My friend from Brevard, NC, Pat Davis, was back home in the mountains recently and we shared lunch at City Lights Cafe in Sylva. Pat writes fiction and has been shopping around a manuscript for a while now. She had good news to share with me. Two publishers have shown interest.
One of the publishers wanted to see the marketing plan Pat had for this book. This certainly makes the point I have harped on for some time. The author must have a plan to sell the book, even before the book is accepted by a publisher. Writers must do the business of writing if they expect to be published.
I was happy to introduce Pat to Chris the owner of City Lights books. Writers and bookstore owners need to know each other and help each other. Without writers there would be no need for bookstores. Without bookstores, where would we be as writers?
City Lights has a few copies of my poetry book, Now Might as Well Be Then. Look for the ones with the ribbons hanging down on the Poetry shelf.
Pat has a couple of good blogs. This is her newest one - Single Life and Love after Fifty - not about writing so much, but about single women over the age of 50. I find it quite interesting.
I just decided to self-publish my poetry book. I sent the manuscript to a few traditional publishers beforehand but never thought to include a marketing plan. Most publishing companies don't mention that in their submission guidelines. They just want the manuscript or part of it.
ReplyDeleteSince this is my second book, I have a plan of action as far as marketing is concerned.. This week, now that the manuscript has been submitted to the publisher online and will be heading into production tomorrow according to the publishing services associate I talked to on the phone this afternoon, I plan to get a head start on marketing. I'll create a press release and q and a that I'll send to newspapers and some radio stations once the book hits the shelves. I'll also work with a printer to create a sell sheet that will be sent to bookstores, and of course I'll have business cards. With WE SHALL OVERCOME, the marketing process was a bit overwhelming, but I hope that now, I have it down to a fine art.
Abbie Johnson Taylor, Author of WE SHALL OVERCOME and HOW TO BUILD A BETTER MOUSETRAP: RECOLLECTIONS AND REFLECTIONS OF A FAMILY CAREGIVER
http://abbiescorneroftheworld.blogspot.com
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Abbie, it sounds like you have a good plan in place. Sadly, many writers don't think about selling the book until it is printed and they have a big box in their basement.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to hearing how your book sales go and you might be able to shed some light on the problem of marketing for some our your readers.