I was a bit skeptical of the idea of selling books at art fairs even though the idea was mine. But, I have been willing to step out of the box in order to sell my novel, Out of the Shadows. As it turned out having a little booth at art fairs has been profitable, and I sell more books than I have at book signings at Barnes and Nobles or independent bookstores.
These days writers must sell themselves, it’s a given. We’ve got to look for and latch onto any opportunity to self promote. Book talks are an excellent way to do it. Senior citizen groups, local service clubs, libraries, schools, and writers groups all have a frequent need for speakers and we must serve – if we want to sell, that is. Of course the first step is informing everyone by phone call, letter or email of your availability to speak. Then, as the dates pile up, you’ll need a plan…
An author recently sent in the following when asking about his book sales…
What is your opinion of the (name removed) organization and their bestseller program. The fee is $20 and they will purchase (a few) copies for reviewers to evaluate my book and potentially increase my sales dramatically. I would like your opinion. I would have to provide a copy of my book for them to utilize and have an opportunity for someone to win a free copy.
On occasion, we hear from authors who are accusing their distributor of theft because their Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com “ranking” moved…but their actual sales numbers did not. Several years ago, one author claimed she was owed millions because her Amazon ranking was…in the millions. As you’ve probably guessed, this is a common problem. New authors often try to use bookstore rankings to estimate their sales and that doesn’t always work…especially if those authors don’t understand how the rankings are calculated…
Every author needs an audience, and there’s no reason why you can’t start building one right now in your own backyard. What follows are five easy steps to get you started…
Unless you’ve been living under a rock since 2006, then you probably already have a Twitter account. But, are you using it to its full potential? It’s a sad fact that most writers don’t. There is slightly more to it than keeping track of what people you’ve never met are having for breakfast. When used […]
You’re depressed. You’re confused. You’re thinking about giving up writing altogether. Why? Because the only people who have bought your book are your mom and your Aunt Bertha. With more than a million books published each year now (most of those self-published), there is lots of competition. However, many authors earn enough in book sales to feed their families. How do they do it?
Some of this may be hard to hear (I mean read) but, if you clicked on this article, you’re obviously seeking the truth. So, here it is…
After I started publishing content online, I got emails from visitors telling me how much they liked my websites. I smiled, sometimes responded, and hit “delete.” Later, subscribers to my email newsletters sent complimentary comments as well. I smiled, sometimes responded, and hit “delete.” It was almost two years, after I started putting websites and e-books together, before I realized I should save these testimonials. I then added the appropriate language to the “terms of use” pages on my sites, allowing me to use a few lines from any email received, and I set up files to sort the e-mails worth saving. From that point on, I carefully saved hundreds of testimonials, and even used a few once in a while.
As the owner of WritersWeekly.com and BookLocker.com, writers and authors frequently add me to email notifications they send out when they update their website or blog. I’m happy to receive these and I often find interesting and intriguing tidbits in these individuals’ posts. Unfortunately, some of them have great blog posts or website articles but very boring email notifications so nobody opens them…
