Book signings can be fun

The business part of my trip was almost as much fun as the personal part. It is always great to meet new bookstore staff and spend time sharing what kinds of books we like to read and why. Sometimes I am even tempted to buy a book the staff recommends and expand my reading habits.

At The Book Rack in Moline, IL, I had a chance to visit with some customers who enjoy mysteries and had a pleasant afternoon. The store specializes in used books and only carries a few new ones. It works much like Half-Price Books and is a good way to recycle paperbacks when you run out of room on your bookshelves.

Our daughter, Dany, took her role as my assistant seriously and helped get tables set up at each store. She also took books and flyers to other stores in the strip mall in Moline, to generate some interest in my appearance. She talked one man who was putting up a sign for a new business into coming in to buy a book.

In Cadillac, MI at Horizon Books, the staff welcomed me for my third visit to the store and were very gracious. I got a complimentary scone and coffee from their coffee shop, and both were delicious. The store is very busy on Saturdays, so I got to meet a lot of people. One lady bought one of my books, then told me about a book she had just read that she loved. Copies happened to be on the table right next to mine, so she handed me one. The title is Thrift Store Saints, Meeting Jesus 25c at a Time, and was written by Jane Knuth, who had spent years working at a St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in Kalamazoo MI.

I bought the book for several reasons. First because the writing was engaging.  Second because I thought it would be a nice gift for my husband, who had spend a number of years working in a St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in Omaha NE. And lastly because it was published by Loyola Press, a Jesuit Ministry. I have a special affinity for the Jesuits and anything they endorse is good for me.

In Ann Arbor, MI, I got to visit Aunt Agatha's Mystery Bookstore. I had heard about the store for a long time and always wanted to visit. Who wouldn't want to see a store that shares a name with the awesome Agatha Christie. I didn't have an event scheduled there, but, Jamie, one of the owners, had ordered some copies of my book for me to stop by and sign. That's called a drive-by signing, which is much nicer than the other kind of drive-by's we read about.

The next stop was in Bloomington, IN at Howard's Books, located in the square around the Monroe County Courthouse. It was a slow night at the store the Thursday I was there, but we had fun meeting the cats. There is something about bookstores and cats. I know a number of store owners who have cats that wander freely at the stores, and some cats even live there.

Joie Canada, the owner of Howard's, said that since cats don't like to be moved from place to place, her cats stay at the store. People stopped in that night just to visit the cats, and I wasn't sure if I should be insulted, or just join in the fun.

There was Merlin, above, who Joie guessed was about 22 years old, and Lulu, who is much younger. Lulu was quite fascinated with my books and then she discovered the kitty that travels with me to every signing event. Lulu decided that the kitty would be good to eat, and even tried to get it out of my bag when I put it away.

There were no cats at Davis-Kidd Bookstores in Memphis, but I enjoyed meeting the staff there when I did another drive-by signing. The girls who assisted me were very gracious, and if I closed my eyes I could pretend I was Sue Grafton being given the royal treatment. No, wait, there would have been a line a mile long to meet her.

But, I have never measured the success of events by the number of books sold. Good thing, too, says my husband who reminds me that I never come out ahead when you figure all the expense of a book tour. What makes it a success for me is meeting new readers and new store owners and staff, which down the road may lead to more sales. 

As expected, I did come home with a lot of books that I had purchased, but my husband didn't complain too much since most of them were for him.

I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles

The buzz in publishing is all about marketing, branding, establishing a platform and promoting. It's enough to make a writer's head spin.

Thankfully, there are a lot of resources to help us as we try to navigate our way through an area we are not familiar with, nor particularly comfortable in. Just like there are reasons that only younger women have babies, there are reasons that writers should write and marketers should market.

Since that is not the case, we have to do as much as we can, when we can, and learn from people who are doing it successfully.

Just a few of the helpful resources that can be found Online are: Writer's Write.com -- Book Promotion.com -- PumpUpYourBook.com Help with virtual book tours can be found at BlogBookTours.com

For everything you could ever want to know about promoting books, just do a Google search for "book promotions". More sites will pop up than you can look at in one day.

One of the things that I have learned by reading and listening to marketing experts is that the hard sell does not work. I thought I was the only one turned off by "you've simply got to read my book." But apparently I'm not.

At a recent marketing seminar given by Jeff Crilley who has a PR firm, Real News, he said that selling is about connecting to people on an emotional level, which is what I have been hearing from other marketing experts. He said the best way to create buzz about a book is to talk to people. He encouraged authors to arrange speaking engagements at Rotary Clubs, Kiwanis, and any other civic or church organization. "When you talk to people in person, that's where hearts and minds are converted," he said.

When his presentation was finished I realized what was probably the most important part of his workshop. Not once did he push his book. He did talk about the book. How he came to write it. How he has used his marketing strategy to sell it. But not once did he directly invite the audience to buy the book.

The other thing that has stayed with me since attending his workshop last week was how much fun we had. He was quite entertaining and frequently made everyone laugh. And... now I'm getting to the bubbles... to make his point on how ineffective press releases can be, he gave everyone a little jar of bubbles. He had us all stand up and blow bubbles and then he said that the bubbles represented the hundreds of press releases that might be received by a newsroom of a major television station or newspaper.

Very effective illustration of the point he was making; a point that might have gotten lost if it had just been part of a Power-Point presentation.

Clever Marketing

I just read a STORY in the New York Post online about a 'novel' approach to marketing and promoting a book. Jennifer Belle, who's latest book , "The Seven Year Bitch," was just released, is the best-selling author of "Going Down" and "High Maintenance." But she didn't rely on just her reputation to boost sales of the latest release.

According to the news story, she hired 40 actresses to go out across New York City and burst out laughing in public while reading her book. Belle was quoted in the story saying it's like in India where people hire professionals to cry at their loved ones' funerals. "I'm hiring actors to laugh at my book."

What a clever idea. Marketing is all about buzz, and I can hear the drone of a million bees.

People are naturally curious, so I'm sure a number of them will ask what the reader is laughing at. I'm guessing that the actresses have been given a sales script to use. And even if people don't ask, they can see the title of the book and make a mental note, "Gosh, if that book is so funny I should read it."

I'm going to have to keep this in mind for when my memoir is published. (You'll notice I said when and not if.)

What about you? What do you think of this idea? Is it something you would do?

The Wonderful World of Promoting and Marketing

This past weekend was a busy one for me. Saturday I was at a street fair in a small town in Texas where several East Texas authors had a booth to promote our books. Unfortunately, we were off the main street of vendors, sandwiched between a booth selling Mexican food and one selling corn dogs and funnel cakes. Not exactly a prime position. Plus it was hot and humid, with little or no breeze. But we toughed it out and had a few nice conversations with people who enjoy books as much as we do. Even sold one or two.

Later that afternoon, I went to speak to a writing class at a community college about the benefits of book tours online. It saves gas. I don't have to dress up. I can reach thousands of people. Not to mention how much cooler I am in my air-conditioned office as I do this virtual book tour.

The downside is that I don't have easy access to a funnel cake, but, hey, one a year is plenty for me.

So today, my virtual tour starts up again. An excerpt of One Small Victory is here http://theplotline.wordpress.com/ Tomorrow I will be at the same blog for an interview, and will have a stop also at http://lumorgan.blogspot.com/