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By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
(Excerpted from The Frugal Book Promoter)
When I wrote my first book one of my first hard lessons was that book signings are nothing like I imagined. I shouldn't have believed everything I'd heard and I shouldn't have judged bookstore book signings by the ones I attended. I should have been especially cautious about information I found on the Web. Many authors and PR “experts” repeat gossip rather than what they know from a reliable source or from firsthand experience. Here are some fallacious “truths” about book signings that have run rampant among authors:
Fallacy #1: You can’t have an effective promotional campaign without a book tour.
Most authors today choose to do scattered signings, not tours,
because most pay travel expenses themselves. It is less costly to sign in cities you plan to visit anyway. You don’t have to do any signings at all if you prefer to vigorously attack another approach for your marketing campaign.
Fallacy #2: If you sign books before you leave the bookstore,
management can’t return them.
I have a big box full of books—some signed, some not—that were returned to my publicist (eventually) after a whirlwind of book signing gigs. They are
physical proof that bookstores both can and will return signed books. And,
yes, my publicist did have an agreement with the stores that signed books
could not be returned.
If you are unlucky enough (or unprepared enough) to have a dismal signing,
be aware that the store manager will not be thrilled about keeping a half
dozen books, signed or unsigned, in her inventory. Even if your book sales
went well, follow-up sales may not match that success. A bookstore is in the business of selling books, not stocking them.
Fallacy #3: If you take extra books and need to use them, the bookstore will pay you upon delivery or within 30 days.
I still have a list of unpaid invoices from the signings I did in 2001 for This Is the Place. Rarely do bookstores pay in less than 60 or 90 days. Rarely willthey pay without reminders. Never will they pay unless you provide an invoice. I always ask if a bookstore can pay before I leave the premises and had only one, R&K Bookstore in St. George, UT, who did so. And they offered before I asked.
Fallacy #4: You can ensure success of a signing by running an ad in a local paper or by buying a list of names in that locale.
One hard-earned lesson I learned was how important your mailing list is—not just a list but a targeted mailing list. For my first book signing I used a list left over from my retail stores, assuming that people who knew me would be interested. Not true. Many who know you may not be readers or may not read the genre in which you write.
Caveat: This does not mean you should not promote your event. Send
announcements to calendar listings in local papers, pitch feature editors, use all your the skills you find in my The Frugal Book Promoter (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) and, of course, cull any names from your own mailing list that happen to live within, say, a 20 mile radius of where you’ll be appearing.
Fallacy #5: Bookstores are the only venues for book signings.
There are all kinds of places for you to sign books, places that you have
personally supported in the past and that will, now, return the favor. Some
nontraditional venues make signing an adventure and possibly more
profitable. You will think of your own, but here are some suggestions:
~A critique group of romance and mystery writers signs at supermarkets that carry their books.
~A signing sponsored by The Romance Writers of America(http://www.rwanational.org/) benefits the Laubach Literacy Programs. A romance writer could join one of their efforts; authors in
other genres could model this idea to suit their own needs.
~Use a charity event as an impetus to group signings. You, your fellow
participants and your readers will recognize the extra value.
~Museums are possible venues. My first launch benefited the Gene Autry
Museum of Western Heritage. They donated a well-equipped theater,
promoted the event and allowed me to serve a buffet. The Museum kept
40 percent of the book sales as a donation. By the way, some commercial
bookstores do the same. One of the differences is that booksellers are a
profitable venture rather than nonprofit, and readers feel good supporting charities.
~Match non traditional venues to the genre of your book. Mysteries at the police department as an example. Coffee houses and universities work well for a variety of books.
~My grandson’s private school offered to sponsor a signing, as least in
part because This Is the Place is a coming of age story, but also
because of our past support, I’m sure.
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the author of THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER: HOW TO DO WHAT YOUR PUBLISHER WON’T (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo ). For a little over 2 cents a day THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER assures your book the best possible start in life. Full of nitty gritty how-tos for getting nearly free publicity, Carolyn Howard-Johnson shares her professional experience as well as practical tips gleaned from the successes of her own book campaigns. She is a former publicist for a New York PR firm and a marketing instructor for UCLA's Writers' Program.. Learn more about the author at http://carolynhoward-johnson.com or http://HowToDoItFrugally.com
