In this post, we will talk about how to plan for the unplanned opportunities. When you are in your car, running errands and chores, always make sure you have a few copies of your book on hand along with your author business cards and/or bookmarks. Make it your goal each day to mention your book at least 10 times a day (that you don't plan; i.e., a seminar) and personally hand out 10 bookmarks. I like to sign my bookmarks.
Your books can serve two purposes. You can pull them out as a visual to impress upon someone that you are an author. Talking about being an author can be impressive; showing a book with your name on it can really "Wow!" people. Having books can also give you a chance to make that spur of the moment sale or if the situation warrants, give your book away with the promise of spreading the word about your book.
I just had my teeth cleaned yesterday and I shared my experience as an author with my hygienist. It stemmed from the simple question, "What do yo do for a living?" When we are out, we need to be looking for opportunities to mention that we wrote a book. Sometimes, we can gently encourage the conversation down that direction without sounding too self-promotional. Here are some things to listen for:
- What do you do for a living?- This is a layup.
- The weather has been {insert condition: Rainy, cold, windy, etc..)- To which you can respond, "I've been staying out of the snow working on the draft of my next book.)
- Enlist someone's help- As you're paying your grocery bill, ask the cashier if he or she knows anyone who likes your genre. Hand a couple of bookmarks to them and ask if they could pass them on to that friend who like action/adventure novels.
- Exchange Cards/bookmarks- When you take someone's business card, it's the perfect opportunity to give yours away as well. Never take someone's card without exchanging yours as well. Your card/bookmark can be a conversation starter for greater things.
- Put the book in someone's hand- When you get to the point you are talking about your book, pull out a copy and place it into the hands of the person you are talking to. The act of holding a physical book can instill a more intimate connection between them and your book. Sometimes it will lead to a sale, but it will always strengthen their connection and help them share that experience to others.
- Crown your "stack of stuff" with your book- Do you carry a briefcase, purse, papers, or anything else? If so, find a way to make sure your book is placed cover-up on top of your items when you set them down on a counter. The visual of your book can lead into great conversations.
Once you get into the swing of things, you will become a natural at making sure your book has every opportunity to slip into each conversation you have throughout the day. Unlike many products, people are usually fascinated by talking to a real author with a real book, so these conversations can be fun ones for everyone. It won't take long before you realize that you have talked to hundreds of people, all of whom have your bookmark or business card. And each will have a cool encounter with a real author that they can share with their friends and neighbors.
Tony Eldridge
14 comments:
Great promotional ideas, Tony. I agree with what you are saying. If you are promoting yourself, why should anyone else think your worth promoting. I don't have a book yet, but I'm always trying to promote my new blog. In fact, I need to have new business cards printed up with my blog address on them ASAP.
Thanks for the reminder.
Lee
http://tossingitout.blogspot.com/
Nice ideas, Tony, but you're working from the assumption that all authors are published in paperback or hardcover.
If you're published in e-book only, "handing someone your book" while you're talking about your latest title becomes unrealistic, and book promotion mostly becomes an exercise in eduction about e-books and e-reading -- yes, even now when there's so many e-books and devices around, there's still a huge portion of the population who aren't even aware that you can get books in electronic format.
Cheers,
Tracy
Bootstrap Book Marketing Co-op
Very helpful, useful advice that is easy to apply right now. Great ideas!
(my creative writing blog)
Arlee,
I love the idea of promoting your blog the same way! Many of the ideas I have for authors can be applied to blog owners as well. Great tip!
Tracy,
You bring up an excellent point. In fact, I am of the opinion that e-books are on the verge of a major breakout in popularity beyond what we have even seen yet.
You certainly can't bring out a physical copy of your e-book when you are offline with people, but you can still use the business cards/bookmark ideas.
In fact, your comment got me thinking... perhaps an author can offer a free copy of their e-book in exchange for their e-mail address or a free excerpt of the book.
Perhaps an author of a can even make a chapter available online for a free download and print that link on their cards. Anything to get people to come to their site. With the URL shortening services, someone can easily fit a download link on a business card.
Excellent comments!
Thanks for your your comments, Sarah! These are ideas I have been using since my book was published and they have been very easy to do and they have led to great conversations!
Funnily enough I have taken my book out with me 3 times so far and every time I've sold a copy :)
Once was when I'd taken my proof copy to a local bookstore to ask them to stock a few when it was due to be released - the owner wasn't in, but I bumped into someone I knew in the store who asked me to show them the book and then pre-ordered one on the spot.
I've got my first book signing event on Sunday - so I am nervous about that -but it will be interesting to see what happens.
Oh, the bookstore owner said yes to stocking my book by the way :)
Alternative Poetry Books - Yellow edition - available on Amazon
Tony this is the perfect article for those who say they don't know how to promote themselves. I often tell them if you don't think your own book is worth talking about, who will? This shows them how to talk about it. Let's work on reprinting this in my newsletter when I get back from vacation, OK?
Best,
Carolyn
Great reminders! It's happened that I forgot to have my bookmarks handy right when I needed to give one out. It's true that an author is the best promoter for his/her book, although what we like to do best is write and leave the rest to someone else. Sometimes, though, that's not an option.
This is a great post filled with great advice that encourages others to take advantage of every opportunity.
Very nice.
Hi All, Tony
Great article. My 1st self published book was before the net, before PCs. I did everything you suggest and a few years later was in the best seller row at the ALA Book Fair in between Art Linkletter and Anne Rice. Now my newest POD book is out, Teach Yourself Singing If You Can Talk You Can Sing, and I take a break from Online Marketing to go foot marketing with Book Cover full color business cards and my feet and a trunk full of books just like decades ago. Happy Holiday Singing Everyone.
Great ideas, Tony! I like to carry a copy of my book with me when I go out to eat. I can place it on the table face up for others to see, or I can pick it up and pretend to read it. :) I also often put one of my book marks in with the credit card receipt when I hand it back to the server.
You have some great ideas there Tony. Now I've got the perfect excuse to become more sociable and make the effort to meet more people.
Thanks, Tony, for these tips. I like most the easy ways to steer a casual conversation to the book without looking like a vacuum cleaner salesman.
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