After You Write the Book . . .

I walked into a large chain bookstore yesterday. I love bookstores. They are a treasure to me. But they are not the answer to most authors' book sales.

While I was at the bookstore, an announcement came on, "Good afternoon bookstore customers. Today we are privileged to have Betty Joe Betty (fictional name!) who will be signing books from 2:00 until 2:30." I walked over to where Betty Joe was signing. Well, she would have been, if there was anyone wanting a book signed. Poor Betty Joe just sat there, saying hello to customers as they passed by. I'm pretty sure she didn't sign a single book.

The next announcement: "Hello again, bookstore customers. We are fortunate to have Betty Joe Betty signing books in the front of the store. In a few minutes, she will be in the lecture area, where she will make a few comments and continue to sign copies of her wonderful book." I moseyed to the lecture area and saw Betty Joe sitting behind a desk, making a few comments to the bookstore PR person.

As Betty Joe learned, this is no longer a way to sell books. Unless you have serious name recognition, you can't just parade into a bookstore and expect to sell books at a book signing. You can sell books at a bookstore signing. I have. Others have. How? You invite your friends, peers, family, church members. club members, neighbors and anyone else you can think of. You send cards, emails, texts and voice messages. It's a lot of work, for which you usually receive 60 percent of the sales.

It can be embarrassing. Ask Betty Joe. So, why do people still do it? Some do it out of ignorance. They just assume people will buy their book if they sit behind a table. After all, it worked for Amy Tan, Barbara Kingsolver, John Grisham, and Nelson DeMille, the same magic will happen for them. Some do it to get their name out in the community. That's a worthy goal. Just remember, it falls in your court to get people there to see you and buy your book.

And, by the way, just in case you score an agent who lands a book publishing deal for you, it doesn't mean you're going to to have people lined up, waiting for you to appear at their favorite bookstore. The stark truth is that YOU, the author, have to generate the readers - to the bookstore and to your book, period.

That doesn't mean you can't sell books. My books, or books I have helped with, have sold millions of copies (that's some of them above) and nobody knows me. You just have to be strategic. In addition to writing some of my own books, I serve as a ghostwriter and/or a writing/publishing coach. Here are a few quick tips:

1. For your book to be marketable, you must have a group of folks who are interested in purchasing your book. It could be your customer base. It could be your reading or viewing audience if you work in print or mass media. It could be your congregation if you work at a mega-church. It could be your fans if you're a professional athlete or entertainer. It could be your website if you have thousands of followers.
2. For your book to be marketable, there has to be a reason for readers to purchase it. Yes, if you're a celebrity, they might want it just to learn about your private life. But for most of us, there has to be a hook. The reader is asking, What do I get out of buying this book? What's in it for me? It might be a skill or some knowledge or a laugh or encouragement or even a challenge. Fiction is a little harder to market, especially if you don't have a recognizable name. Typically, you start off with a few readers who spread the word. Reviews help. For more ideas, look at sites like Foreword Reviews, CreateSpace, IngramSparks, as well as helpful articles in books and magazines for writers.
3. You must understand that buying habits are different from a few years ago. While some still go into the bookstore and purchase books (something I encourage), far more buy on line. So, you must think in terms of how to market your book(s) online. A lot of folks look to Amazon. It's not the only game in town, but it's a very big player. Then there's your own website. Make your marketing pitch creative and compelling.
4. For most authors, you will make far more money without a traditional publisher. I recently sat down with the CEO of a publishing company. They publish about 60 titles a year. He showed me annual royalty records. Most authors made under five thousand a year! Few of the authors who received an advance made any more money off their books. Think about it. You are making a small percentage of the sale of each book with a traditional publisher. If you publish yourself, you make everything after expenses. Yes, you have to figure out things like fulfillment, but if you're selling a lot of copies, it works out.

I leave you with a couple of examples that might give you hope. Before that, let me assure you that I've helped a few people who made very little from their books. There were reasons - some inflated the size of their followers. Some did not work as hard as they needed to market their book. And some were just not entrepreneurs. That's something you have to be to sell books. Here are a couple of examples that did work.

I co-wrote a book with a corporate executive. He was able to secure speaking engagements with significant fees per speech. His audiences were in the thousands. His pre-sale and after-speech revenues were also impressive. He generated over a million dollars a year with no publishing company.

I helped a healthcare professional write a book. He started his own publishing company. He had a very strong website following and successful skill-developing workshops He sold hundreds of thousands of books. His book also helped him with more business and publishing offers.

As an author, you must be make sure that your content is marketable. And you must be creative in the way it's marketed. It's not for everyone, but I've seen it work. It's not easy, but it can be done.

Stephen Douglas Williford has helped many clients achieve their dreams through writing. He not only writes his own books, but also coaches and/or co-writes books with celebrities, entertainers, executives, and many others. He routinely receives client referrals from various publishing houses.