You may remember the Book Launch 2.0 video from Dennis Cass, author of Head Case: How I Almost Lost My Mind Trying to Understand My Brain, from a post a couple months ago about social media. I started following Dennis and he has a great Web site called DENNIS CASS WANTS YOU TO BE MORE AWESOME where he writes "advice, jokes, and tough love for people who want to make a living making culture."Borrowing a page from Dennis, I'd like to try a little thought exercise for authors and book marketers. Ready?
Imagine you cannot mail out one single press release or promotional copy of your book for reviews, interviews, or media features. How do you get exposure for your book?
Hint: it is NOT advertising.
Please post a comment with your thoughts on how to promote your book.
7 comments:
Paul, I don't know if this is what you mean, but I wrote a book about fishing. I went to a local outdoor show at the convention center and gave a copy of my book to each exhibitor and asked them to display it. On the back I taped my card that says the book is available at my Web site and Amazon.com. I don't know if it added up to any sales but it seemed like good exposure to a group of people that would be interested in my book. And, when I told my publisher about it they replaced the copies I gave away so it really didn't cost me anything!
Is that what you mean?
Anonymous, that is awesome! That is exactly what I mean but why on earth would you not use this opportunity to use your name and plug your book?
Thanks for reading. Paul.
I had a party when my book came out and emailed an invitation to everyone I knew. I put a link to the book's website in the invitation. In this way, I got the word out about the book to people I may not have spoken to recently. I also sold 70 copies at the party itself.
A party--very good idea. Was there a specific theme that tied in with your book?
Good thinking on selling books at the party too. I suppose that went a ways toward paying for the party.
What did you do or could you have done to extend sales after the party was over or otherwise turn the people who came to the party into "sneezers" or multipliers or evangelists for your book?
Thanks for reading, Paul.
C'mon. Really? That's it? An outdoor show and a party?
Anyone got anything else?
Bowerbird?
Anyone?
I'm doing a walking tour in NYC for anyone who bought or buys a copy of my book, Bad Seeds in the Big Apple. And now, thanks to Jennifer Behar who got me booked on the local NPR station, I have been contacted by a group that does cemetery tours and they are doing a crime & punishment tour for Halloween and they asked me to come along and offered to sell my book.
Pat, that is very cool.
Everyone, what ideas can we come up with to multiply the impact of the Halloween "crime and punishment" tour to help sell more of Pat's book?
1. If the tour is successful, is this something you (Pat) could do regularly with the tour company? Once a month? More?
2. Invite your NPR interviewer to come with you on the tour and do a special segment about it.
Other ideas?
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