We were beginning to talk last time about getting our books into libraries and other places people will see them, so let’s look at the subject.
The first thing to do is to see if your publisher will submit your book to the library association reviewing system for you. Booklist is a national library function that reviews books and then puts them in a catalog with the review and gets the catalog to most libraries, who then choose the books they want to put on their shelves and proceeds to order them. Look up their site and read the requirements. It’s all laid out. Make sure your publisher does this for you.
Second, you can go into the American Library Association website and find a book you can buy that lists every library in the country with names of librarians, addresses, emails of those who have them, websites, etc. Last I looked, it cost about $200 for a copy, but if you got that, it would enable you to set up a mailing program, or an email program, to let them know about your work.
Another thought is to gather addresses or emails of the libraries yourself. There are sites in the Internet where you can get this information. It’s not easy to get emails, though; it takes a LOT of work. But I did the work and gathered a list of maybe a thousand library emails and sent them a simple introduction campaign just before and after my book was published. If you have the money to either mail or fax to all of them, it’s easier to get those physical addresses and phones, but it still takes a lot of work.
I did the same with bookstores. You can go into the American Booksellers Association website and buy your way into getting lists of all their member bookstores. Or, you can just search the member lists and pull the information yourself. Virtually all the listings have their address listed. For emails, you have to go into each of their websites, if they have one, and search around for the addresses. Again, a lot of work. But, if your publisher isn’t going to get you this exposure, how else will you do it? I made a list of about two thousand bookstores in the U.S. and Canada and did a little emailing campaign to them.
It can be done. The results: I don’t have the slightest. Did they buy a few books because of my campaign, or would they have seen the book in some catalog anyway? I don’t know. But, again, if you are trying to get exposure for your book, what else are you going to do? Especially if you don’t have the money to buy into some kind of big, professional campaign or start out on a driving tour of hundreds of cities, stopping at every bookstore you find.
Again, there are companies/agencies out there that do book reviews and publish those reviews in magazines, newsletter and catalogs that then get out into the hands of those who buy books. Kirkus Reviews is one. Reviewers who write for newspapers. Author and book sites in the Internet. Make sure your publisher is getting your advance copies out to these places well before your book is ready for the bookstore shelves. And if they say, “Oh, we don’t do that,” really consider why you’re with that publisher in the first place. Better yet, find out what they do IN ADVANCE.
On another tack, don’t forget the email addresses of all your friends, contacts, business associates and so on. Do you have contact lists for lodges and organizations? You don’t want to abuse any of these lists, but once or twice, not many people would feel used or abused by your announcement. For instance, you might get lodges or a business to buy copies of your book to give to their members as prizes at their next annual meeting. If you sell the books yourself, you could cut the price to what the wholesalers usually pay (about 40 off retail) and likely make more profit than if you let the wholesalers do it. (Remember, though, the cautions about not getting paid, getting “returns” with credit demanded, etc.)
What about getting lists of newspapers, radio and TV stations and so on that might give you a little news announcement? You can get the websites of virtually every newspaper in the country through the Internet (try www.newspapers.com), but you then have to dig into the site to find email addresses of people who might use your information. Most of your local radio stations would love to have you donate a half dozen of your books for them to use as promotional giveaways, and will likely be open to doing an on air interview with you for doing that. A big Boston station, for instance, that has a signal strength to reach out over all of Massachusetts, could give you some tremendous exposure.
There are basically two concepts to marketing your own product. One is to find ways to send out messages such as I’ve noted above. Whether email or fax or letters, you are getting an advertisement out into the world, either direct to someone in a certain place (a reporter, for instance) or a blind ad that gets into the face of someone “out there” who might get interested in following up with your book. The other is called shoe leather—YOURS. This is where you get on the phone and call people, or you get in your car and start dropping in on stores, etc. So, let’s talk about shoe leather a bit.
This means YOU getting out on the streets, into stores, talking with buyers, going to conventions and book fairs, buying booths at local bazaars and street concerts, handing out bookmarks or flyers at every restaurant (to the waiter or cashier?) or coffee shop you frequent (leave one in the salt and pepper rack on the table), walking the aisles at rodeos and county fairs, and on and on. Anywhere you can pass out a book or flyer or bookmark (without getting chased out by upset management). Are you always prepared with some books in the trunk of your car? How about those simple book displays at the car wash you drive through, or the mom n pop grocery. You might have some problems with non payment and so forth, but you might also get a relationship with a place that could put your book in front of a lot of people.
Would your church let you put a display in the lobby? How about small, local grocery stores? If you put up a consignment display with them (where they don’t pay you until they sell the books), many of them will give you a little space (because they make a buck on the deal, also.) Think also about the local, non big name bookstores, especially if you suggest consignment. Many of them will give you a little counter space, or let you build a little display. (Bear in mind, I’m not specifically recommending consignment. There are some real risks to this of not getting paid, not getting your unsold books back, and so on. But, it can work if you do it right and follow up with the stores and outlets carefully.)
Bear in mind that none of this is going to bring about fast results. As a new author, you are an unknown and it’s going to take a long time to make your way into sight in the marketplace where people will begin to know you. If you get lucky and hit a great showplace, things can happen overnight. For most of us, though, it’s going to take a long time, measured even in years. But, what else did you have to do anyway, right? And remember, it’s your creation, your baby, your work of art, your BOOK. It’s what you wanted to do, right?
We’ll conclude this article with the next Part, so jump back in again, okay.
Care to comment? Write to me at JimMagwood@aol.com.
And visit the website at http://www.JimMagwood.com.
Also, drop in to The Author’s Inn, a site designed to showcase author’s works and connect them with readers. http://www.the authors inn.com.
Author Resource:
Jim Magwood is the author of the international mystery novel, SANCTION. Visit him and SANCTION at his website, http://www.JimMagwood.com . Jim is also the webmaster of the site, The Author’s Inn, dedicated to showcasing author’s works. Visit The Author's Inn at http://www.the-authors-inn.com .
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