I had a good time at the Central Coast Book and Author Festival yesterday. I was able to pull off my speech\u2014written the day before. I thought I covered all of the main points and the feedback was excellent. I always enjoy meeting authors and hopeful authors at these events. I met one man who has been in publishing as long as I have. We enjoyed comparing notes and reminiscing about the good old days when a well-written book on a topic of interest to a fairly sizable niche audience was fairly easy to sell\u2014when publishers wrote personal notes of rejection (or acceptance). Sigh!<\/p>\n
While womanning my booth, I met some of my \u201cneighbors.\u201d One was new to bookselling and admitted that she had no idea how to engage visitors and how to sell her book. I don\u2019t think she sold any books yesterday. But she got a lesson in what to do next time. I overheard another author coaching her on how to represent her book.<\/p>\n
It occurred to me that many authors don\u2019t know how to talk about their books. They didn\u2019t read my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book<\/em> before diving into the publishing arena, so they missed the important lesson about devising a 30-second commercial or the one about coming up with a one or two-line description of the book. <\/p>\n Do try this at home\u2014or at work, on the bus\/plane, while watching your kids at soccer practice. Once you are able to describe your book\u2014your story\u2014succinctly, you will have an easier time talking about it to potential readers. <\/p>\n For nonfiction, what is the main premise of your book? What is the purpose? Who is it for\u2014how will it serve that audience?<\/p>\n Without these guidelines, you might describe your book on stargazing as, \u201cA book about the stars and planets.\u201d With the guidelines above, you might now say, \u201cThis is an astrology project book designed to bring kids and their parents together under the stars. It includes quizzes and games for hours of fun while learning more about astrology.\u201d<\/p>\n You might say that your book is a travel memoir. Or describe it as, \u201cAn exciting account of Greece as seen through the eyes of a retiree with a flair for adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n Your lesson for this week, whether you are just starting to write a book or you are already marketing one: write a one or two sentence description and share it with us.<\/p>\n I understand that the link I gave you for the article on how to work a book proposal so it works for you, didn\u2019t, in fact, work! So sorry. Let\u2019s try this again: http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/articles\/promo_bookfestival.htm<\/a> <\/p>\n Visit my websites\u2014sign up for a FREE gift here:
\n http:\/\/www.patriciafry.com<\/a><\/p>\n