SPECIAL SERIES FOR BOOK SALES – SELLING TO RETAILERS

The term special sales is commonly used to describe sales opportunities outside of bookstores. Also referred to as non-bookstore (or non-traditional) marketing, it can be a profitable source of new revenue.

The best way to exploit this opportunity is to divide it into two segments and sell to buyers in each. One is the retail segment where you reach buyers using a network of middlemen. The other segment is comprised of direct sales to non-retailers that use books as marketing tools to sell more of their products or help their employees, members, or students. This week we will cover retailers and next week I will come back and share with you some ideas for selling to non-retailers. Enjoy!

Selling to Retailers

You are already familiar with this sector. You find distributors or wholesalers to get your books into retail outlets where they are sold off the shelf to consumers. Payments are made in two or three months and unsold books are returned. Retailers display products that 1) will build store traffic, 2) maximize profitability per square foot and 3) generate more inventory turns. Prove that your title can do those things better than competitors’ titles and you can get your books on the shelves of the below retailers:

Discount stores and warehouse clubs. Stores in this category include Walmart, Target, Costco, and Sam's Club. Books at these stores are discounted heavily and do not offer the same margins of some larger-ticket products. Therefore, these retailers limit shelf space to the “brand-name” authors and top-selling books.

Airport stores. Books on management, investment, economics, business biography, personal finance, and health sell well among business travelers. Books for children also tend to do well in these outlets, especially children’s “activity books.” Popular fiction achieves book sales in this environment also. Consider selling to other airport stores, not just bookstores.

Supermarkets and pharmacies. Cookbooks, travel books, and regional titles move in supermarkets, but health-related topics sell better in drugstores. Children’s titles also seem to do well in supermarkets, but fiction remains the mainstay there.

Museums, zoos and national parks. Most of these have a gift shop, and to get in them you must demonstrate how your books can educate and entertain their guests. Get your books on these shelves using third-party management firms that acquire books for the gift shops. Event Network operates gift shops at zoos, museums, aquariums, science centers and botanical gardens, and Eastern National serves the national park system.

Gift shops. This category includes large chains such as Pottery Barn, Yankee Candle, Bath and Body Works, Pier One and Crate & Barrel, Hallmark Stores and Spencer Gifts. It also includes hotel and hospital gift shops. Reach these outlets through direct marketing, sales-representative groups, and by attending trade shows and gift marts.

Specialty stores. You could achieve book sales by selling your books in home-improvement centers, pet shops, auto-supply stores, camera shops, toy stores or business-supply stores—retailers that serve identifiable groups of people with a common interest in your content.

Try it. They just might buy it…
 
To Your Success,
​
MG

Do you know how to create impressions for your book? Traditional publishing houses use multiple impressions to create buzz about the books they publish. You, too, can create impressions that will generate interest in your book and increase sales. The goal is to get as much attention as possible in a variety of ways, and here are a few tips how.

1. Social Media

Whether it's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest, or YouTube, practically everyone is engaged in social media. It's where people hang out and a great place to build interest in your book. With an active Facebook following, organic posts and videos can go a long way just by having your fans like and share them to increase their visibility, and they're free. Paid Facebook ads are a relatively cheap way to increase the reach of your message. They allow you to target your ads toward "people who follow you" or "people interested in x, y, or z" which will help you reach your desired audience for less than it would cost for a larger, blanket ad.

2. Industry Recognition

Create buzz and increase your book's exposure by having the industry publicly recognize your book's value via book reviews, blurbs, awards, and the news. Put your book in the hands of readers and news outlets who write reviews. Send review copies to other authors and industry professionals who are willing to write a blurb for you, and submit your manuscript to award competitions. This kind of industry recognition helps you reach a wider audience and increase sales.

3. Book Clubs

If you aren't already in a book club, start one. Start with a book people are already talking about, then suggest yours. You can also offer to participate in book clubs who are reading your book. Start with local groups you know and make yourself available via Skype for Q&A sessions. For example, if you were a trial attorney you could attend local book meetings and schedule lectures at law firms to gain attention for your book.

4. Author Events and Guerilla/Grassroots Marketing

Work with your local bookstores and other shops to stage author events, including readings, signings, and meet-and-greets. Place posters around your local community, participate in online giveaways, and collaborate with local businesses. If you've written a book about fashion, ask local clothing stores if they'd throw a postcard for your book in everyone's bag when they make a sale. Have you written a cookbook? Try collaborating with local kitchen stores, cooking classes, and even restaurants that serve food similar to the food in your book. Pitch the local angle, and make sure whatever you do relates to your book.
 
5. Blogging

By this point, you have a great author website and may want to consider writing a blog. With a blog, you can write entries that include tantalizing details about your book, follow your publishing journey, and are of interest to your potential audience. If you've written a romance, blog about relationships and/or dating. Reach out to other bloggers and plan a guest-blogging tour. Guest blogging on blogs that have your ideal audience will create impressions of your book in places you might not otherwise reach.

Try it out at least one technique and let us know how it worked for you.
 
To Your Success,
​
MG
 

YOU JUST WANT ATTENTION, RIGHT? IT’S OK. EVERYONE DOES.

Ever wonder how book publicists do what they do? Is there a secret formula for getting media coverage? Well, not really, but there are some insider tips and tricks of the book publicity trade that can help indie authors do what the professionals do.

Here are five tips that might just help you get some meaningful book publicity for your book.

Landing Radio and TV Interviews

If you’re trying to get radio and TV interviews, forget about your book. Yes . . . that’s right, forget about your book. Interviews—except if you’re a household name—are rarely about a book; they’re about you, and the interesting, informative, controversial or fun topics you can discuss. No one interviews a book!

Pitch yourself and explain why you would be a great guest on a specific show. Tell them, succinctly and persuasively, why you’d make a great guest. When booking interviews, producers first look at what they’re being offered in a pitch. The book comes into play as credibility; proof that you know what you’re talking about.

Go Old School

There are other forms of communication than email—a fact many of us forget. Let’s say the average editor or producer gets 300 emails a day from book publicists or authors. Like most of us, unless something jumps out at them, the delete button is immediately employed to get down to a manageable number. Your chances, in the big picture, aren't that good when it comes to your email pitch.

But what if you actually mailed a letter, and hand addressed it? How many hand-addressed letters do you think the average producer or editor gets a day? Probably not many. A hand-addressed envelope is very likely to be opened, and your pitch may actually be read!

Here’s another insider tip: instead of mailing a copy of your book to media, send it via FedEx or UPS. Almost everyone opens these!

Remember, the Media Needs You

That’s right, editors and producers really do need and want you. Without book publicists and indie authors, their jobs would be much harder. Keep this in mind when promoting your book. If you approach media appropriately, you aren't some annoying, desperate author—you’re gold to them. Maybe in an initial response an editor or producer won't act like you are, but trust me, if they’re interested in you, they are going to want you.

Change your mindset. Tell yourself that you are someone media need, and instead of promoting yourself, you’re selling yourself, and you’ll decide who to engage. This may sound simple, but it’s something all good book publicists do. Act important because you are important, and you’ll be seen as important.

Personalize

If you personalize, they will respond. When reaching out to journalists you believe should be interested in you and your book, take a few minutes to research what they’ve recently written about. If you say, “I know you covered ________ topic recently, so you might be interested in ________,” —you dramatically increase your chances of getting a response. It shows the journalist you’re serious and you took the time to research them, and they will appreciate this.

Offer Giveaways
Guest bookers and producers love to use guests who will give some books away as part of their interview. Giveaways prompt call-ins to radio shows, spark listener questions, and it’s a great way to generate interest in your book. Giving away books to people who call in to a show often makes others believe the book must be something special.
To Your Success,
​
MG

YOU WROTE THE BOOK? WHAT’S NEXT?

You had a great book idea, you wrote a fine book, and now you think you're ready to self-publish it. Before you take that leap of faith, however, there are several things you should consider in order to publish like a professional.

1. Finish the Writing and Have It Professionally Edited
Finish the writing (sometimes easier said than done) and that includes the rewriting. Until you reach a point in your rewrites where the edits are no longer substantive, your book is not finished. When you find yourself simply changing characters' names or altering inconsequential details, that's when you're done self-editing.

Your next step is to hire a professional editor. You may not enjoy being told to cut a section of writing you really like, but if Chapter 7 is truly overkill, a professional editor can help you understand why. You might not be able to specifically quantify the benefits of a formal editing process, but it will help you sell more books. Hiring a professional to edit your book can make you a better writer, provide you with industry knowledge you wouldn't otherwise have, broaden your exposure, and ultimately increase your sales.

2. Get Help
Unless you can do it all  yourself, you should hire a professional to publish, design your book cover and book interior. The book you've worked so hard on deserves the best possible physical representation, including typeface, page numbers, opening chapter pages, running headers, and other elements you might not think of but a professional book designer will. The cover design is perhaps the most important element of design as it provides the first impression of your book to potential readers/buyers.

If you're offering an electronic version of your book, those design specs will be different. A professional can help you maintain design continuity while ensuring your work will be esthetically pleasing and readable, whether it's read in print or electronically.

3. Build Relationships Before You Publish
You should be building your author platform before you publish and, if it's not too late, as you write your book. Create your online platform through your own author website and build on that through social media outlets like Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Goodreads, Facebook, Google+, etc. You don't have to be everywhere; consistency and frequency are the keys to developing a solid base of followers. Expand that base by commenting on other relevant blogs and websites. Contribute comments and questions to book review blogs like the New York Times and Washington Post, as well as to smaller and local sites.

Start a mailing list. It can be electronic, snail mail, or both. Join writers' groups and associations, both online and local. Host or participate in a webcast or podcast. Attend book launches and other publishing events, including writing and publishing conferences. Make friends with your local booksellers and librarians, and never miss your book club meeting. The point is to get your name out there before you publish, not after.

4. Pay Attention
Become familiar with the existing book market. Find out what's currently on bookstore shelves, which books are being checked out most frequently at the library, which books are making news, why your friends and family are buzzing about certain titles, and what is happening in the literary world in general. Knowledge of the current publishing environment will help you publish like a professional.

5. Offer Your Book in Multiple Formats
You never know how readers will want to consume your content, so don't exclude potential buyers by limiting yourself to either eBooks or print books. The BBC recently reported that 50 percent of American adults own e-readers, but research shows that most people are still reading more print books than eBooks. Don't let potential readers (and sales) get away from you by not offering multiple formats of your book.

6. Use Your Resources
Once you have built an author platform, immersed yourself in the literary world, solidified industry-related relationships, and joined appropriate associations, don't stop there. You can maintain your place in the industry by staying active in it. Keep up with your network and be aware of industry news that can perfect your book marketing plan, use the resources you've gathered at conferences or writing retreats, continue to attend publishing events and learning sessions, keep reading writers' blogs and guides, and never stop learning.
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The publishing process doesn't have to be overwhelming. Plan ahead, take it step-by-step, and take advantage of available resources. And if you need help, call us we are here to help you: 866-599-6270.
 
To Your Success,
MG