My Book Sold Out Before It Launched, and I Think It’s Because I’m Old(er)

Older friends like to remind me that I’m not “old old,” but I did finally join AARP—admittedly for the battery-operated cooler they promised and hoping to get my memoir featured on their book page. Although publishing for the first time at 53 felt like showing up to the party when it was nearly over, here I was—with crows feet and hot flashes—scheduling a DIY book tour (see Organize a Tour Yourself), and taking TikTok lessons from my college-age daughter who said it’s where all the cool kids find new books.

(Should Authors Have a Book Tour Dress Code?)

I’m a hybrid-published author, so I ponied up my own money to get my story into the world. In a stroke of brilliance on my publisher’s part, She Writes Press partnered with Simon & Schuster as our distributor, which meant their sales force would get my memoir into the hands of people I wasn’t friends with or related to. I also hired a young, enthusiastic publicist at Books Forward.

While I had this help, Google revealed that only 10% of authors sell 2,000 or more books. I calculated that I’d need to sell three times that number to see a return on my investment, which meant doing everything in my power to bolster the efforts of my publicist and “Big Five” distributor.

While I haven’t made the NYT Best Seller list (yet), I am now part of that 10% of authors. Here’s how I leveraged a lifetime of connections to sell 2,000 copies of my memoir, Bright Eyes, before it was even released!

1) I Got Excited About My Story

Sounds obvious, but many authors I know shy away from promoting the remarkable stories they’ve spent years crafting. As an English teacher, I “sell” the joys of a properly-placed comma to high school students every day so selling my memoir to people who were actually interested didn’t sound that hard. I’d also missed birthday parties, weddings, and a funeral while sequestered in my office writing about trauma, and I didn’t want those efforts to be in vain, so here’s what I did in the months leading to the launch:

• I got cozy with social media—creating author pages before I felt like a “real” one then posting about writing, querying, and rejections. Social media introduced me to a network of authors, podcast hosts, and advocates, which led to blurbs and speaking engagements.
• I created a website and posted stories related to my memoir. Even though I felt like an imposter because my book didn’t have an agent or publisher yet, I replayed the “If you build it, they will come” scene from Field of Dreams in my head and kept at it. My blog led to a Pushcart Prize nomination, podcast invites, and my first paid keynote!

Those who subscribed to my site and “liked” my Facebook and Instagram author pages promised to buy the book during its presale. Five months before it released, Bright Eyes hit #1 in two memoir categories on Amazon—and stayed there for two weeks! Bright Eyes hit #1 five more times before it released—typically after speaking engagements (where I handed out bookmarks with QR codes to preorder my memoir and watch my TEDx related to it), podcast visits, or published articles.

I get why my author friends don’t love self-promotion, but I was heavily invested—emotionally and financially—so modesty made way for marketing.

2) Speaking of Marketing, Old(er) People Know a Lot of People

While I wish I published 20 years ago, doing so in midlife meant I knew more people. Maybe like me, you’ve been on countless committees, changed schools and jobs several times, or know so many people in your town that going to the grocery store can either be a social hour or social suicide. But this is the midlife magic—the lifetime we get to leverage:

• Nine months before release, I made lists of friends, family, and acquaintances who’d laughed (or cried) hearing stories I told while watching our kids’ soccer games or during work meetings that should’ve been an email. I figured these people might be interested that I’d finally written the book they’d nudged me to write.
• These lists translated to sales because every Eventbrite invitation to an author event included a link to preorder and communicated that I was ready to talk about my story. As messages went out, requests came in from local groups, libraries, and schools. At every appearance, I passed out bookmarks and watched people order my memoir on the spot.
• Other early sales came from connecting with communities in my story—from Juneau, Alaska, to Rural (with a capital R) Nevada. My publicist reached out to local media, while I connected with librarians and community agencies connected to topics in my book. A fundraising collaboration with a domestic violence shelter gained the attention of a local NPR station and brought listeners to my author event. Other collaborations included my alma mater, Lewis and Clark College, who purchased cases of my memoir for the campus bookstore, and librarians who bought copies and recommended Bright Eyes to colleagues.
• These agencies, libraries, and schools also featured Bright Eyes on their social media pages and in their newsletters. While I donated copies, groups also bought them for clients and staff, which encouraged me to continue sharing my story—an even greater gift than book sales.
• I followed similar groups on Facebook and Instagram, leading to more preorders and invitations to podcasts and guest articles.

3) YOLO: You Only Live Once

While YOLO can be a dangerous motto if it involves red SOLO cups or cliff jumping, it’s also a good reminder to seize opportunities that come as a result of writing a whole damn book then somehow getting that book into the world—whether traditionally, hybrid, or self-published.

You’ve written a story to be proud of, and assuming you’d like people to read it, my best advice is to “YOLO” all the way to creating an author website before you feel ready, introducing yourself to booksellers where you’d like to hold events, and making “friends” online with authors and readers who love your genre.

Leverage the lifetime of beautiful, important relationships you’ve curated and cultivated over the years and let people celebrate your work as much as you would—and probably do—celebrate theirs.

Check out Bridey Thelen-Heidel’s Bright Eyes here:

Bookshop | Amazon

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