What will sell your book?

What will sell your book?
By Author L.P. Chase

In my experience, I have learned, we, as authors, must sell ourselves first. We need to use some elbow grease and get ourselves out there. I have read recently, and agree, we could take two totally separate authors and have them write the exact same book, with the exact same title and the exact same cover illustration and one author will sell thousands of copies while the other will only sell a few hundred. Why? It’s obvious. One author sells himself. We must do some legwork, research viable markets, make contacts with bookstores, schools, drugstores, supermarkets, make appearances, self-promote, do book signings, call local radio stations and do interviews. Many authors panic at the thought, but lets face it, books don’t sell themselves…authors do!

Little gimmicks like giving away pens or pencils, bookmarks and posters are great starters and draw interest. However, that’s just the beginning. I find myself shamelessly self-promoting on line at supermarkets, toy stores even at sporting events. Every conversation I have with someone can potentially lead into my book. If a person talks about their child, I ask how old their child is. Bam! I find a perfect lead-in for my self-promotion. If someone is a schoolteacher, there’s my next opportunity. Perhaps the person is a counselor, I see another possible customer for one of my books. If my cousin’s friend’s uncle is a teacher, I find a way into that school to visit a classroom. We can’t be greedy. Offer a free visit every now and then. Talk it up. In the end, you’ll sell some books. It all depends on the topic of your book, the audience and your desire to get it out there. Today we have a world filled with millions of authors, some good, some great, and some so-so. The competition is fierce. But…it’s not always the “great” ones that sell the most books. It’s the ones that work for it. So kick off the shoes, roll up the sleeves and start selling.