Having a successful book does not just mean writing it. We all know how important that is but visions of the back closet filled with boxes of books haunt all of us. Every writer needs to find ways to get that book of theirs into as many hands as possible. Here are a few suggestions that I’ve found worked for me.
5 Proven Ideas for Selling Books
Get over your shyness and talk about your work. With my first book I made sure I always had a copy in my purse and a box of books in my car. People couldn’t wait to see what I had written. Gone were the times when I was too shy or humble to talk about being a writer. When you get a question like ‘what are you up to these days?’ recognize that opens the door to your excitement about your new book. So much better than talking about the weather!
From that first foray into telling people about my books I moved to speaking gigs. At first groups called me but when I saw how many books I sold I started offering my speaking services by calling or emailing them. At each one of those gigs, I always set up an attractive display with books, a banner, and sign-ups for my twice monthly newsletter. If it’s a large group I give a free book to someone at the back of the room–maybe it’s for the person who reads historical fiction or who came the farthest to hear me or who answers some question I make up. The point is as I pass the book back to the back of the room all of those passing it have a chance to hold the book and, hopefully, wish they had one of their own.
Prepare your books in various formats. First, I concentrated on finishing the print version and had it ‘perfect bound’ with a great cover. Immediately I researched and settled on two types of e-books: Kindle because it is the giant Amazon’s e-book format and Kobo because at the time I learned that it had 18% of the market in Canada and I live in Canada. Never one to pass up a new idea, I met a clever fellow who lives in the same city as I do but who is a legends singer (John Denver and Glen Campbell among others) so he has a recording studio in his home. Jack London is a dead ringer for John Denver and sings his songs so well. He and I recorded all of my trilogy in his studio and I put them up on Audible.
My book which is currently just finished (ten days until the first launch) is The Man Behind the Marathons: How Ron Calhoun Helped Terry Fox and Other Heroes Make Millions for Charity.
This book has its own following because of the famous and semi-famous people I wrote about. My challenge is to capitalize on all of that by telling never-before-told stories that link to heroes we know and some we don’t. I try to hone in on that quality in all of us that recognizes good in others. I’m not interested in denigrating anyone and have told the story as it has been told to me by Ron Calhoun. For most of the 86 years of his life he has been a consummate volunteer.
There are several launches and speaking gigs planned with more joining the list every day. The next six months are going to be wonderfully busy with interviews, workshops, speaking gigs and book sales. I love it all!
And now for the best idea of all! Sell your books in large quantities. This could be a whole post itself as there are many ways to try to achieve sales in large numbers to one buyer. I sold many copies to one company because my book fits in well with their theme at Sports Discovery Camp. All of these people who walked, ran, or “Fox-trotted” across this country had to be fantastic marathoners to achieve their goals so the theme fits in well with Sports Discovery Camp, a division of STEM Camp here in Canada. Here is the ad they used.
Coming soon to Amazon print and Kindle e-books as well as Kobo e-books.
