An acquaintance of mine recently published her first book. She’s going through the marketing phase, promoting her novel in bookstores and doing a talk show when she can. As one who has used these methods, I doubt she will generate enough sales to make Amazon take notice and certainly not her banker.
The problem is, everyone pushes his or her book along these well-worn paths while the number of buyers is shrinking. For a writer who has no following, a reading in a bookstore is a big loser. The owners of the store charge 40% of every sale and they expect the author to bring her own audience. It’s a promotion for the store, not her. If a writer wants to do readings, I suggest a library tour. Libraries don’t take a cut of sales and sometimes they give the author an honorarium. A much better deal.
The trick with promotions is to find an idea that is fresh. Generally, I’m behind the curve because I’m busy writing books or these blogs. But I did hear of one approach that’s worth sharing. It’s called book borrowing. Book borrowing allows a reader to pay a small fee to access an electronic book for a couple of weeks. I ran across the notion on the web and here’s the site if anyone cares to explore it. http://www.moneycrashers.com/rent-borrow-ebooks-online/.
Bear in mind, I’m endorsing neither the site nor the promotion. I’m sharing information. Borrowing makes sense. People are familiar with borrowing from libraries so why not electronically for a small fee? From the consumer’s viewpoint, It beats paying $15 for a book that will be read once.
Geoff Colvin, a columnist for Fortune advises companies to shed their business models periodically in order to keep current with consumer trends. Failing to do that is to become obsolete, he warns. (“Your Business Model Doesn’t Work Anymore” by Geoff Colvin, Fortune, 2/25/13, pg. 42) It’s good advice for the writer trying to sell a book, too. Keep trying something new.
(Courtesy of www.icipaper.com)
