Saturday, June 29, 2019

17 ways to promote & sell a book



Promoting and selling a book can be challenging, whether it's traditionally published or self-published. Here, in no particular order, are 17 things I've done with some success. If you're currently promoting and/or selling a book, you'll of course tailor your own initiatives to your own interests, abilities, and resources.

 

  1. Give talks on writing.

 

  1. Give talks on topics other than writing, i.e. topics relating to your book in some way.

 

  1. Write articles on writing and on relevant topics other than writing, and submit these to suitable magazines, newspapers, blogs, etc.

 

  1. Obtain reviews for your book. You usually have to ask for these. They don't come automatically. Sometimes you can barter your own services for a review, like perhaps critiquing a manuscript for another author. Encourage your reviewers to share their reviews widely—on Amazon, Goodreads, Chapters Indigo, Facebook, Pinterest, blogs, e-mail lists, etc.

 

  1. Approach book-related websites about featuring your book. Such sites usually do this for free.

 

  1. Offer your books for sale at markets, e.g. farmers market, artisan market. You usually have to rent a space, often for about $20. If you do this with another vendor or vendors, you can split the cost.

 

  1. Approach libraries about doing talks for them. They're not allowed to sell your book, but you can bring copies and offer them for sale.

 

  1. Speak at writers conferences. Speakers are usually allowed to offer their books for sale. Sometimes attendees also have this opportunity.

 

  1. Send press releases to TV, radio, newspapers, etc. Tailor these to the specific locations where the media are located. They're interested in local stuff. Your connection with a specific location doesn't have to be terribly strong. Examples:

 

-"As a child, I lived in xxx. I loved the wild roses that bloomed on the roadsides. Life wasn't easy, but those roses [here say something that introduces your book]."

 

-"When I visited xxx as a teenager, I [experienced--something positive]. Years later, it encouraged me [here say something that introduces your book]."

 

A lot of your press releases will simply be ignored. But some may result in you being interviewed and/or an article been written about your book.

 

  1. Make a Facebook page about your book. Make it separate from your personal page but linked to it.

 

  1. Make a website promoting yourself and your writing.

 

  1. Make a book trailer about your book. Put it on YouTube and similar. Link it to your website, etc.

 

  1. Start a blog. Write posts on various topics of interest. Include information about your book as appropriate—not too often.

 

  1. Do a book signing in a bookstore, café, etc.

 

  1. Contact book clubs about featuring your book. Volunteer to speak to them.

 

  1. Contact school/college/university teachers/professors about speaking to their classes.

 

  1. Leave copies of your book at bookstores and other retail outlets on consignment.

 

Here's a link to some of my specific promotion and sales activities during the past five years or so: https://elmams.wixsite.com/elma/talks-articles-etc

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Review of BC author's book Unlocking the Tin Box

Author Gwynne Hunt of Port Alberni, BC, spoke to our Interior Authors Group [Kamloops] June 12. We enjoyed and learned from her presentation. I've now finished reading her autobiography Unlocking the Tin Box. It's about growing up in a dysfunctional family during the 1950s and 1960s, the rough road she travelled as an adult, and how her road eventually smoothed out. Here's my review: https://elmasalmanac.blogspot.com/2019/06/unlocking-tin-box-autobiography-by.html?m=0

Unlocking the Tin Box, an autobiography by Gwynne Hunt, reviewed by Elma Schemenauer

Her dad is a con man. Her mom is an alcoholic. The family moves often, scurrying out into the night because they haven't paid the rent. Food is scarce. Sometimes there isn't any.

 

Life is tough for the little girl, whom author Gwynne Hunt calls Maggie in her autobiography. But Maggie's a smart kid. Her dad, surprisingly, gives her a Bible, which she read through four times. She gets good grades in school, and makes friends easily. These strengths come in handy since she's forced to change schools regularly.

 

Once when she's invited to a friend's birthday party, her older sister takes her there. However, the sister mistakenly leaves Maggie at the wrong house. An unknown kid's birthday party is happening at this house. Maggie stays at the party, not knowing how to get to the right house, and becoming more and more uneasy about being an interloper.

 

The sense of being at the wrong party haunts her as she grows up. Her feelings of alienation and rootlessness are partly responsible for her heavy drinking, drug-taking, promiscuity, and frequent job changes.

 

When she meets Joe, who becomes the love of her life, she thinks she can't marry him because she's from the wrong side of the tracks. In her words, "Who was I to believe I could get married, have a white picket fence and live happily ever after?" Meeting Joe's parents is even more discouraging: "I felt really out of place talking to normal people....I could not fit into Joe's world."

 

Yet she does fit in, sort of. She and Joe marry and try to do the "living happily ever after" thing. But they're young and both make bad mistakes, hurting each other a lot. Their marriage is a rough road yet they stay the course.

 

Unlocking the Tin Box isn't a cozy feel-good story, but it's worth reading for the human interest, social commentary, and insights it provides. The book is well written. It held my attention—every word of it—despite occasional mistakes in punctuation, grammar, etc. The author is self-aware and self-analytical, and not afraid to share her feelings. Examples:

 

"I don't know how to live in this world....I'm scared all the time. I'm broken into a million little pieces."

 

"Did I even know what love was?.... Maybe I was so damaged from the way I was brought up that I wasn't capable of love."

 

As a grandmother in her forties, Maggie starts to get a better handle on life. Here are a few quotes from her account of her later years:

 

"It doesn't matter how old you are or how horrible your mistakes, it is never too late to say I am sorry and work on the damage."

 

"I went to church....it brought me solace and joy....I was baptized when I was forty-eight and it was an important moment in my life."

 

"I learned you can repair the past....I changed."

 

As a reader, I'm glad she changed, and I'm glad the past twenty-plus years of her life have been happier than the earlier ones. Gwynne Hunt is seventy now, and hopes to spend the next ten years writing. I'll be watching for her future books.

 

Unlocking the Tin Box is available from Amazon and the publisher, Silver Bow Publishing of Vancouver. Elma Schemenauer is the author of many books including the 1940s Western Canadian novel Consider the Sunflowers.

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

IAG summer social & writing awards

The 2019 Interior Authors Group summer social will be held Sat July 6 from 4 to 7 pm, 845 Gleneagles Drive, Upper Sahali, Kamloops. We'll have entertainment. This year's winners of the Dr. Robert & Elma Schemenauer Writing Awards will be announced. And we'll EAT. The meal is potluck so if you decide to join us, please bring food to share.


Here's the link to the winners of last year's Writing Awards--Barbara Balle & Ward Pycock. Who will win this year???? https://www.kamloopsbcnow.com/watercooler/news/news/Kamloops/Winners_announced_for_the_2018_Dr_Robert_and_Elma_Schemenauer_Writing_Awards/#fs_75821

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

writing retreats in high country

Hello,

My name is Kiersten and I'm with the High Country Inn, located in Likely, BC. We are looking at hosting some writing retreats in September and throughout the fall, and again in April and early spring. The retreats would be held from Friday afternoon/evening through to Sunday, with meals, snacks and beverages provided. We currently offer 10 rooms with 2 double beds, and 1 room with a queen bed, so we are able to sleep 21 comfortably.

If writers would like to take a break, there are several places to visit nearby, including Cedar Point Park and Cedar City Museum, the Bullion Mining Pit, and a little further away is the ghost town of Quesnel Forks.

At this time, we do not have anything set up in terms of someone to lead a retreat, however through the Federation of BC Writer's webpage, there are plenty of people to contact in regards to potentially leading a workshop of some sort, if that is something your group would be interested in. I would be happy to assist in facilitating that.

If you visit our website, https://www.likelyhighcountryinn.holiday/, you'll find that our area is quite peaceful, a perfect weekend getaway to relax and write for a while.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. You can reach me by email, or by phone at 250-790-2218.

Thank you for your time, I look forward to hearing from you.

Kiersten Mills-Eby
High Country Inn
Box 243
Likely, BC  V0L 1N0
250-790-2218

Monday, June 24, 2019

writing opportunity: Write to Move [Winnipeg Trails]


The Write to Move anthology seeks submissions of  fiction, non-fiction and poetry on the subject of freedom of mobility, physical activity and physical limitations. It will include the works of both emerging and established writers, and will be published  in the summer of 2020.  For further information, please email writetomove@gmail.com or visit winnipegtrails.ca/writetomove .

Thank you,
Sharon Chisvin
Editor
Write to Move

Friday, June 21, 2019

creating a story outline

Helpful steps to creating an outline for a story. Could also be useful when writing a synopsis or summary of a completed story. https://tinyurl.com/y5hvg6c2

Thursday, June 20, 2019

writing opportunities from Elma Schemenauer: CASCADIA RISING and MEDICAL LITERARY MESSENGER

Hello writers & those interested in writing, 

This is still Elma Schemenauer though I'm temporarily using a different e-mail address. Following are a couple of interesting writing opportunities.

CASCADIA RISING REVIEW invites submissions from people living in the Pacific Northwest. They don't say whether that includes the Canadian part of the area. Here are their submissions guidelines: SUBMISSIONS — CASCADIA RISING REVIEW .



 

THE MEDICAL LITERARY MESSENGER seeks thought-provoking poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art related to medicine, illness, and the body. Our online submissions are free and are accepted on a rolling basis. You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @medlitmessenger and visit us at https://med-lit.vcu.edu.








writers & readers conference in Kamloops Sept 20-22

Registration is now open for the Words Alive writers & readers conference in Kamloops Sept 20-22, 2019. Here's the link: http://www.wordsalivekamloops.com/

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

submissions invited: Handheld Press





The following message is from new IAG member Kassandra McMullen. Thanks, Kassandra.


This company made a twitter post that they are looking for more submissions from women. But they look like they accept a good range of things, even in an unfinished state. 
Have a look and see if it might be something to share with the group.

https://www.handheldpress.co.uk/are-you-an-author/

Thompson-Nicola Regional Library Invites Applications for Writer in Residence




Please share.

 

Victoria (Vicci) Weller, MA

Film Commissioner, Thompson-Nicola Film Commission

Office 250 377-8673 | Direct 250 377-7058 | Cell 250 319-6211

vweller@tnrd.ca  www.FilmThompsonNicola.com

 

 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 19, 2019

THOMPSON-NICOLA REGIONAL LIBRARY INVITES APPLICATIONS FOR WRITER IN RESIDENCE

 

The Thompson-Nicola Regional Library (TNRL) is inviting applications for its first Writer in Residence opportunity! Following on the successes of many other residencies across Canada, the TNRL Writer in Residence will work with writers from across the regional district to help encourage and shape the development of the written arts in the TNRD.

 

The Writer will provide assistance to writers by email and phone, as well as through in-person consultations and workshops. The Writer will deliver public reading programs in library and throughout our communities, and will have the opportunity to work on their own personal writing projects.

 

In September, the Writer will also take part in Words Alive Kamloops as one of their featured authors for 2019. Produced by the Kamloops Society for the Written Arts, Words Alive Kamloops is the only festival of its kind in the Kamloops area. For more information about Words Alive Kamloops visit www.wordsalivekamloops.com.

The Writer in Residence term runs September – November 2019. Deadline for applications is July 5th at 4:00 pm.

 

For full details on the positions and how to apply, go to https://bit.ly/2ZCPiTn.

 

For questions about the Writer in Residence program, please contact Catherine Schmidt, Coordinator, Adult Services, Thompson-Nicola Regional Library at cschmidt@tnrd.ca or 250-372-5145.

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