Book Promotion - Thinking Beyond the Box

Hundreds of articles have been written to guidefind new titles to sell, I discovered that NAIBA
authors on ways to promote their books. There'swas only one of nine regional associations of indies
no question that the techniques they cover-pressacross the country. And all of them were eager
releases, radio broadcasts, writing articles, bookto hear about new titles and new selling tools and
signings and more-are key ingredients of anpromotions to help them ring their registers. Book
effective promo campaign.sellers and authors share the same goal: increasing
But that's no longer enough if you want yourthe number of books sold.
book to rise above the more than 400,000 newCreative Alerts
titles that reach the market each year in today'sThat led me to discover SIBA (Southern
fiercely competitive publishing arena. More andIndependent Booksellers Alliance). This unique
more people have begun writing in theirgroup operates a monthly e-mail program that
retirement. Books by foreign authors are floodingreaches 2,400 indie retailers in the nine regions I
the market. Many schools and colleges are nowspoke of above. For $50, the "Creative Alerts"
emphasizing writing skills. That means you've gotprogram allows you to submit a 250-word
to think about crawling out of the box and findingdescription of your book and any promotion you
new ways to distinguish yourself.sponsor. For another $50, you are entitled to
It isn't easy to be special, but it can be done withplace a photo of your book cover next to the
a little ingenuity and some hard work. To starttext.
your creative juices flowing, I'd like to shareExcited by the possibilities, I devised a holiday
several approaches that have contributed greatlypromotion "The Perfect Gift for Grandma and
to the success of my latest book The WriterGrandpa." There were three ingredients to the
Within You.promotion. 1 - Finding a meaningful present for
Best Book Awardsthese older folks is always difficult. 2 - The Gallup
When my latest work was first published lastPoll reports that 81% of mature American adults
October (2007), I puzzled over how to continuelong to write a book. 3 - My new book was
the promotional impact of its introduction andgeared to retirees and seniors who wanted to
convince both the industry and consumers of itswrite. It was a perfect match, and I listed it in
worth without spending the thousands of bucks I"Creative Alerts."
didn't have. I was lucky enough to have my bookWithin two days of the e-mailing, I began to
accepted by the prestigious Writer's Digest Bookreceive requests from bookstores in states as
Club.far distant as California, some of whom had not
I then set aside a modest piece of my rather slimeven considered stocking the book before.
promo budget to enter book contests, hoping toUnconventional Appearances
capture at least one award that I could featureAs I write this article, I think of my appearance
on my front cover.tomorrow in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, the once
USABookNews answered my hopes. I spentexclusively religious community that has now
some extra money to have my book distributorsbecome a mecca for folks of all stripes because
hand paste gold award winner labels on the cover,of its charm and its beautiful beach. Just imagine a
and rather quickly saw an upsurge in my sales.completely unconventional book signing on the
That tickled me enough to invest in additionalsidewalk of this unique community, sponsored by
contests in the belief that more is merrier, anda gift shop that combines books with
the book would stand out even further from thearomatherapy and other "beautiful body" products.
pack if it could claim a variety of awards.All of this happening with an antique car show
The results have surprised even me. The Writerunderway on the street.
Within You has now been included on seven BestI mention that only to impress you with the
Books of the Year listings and has captured twoendless possibilities of increasing sales of your
medals. We are busy trying hard to translatebooks. Speaking at libraries is wonderful.
those honors into sales. And we seem to beAppearances before organizations and signings in
succeeding.bookstores can be lucrative too. But don't limit
Indie Booksellersyourself to just the standard venues. Think
We authors talk a lot about indie publishers, butbeyond the box.
we tend to overlook the resurgence of theFor example, retirement, the subject of my book,
independent bookstore and the popularity of "Indieis a reality for every working man and woman.
Bound," the new program spearheaded by theThat opens the door to speaking before business
American Booksellers Association to promoteand profession groups. And it adds the logical
book buying at local indie stores.possibility of stretching the talk to demonstrate
All by chance I learned that NAIBA (New Atlantichow writing articles and how-to books can help to
Independent Booksellers Association) was holdingbuild the profits of a business or practice. It
its semi-annual conference in New Jersey, not tooworks; I've done it.
far from my home. Previously unaware of thisSo break out of the box. Call upon your
group's existence, a little homework convinced meimagination and your creativity, and make you and
to show my book at a very attractive fee at theyour books special in myriad ways that that lie far
conference.beyond my imagination. No one knows your
In addition to introducing The Writer Within Youpotential market better than you do. Reach out
directly to store owners and managers eager toand tap it all.