If you have a site that promotes your books (or anything else), there are ways other than social media to make people aware of it.
One that was mentioned recently at the elegant themes blog was "get physical." In other words, create something in the real world that points people to your site. They suggested t-shirts, posters, and putting your url on your business card.
A method I used when my book, Your Writing Coach, first came out, was to print small cards featuring tips on how to overcome writer's block, with a plug for the book and its accompanying web site at the bottom.
I offered these as a give-away to writing conferences, and quite a few took me up on it. We ended up distributing several thousand copies.
I don't know how many people actually bought the book as a result but I did get email from people who appreciated the tips, and the traffic to the site did increase.
You could also print bookmarks to distribute to bookstores. You may find that the independent bookstores are more open to this than the chains. The latter may want to charge for putting the bookmarks on their counters.
The key is being sure that whatever you produce is useful, not just an ad.
Is your desk messy? Are there piles of paper everywhere? Feel shame no longer, science says it makes us more creative!
The study was published in the journal,Psychological Science and summarized in a New York Times article.
The researchers had one group brainstorm in a neat room and a similar group brainstorm in a messy room. The outcome:
"When we analyzed the responses, we found that the subjects in both types of rooms came up with about the same number of ideas, which meant they put about the same effort into the task. Nonetheless, the messy room subjects were more creative, as we expected. Not only were their ideas 28 percent more creative on average, but when we analyzed the ideas that judges scored as “highly creative,” we found a remarkable boost from being in the messy room — these subjects came up with almost five times the number of highly creative responses as did their tidy-room counterparts."
They say a similar study at Northwestern University showed that people in a messy environment drew more creative pictures.
On this basis, I should be one of the most creative people in the world. Now if I could only find my desk...
I see that the Guardian Masterclasses in writing include a two-day session called "The Fundamentals of Fiction," taught by novelist Tim Lott. It has room for 16, and it runs from 10am to 4pm. Assuming the participants take a one-hour lunch and two 15-minute breaks, that's a total of 9 hours of instruction.
The price? £449 (about $684). They do throw in lunch, though, and say you may "dress however you feel comfortable," a phrase Mr. Lott might find infelicitous.
Perhaps the Guardian will apply some of the profits from the course to hiring another copy editor. Below is a little gem from today's article about Robert Maxwell's daughter, Ghislaine. When her father's empire collapsed, it left a large hole in the pension fund of his newspaper, The Daily Mirror. Caroline Davies writes:
"His death is said to have left her 'catatonic' with grief, and it was during this period she set out to New York to rebuild her life.
Being photographed boarding Concorde to cross the Atlantic attracted the anger of Mirror pensioners."
I'm sure any graduate of the Guardian's £449 class would be able to point out that this sentence makes it sound like the pensioners were boarding the Concorde to cross the Atlantic, which seems rather unlikely.
It's getting harder to arrange a book signing at book stores unless you're a big name author, but it's still worth doing. The point isn't necessarily to sell a lot of books on the day, it's to get the book store to stock your book and perhaps put it in the window or otherwise feature it.
Of course the author's greatest fear is that nobody will show up, which is why you can't just sit back and hope. Some of the actions you can take:
* Instead of just doing a signing offer to give a short talk. If you're a really good reader, you can offer to read an excerpt from your book but frankly most authors are not great readers. Try it and get an objective reaction before you decide.
If you've written a non-fiction book the topic usually is obvious--the same thing your book is about. If it's fiction, you might talk about the setting, the writing process, or a famous writer who inspired you.
* Approach the local newspaper and radio station well ahead of time and see whether they'll do an interview with you. They are much more likely to be interested if you offer to give away a few copies of your book to their readers or listeners. Your appearance at a local bookstore gives them a hook, and a talk is an even better one. Try to find a local angle. For instance, if you've written a detective story you might talk about famous crimes associated with that area.
* If allowed and the time of day is right (after 5pm), provide free glasses of wine and some nibbles. People who might otherwise not approach your table will come if there's free wine.
Arrange for someone to pour the wine and keep it to one glass per person (maybe if they buy more than one copy of your book you can make an exception....). That stops self-pourers from having half the bottle.
* Chat with the staff before the official start time. If it's allowed, make sure they get a glass of wine and some snacks first. If you make a good impression on them they're likely to keep your book in mind in the days after the event.
* If it's OK with the bookstore manager, have a friend stand just inside the entrance and hand out a bookmark or a little leaflet about your book and say something like, "Hello, I just wanted to let you know there's an author here tonight, in case you might be interested." Make sure that anything you hand out has your website, Facebook, and Twitter or other social media links on it.
* Get some friends to show up, but don't hang out with them in a way that deters strangers from approaching you. I've seen this happen--the author laughing and chatting with friends, and potentially interested strangers not daring to intrude.
* Smile and chat, don't sell. If someone comes within talking distance, smile, say hello and ask them something neutral like, "Is this your regular bookstore?" or even, "Nice to see some people still coming to bookstores instead of just using Amazon," or comment on some feature of the store. After a bit of chat, people may well ask you something about your book. Again, avoid the hard sell. Don't be offended if they ask you the way to the toilets; if you have a leaflet, give them one and say, "Here's some reading material."
* If possible, offer a bonus to people who buy your book on the night. It could be a poster, a booklet, or even just a nice bookmark. Have a sign nearby that gives the name of the book, your name, the price, and the bonus if there is one. If you're giving a talk, post the time it starts and finishes so people will be aware that it will be short.
* If buyers ask you to dedicate the book to them, check the spelling of their names before you start writing. Even common names sometimes have unusual spellings.
* Have at least two or three things in mind that you can write in addition to signing your name. It can be as simple as, "I hope you enjoy it!" or (in the case of a mystery) "Don't peek at the ending!" Keep it short and if a couple of people obviously are together and both having you sign a copy, don't use the same phrase with both.
* Another one that seems obvious but worth noting: take along several pens. If any of them are valuable, be careful not to hand the pen to the person along with the signed book. This is not the best time to use a fountain pen because the ink will take time to dry and is likely to smear.
* If the bookstore wants you to sign some copies to leave behind, do that while you're sitting there--it gives you something to do while nobody is approaching you. Even better, have your friends approach you with these books but of course don't write any dedication, just your name. Then let them give back the books out of sight. Hey, it's called priming the pump!
* Use social media before and after the event. Before the event, invite people to attend and ask them to let you know whether or not they are coming. If they say they are, they're more likely to show up. Have a friend take photos at the busiest time--even three people standing around the signing table can look like a crowd if the angle is right. Put the photos on your site, it helps show that the event was successful and may encourage other bookstores to do it as well.
This may seem like a lot of effort and most likely you won't sell more than a dozen copies on the night, but your larger objective is to make a good impression on the staff, show your publisher that you're willing to work to promote your book, and draw people to your website--especially if you're going to be writing more books.
Unfortunately it's now the policy of some chain bookstore to charge the author or publisher for hosting a signing. You'll probably have more luck with independent bookshops, but it's worth also checking with the manager of your local branch of a chain. If you offer extra value, like a short talk, some copies to give away on the night, and perhaps refreshments, they may be willing to make an exception.
I get my fair share of SPAM offering me a share of the money that deposed dictators wish to spirit out of their country, or from fatally ill rich people who have no relatives and therefore have decided I should inherit their fortunes, as well as notices of cash prizes from lotteries I never entered.
One thing these scam/spam emails have in common is that they're full of typos and grammatical errors. I always wondered why the scammers, who make millions, don't hire a copy editor. Then I read an interview with an expert who said those errors are intentional; the scammers figure that people who don't notice the mistakes probably have a low level of education and are more likely to be taken in.
Here's the opening of one I received today:
"Dear Costumer,
The anti fraud system has detected an unauthorized activity in your account."
In addition to assuming that I'm in the business of making costumes, the message never mentions what account supposedly has been hacked.
Of course there's a link they want me to click so gI can complete "all necessary information," which probably would include my bank account details.
Actually, some spam messages are quite entertaining and now you might look at their spelling and grammatical errors in a new light.
At TheDigitalReader.com, Nate Hoffelder summarizes the challenge that self-publishers (and even traditional publishers) are facing:
"As 2014 draws to a close indie publishing finds itself at a crossroad. There's a growing consensus that the supply of indie e-books is beginning to exceed demand, leading to the textbook micro-economics result [falling revenues]."
WHAT WORKED ISN'T WORKING
He lists three conclusions:
"One, the days of releasing the first title in a series as permafree have passed. All that accomplishes now is to flood the market and make it harder to sell e-books.
Two, the idea of writing and publishing your next book as the best marketing strategy is also going to have to be reconsidered.
Three, getting into or out of Kindle Unlimited isn't nearly as important as some thought it was a few weeks ago. As I noted when I first reported on this story, this problem is affecting authors both in and out of KU."[Kindle Unlimited is a plan in which, for a monthly fee, readers get free access to many of the e-books available on Kindle. Authors have reported that joining this plan has resulted in lower sales and that the revenue they get from KU has not been enough to make up the difference.]
To this I would add that, for most authors, using social media to promote their fiction doesn't work unless they put an enormous amount of time and effort into it. Yes, you can do blog tours, take part in forums, have a blog about your book, etc. but all those face exactly the same problem as the books themselves: too many people doing the same thing.
Also, just as giving away your book in hopes that this will attract readers to other books you have written or will write doesn't work now, neither will lowering the prices--that will just result in a race to the bottom.
SO WHAT WILL WORK?
I don't have a magic plan, but I think based on what's happening now we can safely say to get attention in this ever more crowded marketplace you have to do something different. A few examples:
* Some authors have used crowdfunding as a way to create an audience for their book before they finish writing it. They set the financial bar low to help ensure that their target will be met. However, getting attention for your funding effort also requires a lot of effort, and works best for high-concept books. Two important elments are how creative you can be with the pitch video that you put on the crowdfunding site and the kinds of rewards you come up with for the people who pledge funds. (I'll be doing a series of posts on crowdfunding at some point.)
* When everybody is trying to use new media, it may be the right time to go back to using old media. Local newspapers, local radio, magazines, and other old media are still alive and get a sizable audience. The hook for getting their attention usually is something extreme about the work or about you. Think of oldest, youngest, longest, shortest, cheapest, most expensive, an unusual origin, an unusual experience, etc.
* There may be piggybacking opportunities, but usually you have to create them yourself. For instance, if you have written a romance in which one of the protagonists suffers from an illness or medical condition, is there a charity or support group that might help you promote the book if you donate 10% of your profits? Obviously this would work only if they felt your portrayal was accurate and might help promote understanding.
* There may be unusual sponsorship opportunities. For instance, hotels, restaurants and even train lines have had writers in residence. The main value isn't that residence, but the opportunity to leverage it for publicity. Again, you need to be proactive--why not suggest such a scheme to a business that's not doing it now, rather than waiting to hear about one and then having to compete for it?
DON'T LOSE HEART!
In any crisis, there is opportunity. I'm convinced that authors who are as creative about their marketing as they are about their plots and characters will find a way to cut through all the noise.
(To find some great techniques for coming up with creative ideas, see my book, Creativity Now, published by Pearson. For 100 case studies of unusual and inexpensive market techniques, see my book Do Something Different, published by Virgin Business Books. Both are available from your favorite bookseller.)
