Authors who want to sell books need to do what anyone else with a product needs to do – find the place in the marketplace where your buyers can be found. And, in the case of authors, readers will be found in largest numbers at book fairs, festivals and conferences.

Book fairs and festivals are held every season around the world so it’s a fairly easy task to locate one to promote your book. As an internet book marketing specialist, I am the first to impress on authors the new and powerful marketing avenues open to all authors on the Internet – from book websites to book trailers to social networks like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. While these are fantastic tools when used properly, authors should never overlook opportunities to meet the reading public face-to-face.

Book fairs usually want speakers. By volunteering to speak, the author not only gains great exposure but can also add that appearance to their resume and press releases. But plan ahead; dates for panel participants, speakers and autograph sessions are arranged months in advance.

Book fairs are excellent places to interact with fellow authors, publishers, network with book industry leaders, locate the help you need such as a publicist or book editor, and learn what’s new in the marketplace. For more information about book marketing visit http://www.book-marketing-expert.com and for upcoming book events on C-SPAN2 visit: http://www.BookTV.org. For a great blog about book fairs by the LA Times go to http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/book-festivals/

Here’s a list of upcoming book fairs and events that are worthy of your attendance in 2011.

1.       2011 Dayton Book Expo, Christian Writers Marketplace, April 30, 2011, Sinclair Community College, Dayton, Ohio A great opportunity for authors of books on Christian topics. www.Daytonbookexpo.com

2.       Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, April 30-May 5, 201. The festival attracts more than 150,000 readers. www.latimes.com/extras/festivalofbooks/

3.       South Carolina Book Festival, May 14-15, 2011, Colombia Metropolitan Convention Center, Columbia, SC, more than 6,000 book lovers attend www.scbookfestival.org/

4.       BookExpo America, May 23-26, 2011, Jacob Javits Center, NYC, the premier North American publishing event of the year www.bookexpoamerica.com

5.       Printers Row Lit Fest, June 4-5, 2011 Chicago, Illinois at Dearborn and Polk street. A large book fair attended by more than 100,000 book lovers http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/books/printersrowlitfest/

6.       American Library Association Annual Conference June 23-28, 2011, New Orleans, LA, some 2,000 seminars and events plus a huge trade show. http://www.alaannual.org/

7.       International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) July 10-13, 2011, Atlanta, GA  http://www.christianretailshow.com/ Considered the best show for Christian authors according to Sara Bolme author of Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace http://www.marketingchristianbooks.com

8.       Harlem Book Festival, July 23, 2011, West 135^th Street, NYC www.qbr.com/

9.       The Atlanta Black Book Expo, August 6, 2011 at the Georgia International Convention Center in College Park, GA. http://www.abbexpo.com

10.   Decatur Book Festival, Sept. 2-5, 2011, Decatur, GA,  largest independent book festival in the country. Since its launch, more than 600 authors and 190,000 attendees have attended this event in downtown Decatur. http://www.decaturbookfestival.com/Community/index.php

11.   Fall For the Book Festival, Sept. 18-23, 2011, George Mason University’s Fairfax Campus, Fairfax, VA., sponsored by George Mason University, Fairfax County Public Library and Barnes & Noble. Attended by more than 150 authors. http://www.fallforthebook.org

12.   Baltimore Book Festival, Sept. 23-25, 2011, attracts more than 100 authors.  www.baltimorebookfestival.com/

13.   Sonoma County Book Festival, September 24, 2011, Old Courthouse Square, Santa Rosa, CA. attended by thousands of book lovers. http://www.socobookfest.org

14.   West Hollywood Book Fair, October 1, 2011, at West Hollywood Park, more than 180 exhibitors expected. http://www.westhollywoodbookfair.org

15.   Frankfurt Book Fair, October 12-16, 2011 in Frankfort, Germany. Considered the biggest book show in the world. www.book-fair.com

16.   Southern Festival of Books: A Celebration of the Written Word October 14-16, 2011, War Memorial Plaza, Nashville, TN, attracts more than 200 authors from throughout the U.S. http://www.humanitiestennessee.org/festival/current.php

17.   Texas Book Fair, October 22-23, 2011, State Capitol Building, Austin, TX, established in 1995 by First Lady Laura Bush, a former librarian, more than 45,000 attend. www.texasbookfestival.org/

18.   Kentucky Book Fair, Saturday, November 12, 2011, Frankfort Convention Center, attended by up to 5,000 people including 150 authors http://kybookfair.org/

The bottom line: Make it a priority to visit a book fair in the coming weeks and months. You’ll be glad you did!

Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it’s their first book or their 15th book. He’s handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few. Learn more about Westwind Communications’ book marketing approach at http://www.book-marketing-expert.com or contact Lorenz at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or by phone at 734-667-2090. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist

People are calling this the “Virtual Book Tour.” It’s such a new thing that most people don’t even know what it is, and if they do, they have no idea how to go about doing it. Hopefully, these tips will get you started.

Understand the Terminology: So what is a Virtual Book Tour, exactly? Well, it basically means that an author will cruise around the internet making ‘guest appearances’ on blogs, chat rooms, and other websites in order to gain exposure in a similar manner to an actual tour. This not only works out for the author, but also for the websites, as they will surely gain a larger following for having a published author contribute to their site. For fans, it offers a way to interact with you without needing to meet you at some obscure book store most people haven’t heard of. However, doing this requires a lot of time commitment on your part.

Be Prepared: Accept that you are going to be putting in a lot of work for little pay (which isn’t much different from an actual book tour, now is it?). Offer to write guest blog posts for nothing in return. Be flexible about what you write about. Don’t just target incredibly popular blogs – contribute to smaller ones as well. This will ensure that your tour reaches a much larger audience.

Expand your Horizons: Make a grander appearance online. Get involved with forums and other online communities whenever appropriate. Don’t only make guest appearances; check in frequently! This will ensure people that you are a genuine individual and not just ‘in it for the publicity’. If you’re up for it, try hosting a live event. Announce that you’ll make an appearance in a chat room ahead of time and be there to answer fans’ questions and comments. If you’re even more ambitious, consider being on a live web-cam feed while doing it.

Networking: Connect with other authors in a similar situation. Perhaps you two can help each other out by making guest posts on each other’s websites, or even planning live events together. This works out for everyone – you both get more exposure and your fans get an exciting event in return.

Stay Involved: Once you have a public face, you need to maintain it. You will want to create a Facebook Fan-page and Twitter account to keep your fans updated on events in your life. Avoid posting anything too controversial. You want your fans to be able to relate to you… Posting your political views on Facebook definitely won’t help that. If you have a webpage, update it with new blog posts frequently. These entries should be a good mix between your personal and work life. If people comment on any of your posts, be sure to respond in a friendly way.

Sarah Danielson writes for Online PhD Programs where you can find information about various online colleges and find the school and program that is right for you.

One phone call or news release may get you publicity, but to make the most of an event requires a well-orchestrated campaign. Here are actions you can take (before, during, and after an event) to maximize coverage:

1. Identify points of contact that will work in advance of an event and while at the event, so media can contact you beforehand and on short notice.
2. Localize, localize, localize. With your news release, show the media that the event has significant local and editorial interest.
3. Bear in mind that free events garner more publicity than those that charge admission.
4. Create a custom-targeted media list, covering the daily and weekly newspapers, news services and syndicates, radio stations, TV shows, and magazines in the event area.
5. Send out your first news release 3-6 weeks before the event. For daily and weekly newspapers, target the calendar editors, metro editors, and the feature editors. If appropriate, also target the specialty editors that cover your field.
6. Follow up by phone with the most important media on your list at each event location, to obtain coverage and invite the media to attend, or conduct an interview before, at, or even after the event. Offer tailored articles, interviews, and site visits if your schedule allows.
7. Send out a second news release 7-10 days before the event, and follow up once again by phone to get and confirm media attendance or interviews.
8. At the event, be sure to thank the media for attending. Give them review copies and media kits if you haven’t already done so. Ask if there’s anything you can do or provide that would make their jobs easier.
9. At the event, position yourself as a helpful champion of the locals, a facilitator of change.
10. Give the media photo opportunities to capture local people experiencing real emotions. One great picture of a child or a person exhibiting a dramatic and personal feeling will galvanize the reading public to action and result in more sales.
11. Send out a final news release at or immediately after the event. This release should be a short article which summarizes the high points of the event and provides ordering and contact information.
12. Call to thank media contacts for the coverage and to request tear sheets. Offer additional information, articles, or interviews by phone as appropriate.

Paul J. Krupin offers trash proof news releases, expert publicity advice, and custom targeted publicity services at http://www.DirectContactPR.com/. This article is excerpted from his Trash Proof News Releases ebook. Download your free copy at http://www.directcontactpr.com/files/files/TrashProof2010.pdf.

Anyone can throw a Virtual Party for any reason and the set up is fun and free.

CREATE A PARTY WEBSITE

Do this at least two months in advance. It takes information time to travel throughout the web. Create a party website that’s attached to your author website. Build a party blog for the sole purpose of hosting daily or weekly party updates. If you are a multiple book author, keep the blog for all of your parties and invite current party goers to review your scrapbook of previous parties.

Plan out your weekly prizes, posts related to the book or guest, give tidbits about the book and your guest. Even spotlight like works from other authors.

Keep the party going and post monthly games, prizes, post related to your up and coming works. You can always point folks back to your party site and if you keep it going people will always want to return.

PARTY MUST HAVES

Offer party favors weekly(these are gifts given prior to the release day of the party), music, video interview of the author, video interview of guest, book trailer, gifts, contest, book excerpts, chat room, guest book, cover art, book reviews, email box, and anything you would think would improve the fun.

PARTY PROMOTIONS

To promote your party you could do the following; press release, tweet it, facebook it, newsletter, email it, tell everyone in the forums you visit and ask people to pass the word on.

Another author friend of mine used a service to offer up over $1000 in prizes for her Amazon Book Launch Party. She went on a week campaign of countdown advertising and prize offers with games. She updated her blog, sent email newsletters, tweeted, facebook, myspace, evite and the word spread. She’d moved up the ranks in the Amazon ranking system from the millions to around 20K. Not bad for a first party attempt.

COMPLIMENTS TO THE PARTY

Have a real party too! You can have a small local launch party and invite guest to log into the Virtual After Party while they are at the small local party. Sign the online guest book and do videos and pictures that will be posted on the Virtual Party site. After the local party, post pictures on the PARTY BLOG and kick off the next virtual party.

LM Preston is the author of The Pack and Explorer X – Alpha www.lmpreston.com and http://lmpreston.blogspot.com

The major book conferences and conventions involve travel expenses such as airlines and hotel lodging, and a week’s investment of your time. But book fairs can be found close to home, easily accessed by car and are often only one or two days. A typical regional book fair will have 1,000 or more attendees and 100 or more exhibitors, providing a realistic exposure of 300 visitors a day. Why would an author not want to spend a Saturday and Sunday within 100 miles of home to meet 600 readers or a reporter, editor or book reviewer?

Book fairs are often attended by best-selling authors who will be willing to spend time with you sharing tips on writing, on how to be successful, and advice on where to find the help you need. For more information about book marketing visit http://www.book-marketing-expert.com and for upcoming book events on C-SPAN2 visit: http://www.BookTV.org

Here’s a list of summertime book fairs and book festivals worthy of your attendance

1. National Black Book Festival, June 10-12, 2010, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Houston, TX, www.nationalblackbookfestival.com, dozens of authors, thousands of readers
2. Chicago Tribune Printers Row Book Fair, June 12-13, 2010, Printers Row/South Loop Chicago, http://www.chicagotribune.com/about/events/printersrow/, a large book fair attended by more than 100,000 book lovers.
3. American Library Association Annual Conference, June 24-29, 2010, Washington,
   D.C. http://www.ala.org/ala/conferencesevents/upcoming/annual/index.cfm, some 2,000 seminars and events plus a huge trade show
4. Leimert Park Village Book Fair, June 26, 2010, Leimert Park, Los Angeles,  www.leimertparkbookfair.com, attended by more than 5,000 people, more than 200 author appearances.
5. International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) June 27-30, 2010  http://www.christianretailshow.com/ Considered the best show for Christian authors according to Sara Bolme author of Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace http://www.marketingchristianbooks.com
6. Ventura Book Festival, July 17, 2010 Ventura Beach, CA http://www.literaryarts-ca.org
7. Harlem Book Fair, July 17-19, 2010, New York City,  http://www.qbr.com/page18993.asp
8. Decatur Book Festival, Sept. 3-5, 2010, Decatur, GA, www.decaturbookfestival.com/Community/index.php largest independent book festival in the country. Since its launch, more than 600 authors and 190,000 attendees have attended this event in downtown Decatur.
9. Carolina Mountains Literary Festival, Sept. 10-11, 2010, Burnsville, N.C.,  www.cmlitfest.org sponsored by North Carolina Arts Council, events held throughout the town of Burnsville.
10. Fall For The Book Festival, Sept. 19-24, 2010, George Mason University’s Fairfax Campus, Fairfax, VA., sponsored by George Mason University, Fairfax County Public Library, and Barnes & Noble., www.fallforthebook.org attended by more than 150 authors.
11. Baltimore Book Festival, Sept. 24-26, 2010, Mount Vernon Place in Baltimore, www.baltimorebookfestival.com more than 100 celebrity and locally known authors to attend.
12. National Book Festival, Sept. 25, 2010, on the National Mall between 3^rd and 7th Streets, Washington, D.C., www.loc.gov/bookfest/ charter sponsors are Target and the Washington Post, attended by hundreds of prominent authors.
13. Queens Book Fair, September 25, 2010, York College, Jamaica, N.Y. www.queensbookfair.com sponsored by C&B Books Distribution.
14. Sonoma County Book Festival, September 25, 2010, Old Courthouse Square, Santa Rosa, CA. www.socobookfest.org attended by thousands of book lovers.
15. West Hollywood Book Fair, September 26, 2010, at West Hollywood Park, www.westhollywoodbookfair.org, more than 180 exhibitors expected.
16. Wyoming Book Festival, September 29, 2010, Lions Park, and Community House, Cheyenne, WY, www.wyomingbookfestival.org.

The bottom line: Make it a priority to visit a summertime book fair in the coming weeks and months. You’ll be glad you did!

Scott Lorenz – Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it’s their first book or their 15th book. He’s handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few. Learn more about Westwind Communications’ book marketing approach at www.book-marketing-expert.com or contact Lorenz at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or by phone at 734-667-2090.

Image credit: Danny Sullivan, used under terms of a CreativeCommons license.

Authors tend to think they are a great idea because they see celebrities and politicians like Larry King, Spike Lee, Rachael Ray, Hillary Clinton and other big names out on the circuit and think that’s the way to promote a book.

Frankly it’s just ONE way to promote a book and is an element in the overall marketing of a book. The reality is that unless you are well known it’ll be you, the flower vase along with your book at the little table waiting for people to approach you. Now don’t get me wrong, book signings can be very useful and even if you don’t sell books it gives the media a reason to write about your book right now in order to promote the event. Without that reason to do the story right now, they have plenty of other books to write about since most reviewers are deluged with dozens to hundreds of books every week. And that’s where I believe book signings and book tours are most useful.

In fact, book stores that have turned down a client will happily book them knowing a mention of their store will be in an upcoming article. Westwind Communications has obtained media coverage and then pitched a book store with a guaranteed mention if they book the author. This technique usually works. How can they refuse? The PR for the book signing, which is very difficult and time consuming for them is already done.

Book stores want enough lead time to put an announcement in their newsletter, get a press release out to their contacts, create flyers and in-store promotion. They hate last minute plans, and who can blame them? So it’s important to work a few months in advance if possible. But should you get a media interview and you know it’s going to hit on a certain date then it makes sense to pitch a book signing to the area book stores and then get back to the media outlet to add that appearance in at the end of the story.

Book stores also like to have the book available in “their system” before booking an author signing. This means that the book has to be available on their computer when they look it up so it can be ordered through regular channels, IE their own system, Baker and Taylor etc. There are exceptions to everything and sometimes an author can bring books into the store and sell them giving the store the profit from each book as it would expect. But, that tends to throw a monkey wrench into the mix and the big national chains tend to shy away from this for one reason or another. Sometimes I believe it’s the extra paperwork it creates.

In the case of a short notice booking you may have better luck going to smaller independent book stores where the owner is on site. It’s there where they may seize the opportunity. They tend to be more open at a chance to book an author for an in-store appearance. We recently promoted a book signing in a pastry shop. There were no other books competing with my client and the local paper covered the event. FOX-TV Boston saw the story and brought the cameras out for a full fledged in-home interview. All from a book signing in a small pastry shop. Go figure.

Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that specializes in book marketing and author publicity. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC Nightly News, The New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Family Circle, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few. To discuss how Westwind Communications helps authors get all the publicity they deserve and more call 734-667-2090 or email scottlorenz@westwindcos.com. For more information visit www.Book-Marketing-Expert.com

• Sell sheet or flyer – This features you and your book, and information on how-to buy the book now.
• Your media kit
• A copy of your book
• A short blurb – For their newsletter or announcement around your appearance
• A press release around your appearance – You should have a standard one that you can change out the specifics of your appearance, location, time, date, etc.; but use an angle in your press release to get more coverage. (ex: 2-career mom finds time to write book and do readings at local bookstore.) Showing your commitment to helping promote the event can help you secure the opportunity.

2.    During The Event:

• Books to sign – Make sure you check in with the event coordinator to see how many is sufficient for their expected attendance (You will need to coordinate this with your publisher.)
• A postcard or business card – This informs attendees on how they can contact you and purchase more books.
• Mailing list form – For attendees to sign up to receive your newsletter and announcements on future appearances and new book releases.

3.    Optional Marketing Tools:

• A postcard or flyer – You or the coordinator can send out inviting guests to attend.
• Event poster – This can be displayed around town to increase awareness, interest and attendance.

4.    Things To Ask:

• How will your appearance be promoted? (newsletter, press release, e-mail announcement, invites, etc.)
• How many books you should have on hand?
• How can you help them promote your appearance?
• Can you follow-up with a personal note card or email to thank attendees and those that purchased your book? (You are building your own contact database for future signings, book sales, announcements, your newsletter, etc.)

5.    After The Event:

• Send a thank you note to the event coordinator with a personalized copy of your book.
• Send a thank you email from the sign up list to those that attended the event.
• Follow through on any financial promises for contributions ASAP. Goodwill creates excellent references.

Susan Burnash is the owner of Purple Duck Marketing in Kirkland, Washington. Her company focuses on marketing, public relations, and video production for authors, speakers, small businesses and nonprofits. Please visit her website at www.purpleduckmarketing.com. Susan can be contacted by phone at 425-896-8959 or by email at susan@purpleduckmarketing.com

1.    Your Local Library – Most libraries enjoy featuring local writers for readings or signings. Entice them with a contribution back to the library for any book sales you do as part of your appearance.

2.    Your Local Bookstore – Many local bookstores have regularly scheduled author readings. Tell them that you (or your publicist) are organizing a book tour and would love to start it with an appearance in your own town.

3.    Book Clubs – Many of the larger bookstores operate book clubs that meet in the stores. Churches, libraries, seniors’ centers, and municipal recreation associations also often operate book clubs. Visit your local librarians and see if they know of clubs operating in your area.

4.    Your Local Retail Gift Shop (if your book is appropriate for their offerings) – Many gift shops haven’t ever considered doing an author reading or carrying local author’s books. Let them know you will invite your friends to attend as well which will help bring more potential customers into their store.

5.    Your Local Specialty Store – Find ones that sell products around your books topic (i.e. business = office supply store, sport theme = sporting goods store, etc.)

6.    Your Local Chamber Of Commerce – Every Chamber has monthly networking and membership events. They are often struggling to find topics and things to do to encourage their members to attend.

7.    Community Associations – Rotary, Kiwanis, etc. have monthly meetings that usually feature speakers, etc. Offer to talk about writing your book as well as potentially doing a brief reading. If they aren’t interested in a book signing, make sure you have a business card or postcard to hand out afterwards so interested members can purchase your book.

8.    Your Local Schools Or Colleges – Offer to conduct an author event. You can speak about writing and publishing your book, read passages from your work or answer questions from the audience. Many schools already have an adult reading program in place and would be happy to have an author read from their own book.

9.     Local Businesses Or Corporations – Many companies hold special employee events and are often open to new ways of making them fun and interesting. Offer them your time and expertise with an “author event.”

Susan Burnash is the owner of Purple Duck Marketing in Kirkland, Washington. Her company focuses on marketing, public relations, and video production for authors, speakers, small businesses and nonprofits. Please visit her website at www.purpleduckmarketing.com. Susan can be contacted by phone at 425-896-8959 or by email at susan@purpleduckmarketing.com

Then when my book went live on Amazon, my print-on-demand publisher BookSurge gave me an hour’s free marketing consultation.  Recommendations included Pump Up Your Book Promotion for a virtual book tour.  And the price for this tour was in my budget.

And now I’m going to share with you what I learned along the way:

What’s in it for bloggers?

Bloggers want incoming links.  So they are very pleased when you offer a copy of your book for a contest in connection with the review of your book or the interview of you about your book (questions and answers written beforehand).  The blogger asks people to leave comments to the post in order to be eligible for the random drawing.  The blogger gets more links and you get more attention paid to your book.

Then what often happens is that another book blogger wins the book.  So you offer that blogger another free copy to run a contest if that blogger does something about you on his/her site.  And because book bloggers have so many to-read books, offer to do an interview instead (you are a writer, after all).  The interview helps out the blogger by providing an interesting post that he/she doesn’t have to write plus a contest to get those all-important incoming links.

In addition, many book bloggers share their review links with each other.  Thus more links and more mentions of your book.

What’s your role in this?
You have to be willing to be generous with your book copies, your accessibility, and your support of the bloggers (mentioning the blog stops in your own blog or on the social media sites in which you participate, such as Facebook and Twitter).

And if you are willing to do all this (and you should if you want to get people interested in your book), the bloggers often offer to post their reviews other places, such as on Amazon and LibraryThing.

The best use of these techniques for me was done by the book blog DiaryofAnEccentric.  This blogger liked MRS LIEUTENANT so much that she arranged to have an interview of me appear the day after her review along with a contest for a copy of my book.

If you keep Web 2.0 principles in mind – what can you do to benefit the blogger (rather than what’s in it for your own book promotion) – and you have a good virtual book tour organizer to start you off on the right path, you’ll find that a virtual book tour can be an excellent return on your book promotion investment.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller: The first four chapters of MRS. LIEUTENANT are available at www.mrslieutenant.com. Through my online book promotion efforts I became so enthralled with the online sharing of information that I’ve started a company: Miller Mosaic, LLC will be a family of websites providing information to make people’s lives easier – check out the first website at www.estateplanningforyou.com. Connect with me on Facebook and LinkedIn under Phyllis Zimbler Miller and on Twitter under ZimblerMiller. Let me know where we “met.”

Plunk the Rocks into These Ponds First

• The author’s hometown (both current and past ones)
• Places where the author was educated, even an elementary school
• Places where the author’s past and present employers are located
• Groups in which the author is a member
• Other locations mentioned in or relevant to the book

Prepare personalized versions of your basic book press release for each entry on the list of primary ponds. For example, for Backroads of Minnesota, we were successful in getting good regional coverage in both the author’s and the photographer’s hometowns and alumni publications during the launch of the book, and again after it won a Ben Franklin Award.

Sometimes your backyard pond is a topic rather than a place. For Helen Kelley’s Every Quilt Tells a Story, we have aggressively pursued the quilting market via magazines, guilds, stores, and state and national conventions. The author has signed books at the national quilt show in Paducah, Kentucky; the Minnesota state show; and several quilt shops. She will also be at the biggest quilt show of all in Houston this fall. Kelley consistently signs more than 100 books at each event. This book has a very specialized, targeted audience; but in this case, the rock in the pond is creating waves.

Is One Rock Enough? How Big Does It Need to Be?

A big rock might make an initial splash, but then just sink to the bottom of the pond; sometimes lots of little pebbles can create the expanding ripples you seek. The key is repetition, repetition, repetition. Find as many ways as possible to get your message out–over and over again.

For our pictorial guide New Orleans, we pitched the local author, Jan Arrigo, to radio, TV, and newspaper again and again–pre and post Mardi Gras–and whenever she had an appearance event scheduled. Book events can give you another reason for making contact with the media. New Orleans received a great review in the Times Picayune, plus multiple radio interviews and one segment on local TV. The Times Picayune print review helped land signings, and the signings brought radio spots; nothing stands alone. Synergy created our waves–and sales.

Ponds for two of our other titles include Harley-Davidson dealerships, thanks to Jean Davidson, author of Growing Up Harley-Davidson and Jean Davidson’s Harley-Davidson Family Album. Jean spends her weekends on the road and her arrival becomes an event which the dealers advertise via local radio, TV, and print. They host special invitation-only programs for their HOG (Harley Owners Group) chapter members. Jean sells books, usually 200 to 300 a weekend. These targeted bookselling events even landed Voyageur Press a story in Publishers Weekly.

Do You Need a Gimmicky Sparkling Rock to Throw?

Making yourself and your book stand out does help. Here are a few suggestions.

• Wrap your book in something distinctive, like bright tissue paper. I’ll be using paper with a snowflake design for the holiday gift book The Snowflake: Winter’s Secret Beauty.
• Send something along with the book. We’re including a CD of snowflake images with copies of The Snowflake that will be going to TV meteorologists. For This Old Guitar: Making Music and Memories from Country to Jazz, Blues to Rock, I will be sending small inflatable toy guitars with review copies to selected editors; I think they’ll remember the book when I do my follow-up contacts.
• Tie your book–old or new–to an upcoming event. Susan Roth was successful in getting excerpts from her book Tastes of Jewish Tradition (published by another publisher in our pond, JCC Milwaukee) into several national magazines for issue dates tied to Jewish holidays. To find events related to your book, check www.earthcalendar.net; www.celebratetoday.com; www.webholidays.com; John Kremer’s www.bookmarket.com; and Chase’s calendar listings at www.chases.com. You can even create a holiday of your own!

To Sign or Not to Sign, or Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Signing events take time to set up, and to do. Often you don’t sell many books, and many authors wonder if it was all worth it. Consider these benefits:

• Your book gets pulled out of the mass and is, at least for a couple of hours, front and center–not only with customers, but with bookstore staff. Remember, booksellers are also book buyers; if they discover and like your book, they will sell it to others long after you’re gone.
• Books events are an excuse to contact the local papers and radio stations–again. And signings can spark feature coverage along with sales. In Minnesota, the Panera Bakery Cafes have started an “Authors on the Rise” program. Local authors display and sell their books every Monday; many report daily sales of 20 or more. Local papers have covered the program, and authors have made radio and TV appearances connected to their Panera visits.
• You can make a big splash in a small pond, especially if you do something different. Robert O. Barclay selected the small southern Minnesota town of Chatfield as the setting for his third self-published book, The Ponder Legacy, and he decided to hold his debut party at the local library there. More than 50 people, including the editor of the local paper and a producer from the local cable TV station, showed up. Bob is now a major celebrity in Chatfield!

Throw Rocks on the Road

Planning to travel and promote your book? Look for new ponds to target. Try www.epodunk.com to identify promising cities, festivals, colleges, you name it–this is an excellent resource. Once you have selected a few cities, use Yahoo’s yellow pages. Enter the city and state location, then search for bookstores, or newspapers, or radio stations. You’ll get a quick list of addresses and phone numbers.

Good luck making waves!

Dorothy Molstad is President of Molstad Marketing and PR. She is available for advice and action in all areas of your marketing and public relations campaigns. Contact Dorothy at dendoor (at) aol (dot) com.