Fellow Authors: We Must Do the Heavy Lifting With Book Promotion
Years ago, when I committed myself to make my writing less of a hobby and more of a career, I began to immerse myself in how I could make that happen. I subscribed to Writer’s Digest, devouring each issue’s information. I attended writers’ conferences, took numerous writing courses and hammered away on my Smith & Corona. That last little detail should give you an idea of how long ago this was.
(Literary Agents Don’t Guarantee Any Such Publishing Deal.)
I also decided to work in a bookstore to see what types of books were selling and went from a part-time bookseller on Long Island to a full-time National Event Coordinator in Manhattan where I scheduled author events, not only in the Park Avenue location I was based out of, but in Borders Bookstores across the country. Even though Borders is no longer around, and I went on to have my own publishing consulting business, the lessons I learned while working with authors was invaluable and stay with me to this day.
I had the opportunity to host events with both Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, Tony Bennett, Walter Cronkite, Mary Higgins Clark, among numerous other recognizable names. Hosting them often required many conference calls with their publicity team to be sure the requirements would be met. The least challenging aspect was getting a crowd for them. But that wasn’t the case for the lesser known authors. Time after time, I often witnessed an author depending on their publicist and myself to get an audience for them with the thought that once the book was written, the writer’s work is done.
Of course I wanted to bring in as many people for the events as possible in hopes of selling more books. I prepared a folder that provided all the promotion I did and gave it to the author at their event so that they saw the work behind it. Still, there were some authors who were verbally unhappy to see more empty chairs than not, but it eventually occurred to me that one of the issues for no-shows was the author’s dependence solely on others to bring in those patrons and sell those books.
Now, as part of my consulting business, I do publicity for authors and am still quite stunned when they don’t realize just how important and necessary it is that they must make a concentrated effort to get the attention they were expecting for their book. For instance, when I secured an event for an author at a bookstore about an hour from his home he turned it down, not wanting to make the “trek.”
Imagine what he would have thought when I traveled from Long Island to Savannah, Georgia, because a book club invited me to discuss my first published novel, Without Grace. Then recently, I shared my book discussion questions on social media for my latest novel, Before She Was a Finley and someone remarked, “You’re so well prepared” as if it was unique. But shouldn’t every writer be prepared?
Without a doubt, I learned a lot over the years and spent hours leading up to my novel’s release, which was on September 10 of this year, attempting to get early reviews, book events, and secure interviews. Maybe some authors would look at what I managed to get and think it looks like nothing more than that aforementioned hobby. Perhaps.
But had I not created tote bags with my novel’s cover on it, I wouldn’t have gotten the attention of a bookstore chain’s CEO who ended up placing a large order for my novel. Had I not sent out press releases to bookstores, libraries, and a vintage gift store, I wouldn’t have booked eight events while hoping to get more. Had I not sent those releases, I wouldn’t have been on CBS News with Mary Calvi for her book club, or been interviewed by North Country Public Radio.
I could go on, but my point is, as an author, we cannot rely on others to do our work. Yes, it’s our hope that they will do what they can, but it’s up to us to do what we can in an effort to meet our expectations. In other words, we have to do the heavy lifting, hobby or not.