Will travel, have book

I’m at this moment getting ready to head to Chicago —to Great Lakes Naval Base, actually—where I will watch my first-born son pledge his life to the U.S. Navy. I’m packing the Kleenex, the camera, and oh, yes, a couple books. My books. Not to read, but to give away. I will be looking for an opportunity to leave the books behind, either at a store or in someone’s hand. I’ve found, much to my delight, that when I travel, usually an opportunity to give a book away presents itself without me having to look very hard, and that’s good news for someone like me, a marketing marshmallow. 

My take on this is: a book is often passed around, or given away to a second person, or talked about at social gatherings. Giving a book away is like sending it on a little journey. Or a big one. You never can tell.

I’m really rather unqualified to be a post-er child for this marketing blog. I’m not very aggressive, I have a hard time cold-calling bookstores, I live two hours away from a Starbucks and I tend to think of book promotion as being the painful part of being novelist.  But that doesn’t mean us quiet, non-business-savvy authors can’t market our books. Giving a book away when you travel is just one way to quietly spread your name.

I’m confident there a lots of little ways to promote books that don’t hurt, that don’t force me into bookstores where I feel like an imposter (even though I’m not), and that don’t keep me from what I really like to do—write. I’m on a mission to find them. This will be the place where I toss the ideas around,  ‘fess up when they don’t work and dance when they do. Hope there are other mumbling marketers like me out there who will join me in the search.

In the meantime, it’s off to Chicago, where, if nothing else, I will leave one of my books in a bookcrossing bag on a bench on Michigan Ave. I’ll tell you more about bookcrossing next Saturday. . .

Comments

[Allison Bottke]

Susan:

So glad you brought up this VITAL link to promoting our books. When I tell new authors how many books I give away for FREE they pale. I encourage authors to always do everything in their power to negotiate for as many FREE books as possible from your publisher. Giving an author FREE books is sometimes easier for a publisher to do than to increase the amount of a Royalty Advance. And, when they see that you are using the books as tools to increase your marketability, they will gladly support your GIVE AWAY HABIT.

Additionally, I buy a lot of books at my author discount to give away for FREE. Yes, I do sell books on occassion (smile) but I give away a lot of FREE books. This is factored into my budget for every book I write.

It's not just my publisher's responsibility to promote my books, it's my responsibility as well, and yes, it sometimes costs money.

But like Kathy Macias wrote in her post, while it's nice to share our books with friends and family, the majority of the FREE books we give away should be given to book stores, media, and influencers who will actually READ our book and write a review or an endorsement.

And let's not forget those "Divine Appointments" where we have an opportunity to give a FREE book to someone sitting next to us on a plane or in a restaurant...that person God clearly tells us should have a FREE book.

After all, we're in a business where spreading God's Word is our business.

Allison Bottke, Author/Speaker
God Alllows U-Turns
www.godallowsuturns.com

[cyndysalzmann]

Excellent post, Susan! And great follow-up, Allison.

I recently got a list of MOPS groups who have bookclubs and contacted the coordinator offering a free book to review and consider including in their schedule for the coming year. As a result my wonderful publisher sent out 75 books this summer to MOPS book club coordinators -- tapping right into my target audience. This is a great way to partner with your publisher to hit the demographics of your book. : )

[Pattie]

I enjoy Bookcrossing books, and Paperback Swap is another swap site.

Word of mouth should never be discounted, because when loud mouths (like me!) talk up books they like, someone somewhere is bound to listen. I have recommended Christian fiction to many people who think it's substandard, and they are pleasantly surprised to find that it's really very good.

[relevantgirl]

This was a refreshing tip, Susan. I think your posts should be titled: Confessions of a Marshmallow Marketer...

[SusanMeissner]

Allison's words of wisdom are post-worthy in and of themselves, and Pattie, you are so right about word of mouth. It has made bestsellers out of books no one had heard of until someone of influence starting talking about them. And Mary, you are the wisest of fairy blogmothers. I shall wear the mantle of Marshmallow Marketer. Yay! I finally have a brand. . .

Susan

[Susie Larson]

Susan,
Thank you for sharing such a practical (and painless) way to market books! Excellent idea! And Suz, your books sell themselves. Hugs.

[Laura Christianson]

I love Allison's idea about contacting MOPS book club coordinators and offering them a review copy. I write for the adoptive parent niche and I can apply that same tactic to adoptive parent groups. Thanks for the tip!

[Laura Christianson]

I meant to say Cyndy's idea in the above comment. Sorry. These Typepad sig lines always mess me up.

[Dena Dyer]

Allison, I give away a lot of books, too--when the Holy Spirit leads. You never know WHY they need a book, and I've learned to trust His voice...because most of the time, I don't know the person very well, if at all. And people LOVE free books! :)