Questions from Workshop Participants

The most common question I receive from workshop participants is, “How do I get my book in bookstores?”

While ultimately the decision to shelve your book depends on the owner, here is a simple tip that worked for me.

Send readers to their store.

If you want a bookseller to consider your book, they must know they can sell it. (Step One: Write a perfect-error free book about interesting subject matter). 

An aside: I once visited a pitch session with an agent. A pitch session is where you meet an agent and tell them about your book. If they like your “sales pitch,” they request a copy of your manuscript. Anyway, the woman beside me was pitching her book which featured a talking racoon. After the author described her book as the next Art of Racing in the Rain, the agent kindly explained she wasn’t interested and couldn’t sell the story concept.

“So, can I send you the manuscript?” the author asked.

Dear ones, you will not be like that lady. There is a thin line between assertiveness and career-ending pushy behavior.

All of the booksellers I know have owned their store for years (read decades); this means they knows what their customers read. Take a moment to consider this chart from Publishers Weekly:

Understanding how readers find books is crucial for author's attempting to reaching them.

While I am on that subject let me ask this question, “do you spend money in the store you have approached?” Do you have a relationship with the owner?

Good. Keep shopping at the store.

People also  try a variety of methods to trick booksellers into stocking their books. A common technique is having a friend pose as publicist or agent. This is the BIGGEST mistake an author could ever make. For those who have yet to read my book, you will soon learn that everyone knows everyone in this business. Pretty-pretty please with sugary sprinkles on top,  do not do this to yourself. Do not take your book  into the store, (or have your momma, g-ma, preacher, sister, brother or another obscure relative shove self-published pages under the owner’s nose) and then proceed to tell them you have written the best book since the Bible. Certainly, do not call a bookstore and tell them I sent you. Lawhavemercy.

This is exactly the behavior that will ruin your career, before you even have a career.

You are a professional. You will research and understand how to approach a bookseller before actually doing it. Understand that not every store will stock your book. Not every store stocked my first book. This is the nature of the business. Once you read Stress-free Marketing: Practical Advice for the Newly Published Author you will realize the value of their shelf space and the pressure to turn books around quickly.

Dear ones, there is no “fast track” in the writing world. You  must earn your place on the shelves of bookstores with time, patience and a following of readers who adore that perfectly flawless book you have written. Some books never get into the bookstore. They still sell well. They still have a following of readers. Many factors determine the success of your book; professionalism is one of them.

Hope to see you soon.

Hugs,

Renea Winchester

www.reneawinchester.com

Standing Out Among Other Titles

Trivia time.  Without looking, guess how many titles are on Amazon?

Insert Jeopardy music.

Can readers find you?

According to Amazon, there are 8 million titles available either in print or electronic format. Instantly, the question becomes how can anyone find my book in the midst of so many titles?

Not to repeat myself, but you cannot create a nationally recognized name for yourself , which translates into sales outside of your home state and wider recognition, if you do not first invest the time to create a local name. Take heed, emerging authors, I speak directly to you. Authors who successfully sell eBooks incorporate many tactics. A few examples are: creating a web following, establishing a powerful social media presence and generating word-of-mouth advertising. All are done before publication.

All over night success stories takes years to create.

Why in the world would you invest years of your life, to pursue publication, only to expend energy doing the wrong things. It did take you years…right? Please tell me that you aren’t self-pubbing an unedited rendition of your NaNoWriMo assignment; or worse, submitting a smoking-hot manuscript to a power agent. Pretty please, tell me that you have paid an editor, had complete strangers read your work, let the manuscript cool, re-read, prayed, meditated, corrected and re-read (out loud) the entire manuscript before sending it to an agent, publisher, or printer.

Please, tell me you understand the difference between a printer and a publisher, and that you are not going to put your name on something that isn’t ready. Books take years (plural) to ripen. You do not want to know how many emerging authors email me in a panic. Whether they have found me after attending one of my workshops, or by referral from another author, the stories are always the same. They paid $ 5,000 for 50 copies; $20,000 for a thousand copies; they have books to sell (now); they are in crisis mode. As my mother says they have, “got the cart before the horse.” They have self-published, loaded their trunk with a shiny baby and now suffer new parent angst.

Dear author, I am not equipped to solve this type of unsolvable, yet simplistically preventable catastrophe. Unfortunately, no one can. The best I can offer is that you consider my words now, before making an irreparable mistake.

I see you.

I want your work to stand out, in a good way. Because if you don’t do the research before publishing, odds are high your work will not get the recognition you think it deserves.

 Further, if you have caught a second wind after completing NaNoWriMo, join a critique group. Join a local authors guild. Find a reading group. Take the necessary steps to polish your work first. The world should first meet you as a confident author, not a desperate one.

 You can stand out in a crowd, either in a good way, or a not-so-good way. The choice is yours.

Renea Winchester is the author of Stress-free Marketing: Practical Advice for the Newly Published Author. Her first book titled: In the Garden with Billy: Lessons About Life, Love & Tomatoes, earned a SIBA nomination and a Georgia Author of the Year nomination. She is an award-winning author who believes in the value of community and relationships. Her work has appeared in various magazines, anthologies, and literary journals. Visit her at www.reneawinchester.com