Great Expectations

by Malcolm Campbell
(Georgia)

The Sun Singer

I had great expectations when I published a novel through iUniverse in 2004. Above all, I expected to beat the odds; I expected my POD novel would some how live long and prosper in an arena where nonfiction, with all of it's prospective tie-ins and deals seems to flourish and fiction seems to be ignored.

First off, I learned that being creative as a writer and kind of weird as a person doesn't necessarily translate into writing copy that will market a novel; nor does it translate into being able to pitch a novel over the phone or in person to a bookstore, library reading group, or local book club reading group.

Nonetheless, I hoped that the story would catch on. That one person would tell another person and then another and that, with a little luck, several thousand copies might sell, and that that would be enough to catch the attention of a mainstream house.

We're up against the buzz and name recognition problem, the old adage that people buy nonfiction books when then like the subjects but don't know the authors, but are reticent to buy novels by authors they've never heard of that nobody seems to be talking about even when the book sounds like it's exactly the kind of book they love to read. Here's a question I have always wanted to have answered: "Why are so many people so willing to go into a new restaurant and drop $30 for a meal, but won't spend a fraction of that amount to try out a book from a new writer?"

I think we need to figure out how to get people to want to do that, to be willing to try something new and then, if they like it, put forth a little effort to support the author through an amazon review or a word dropped to a few friends who might like the book.

There are a lot of ways to throw money at the problem. Those who promote each of these ways (co-operative ads, blogging tours, book trailers, postcards, bookmarkets, banner ads, google ads) will tell you that you should never expect each campaign to directly pay for itself via an increase in book sales. They remind us that, in advertising, people must see an ad 7-8 times before it makes an impression.

The problem here is that we're paying for these promotional campaigns out of our own pockets, not from a capitalized home publishing company. So, a $450 blogging tour + a $500 banner + a $1000 co-op ad + a $200 book trailer is rather hard to afford all at once. I have done these kinds of things in bits and pieces and have not found them to have much, if any, impact on sales.

I started several blogs and found that even though one or two of them got a lot of comments and a lot of readers, this didn't translate into book sales. At the beginning, a group of people bought the book, made comments, discussed it, etc., but once that faded into the past, new people coming into the blog didn't respond to my occasional pitches for the book.

If I had it to do all over again, I would try some new things, some things that I see working for other authors...

Long before I self-published my book, I would make a list of every possible tie in. That is, what are people talking about out there that my book relates to in any way whatsoever. Then, before publication, I would start showing up on those blogs and posting on my own blog.

I made the mistake of using an existing editorial services website for my book page. That confuses people and makes for a long URL. Try to get a website based on your own name or your book's name.

Before publication, make a list of every publication you can find that will review a POD book. Many of those that get galleys from mainstream publishers in advance of the print date won't consider POD. But find everyone who will and learn their submissions guidelines. Don't buy 100 copies of your novel and hand them out carefully like rare jewels; get them out there to a hundred reviewers and bookstore managers.

Take advantage of service clubs. Many are begging for speakers. But don't spend your 15-30 minute program talking about your book unless it directly relates to typical hobbies and special interests. Nobody wants to hear a book report about a novel. Find a tie in and talk about it or, possibly, some adventure you had while working on the book. Keep them interested; make them laugh. Then they'll come over to your table after your talk and buy a copy.

If you've ever tired to get an agent, you may have found the free Amazon download called How to Write a Perfect Query letter by Noah Lukeman. I mention this because one main point of it is the absolute need for you to be able to describe your book quickly and briefly. You'll need to do this even if you're not seeking an agent. Prepare one-sentence, 25-word, 50-word and 100-word blurbs about your book. Have these ready for your cover letters to reviewers, your pitches to bookstores and reading groups.

And then, see how you answer this question: If I were a reader trying to find a book like the one I just wrote, how would I hear about it? Who would tell me about it? Where would people be talking about it? Once you answer that question, you know where you need to go to pitch your book.

Bottom line, you need to do a lot of things I didn't know to do when my book was new!

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