookstores. List those that are appropriate. Consider those magazines you subscribe to. And then do an Internet search to locate additional magazines as well as newsletters. Then start soliciting reviews. Here’s how:<\/p>\n \u2022\tFind out if these publications publish book reviews. For additional book promotion ideas, read The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book<\/em>. You might also find this book useful: Over 75 Good Ideas for Promoting Your Book<\/em>, This book is a good value at only $6.50. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m back in my home office and happily so, except that there is a lot of work awaiting my attention. But that\u2019s a good thing. Without work, there\u2019s no money for travel and when I travel, I’m able to help hopeful authors. I\u2019ve had some interesting feedback related to my last blog entry about “Yellow […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\u2022\tContact the book review editor or general editor of appropriate publications.
\n\u2022\tAsk permission to send a review copy of your book.
\n\u2022\tSend your book to those editors who request it.
\n\u2022\tFollow up to make sure they have done (or have scheduled) the review.
\n\u2022\tPost the reviews at your website.
\n\u2022\tAsk the reviewer to post the review on your Amazon.com book page.<\/p>\n
\n http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/rightway.html<\/a> <\/p>\n
\n http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/over75page.html<\/a><\/p>\n