One of the best things about writing a book is the journey it invites you on. New doors open, new opportunities appear, and new friends sprout up along the way. Perfect bookstore events, where you get great attendance and sell loads of books are sometimes hard to come by, so last summer I bought Penny Sanseveri's Red Hot Internet Publicity. When I bought the book, I signed up for the newsletter 52 Ways to Sell More Books. Penny is generous with her promotional tips. One by one the tips arrived and tip #37 arrived just a few days ago. The tip was about doing book signings in unique venues and going beyond bookstores for book sales.
This tip reminded me of a similar post I wrote last year.
My writing group friends are great examples of these events.
- Sheila Kelly, author of Gold: An Alaska Saga of Riches and Ruin, has been making waves at mining association events.
- Kathy Gehrt, who wrote Discover Cooking with Lavender, does cooking demos at Lavender Festivals like the two festivals coming up in a few weeks in Sequim, Washington.
- Elsie Hulsizer author of two sailing books, the most recent Glaciers, Beans, and Totems: Sailing in Search of the Real Southeast Alaska, has been presenting slide shows of her journey at yacht clubs in British Columbia and Washington.
I've done cooking demos at markets, slide presentations at local churches and this weekend, I'm participating in a Farm-to-Fork dinner at Whispering Winds Farm. Sixty people have already reserved tickets for this farm-cooked meal, a farm tour, a chance to win door prizes (which I must say are amazing) and the best part for me?
Meeting the people who grow our food in the Northwest. If you're going you'll love farmers Char and Doug Byde, Char always makes me laugh. I'll have my own table at the event, but what I'm really looking forward to besides Each step of my so called book promotion, even in this second year, takes me deeper into farms and food, my platform and the growing audience for local foods.
In tip #37 Sanseveri says think "video stores, electronic stores, grocery stores, restaurants, coffee shops and even Hallmark stores." I once saw an advertised book signing at Ivars Restaruant at Mulkito Landing while I waited in line for the ferry. Who would think Ivars could host a book signing? Book publishing and promoting today--times are certainly changing.
Instead of lamenting the difficulty of successful bookstore gigs, go beyond the bookstore and let no possibility of possible promotion escape you.
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