write « Robin Writes

Distribution. You gotta have it, one way or another. So how do you get your books out there, into the hands of readers? Keep in mind, of course, that some ways are more effective than others—in other words, it’s a good thing when someone reads your book, but you have to weigh time and cost when it comes to getting the book to the reader.

And, too, you have to look at the value of the reader.

Yes, I said that whenever someone reads your book it’s a good thing—and it is—and while Mom and Grandma might tell their friends about it, or your friends might tell their friends, unless these are other relatives and friends of yours, no one is vested in reading that book. Likely no one will buy more than one copy; they might even share and pass around the same one.

The friends and family method is only going to net you, wild guestimate, 50-100 sales.

So, what’s next? Footwork. Pounding the pavement.

One of my author friends keeps a case of books and a small table in the trunk of her car. Whenever it strikes her, she sets up shop. I know a several authors who go to community festivals, markets, craft fairs, and so forth. Some of them do quite well, although I don’t know their figures.

YOU can do this too—but again, keep in mind the cost of entry, booth space, time involved, etc. For instance, if you spend $50 on one booth space for one event, and you net $5 per book, you have to sell ten books just to break even. If you’re sitting there for four hours, and sell those ten books, you’ve just “earned” $12.50 per hour—except you really didn’t, because of the cost involved.

You earned zero dollars. But you sold books, right? And yes, that’s a good thing! Realistically, though, how often can you do this? Every Saturday? Probably not, if you have a full-time job and a family. Will you sell ten books every time? Probably not. From experience, I can tell you that author events, regardless of venue, will generate from zero to 40 copies sold. Unless, of course, you’re a NYT bestselling author. But then you likely wouldn’t be reading this.

The same goes for events at indie bookstores—except most won’t charge you to appear in the store. They will, however, probably request that you bring your own books and they’ll pay you a percentage, usually 60%, of the sales; some stores pay 70%. Of course, eventually you’ll run out of local stores and will have to travel—which eats into both your time and your cost, and that means you have to sell even more books.

Unless.

Unless you have distribution—surely, your books are on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. That’s pretty much a no-brainer. And your own website, for convenience. This stuff is easy, and free. There’s no excuse for not doing it.

But national or worldwide distribution? With all the books being published on a daily basis—nope, don’t have figures, try Google—you MUST be findable. MUST.

Booksellers—indie and chain—get their books from Ingram or Baker & Taylor. Yes, there’s a cost to list your books there—quite minimal, considering that ANY bookstore can look up your book in the Ingram catalog and ORDER IT! And yes, they get a discount. But because Ingram is a wholesaler, you have to give them a discount too.

Sure, you can do events at stores on consignment, where they pay you that 60%, and you can lug books all over the place to garner sales. But wouldn’t it be much easier to have someone else do that, like UPS? And, well, it’s a little more professional. Think about it.

The other part of mega-distribution is whether or not your book is returnable—if it’s not, via Ingram, booksellers are going to be very, very hesitant to order. Oh, sure, they can just get a couple copies, and many do. But if you want to sell, especially if you want to do a signing, you need booksellers to be able to order 20, or more—and not get stuck with them if your event flops.

Of course, it’s up to you to SELL the book, and yourself. Just because a book, along with hundreds of thousands of others, is available, doesn’t mean that a bookseller will notice it. But if you can tell a store that yes, your book is available, at a regular discount, and is returnable, they’re more likely to schedule you AND order your books.

Some stores, particularly chains, will ONLY have you in for an event if these criteria are met.

It’s really the easiest way to get your books out there.

The Internet is a funny place. Place? Is that even a correct term? I think so. Because it’s, you know, everywhere. So anything you say or do can end up . . . here.

Most of the time, it’s harmless. In fun. But even those things can backfire. You have to always be conscious that what you say may offend someone—and I’m not talking about strongly held beliefs, I’d never ask or expect anyone to compromise those beliefs. For example, say you’re against some politically charged topic; you don’t have to tell someone that “maybe you’re right,” but you can also refrain from calling that person a dumbass.

Other things to avoid, as your author persona, are Debbie Downer posts, rants and raves, whining, complaining, etc. And cussing. Do *I* do these things sometimes? Probably. Doesn’t make it right. What I suggest, however, is that you have a separate page, or account, depending on your choice of social media, ONLY for you as an author. It should be public, to where any potential readers can find you, and it should be welcoming to all—all kinds of people read, after all. You can save the more personal stuff for YOUR page, and set the privacy however you wish.

Sure, someone might make the connection, but you’d be surprised how many won’t. I’m still stunned by people who message me about the bookstore, or RHP, or even my books and who are totally clueless that these are all connected. Stunned.

All of this is particularly important if you write kids’ books, even YA. You simply can’t blog about “stupid people” or curse like a sailor or post pics of yourself in a leather bustier. Not that I’ve seen that last one, I assure you! As an author, you’re in the public eye—if you want to sell books.

Get an extra account/page and post whatever you like on your personal site. But tone down the rest on your author page—focus on your writing, your books, press and interviews, and anything connected with those things, like animal rescue or bullying or whatever “thing” is related to those.

Pay attention, too, to news items or interviews of other authors—particularly as their books relate to yours. If you write romance, for example, connect with romance authors and share links. You post theirs, they’ll post yours. Think of your author page as a place where READERS look for information. If you’re a children’s author, and you put up a blog post bitching about something, you’re going to lose readers. Parents will see that and question your ability to relate to children—not to mention wonder about the appropriateness of your book for those children.

Think before you post—and/or make sure that you separate your personal life from your professional one. This applies to being out in public, like grocery shopping, for instance, or a letter to an editor, or a phone call, and so forth. Stay true to your brand. As I said in my marketing book, dress—or in this case, behave—like the team owner, not one of the players.