This month, I'm seeking, as opposed to offering, help

Tweet  I'm afraid this month, I'm in the position of seeking assistance instead of offering it. I just published my first book in May and find myself trying to figure out how to promote sales. Part of the problem is I don't really want to be a person who sells books; I want to be a writer who puts my book in front of people and their eyeballs in exchange for money. "Well, there's your problem, dummy", you're saying. "That's what selling books is! Suck it up and do it." Yeah, I know. But while you're right, you're also wrong. As Icy mentioned in the last entry, there is no shortage of writers on Twitter who do nothing but hawk their books. Regrettably I follow a bunch of them although I don't know why I ever did in the first place. It's like DVRing a tv channel that shows nothing but infomercials. Believe me, I've been correcting that mistake ever since. The point is, I consider those people to "just" be book sellers and I refuse to become one of them. For one obvious reason, it's obnoxious and boring. For another, I doubt it's very effective.
Luckily, I'm in a position where I don't have to move X number of units by such-and-such date or I'm out on the street. That reduces the stress significantly (although, I'm sure it also reduces my overall motivation). Still, I'd love to sell lots of books and get more and more people to read the book, so I'm here looking for tips and tricks just like you. Here's a list what I've done so far, what I think the results have yielded and what I need to do better.

• I had a book release party - This was a lot of fun. I invited friends and close associates because it was largely a "thank you" to people who have supported me in various capacities over the years and with whom I wanted to celebrate the success of completing the task of getting something published. I sold enough books at the event to break even on the cost of the party (actually, a little bit ahead). I think everyone enjoyed themselves but I'm not sure how many, if anyone, have word-of-mouthed the book to friends of theirs who weren't there.
• I've made it available via multiple sources - Amazon, CreateSpace, an e-store at my web site. Of course, the task is driving traffic to those sources. My blog readers are certainly aware it exists.
• I've solicited Amazon.com reviews from readers - Good news: every one has rated the book FIVE STARS! Bad news: There are only two of them. I need to get aggressive about soliciting more reviews, I think.
• I've done a couple of local radio shows - I don't like to brag but I'm pretty good at holding my own during interviews so I think the ones I've done have gone pretty well. I need, and want, to do more. 

That's all, really. I know I need to do things like approach the local media and knock on the doors of my local independent booksellers, and I will do those things. I'm wide open to suggestions for stuff I haven't thought of or non-traditional tactics though.

- Clark Brooks

Building Your Reader Army

By Rob Hines

I'm yet to be published, and I have yet to finish a book so feel free to judge my opinions accordingly. However, (and this is a fairly big However) I have spent a couple dozen years or so studying consumer habits in my sales, media and marketing lives, and I'm a heavy media consumer myself. Okay, disclaimer done.

Me: Circa 1987

Even though I'm inexperienced on the publishing side of the media community, I have a TON of experience working with consumers and I'm willing to bet that experience is going to help my book sales.

You know, once I actually have something to sell.

Who's Your Community?

Do you talk to writers or readers? Who's more likely to read (and buy) your books? Writers are pretty busy, you know, writing. Sure, they read a little to keep their skills sharp, but if you want to find people that buy books, you want to find readers.

When you first joined social media to build your writing career--

(You are on social media, right? Facebook, Twitter, etc.? If not, go sign up for Twitter at least. It's simple. I'll wait. So how about that crazy weather, huh? Are you watching the Stanley Cup? That triple overtime game was wild! I sure hope the Hawks can pull it out, but that Boston defense is wicked.)

Oh, you're back. It was easy, right? Now that everyone's getting social, let me give you a tip to think about when interacting with other people on social media. Following writers is great for learning. Following READERS is best for EARNING. 

Pretty catchy, eh?

When I first decided "I'm going to be a writer" a few years back, I immediately ran to Twitter and started following writers. It was fun. I actually had writers following me back, including Sideways author and frequent follow-backer Rex Pickett, so that was a thrill. These experienced authors were sharing knowledge, giving tips, and most importantly, proving that writers are everyday people too. In fact, following writers is what connected me with Peevish Penman so it was most definitely a strong strategy.

But times they will be a changin'. When that first book hits shelves and/or Kindles, I need to expand my community so I'm not just talking to writers all day. I need to start talking to readers. I need to find those Tweeters and Facebookers who list reading as their number one pastime. These are the people that will seek me out and at the very least read my Kindle samples to decide if they should plunk down some dough and help put food on my kid's plate. They're readers. That's what they do.

Not big on social media? Then hit the streets! Go places where readers are. Jody already gave us a great strategy for book-signings, but there are other places readers gather. Talk to your local librarian and ask about special events where you might be able to mingle with local readers. Find trade shows and festivals where your book may be well-received and get a booth if not too cost-prohibitive. That's why I prefer social media, because it's FREE, but if you want a more personal approach, feel free to open up the wallet and get your meet-and-greet on.

Shifting your focus to readers is step one. Now let's take a deeper dive.

Find Your People!

Once you've found readers, you have to find YOUR readers. This part might get tricky, especially if you entered this career expecting to write books for the entire world. Time to admit an uncomfortable truth. Not everyone is going to dig your work. At least, not right away. I'll talk more about shifting customer bases later but for now, you just need to determine YOUR people. 

If you're writing general fiction, this may not be that easy, but if you're doing genre-specific stuff, there are any number of book clubs, internet forums, facebook groups, etc. that would be ecstatic to have an actual author of the genre they love interact with them. Use these groups to create connections and build a rabid reader base. They'll tell similar-thinking friends and you will start to grow your army.

This can happen for non-genre writing too, but the process seems to be much more hit-and-miss. One person who loves your work won't necessarily have friends and family who will be so readily convertible. It just means you'll have to talk to more people to find your groove, but it's out there somewhere.

Welcome Others

Braaaaaaaaains!

Building your army can be tough, and to make it even tougher, readers are constantly evolving. Ten years ago, nobody was reading zombie books except for a small devoted fan base. Now, everybody is crazy about zombies. 

Unfortunately, the authors who are really making money on zombie fiction began writing it before it really took off, and outright luck often comes into play when finding these new fans, but this is a good thing. It means there's always a chance the the stuff you love to write (and probably what you do best) is going to catch on with the general public and make your books extremely profitable. Don't ever underestimate the chances of making new fans. It can happen in an instant.

But this is not how you should measure your success. These happenstance tag-alongs will not be a given so don't start mansion shopping, but if it happens to you, just enjoy the ride because it appears to be a fun one.

Marketing your work (and yourself) can, and should, be an enjoyable experience. All you need is a solid strategy, a little persistence (read: a crapload of persistence), and an undying love for what you do. You're a writer. They're your readers. Now go find them!

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Crickets and the Muse

By Molly Field

We were told this month to set out to offend someone (anyone) in our posts for the sake of engagement. This is a desperate attempt to get you, someone who's never commented on this blog before, to do the seemingly impossible: tell us what you think.

click here to hear some of your previous comments.

So I'm just going for it; this is totally full of non-sequiturs, so enjoy the ... whatever.

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In an effort to prove to us that you have a pulse, working eyes, hands that can type, and that you're not a Chinese hacker and that you might disagree with anything I might say, I'm going to entice your wrath and write about the most devious of codependencies: how my writing benefits when someone's life is in the crapper.

If it's your life: I need it to stay there so I can write a story based on it without your permission. Because the more you stay asleep to the desperate existence you're hanging onto by a diaphanous thread, the better my content, the richer my dialogue, the tighter my story. The more asleep and blasé you are all the time, the better for sociopaths opportunists creatives like me.

I have someone in my life whom I've decided likes loves to feel sorry for itself. I'm going write in a  gender neutral fashion or ich können sogar auf Deutsch und Sie benutzen das dritte Geschlecht, aber nein, ich will nicht*.

"Lesley's" rants are exhausting. This perforated, yo-yo height, hermaphrodite, Slavic cat dresser friend of mine likes to fixate on the bad, drink too much, dress in charcoal gray, talk about death and sadness, and listen to The Cure, Nickelback, and Laura Branigan songs and also watch John Waters movies in the dark.

It's bad. "Lesley" needs help. And the name is all of it, the quotations included; its parents were new to the country when they adopted it from Illinois.

But I'm so torn!

"Lesley" is my muse for my main character, Chester Feltentooth! S/he's the pro/pre/ant-agonist (emphasis on agony) in my upcoming novel, People Who Should Have Stopped Trying: The Story of Potters in the Rain, out this summer by Too Bad So Sad press, a joint venture imprint of Cosmopolitan Magazine and Penzoil. Illustrations by Charles Addams and "The Family Circus" are blatantly stolen without any regard to copyright laws whatsoever.

Why so venom on poor "Lesley," Molly? Because I'm in a mood.

But I'm also in a tight spot... I mean, if "Lesley" wakes up and changes and improves its life, then where goes my muse? My fodder for my book? My manna for my novel? It's like this: I want "Lesley" to be just bad off enough to continue to live so I can steal its life for my story, but that's it. Any somatic improvement will knock this book off the best-seller's list.

So I tell this person "Lesley," "You need help! You should take better care of yourself!" (While I walk it back into its dark house, inspect its mail for cash, throw away its bills, and guide it back to its cage. As its back is turned, I rest a case of Mad Dog 20/20 with bendy straws on its cage-side table, where I've tactfully replaced its clock and lamp with a carton of unfiltered Lucky Strikes next to my a sad clown Zippo lighter and play Carole King songs on repeat shuffle.)

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SadClown.jpg

Why? Because I'm a selfish, craven, unimaginative deviant who needs content and my brain is too jacked up on antibiotics from my gonorrhea strep throat, that's why.

I asked our fearless leader Carrie earlier,

"Are you serious about wanting to offend our readers? Because I'm about to let the snarling, scratching, feral, hissing, and rabid backwater cat out of its tattered burlap sack outside a Kinder Care," 

and she said this (after calling her lawyer):

Ultimately, you've got to decide what you want your name on. Don't worry about the site's reputation. If you feel that it would be helpful, write a foreword to the article that serves as a sort of disclaimer to prepare the readers for a change in tone and give it some context. 

How does that sound?  

How does that sound?! I'll tell you. It sounds like a cop out. (Just kidding, Carrie, I love you.)

So to all you mayonnaise chocolate cake eaters in your three-day-old pajamas, by all means: keep it up. I need you to maintain or elevate the lachrymose in your life so that I can finish my book. Hang out more with your toddler-pageant judges and repo friends! But if you suddenly run out of 20/20, call me you do want progress, and you really mean it -- give me the names and addresses of your toddler-pageant judges and repo friends because I need them. But think about the arts first. We need you.

However, change is hard. So if that second hour without a crisis in your life is too much, definitely consider dwelling in the past, do moan over things you can't change, and keep on licking those wounds, because as we all know: no wound gets better unless you fester over it and lick the hell out of it, just ask my coonhound "Gunther," who's now on his fifth round of antibiotics and steroid injections.

And don't even consider trying to write your own book. Only losers write their own books; here's a white zinfandel slushy, give your story to me. Want some pork rinds? Well, I just so happen to have some... right next to the VCR. Do you smoke? Is it me or is it too bright in here?

I can't say this any better than veteran New Yorker cartoonist, Roz Chast in the April 15, 2013, issue:

So... do you have any comments for me? Who's your muse? Want some 20/20?

*I can even go German on you and use the third gender, but no, I won't.

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