How to Schedule Speaking Engagements

One of the most effective ways for authors to directly reach out to readers (and sell books to them) is through speaking engagements.  For some authors, this is their main means of moving significant quantities of their books.  For others, it is a way of not only generating book sales, but it is also a means of generating additional income through speaking fees.  Whether you are looking for speaking engagements as a way of promoting your book and selling books through back-of-the-room sales afterward, or you are striving to become a paid-for-play speaker, one of the most difficult questions for the beginning speaker is:  how do I get started?

For folks like Sarah Palin and Bill Clinton, it's easy.  They are already household names, and they demand (and get) hundreds of thousands of dollars for their speaking events.  For those who are not famous, at least not yet, they have to start somewhere.  That usually means speaking to local civic groups like Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, Chambers of Commerce, VFW, American Legion, book clubs, writing groups, etc. 

To start with, you might consider forgoing a speaking fee and making a book signing after the speaking engagement part of your agreement.  Once you become more well-known and you are in demand, then you can start charging for your speaking engagements, AND holding a book signing during back-of-the-room sales at the end of the event.  Here are a few tips to get you started on the path to public speaking events:

1.  Work your contacts.  Are you a member of any groups or organizations?  Does your college have an alumni association?  Start working your own contacts.  These are the people who already know you.  Even if they don't have an immediate need for a speaker, they may be able to give you some leads.

2.  Work the phones.  Call your local Chamber of Commerce.  Call your local convention and visitors bureau.  Call your local Rotary, Kiwanis and Lions clubs.  They are almost always looking for guest speakers.  Even if you have a publicist, make these calls yourself.  The decision-makers who schedule guest speakers want to hear directly from the author, not a go-between.  Nobody can speak more passionately about your book or your speech topics than you. 

3.  Work on your flyer.  Try designing a decent one-sheet flyer that you can mail out to any organization that might have a need for a guest speaker.  Include a good author photo, a picture of your book cover, and a bullet-point list of your topics and why you would make a good guest speaker.  Don't make it read like a resume.  Concentrate on how you can help the organizations, not your past experiences (although you should have a very brief author bio).  Include some testimonials from anyone who has booked you as a speaker in the past.  You can see some examples of one-sheets here.

4.  Ask for referrals.  When you do a speaking engagement, always make sure you mention at the end of your talk that you are available for other speaking engagements.  You never know who is sitting in the audience.  Make some one-sheets available at your book signing table.  One speaking engagement could lead to others. 

5.  Create your own speaking event.  Book a room at a local community center or local public library and schedule your own speaking event/book signing.  It will give you a chance to practice and showcase your speaking skills, and could lead to other events.  An event of this type will require a lot of pre-promotion to get people in the door, so make sure you have something to offer that would attract people to your event.  If the first event is successful, you may be able to branch out to other venues around the area.  Before you know it, people have heard of you and they will seek out out as a guest speaker (always have business cards and contact info available at your speaking engagements).

6.  Join a Speakers Bureau.  You may have a local speakers bureau at the convention and visitors bureau or chamber.  Try to get listed on them, and you'll have prospects come to you.  This is most effective after you have already developed a reputation as a speaker.  Speakers bureaus usually take a percentage of your speaking fee for sending speaking engagements your way.  There are also online speakers bureaus (such as Speaker Leads, which is FREE for Tate Publishing authors) where you can be listed.

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The Magic of Niche Marketing

I have spent a lot of time on this blog talking about why niche marketing is so important to authors.  The publishing industry is awash in new books.  Last year, more than one million titles were released.  It's not enough anymore for an author to hope their book gets carried in every bookstore nationwide or that they will get a book review in Publisher's Weekly.  Authors need to reach out directly to the specific audience that would be interested in reading their book, and niche marketing is the key to making that happen.

Earlier today, I was meeting with one of the authors I work with, and he mentioned that he was a bit disappointed in the results of his book signing events, which have mainly been held at bookstores.  He sells anywhere from 4-6 copies of his book at each event, which is actually the number of books that the average bookstore signing sells.  His book is for a very specific niche audience, and I mentioned that speaking engagements and events at local public libraries might actually be more productive.  He could either do five bookstore events and sell 25 books, or do one niche event and sell the same number of books.  A light went on in the room, and he immediately saw the value of niche marketing.

More well-known authors are also jumping on the niche marketing bandwagon.  Forbes.com featured their work in an article called The Magic of Niche Marketing for Authors.

* Erica Bauermeister posted recipes to her blog as if they were written by the characters from her novel, The School of Essential Ingredients.

* Garth Stein reaches out to fans at NASCAR events to promote his book, The Art of Racing in the Rain.

* Abby Stokes, author of Is This Thing On? attends computer user conferences to promote her book for the computer illiterate.

These are some great examples, but I thought I would also add a couple my own, using some of my authors as examples:

* Nancy Dane, author of the Civil War-era novels Where the Road Begins and A Difference of Opinion, sells copies of her books at Civil War re-enactment events and museums.

*  J.A. Sanderlin, author of Europa:  Book One of The Black Chronicles, has found a receptive audience for his Sci-Fi book at comic book shops.  He will be participating in the Austin Comic Con this Fall at the Austin Convention Center.

What is the target audience for your book?  Where would you find members of this audience outside of the bookstores? 

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Best Book Recommendation Services

The folks over at Lifehacker polled their thousands of readers, and came up with a list of the Top Five preferred book recommendation services.  If you're an author looking to get more exposure for your book, it's worth checking out one of these services.  Better yet:  most of them are totally free!

Top Five, by order of popularity:

1.  GoodReads
2.  Amazon
3.  Shelfari
4.  LibraryThing
5.  GetGlue

Honorable mention:  Word-of-mouth from friend, bookstore clerk or librarian.


This poll is by no means scientific, but it's worth noting that bookstores and libraries didn't even make the Top Five.  If you have ever had any doubt about how important it is to have an online presence, this poll should be a good reminder!

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What Happens On Your Book's Release Date...and What Doesn't

"Hi Terry.  Today is my book's release date, and I went to 18 different bookstores and didn't see my book in any of them.  How many books have I sold so far?  When am I going to be on TV?"

At least a couple of times a month, I receive a phone call or an email from an author an their book's release date asking me these questions, or something similar.  The marketing guide we send to our authors does a pretty good job of explaining the significance of a book's release date, but I think many authors have built up this date in their minds into something it is not.

Frankly, I think too much is made of the book's release date.  There are certain things that happen on a book's release date, but many of those are things that occur in the publisher's office and are not things that would be immediately noticeable by an author.  I wish I could come up with a name other than "release date," because I think that term conjures up images of a movie premier, or people lining up around the block at midnight waiting to buy the latest "Harry Potter" book.  More often than not, an author isn't going to notice anything different occuring on their book's release date then what was happening the day before that date.

With that being said, here is what happens on your book's release date, and what doesn't:

Your book likely won't be in a bookstore on this date.   Some publishers have distribution deals with certain bookstore chains, and some of their new releases do appear in bookstores on this date.  This usually happens with titles by bestselling authors, or with titles that the publisher really expects to do well.  More often than not, the release date is simply the first date on which bookstores are able to order a title from the distributor.  If they can't order a title until the release date, then bookstores certainly won't have it on the shelf on the release date...unless the author has placed the book in the store on a consignment basis.

You might have a TV or radio interview on this date...or you might not.  Landing media time to push a book is something every publisher and author strives for, whether it's on the book's release date or not.  However, publishers and authors have to work around the media's interest and availability.  An author may have an interview or an article published about their book on a book's release date, but getting publicity any time after a book's release date is good, too.  More often than not, publishers and publicists don't even start working on media opportunities until the book's release date, because the book isn't widely available until then.

Your publisher probably doesn't know how many books have sold on your book's release date.  Sales are tabulated quarterly, and many book sellers and distributors pay their invoices once every 90 or 120 days. 

You might have a book signing event on this date...or you might not.  If bookstores can't order your title from the distributor until the book's release date, they likely won't be able to schedule a book signing event for you on the book's release date, unless they do so on a consignment basis or get the books directly from the publisher.  Many authors throw their own "book release party" on their book's release date, and that's good, too.  A sale is a sale, whether it's in a bookstore, a rented hall or a private residence. 

There are probably a limited number of books available on the book's release date.  With new authors, distributors and publishers have no idea how many copies of their title is going to sell, they they aren't going to print and stock hundreds of thousand of copies of a book (again, unless it's the new Harry Potter title).  They are going to have enough on hand to meet expected demand.  For the publishers who print their books in print runs, they may or may not sell all of the books in that print run.  If they do sell all of the books from that print run, they go into another printing.  If they don't, they are stuck with overstock, and they have lost money.  Many publishers are switching to digital printing and printing books as they need them.  That means they don't have to print huge numbers of books that may not sell.  It's a cost-control measure, not a statement on how they expect an author's book to sell.

Bottom line:  The success of a book hinges on much more than the first day it's available for sale.  Work on generating consistent sales and demand for your book, not just a big launch date.  Books that sell in consistent numbers month after month, year after year, will be much more successful than a book that did well its first couple of weeks out of the gate, and then fizzled. 

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Demand Creates Supply, Not the Other Way Around

I have mentioned previously how books get stocked on bookstore shelves, how difficult it is to get a book stocked in bookstores, and why bookstores may not even be the best option for authors.

I'm not trying to give the impression that authors shouldn't care if their book is available in a bookstore. Bookstores do sell books. However, when it comes to book sales and what the best venue is for a particular book, they are not the only game in town. Authors run into problems when they focus on bookstores at the expense of all other marketing avenues. Bookstores should be a part of every author's marketing plan, but they should not be the ONLY part of an author's marketing plan. Some authors are under the impression that if only their book were available in every bookstore in the country, or in a major bookstore chain, it will sell. Of course, that is not necessarily true. As book marketer Brian Jud has stated, "bookstores display books. They do not (actively) sell them." If a book hits a bookstore shelf and doesn't sell, it's going straight back to the publisher, and the author is going to get socked with returns.

Recently, I have been receiving a lot of questions from authors in regard to distribution. It is usually a panicked email or phone call from the author stating an online bookseller or bookstore is "out of stock" and readers are "unable" to order their book. It's costing the author sales!

Well, not necessarily. The main distributor that my publishing company works with is Ingram/Spring Arbor, but that is really beside the point. No distributor carries an unlimited quantity of any title. They order what they think they can sell to the online booksellers and to the bookstores. Occasionally, the distributor does run out of books. This is a common occurrence and is no cause for alarm. They will reorder more.

In the meantime, bookstores or online booksellers have the option of taking back-orders for a title, and then shipping them when the distributor receives new stock. Readers may also be able to find copies on Amazon.com, or directly from the publisher. Distributors and publishers only make money when they sell books. They are not going to let any title remain out-of-stock for long. This is why you hear of some publishers having a "second printing" of a title...they ran out of the first printing of books they ordered. The company I work for has a digital print facility. We can print books at will and send them where they need to go. Many publishers are going this route.

Another comment I have been hearing is from authors who say they "don't care" if their book sells once it's at a bookstore or not. At least it's in the store. This makes no sense at all. I guarantee you the bookstore cares, because they are not going to let stock just sit in their store if it's not selling. The distributor cares, because those stores are shipping books back to them, and they are losing money. The publisher cares, because now they aren't getting paid for those books, either. Eventually, the author WILL care because when they receive their royalty statement they will see how much those returns have cost them in lost royalties. It has to make good business sense to physically stock a book at a particular retailer.

Simply sending hundreds or thousands of books to the distributor (which a publisher can't do unless the distributor orders them) will not result in book sales. The same goes for trying to put thousands of books on bookstore shelves across the country (which only the stores can do. It's not up to the publisher, unless they are paying for shelf space). If there is no demand for a title, it's not going to sell no matter how many retailers may have it available, or how many books are on hand at the distributor. Only one thing guarantees large stocks of a title at a distributor or in retailers across the country: demand.

Demand is the reason why you see dozens of copies of CDs from the latest winner of American Idol at Walmart, but only one or two polka CDs. There is more demand for the American Idol winner's music than there is for polka.

With no demand, there is no supply. Bookstores use demand to determine which books they will carry. Distributors use demand to determine how many copies of a title they should have on hand for stores and booksellers to order. The greater the demand, the more books they offer. If there is low demand, you will only see a few copies being stocked by the distributor and only a few venues offering if for sale (if any).

Of course, it is up to the publisher and the author to create that demand through marketing and promotion. If that demand doesn't exist, there will be few copies floating around in distribution or in bookstores. This is the reason why authors need to work to do events, interviews, get book reviews and create "buzz" around their title. It's all about creating demand.

Demand creates the supply of books available, not the other way around. Creating that demand is a job that never ends.

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