Book Stores or Online Sales

by Sharlene Weingart
(Dawson Creek BC Canada)

So I've been here before and I'm back. (Webmaster's note: Sharlene's previous post is one of our featured ones: Book Marketing 101.) I'm preparing for the release of my fourth picture book and it has got me thinking...what have I done right so far and what do I need to do next...

One major focus my first time around was to sell sell sell to bookstores. This became somewhat frustrating. I did a mass mailout of a reasonably well designed flyer and was almost completely ignored. LOL Well, I did get one actual phone call, but that was to tell me that the book store had closed down and to please take them off my mailing list. Darn it. I did find my way into one store and even traveled 1200 km to do a book signing there. Fun, but not lucrative. And that store is now closing down as well. Go figure.

So, what this tells me is that I need to focus on the online sales. Had I sold all my books solely through amazon I probably would have been considered a great seller...but most of my sales have been done through local retailers in my area and my me pounding the pavement to schools and craft fairs and such. So, that gets me noticed where I live, but not too much farther.

I did start a contest on my facebook page to do a giveaway. This was fun, but not highly successful in selling books. I gained another 100 fans or so, but it was pretty pricey considering the amount of books I gave away in the process.

My next effort is to become a babyheist deal of the day for a set of books at a drastic discount. Hopefully we'll work out a discount that I don't lose money on. The first amount they suggested was actually 10 percent below my actual cost...Yikes!

So, my marketing continues ... I still have one car door magnet on my car. But, here's a funny twist...I put the magnet on the hood of my car (can't remember why, but it seemed like a good idea at the time) and then one day I washed my car so I took it off. This only happens about twice a year so I wanted to do a good job. I didn't put the magnet back on because it was too cold...then, to my horror and utter disbelief (not over dramatizing here) I noticed the paint coming off the hood of my car. Yes. It is true. The paint must be somewhat magnetic and it came right off the hood of the car. So, the magnet now serves two purposes. And that's all I've got to share today.

Oh, one more thing. I am in the research process of creating an iphone app with my second book. Any suggestions about what makes a great app would be appreciated...

Visit Sharlene's site, Mommy Takes Away.