Guest Post: Personality and Book Selling

It is said personality counts. And it does as well on the book front.

Whether at a bookstore, art or craft fair or promoting your book on Facebook are you not drawing people in with your personality? Without one-to-one contact, would you have made that sale?

I doubt it. Even your family or friends bought your book because they knew you. Keep in mind whether selling your wares online or in more intimate settings. People are interested in you and what you have to offer.

My book, Seasons of the Soul, relates to autistic parents, those struggling with issues or those interested in the topic. With book in hand, I approach customers providing them a short synopsis of my uplifting book. I peak their curiosity with a story in Seasons of the Soul where my youngest autistic son runs out of the plane while we waited for takeoff, causing the flight’s delay. Andrew’s anxiety got the better of him. From there, I tell the potential buyer about my book and how it includes personal accounts about my two different autistic sons as well as faith stories. “If interested, visit my table. I will be here from ...” I conclude.

So what did I do there? Raised their interest yet not pressured them. Again, personality talks and a pressure-cooker salesman dooms a sale. 

Second, smile. Yes, it is not easy but think of it this way. A smile may lighten the heavy load you are carrying. A friend of mine works in retail. When customer lines are long or they complain, the clerks are told to smile. That goes even when the associates’ feet hurt from standing. Smile. Remember a smile masks the feet aches and possibly the stinky smell reaching your nostrils.

Third, eye contact. You cannot expect customers to purchase something from you if you are looking at the floor. Self-confidence in your abilities - even when you doubt your talents at times - does wonders. 

Did you know people also can pick this up online? “I hope readers will like this,” you post. What this says is you are not confident about yourself. Turn that phrase into: “I know you will love this.” You are not bragging. You are showing c o n f i d e n c e. Underneath you may wonder if you are overestimating your abilities but if you do not believe in yourself, how can you expect others to do the same?

Four, attractiveness. How you portray yourself online to the arrangement of your table to your own appearance makes a distinct impression. 

Thumbnail photos make your Facebook or Twitter posts. Some Facebook friends include photos where their hair is in disarray or you have little idea what is pictured. A reader needs to know, otherwise, they see your presence as unprofessional. 

If you are selling personally at an art or craft fair, make your table display simple but attractive. Show a book award (but do not exhibit everything you received), cover your table with a bright cloth and use a vertical backdrop behind you if outside winds are not a problem. 

Lastly, you are important. Make your appearance professional and clothing appropriate. I wear skirts or dresses often. I want the customer to see me as an author with stature and at some chamber of commerce events I wear my hat. I stand out and when I fail to wear one people ask, “Where’s your hat?” It is my trademark. What’s yours?

I look forward to your comments and may God richly bless you.

Janet Syas Nitsick is the author of "Seasons of the Soul," published by Tate Publishing.  Visit her blog at http://janetsinnerramblings.blogspot.com 

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Ten Things All New Authors Should Know About Publishing

There are a lot of misconceptions about the publishing industry.  New authors publishing their first book usually have an idea of how things "should" work, but these are ideas that typically are rooted in how the publishing industry used to work, or are based upon things they may have read online that just aren't true.

With that in mind, I thought I would address the Top 10 things new authors should know about the publishing industry, and explain how things really work.  Hopefully, this will save you a lot of time, effort and frustration.

1.  Books are not automatically stocked by bookstores.  In 2010, more than 3 million ISBN numbers were assigned.  That means three million different book titles.  The average large bookstore stocks about 110,000 titles.   Not every title that is released is going to be stocked by a bookstore.

2.  Publishers don't control which books get stocked in bookstores.  Bookstores decide for themselves which books they will stock.   The publisher can't make them stock anything.  Publishers submit titles, make them available for distribution and in some cases pay for shelf space, but they do not decide which titles you see in a bookstore.

3.  Most books are not sold in bookstores.  Bookstores sell a lot of books, but most books are sold online or through retailers other than traditional bookstores.

4.  If your book doesn't have an ISBN or distribution, it's not going to get sold through a bookstore.  If you are looking for wide availability for your book, it has got to have the kind of distribution publishers can provide.  There are some titles that are the exception, but that is just what they are:  rare exceptions.

5.  Ebooks are not replacing printed books,  yet.   According to the last figures I saw, ebooks were about 12 percent of the book market. 

6.  Pricing your ebook at 99 cents doesn't mean you'll sell a million copies.  These gimmicky sales strategies work a handful of times.  By the time you have heard about it, it has been done and everyone else has gotten the same idea.  Only eight authors have sold more than a million copies for the Kindle on Amazon.  That's right.  Eight. 

7.  Low book prices don't necessarily translate to higher sales.  This past weekend I shopped at a bookstore that was going out of business.  Every book on the shelf was one dollar.  There were still many books on the shelf that had not sold, not even for a dollar.  If a book is too cheap, many readers wonder "what's wrong with it?"

8.  For the most part, selling books is a slow process.  Many authors expect to sell thousands of books the moment they reach their book's release date.  If nobody knows about your or your book before the release date, they aren't going to know on the release date, either.  It takes time to build your reputation as an author, and sales.  I bought a business book at the $1 sale I mentioned earlier, and after reading it, I thought "this is a pretty good book."  I checked the sales ranking on Amazon:  it was ranked in the 1 million-plus range, meaning it's not moving many copies through Amazon, if any. 

9.  The average book title in the U.S. sells about 200 copies.  More than 651 million books were sold in the U.S. in 2011, according to Nielsen bookscan.  If the 2010 numbers hold up and about 3 million titles were released, that means the average book title sold about 217 copies last year.  The number could be lower, because that 3 million titles figure is only taking into account new titles being released, not titles that were released in previous years that sold in 2011.  A book by a new unknown author is generally considered a success if it sells 5,000 or more copies, UNLESS it's a book released by a celebrity of some kind, then those numbers would be considered dismal.

10.  There is no magic formula for selling books.  I often hear from authors who ask me to tell them how to quickly sell thousands and thousands of books, or make their book a bestseller.  Here is the secret:  write good books, target your niche audience, and work really, really hard to make you and your book known.   You'll sell books, but there is no guarantee you'll become a bestselling author.

Of course, I have covered a lot of this information before in previous blog posts, but I thought it would be helpful to compile a Cliff's Notes version here that would address some common misconceptions.  You can have success as an author even if your book isn't in every bookstore in the country, or you aren't featured on a national TV or radio show.  The publisher I work for recently had a title on the NY Times Bestseller list for non-fiction, but I work with authors who have sold many more copies than that title has, although they have been at it for a longer period of time.  Remember, patience and persistence win the day!

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An Important Marketing Tool: The Business Card

An Important Marketing Tool: The Business Card

By CJ Heck


When it comes to marketing your book or your written work, don't overlook one very important tool - the business card. It's one of an author's most important tools, and they're not expensive, considering the many ways a business card can help you.

If you have a website, have your website URL printed on the back so they can visit your site. Have a picture of your book(s) on it, like a logo. I've sold a lot of books using my business card. There are so many uses for it and I'd like to share some of them with you. You can probably come up with even more ways.

** Remember, we're in the business of selling books:

* Bulletin Boards in stores and businesses you go to. Thumb-tack your card there with all of the others.

* While sitting in waiting rooms, on a plane, train, or bus talking to people. Hand them one of your cards.

* At gatherings, parties, class reunions (yuck), or while networking with your 'real' job - hand out both of your business cards.

* Tuck a few inside books you've sold for buyers to pass out to their friends.

* Ask it it's okay to leave a small stack of them on the counter at your local public libraries. Libraries love local authors! So do people who come to the library - they will take the cards, trust me.

* If your book is a children's book... anytime you see a mother with children, strike up a conversation, introduce yourself and hand her a card, or several to give to their friends.

* Again, for children's authors, any time you meet a teacher, a principal, school librarian, give them cards, too. You can also tell them you do school visits (if, in fact, you do them).

* Ask to leave a stack of business cards on the counter at the mechanic's where you take your car, at your hairdresser, barber, and even at the gym.

* Buy a small business card holder, have it full of cards and right beside you on the table at book signings, school visits, or other speaking engagements. Maybe someone won't buy the book that day, but when they take a business card, it's an excellent reminder of your book for later, when they're considering gifts.

Here's one of my personal favorites. I've sold a lot of books this way:

Restaurants - when the check comes after dinner, write "Thank You" on one of your cards, and add the waitress' or waiter's name if it's on the check. Then be sure and sign it and leave it, along with the tip. Many times, they've followed me out to the door asking more about the book, or wanting to shake my hand, or even ask for more cards for the rest of the staff.

* The above also applies to anyone giving you a good service - your barber, the clerk in a department store, but always write "Thank You" and sign your card. Remember, it's an autograph AND a reminder about your book and website. People love meeting authors - use this to your advantage, fellow writers. Have those business cards in your pocket and ready to pass out.

You'll sell more books, I promise.

CJ Heck is a published poet, writer, blogger and author of four books. For excerpts and more information, please visit: http://www.barkingspiderspoetry.com. CJ is also a Vietnam War widow.

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Are You Prepared for Opportunity?

The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.  ~Benjamin Disraeli

A couple of incidents this week reminded me of this quote, and led me to write this blog post.  Authors are always scrambling for opportunities to promote their books, but most expect it come when they want it to, not when it actually does arrive.   Many think that all of the major opportunities for their book will come as soon as their book's release date arrives, but I have rarely found that to be the case.  

Yesterday, I received a phone call from a producer of a nationally-known television news program.  I won't mention it specifically here, but let's just say you would definitely recognize it, and it reaches millions of people every week.  The producer wanted me to put them in touch with an author.  Great!  These are exactly the types of opportunities I love to pass along to my authors!  However, when I tried to reach the author, their phone number had been disconnected.  They had changed their number and not sent me the new one.  Luckily, I was able to reach them by email, but this could have been a huge missed opportunity for them.  This author's book was released 2 1/2 years ago. 

Another one of our staff received a phone call from Focus on the Family.  They wanted one of our authors to write an article for one of their publications.  The publication reaches millions of people, and of course, the author would be able to mention their book.    This author's book was released about 18 months ago.  

As you can see, some time has passed since the books' release dates until these authors were presented with career-boosting opportunities.  They didn't happen within a few weeks of the release date, as so many expect, but after both authors had put in time and effort to position themselves as experts in their fields.  

A successful writing career consists of writing good books and a series of opportunities that may come your way.  Those opportunities can come at any time, whether it is 2 months or two years after your book's release date.   Patience and persistence always win the day.  Will you be ready for opportunities that come your way?  

What are some of the opportunities you have been able to take advantage of?  How long did you work at promoting your book before these opportunities became available?  Please share in the Comments section of this post. 

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Guest Post: Which Books Sell Best At Which Times of Year

Which Books Sell Best at Which Times of Year

By Irene Watson


Promoting your book means taking advantage of any opportunity that will be relevant to it. In general, book sales are very low in winter, following the Christmas rush, but summer and the holidays are good times to sell books. Being aware of what events or holidays will help your book sales can help a publisher and author realize when to promote hard and when promoting may be wasting time and energy that could be put into working on the next book or preparing for a better promotion opportunity down the road. Here are some guidelines for determining the best times to promote your book.

Christmas: The Christmas season is probably the time when the most books are sold. However, the fall is also the time of year when the most books are published because everyone thinks his or her books will sell best at Christmas. Not true. No one is going to want to receive a diet book as a Christmas gift-that would be insulting-although the same person might buy the diet book for him- or herself at a different time of the year. Similarly, a self-help book telling you how to take charge of your life might be offensive to someone, making the person feel the gift is a sign of disapproval about how he is living his life. Books work as gifts when the book matches the receiver, being something the person is interested in, so obviously, someone who likes to cook might enjoy a cookbook, or a spiritual person might enjoy a collection of inspirational quotes and poems. Novels, children's books, history books, and even biographies always have a tendency to sell well as gifts at the holidays.

Summer: Summer is the next big season for book sales, and authors have more flexibility during this time than during the holiday season. Plenty of book festivals and art and craft shows exist where you can promote your title to the general public and usually find some people interested. Any topic has potential in the summer, as long as it's not related to winter, like a book about skiing or ice-climbing. Of course, the biggest sellers are often novels for beach and escapist reading on a vacation. Travel books also sell well in spring and summer for people preparing for vacation. And don't forget fitness books-people want to shed those extra pounds so they can look their best at the beach.

Other Holidays/Seasons: Depending on your book's subject, you can help to promote it at various holidays. Start planning two months or more before the holiday and start promoting at least a month before so as the holiday approaches, people become interested and excited. For example, any romance novel has potential for Valentine's Day, any book about Ireland or that has Irish characters in it could do well for St. Patrick's Day. Horror novels can be a hit around Halloween, and historical fiction or history or biographies about significant Americans could do well at the Fourth of July. Books on war and the military can be promoted in conjunction with Memorial Day and Veterans Day, or at anniversaries like Pearl Harbor or the landing at Normandy. And if your book is about hunting, there's deer season, bird season, bear season. There's also a school "season." Be creative about considering possibilities.

Anniversaries: Don't forget significant anniversaries of events-several books are in the works to be published in conjunction with the two hundredth anniversary of the War of 1812, and I imagine the same will be true in 2014 when World War I reaches its century mark. There are always various events being held on certain topics of interest that can help to sell your book. For example, if you write about automobiles, Henry Ford, or the automobile industry, the upcoming 100th anniversary of a specific model of a car, such as the Model T celebrated in 2008, could help you to promote your book.

Annual or Bi-Annual Events: Every time the Olympics comes around, books about athletes and especially Olympians can see higher sales. If you are a local author writing about the history of your area and the town holds an annual Founder's Day, you can promote your book at the festivities. The Fourth of July is a popular time for communities to celebrate their own history in conjunction so keep that in mind. It might also be an annual car race, an annual fishing derby, or an annual exhibit at the public library on mental illness that might be relevant to your book.

Festivals: No absence of festivals occurs, especially in summer. If you're writing history or something with an ethnic connection, seek out the local Greek, Scandinavian, Italian, Irish, or any number of other ethnic festivals. The lilac festival might help sell your gardening book; the yachting festival might help your book on shipwrecks. And don't forget about food! It might be the annual cheese festival or the annual seafood festival-anywhere people go to eat is going to bring a crowd-the festival-goers' minds might not be on books, but you'll catch a few people's eyes. When people are having fun and satisfying their appetites, they are in a good mood and more willing to part with their money.

National ____ Day/Month: You name it, there's a day or month for everything. It might be Black History Month that will help you, or Breast Cancer Awareness Month, or even National Pickle Day. Find out when these events take place, help to raise awareness of them, and promote your book in conjunction.
Whether it's a hometown event or an international conference, a national holiday or a historic anniversary, numerous possibilities exist for ways to tie your book into something people will get excited about. Plan ahead so you are ready to promote when the event occurs. It might be advertising on your website for the month in advance that on "Mother's Day only" you will have a "half-off" special. It might be booking yourself to be at holiday shows every weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It might be seeking out organizers for summer events in the winter so you can be prepared. With a little creative thinking, you can always tie your book into something else that already has people interested and excited so you can capitalize on their enthusiasm to help your book sales.

Irene Watson is the Managing Editor of Reader Views, where avid readers can find reviews of recently published books as well as read interviews with authors. Her team also provides author publicity and a variety of other services specific to writing and publishing books.

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