Ten Unconventional Ways to Market Your Book

I love attending conferences.  Yesterday I attended the Red Clay Writer's Conference which was sponsored by the Georgia Writer's Association.  As anticipated I learned a lot, shared a lot and met lots of interesting and creative writers.  I was even the winner in one of the workshops I attended where I won Bobbi Kornblit's book:  Shelter from the Texas Heat.  Thank you Bobbi.  I can't wait to read it!

Terry Kay was the keynote speaker and as always he was personable, entertaining and informative.  He has a no-nonsense approach to writing that I love.  I've written about his suggestions before when he was the keynote speaker at the Georgia Council on Teachers of English conference. I learn something new every time I hear him.

Ten Ways to Market Your Book

There were lots of workshops designed to teach the craft of writing, to learn about different genres of writing and to learn about publishing your work.  My focus however was to attend every workshop that I could on marketing already published work.  Consequently some of the workshops I attended were:  Renea Winchester who has written Stress-Free Marketing, Steve Miller who has published Sell More Books! and Bobbi Kornblit who spoke on From Author to Book Marketeer.  I learned more than I can reasonably write about in this post but here are the top ten suggestions I plan to implement myself:

1. Determine the unique selling point for your book.  I've written about his before but it's such an essential part of selling.  Every author needs to determine what is unique about their book and who is the audience that will want to buy it.  Then market to that audience.  Don't waste your time trying to sell to everyone. 
2. Think service over "shameless self-promotion".  This was Steve Miller's suggestion and I've written about this mindset before.  Anyone who thinks they can't sell something is working from the wrong mindset.  Identify how your book can help or serve others and then share that. 
3. Go local.  Think about the setting of your book, the topic of your book, the characters in your book and then look for local venues to promote the book.  Miller gave the example of a book written about snake-handlers that an be found in gift shops around Chattanooga Tennessee.  Since that is the locale where the book takes place it is a natural environment to sell the book.
4. Go where people already gather rather than trying to gather people around you.  This means interacting on high traffic blogs where other people are already discussing the topic of your book, attending events related to your book or joining clubs and associations that are relevant.
5. Word of mouth is everything and developing interest through book clubs was mentioned by more than one presenter.  Send a copy or an excerpt of your book to the president of the book club and offer to visit one of their meetings.  
6. Give stuff away.  If your book is digital (and it should be) you can have promotions and give away the whole book for free for a period of time.  Always have copies of your book available and give them away.  On your website or blog give away the first chapter or have contests to give away a book to a someone who comments.  
7. Consider specialty platforms.  Kornblit's book is set in Dallas, Texas during the '60's when JFK was assassinated.  Since this year is the 50th anniversary of his death, she is promoting this historical aspect of the book and speaking at numerous events commemorating this. 
8. Create an event rather than a book-signing at a bookstore.  For example, Kornblit has had book signings at stores that sell fancy Texan boots.
9. Look for local radio and tv stations that need one-on-one interviews for their expert segments and let them know you are available.
10. Develop a relationship with a non-profit and give away a portion of the sales to the organization. Donate a book or a basket of goodies which includes the book for a silent auction.  As part of the giveaway have flyers and bookmarks available for everyone.

These are just a few of the ideas that were shared at the conference and I hope you find them as helpful as I have!

Want to hear me sharing my success story on Dan Miller's most recent podcast?  Check it out here:  

Dan's podcast

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Living the Risk-free Life

Either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing. --Benjamin Franklin.

I absolutely love this quote.  As a mantra for daily living, it involves everything that I think is essential to successful living. It requires determining your purpose and focus.  It involves taking a risk and moving head-on into the challenges of life.  It also involves sharing what is learned and serving others through my favorite media, writing. While I've always had a basic belief in living life to the fullest, I can't truthfully say that taking risks has always been a part of that.

When I was a little girl, my favorite fairy tale was Goldilocks and The Three Bears. You remember the story don't you? She sits in one chair and it is too big and she sits in another chair and it is too small. She finally sits in a third chair and it is JUST RIGHT! I can't tell you how strongly I identify with this little girl who is trying to get everything in her life 'just right'. Much of my life's goal has been to fly below the radar and take the comfortable risk-free path.  While the idea that following a certain path would take me to my destination without any mistakes is quite appealing, I frequently have to remind myself how unrealistic that is. After all, even Goldilocks had to try out a few options before she got it just right!

Recognizing that living a purposeful, intentional life involves making mistakes and taking risks is important because it gives us permission to try different options and to be okay with possible failure. An unwillingness to fail can result in an unwillingness to try and ultimately an unwillingness to move beyond the status-quo. Doing something worth writing about by necessity involves taking a chance and risking failure.  The lesson for myself and Goldilocks is that being concerned with getting everything just right is really...just wrong.

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The One Thing You Can Do to Decrease Stress and Improve Your Life

Smile 2 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Are there people in your life who always seem in a bad mood?  Maybe it's a co-worker.  Maybe it's someone in your family.  Maybe it's YOU?  What if I could tell you a simple, one-step, one-action cure for this problem?  What if I could tell you something that you could do that is such a basic biological action that even babies in the womb do it?  What if I told you that simply by doing this you could significantly increase your life span, improve your mood and relieve stress while appearing more likable, courteous and competent? Even better, what if I told you you wouldn't have to change your diet or increase your activity level?  Oh yes, and it's completely free!

You'd think I was kidding right?  Watch Ron Gutman giving his TED talk in the video below.

While some of the research he reports seems amazing, even unlikely, I bet if you really think about it you know that a smile can make a significant difference in a person's interactions with others.  I see it everyday in my work.  Teachers who smile at students first thing in the morning as they come into the classroom and through out the day as they teach not only have improved interactions with the students in their classrooms but are also perceived as better teachers by parents and peers.  Gutman reports research that validates this;  people who smile appear to be more likable, courteous and competent. In addition, smiling is contagious, so simply by smiling you can improve the mood of everyone you come in contact with.

Children are naturals at smiling.  Gutman reports that many children smile more than 400 times a day!  No wonder just being around a young child can lift our spirits and give us a new attitude.  

Smiling arouses emotions in our brain. We feel better when we smile because the act stimulates the brain reward mechanism.  According to Gutman, one smile creates the same positive brain stimulation as eating 2,000 bars of chocolate or as receiving $25,000 in cash!  We can feel rich everyday with very little effort and no additional calories!  Smiling increases mood enhancing hormones such as endorphin in our brain, relieves stress and can reduce blood pressure.

What amazing power we all have with such a simple activity!  Are you using this ability to your advantage?  If you tallied how many times you smiled today what would you discover?  

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• Smiling to Improve your Health!
• Ron Gutman: The hidden power of smiling
• Physically expressing an emotion - such as smiling - can trigger happiness.