The Business of Writing

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The Business of Writing

Darlene Duncan

That Nasty “M” Word

Editor's Note: In this article, author Darlene Duncan discusses how to market your self-published book. For information about deciding whether to self-publish, see her article, "The Benefits of Self-Publishing," in the December 2003 issue of T-zero.

You have books to sell! You knew when you decided to self-publish that you would be responsible for marketing your book. Now that you have boxes of books sitting around your house, that point is brought home with a vengeance.

You must learn marketing if you want your book to succeed. There are many books available on marketing non-fiction, most of which mention fiction but don’t offer a great deal of specifics. So it is up to the fiction author to modify the ideas presented and gear them toward whatever genre of fiction they write. The four books I currently have in my library on marketing and promoting are:

The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing by Tom & Marilyn Ross
The Self-Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter
Jump Start Your Book Sales by Marilyn & Tom Ross
Shameless Marketing for Brazen Hussies by Marilyn Ross

Marketing Your Book Online
One marketing method that applies across the board is the Internet. If you don’t have a Web site, get one. Once you have a Web site, put its address on everything from business cards to letterhead to e-mails signatures. Although you can set one up at a free hosting site, buying your own domain name and paying to have it hosted isn’t that expensive.

You need to have a Web presence from which people can purchase your book. If you can’t afford to set yourself up to accept credit cards, get a Pay Pal account. While there are other companies offering services similar to Pay Pal, if you decide to use one of them, make sure they are reputable. Remember: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Marketing Your Book In Stores
Beyond the Web, in the brick-and-mortar world, you have to think outside the box. At a recent seminar on marketing and promotion, Dan Poynter said, “Bookstores are a lousy place to sell books.” Poynter is a recognized leader in the publishing industry and he recommends that authors tolerate bookstores, not pursue them. Defending his opinion, he says the three biggest disadvantages of bookstores are that they:

complain that the standard 40% discount isn’t enough
seldom pay on time
want to be able to return books regardless of their condition

Non-traditional markets, says Poynter, are a much better bet. The non-bookstore retail outlet will most likely be delighted with a 40% discount and probably wouldn’t think of returning unsold books. For non-bookstore retail outlets, consider the following discount schedule:

1 to 2 books -- no discount
3 to 199 books -- 40%
200 to 499 books -- 50%

So what non-bookstore retail outlets should you target? That depends on many things. Let's start with the genre of your book.

Let’s say your book is a romance novel. Your main character is vacationing in your town. She stays at a local bed and breakfast and gets wined and dined at a local restaurant. Have a copy of your book in hand when you stop by these local hot spots and talk to the owner/manager. Explain to them how their business ties in with your story. Be prepared to leave a review copy, since it's likely they will want to read the book before they give you an answer about buying copies. Give them a week or so, then follow up.

A word here about “review copies” that will protect you from unethical individuals. Get a rubber stamp that says, “WOW! A review copy,” then use this stamp on the edge of the pages. It won’t prevent the book from being sold, but it can prevent a bookstore from returning it for credit. (This is another tidbit I picked up at the Poynter seminar.)

Back to the business of marketing. Let’s say that there are no local businesses that are directly mentioned in your story. However, the genre is still romance so what local businesses do you think of when you think romance? Perhaps your town has a candy shop that specializes in gourmet chocolates. Contact them. The local florist is another good possibility, and so is the candle shop down the road. Any store selling items that you think of in relation to romance is worth a try. The worst that can happen is they say, “No thanks.”

A common promotional method is to offer Chapter 1 for free. Visitors to your Web site should be able to read Chapter 1 or an excerpt from it. It’s relatively inexpensive to create a printout to give away to anyone who expresses interest in your book. Include an order form, online ordering information, and an author bio.

Look For Smaller Opportunities To Create Greater Exposure
You never know where your next marketing outlet may turn up, which is why the smallest details are worth a lot of attention.

Returning to the topic of marketing online, consider your e-mail signature—that short three- to four-line blurb that we often see at the bottom of e-mail messages. Define a default signature that your e-mail program will automatically put at the bottom of every message you send out. This signature should include your Web address and information on your book(s). Not only does this spread the word to the people you know, it also spreads the word to anyone that they forward your message to.

Another neat trick is to have a button made from your book cover. When people see it pinned to your coats and jackets, it's a great way to start a conversation on your favorite topic—your book.

Finally, always have your business cards with you. Minimally, your card should provide your postal mail address, e-mail address, Web site information, and phone number. If possible, include the cover of your book; if you have more than one book, include the titles of the others. Instead of paying a printer to design and print cards for you, design and print your own. Most office supply stores offer a variety of business card stock (plain and predesigned), and many word processing and small-business applications have features that help you set up the text for your card and then print it to your chosen card stock. This way, you can change your information whenever you want, are not stuck with 500 obsolete cards that you paid a lot of money for, and can print only what you need when you need it.

Look For Opportunities Everywhere
Some other ideas presented at the Poynter seminar include:

Look into the Literary Market Place for book clubs that deal in your genre. It also has information about awards that you might be able to win. Some cost nothing while others have entry fees. One of the big ones is Writer’s Digest International Self-Published Book Awards. The entry fee is $100 for the first book and $50 for each additional book.
International Literary Market Place provides information about foreign publishers to whom you can sell the foreign rights to your book.
Find a directory of catalogs. If your library doesn’t offer such a resource, go to www.catalogs.google.com, which lists 412 book catalogs. Most catalogs prefer to receive your submission six to nine months in advance of a book's release.
Tie your book to a holiday or special event. The example we’ve been working with is a romance novel, so let’s stick with that. For Valentine’s Day, offer your local newspaper a filler piece on Ten Romantic Things To Do In (name of your town). Instead of getting paid for the article, tell the editor that the only thing you ask is to include your name and book information at the bottom of the article. The paper gets an article they didn’t have to pay for and you get advertising you didn’t have to pay for.
If an article appears in your local paper about your book, write a letter to the editor about the article. Make sure you include your book information in your signature. Letters to the editor have a higher readership than ads—and they’re free.
Listen to the talk radio station in your area. If you think they might be interested in interviewing you, send them a review copy of your book.
Join writing and publishing organizations and network, network, network.

Open The Door To Independent Bookstores
Sure, Poynter says that you don't want to pursue bookstores, but that doesn't mean you should overlook them—particularly the independent booksellers. One of the most effective methods for getting a book into independent bookstores is the cold call. Most store owners are in the business because they love books and they’re usually willing to give you a chance.

Understand that some booksellers will want to carry your book on a consignment basis. In this case, you'll need to consider the potential sales and decide whether you’re willing to risk three to five books. You may or may not realize any money from such an arrangement. The books could be stolen from the store or simply be returned to you in unsaleable condition. Or they could sell quickly and the bookstore may contact you for more books. Since the other books sold, they might be willing to buy the books this time.

A Few Words About Advertising
In short: Do not pay for advertising. It’s a losing proposition.

Why? Let’s say you pay $100 for an ad that runs one time. If your book retails for $20, you must generate five sales from that ad to break even. Advertising salespeople will tell you that you need to run the ad many times so you can acquire a cumulative effect. However, if you run the ad five times for a total of $500, you will need to sell 25 books to break even. With all the free—or nearly free—marketing methods that we've covered here, it becomes very difficult to justify the cost of traditional advertising in the print media.

There are only two things limiting your marketing endeavors: your budget and your imagination. So stir up the gray matter and think of new and innovative ways to stretch your budget when marketing your book!

About The Author
Darlene Duncan is the author of Life Is Full Of Surprises, The Origin of Deanna Dorak, and Aneesha's Prophecy. Her Web site can be found at www.darleneduncan.com.