I recently received an email from someone on my “official Michaelbrent Collings Facebook Fan Page” (which is still kinda weird to have, truth be known), asking in essence what he could do to sell his books to more than just his close personal friends and family… and promising me a kiss on the lips if I could help him out.
Now, first of all, please let me be clear: if you know a famous author, or a successful author, or even a semi-famous or semi-successful author, this is generally not the way to get help. It is considered “solicitation” in a lot of cases and is illegal in many states. However, because he and I have had a lot of previous interaction and he buys all my books and seems nice and has never (as yet) tried to make a lampshade out of my face-skin, I answered. And I thought the answer might be germane to others who have gotten over that huge first hurdle of getting a book published, but now face the surprisingly bigger hurdle of actually trying to sell the durn-dang-darn thing!
Rest easy. It never gets easy. I’m one of Amazon’s bestselling horror writers, nearly every book I write hits one of their major bestsellers lists and most of them stay there… and I still have to spend about 40% of my time doing PR work and getting the word out. So it’s always going to be a job, folks. But… well… here’s what I told my fan:
If you ever want to dissuade someone from helping you, promise them a kiss on the lips.
Seriously, the thing of it is that there’s no easy answer. It’s like rolling a snowball down a mountain, I suppose. The bad news is that at first… you have a snowball and it’s tiny and it rolls really freakin’ slow and you’re going to be coaxing it along every step of the way. Telling people you know about your book at parties, random gatherings, funerals. Telling people you DON’T know about it at bus stops, waiting in line at the supermarket, funerals. Carrying around business cards with your website on it. A great tactic I like to use is engaging people in conversation and then saying slyly, “So what kind of books do you like to read?” after they say anything I can use to segue into that. Like a statement about their baby, or the weather, or the fact that they hate reading. You basically have to hear everything as an invitation to talk about your writing.
This does not get you invited to the cool parties.
The bad news is, at the end of the day you still have to push that freakin’ snowball along constantly. The GOOD news is… the bigger it gets, the more surface area it has. And that means that eventually it will start picking up snow at a faster rate. Hopefully.
Again, there’s no easy answer. Talk to people you don’t know. Google book review sites, looking for folks that might be interested in reviewing your novel and offer to send them a free e-copy. Google podcasts and internet radio stations that might want to talk to authors of books like yours and send them your SHORT (like, three sentence) bio and offer to chat with them at their convenience. Push that snowball.
Patience. Work. Tenacity.
Luck!
Now, again, this is not the fistful of flowers and sunshine that most people want to get when they ask about selling their books. But the reality is that the hardest work starts when you type “The End” and turn off the computer. The difference between a great author and a successful one is that the successful one knows how to get out and sell, to work the system and network and make contacts. Anyone can do it, I think, but precious few people really want to.
Be one of the ones that does.
Michaelbrent Collings has written numerous bestselling novels, including his latest YA fantasy Billy: Seeker of Powers. His wife and mommy think he is a can that is chock-full of awesome sauce. Check him out at www.facebook.com/MichaelbrentCollings or michaelbrentcollings.com.
While I have no experience with snowballs (I live deep in the desert southwest), we do have lots of rocks and sand dunes. I guess I will just have to push a good-sized boulder along and develop muscles while talking to people I don’t know about my book/s. Those muscles should get stronger the more I use them, and therefore easier–in theory. I like to give away business cards only because I love to design them. They’re pretty as well as promotive.
Great post, Michaelbrent.
Thanks, Debra!
Urgh! This kind of sounds like selling Mary Kay, which made my skin crawl and my guts twist around. Pretty sure I don’t have the guts to be a self-published author.
A little different than Mary Kay… especially if you write horror, so “Wait until I put my face on” means something completely different. Seriously, though, it all depends on what you love to do!