Here’s what’s in this week’s newsletter:
- Why Book Tours Matter
- Five Ways to Find People to Interview for Your Book
- A Publicity Lesson from Carol Burnett
WHY BOOK TOURS MATTER
Book tours suck. Particulary book signings. I remember sitting at a table by the front door of Borders in Fresno, with a stack of books and a tray of Oreo knock-offs. I couldn't give away the cookies, let alone sell the books. Several hours of humiliation later, I had sold one copy of my erstwhile bestseller, Write a Book Without Lifting a Finger.
The signing was an accident -- I had thought I had been booked for a talk, which is a more dignified, even pleasant (but still often below minimum wage) activity.
Getting out of that chair and leaving was one of the happiest moments in my life.
Despite the horrors and the expense of bookstore tours, I still recommend them.
Here's why:
1) Product placement: For a week or two before and after your appearance, you get preferential placement in the front of the bookstore. If you're lucky, you might even get counter space at the register. Normally this costs a great deal of money.
2) You have the opportunity to convert bookstore employees into a personal sales force for your book. They will continue to "handsell" your book to their customers long after you leave the bookstore.
3) A book signing is an excuse for you to contact media in that town and get on local radio and television to promote your book, as well as in print media.
4) Successful bookstore appearances can build a small buzz around your book. If your book has the right stuff to make people want to talk about it, the word of mouth factor can eventually be huge.
Television is definitely a factor in getting people to show up. Even with a topic like book publishing and ghostwriting, I usually had twenty people or more at my appearances--as long as I appeared on the local morning TV talk show. But it had to be a morning show that aired before work. In Pittsburgh, the only local morning show airs at 9 AM and reaches fewer people than shows that air earlier. Consequently, only 12 people showed up.
Even that is considered a decent event by bookstore managers. I've was told by one manager that if ten or more people attend your talk, they are happy.
If you're like most authors, you probably think the success of your bookstore appearance relates to how many books you sell while you're there. You're wrong!
The signing is a one time event. Bookstore managers are interested in the effect your signing has after your talk. If your book steadily sells after your appearance, that's when they're impressed. It's an indicator that people like your book and are talking other folks into reading it as well.
The "handselling" factor, mentioned above, can be huge. Vroman's, an independent bookstore in Pasadena, California will support books of universal interest throughout the entire store. A recent pick sold 900 copies. They also promote titles with press releases, blogs, and on the store's MySpace page.
If you make enough bookstore appearances within a limited area, you might wind up on a regional bestseller list. David Bach initially took his first book, "Smart Women Finish Rich", to the San Francisco Chronicle's bestseller list by appearing at forty bookstores in that region.
And if you want to make the business book bestseller list in Denver, it might be easier than you think. Tami DePalma, of marketability.com, told me her father made the Denver Post's business list one August by selling just 11 books. So make sure you set up some appearances at Denver's independent stores toward the end of the summer.
5 WAYS TO FIND PEOPLE TO INTERVIEW FOR YOUR BOOK
You’ve got a great idea for a book. You know that there are people out there with stories that illustrate your point. Where do you go to find them?
Here are five e-zines and/or websites that let you post your request for interviews for free.
1) Profnet--www.profnet.com. Enter as a journalist, and your request will go to thousands of people looking for publicity, and therefore happy to share their tales with you.
2) Subscribe to Levine Breaking News, a quirky but fun summary of breaking news stories at http://www.levinepr.com/elert.html. They currently have over 300,000 subscribers. Then put a free 30 word ad for in the Bulletin Board section - E-mail: freebulletinboard@timewire.net
3) Dan Poynter is Mr. Self-Publishing. He has a newsletter that goes to 18,000 subscribers, and you can advertise your request for stories there. Subscribe at: http://tinyurl.com/24sp6 and send your requests for stories to: DanPoynter@ParaPublishing.com. (Dan will announce any freebies you have in his newsletter, too.)
4) WritersWeekly.com(www.writersweekly.com) has 70,000 readers who are writers. You can post interview requests at: http://tinyurl.com/2bosx.
5) I will happily post your thirty-word request for stories in AuthorSecrets, which currently has 40,000 subscribers and is growing by thousands of subscribers a month. E-mail me at GetPublished@AuthorsTeam.com.
This article is actually the answer to the QUESTION OF THE WEEK. Richard Tripp, author of “It’s Hip to Help the Homeless” asked me where he could get stories of regular folks doing things to make an impact on homeless people’s lives. If you’ve got a story, e-mail him at copp777@yahoo.com. Send your question to getpublished@AuthorsTeam.com and I might answer it in this e-zine.
A PUBLICITY LESSON FROM CAROL BURNETT
How potent is tying your subject matter to current events—when you are looking for publicity and to make a name for yourself?
Potent enough to turn Carol Burnett from a little known night club singer into a national star.
According to Tom Shales of the Washington Post, this is how Carol Burnett got her big break: In 1957, she was appearing at the Blue Angel nightclub. Teen-age girls were obsessed with Elvis Presley. Burnett’s friend Ken Welch wrote a song about a young girl totally obsessed not with a rock star but with the secretary of state: "I Made a Fool of Myself Over John Foster Dulles."
Jack Paar heard about it, booked her on the "Tonight Show," and it was a sensation. Ms. Burnett says, "The phones were ringing off the book. I went back to the Blue Angel to do the midnight show and there was a man on the phone who said he was Mr. Dulles' television adviser, and he said, 'Mr. Dulles didn't see it. Could you possibly go back on the Paar show and do it on Thursday?' I said, 'Fine by me.' But of course I didn't know. But they called Jack Paar, who had a great show, and he brought me back on Thursday. Then Ed Sullivan called and I did it on his show that Sunday. So it was three times in one week."
A week later, Burnett watched "Meet the Press" because Dulles was to be the interviewee. "And the very last question was, 'So tell me, Mr. Dulles, what is going on between you and that young lady who sings that love song about you?' And you know how dour he was. I got up close to the television set and he said, 'I make it a matter of policy never to discuss matters of the heart in public.' Isn't that sweet? Wow."
Here's to your bestseller!
President
The Authors Team
and author of Write a Book Without Lifting a Finger
available with free special bonuses at www.WriteABookToday.com
and at bookstores everywhere
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