book « Robin Writes

I read a blog this morning that talked about book sales numbers, and what was needed for a traditional publisher to even take a second look. That number was 20K. Twenty thousand books sold, for a self-pubbed book, in order to be noticed. That’s a lot of books.

To date, I’ve sold over 100 copies of REDUCED; that’s in about six weeks’ time. Yes, I own a bookstore, and that certainly helps, but books have also been sold through Amazon. That’s not counting E-books – I’m estimating around 50 of those, plus the freebies/promos at around 700.

The average self-pubbed book sells maybe 100 copies. Total. Over months, or years.

Why? Because authors are, typically, bad at selling. As a self-pubbed author, you have to sell yourself, your image, your persona, AND your book. It takes time. Having industry connections doesn’t hurt either. And yes, I have a few. Not many, but a few. However, those 100 copies have been sold through ONE bookstore.

So how do you sell books? Let alone 20K of them?

Maybe, in the future, I’ll be able to answer that specific question, but for now, here are some ideas/tips on how to sell your book:

Create yourself

Start at the beginning. Introduce yourself online. It’s the easiest and cheapest way to connect to people, to potential readers. Blog, use Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, LibraryThing, whatever is cheap and easy. Have a website – an author website, at least, where you can showcase your work, link your blog, put up pictures, and SELL YOUR BOOKS! It’s simple to set up a PayPal account to accept payments, right there on your website.

Ask for interviews, send press releases. SOMEone is going to take you up on it, SOMEone is going to help you get the word out. You may not see results right away, you may not see them at all – but SOMEone is going to hear about your book, and tell someone else, and people are going to buy your book. Then read it. Then review it.

Speaking of, ask for reviews too! Use them on your website, ask that readers post to your venue of choice: Goodreads, LibraryThing, Amazon, etc.

Be consistent – with blurbs, author photos, taglines, usernames. Readers will connect those dots. Brand yourself, and your book.

Bookstores

Bookstores are difficult to break into. Most want established, or famous, authors on their shelves. It helps if you know some bookstore owners, but it’s no guarantee. I know a dozen of them – yet only 2-3 have invited me to sign. For now.

Send a review copy to your local stores. If they see it, in their hands, and look at it, they might take a chance on you. You could have a signing and sell a few books – or a dozen. Or none. But at least you’re out there, getting known, spreading the word.

Join groups

Meetups, writers’ groups, book clubs, volunteer organizations. All of these are places to meet people, talk to people, and mention your book. Be creative, and always carry your card. Oh, and a box of books! You can even get a nifty credit card reader for your phone.

I’m sure there are more ways to sell books – again, be creative! What are some ways that YOU have found effective?

Quite a mundane title for something SO VERY crucial. Yes, I said it. You cannot be an author without having an editor.

I’ve read a lot of books lately – I check every one that comes into the store. We have a lot of very talented authors here in STL, and every book has something to offer. But. Roughly half of them could be better. A LOT better.

Some have beautiful descriptions; but there are too many. Some have a unique storyline; but there are so many grammatical errors that a reader would quickly become frustrated. Some use bizarre, unusual words that, while correct, are so obscure that even a reader with an extensive vocabulary has to stop to look them up. And of course, some are just very, very poorly written.

Let me tell you how I edit my books:

I write, naturally, and keep track of timelines and plot lines via notes. Usually the notes are handwritten on scraps of paper, which I often lose, but simply the act of writing them down (usually) assures that I remember them.

After I’ve stopped for period of time, I re-read the last few paragraphs to get myself back on track. I skim from beginning to stopping point, just to refresh my memory of the overall story. And I’m anal enough to make most corrections as I go along.

When the ms is finished, I send it off to beta readers – these are the folks who you know will give you honest feedback. Not your mom. Unless your mom is like mine. 😉 These readers will tell you if they find a plot hole big enough to drive a truck through, they’ll tell you if your dialog is believable – or not. They’ll ask questions, and make you think – and possibly rewrite a chapter; or ten.

Then it goes to my editor. A professional. Yes, it costs money. Writing is fun, writing is a calling, writing is an obsession – writing is also a business. You do have to spend some money. Suck it up.

Only after the ms comes back from my editor do I go over it again. Most of her changes, I accept. Some, I don’t. My point is that it’s YOUR book, so check everything as much as you feel comfortable. Or until you get bored with the whole thing.

Yes, I found errors. There will always be errors. But there’s a HUGE difference between a typo and a well, a boo-boo. If you know how to spell, how to punctuate, how to use grammar, that’s 75% of the battle. But you aren’t perfect, and neither am I – there will still be mistakes. But not misteaks. Get it?

At the same time, you don’t want to obsess over the entire book. Learn to accept those mistakes, correct as you can, and move on. An author could certainly postpone publication for months or years trying to make it “perfect.” Ain’t gonna happen. Deal with it.

It doesn’t matter how you edit – do what works for you. Maybe you write till you drop, then go back and fix things. That’s okay, too. But please, please edit! I can’t tell you how disappointing it is to pick up a book – that, more’s the pity, has already been published – and read the back, thinking, “Wow, this sounds great!” only to discover that you can’t get past page 15 because it’s just so horrible.