Self-Publishing Your Book: Counting the Cost (Part 3 of 4)

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Self-Publishing Your Book: Counting the Cost (Part 3 of 4)

One of the reality checks I share up front with all of my book author clients – whether they are writing a creative non-fiction memoir, self-help non-fiction teaching book, or any other genre – is that they will be responsible for doing all of the ongoing promotion for their book and platform. This is equally true for authors signed by a royalty paying publishing house or self-publishing on their own.

Along with your website, blog writing, and social media engagement, three other promotion vehicles every author should embrace and execute are special events, speaking, and networking.

Special events can be anything from a local book festival to a convention whose attendees are in your target readership, to a county or state fair. At these events, for a fee, you can secure a booth where you can promote yourself and offer copies of your book for sale. As you consider your participation in these special events, evaluate in advance if you believe you can cover or surpass the cost of the booth with your potential earnings from book sales. The simple question to ask is this: How many copies of my book do I need to sell to equal the fee I’ll pay to participate? Even if you feel you may not sell enough copies to cover the cost, if you’re confident that the exposure you’ll receive is valuable enough, it may be worth the risk to take part in the event. Remember, you need to go to your readership; you can’t expect them to come to you through your online efforts alone.

You will maximize the visibility of yourself and your book if you can make public speaking a major feature of your platform. This doesn’t mean you have to travel far or at great expense. In fact, you’ll want to begin by targeting your marketing efforts to the city or region where you live. Everything from churches to civic groups to service organizations welcome speakers who offer a presentation suited for their members and connected to their mission. If possible, develop several different topics for your presentations, being sure to tie each one to a subject explored in your book. Unless you feel compelled to do so, never speak for free; your words and opinions are valuable, so charge a reasonable fee. One great idea is to include the full retail price of your book in the total of your per-person fee.

For example, let’s say the retail price of your book is $14.99. You can propose to the organization that they charge an admission price of $25, and for that price each person who pre-registers to attend will receive a “free” copy of your book. Even if the host organization keeps twenty percent (or five dollars) of that fee, you still sell a book plus keep an additional five dollars for every person who pre-registers. Then, at the presentation itself, you still offer your book for sale at the full retail price. If you’ve done your job as a speaker, those same attendees who received a “free” book will often buy another copy for a friend or family member, and you’ll also sell copies to those who attended but did not pre-register.

Finally, your personal networking efforts are vital. Are there organizations you can join in your city or community that are connected to the topics covered in your book? Are there groups whose members are made up of your primary target readers? Become an active participant in their efforts. Tell your new colleagues in the group about your book, and offer to meet with them after they’ve read your book to hear their comments or answer any questions they have about your story. They will appreciate this up-close-and-personal access to a book author, and will often become fervent referrals of your book to other readers you’d otherwise never encounter. Book clubs are also a great idea (more on that in Part 4).

Remember, your goal is to include the time spent on these efforts in that ten to fifteen hours per week of promotion time for your book. Yes, it may sound daunting at first, but as you invest your money and yourself in special events, speaking, and networking, you’ll enjoy meeting new people who are eager to hear about your book and, more importantly, your story. Slowly but surely, your book will sell, bringing you closer to paying for – and profiting from – your investment to write and publish your book. This will give you satisfaction and confidence.

Next week, we’ll conclude this series on counting the cost of self-publishing your book with a visit from Jacquelyn D. Murray, one of my self-published clients, as she reveals her challenges and triumphs in printing and promoting her memoir Cancer With Grace.

I want to hear from you!
Which of the three promotional efforts – special events, speaking, or networking – has been most challenging for you? Why?


2 Comments

Andrea Arthur Owan

February 29, 2016at 11:52 am

Thank you, Adam, for breaking this process down into succinct segments. Authors will do well to use this advice to their advantage! There are so many options for them to explore. And you are SO RIGHT! Self or royalty-published authors both need to do their own marketing. Publishing houses no longer retain staff for marketing purposes; they rely on the author to do the marketing.

And I love the way you break down how to charge for speaking engagements where you’ll be offering your book for sale! It really helps speakers/authors set realistic honorariums and book prices. Once they’ve done the quick math, they can say yes or no to an engagement. It also helps the program planner know how much to charge and what to expect.

Special events has been most challenging for me for the simple reason that it sometimes takes a very long time for people to respond to your inquiries about attending these and promoting your book. It requires constant (gentle and friendly) reminders to others that you are still there and available and willing to speak or attend an event. All part of that important marketing!

Andrea Arthur Owan

    Adam Colwell

    February 29, 2016at 6:38 pm

    Oh, Andrea, you have brought up a vital point – persistence. The constant (gentle, friendly) reminders can be the easiest to overlook – mainly because they’re so frustrating to begin with. But authors, and really any of us who are promoting ourselves as writers, must remain persistent in our follow-ups (and repeated follow-ups) with others. Sadly, we must remind ourselves that we are not the number one priority to these other key contacts; we’re one of many. But I’ve found patience and kindness are remembered later. Polite persistence is a great idea!

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