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Okay, so you got lucky. Or you were incredibly persistent. Or you had that novel that no publisher could possibly refuse. For whatever reason, you found a publisher and your book will soon be in print. That means you're now on the road to riches. As soon as that next royalty check comes in you'll by your seaside cottage in Fiji and spend the rest of your life in the lap of luxury, cranking out one best-selling novel after the other.
YO!!! Wake UP!! Yeah, you! You're dreaming. It's a nice dream, for sure, but nevertheless, it is indeed a dream. Books don't sell themselves. And you're publisher is most likely knocking out several dozen or even several hundred titles a year and, unless you're a household name, you're book will merely be added to the publisher's list of titles and sent out to the bookstores. And that's assuming the bookstores will even order your books! You may have to pound the pavement just to get the bookstores to even know you exist! The world is littered with novelists whose first title sold fewer than a hundred copies. There are dozens of authors who received six-digit advances and sold fewer than five thousand copies. If you want that book of yours to sell, you'd best get up off your keester and get out there and sell it yourself.
There are lots of ways to go about this. If you have ten to twenty grand burning a hole in your pocket that you just don't know what to do with, hire a publicist. If you're like me, you don't even have ten to twenty BUCKS burning a hole in your pocket, so you're going to have to be your own publicist.
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Step One: Send out as many press releases to as many places as you can hyping your new book. And don't make it a dry proposal that reads like a science paper. Newspapers, television and radio stations are in the business of keeping their audience entertained. If you don't catch the news director's interest, they're certainly not going to want to talk about your book.
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Step Two: Call your local public television and public radio stations and offer to sit in on an interview. While this is unlikely to work with the majority of commercial stations, don't be too quick to give up on them either. Sometimes their weekend and daytime programming includes local talk shows and such. They might just have a spot for you.
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Step Three: Take a tour of all the local bookstores within a comfortable driving radius of where you live. Carry a copy of your book with you and show it to the owner or purchasing manager. Ask them to stock the book. Most bookstores have a special display for local writers. See if you can get it stocked there. Offer to do book signings. Most publishers will provide copies of your book to the bookstore "on approval". This means that a box of books is sent directly to the bookstore. Whatever they don't sell, they can return with no obligation to the publisher. Usually, if you do a signing, the manager or owner will have you sign a few extra copies for them to keep in stock. Be grateful. These books are generally non-returnable, so they're extra sales for you even if the bookstore gets stuck with them.
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Step Four: Get that book reviewed. You can start with this process when you're sending out your press releases and call for interviews. Ask if the media outlet has a book reviewer and if so, get that person's name. Contact him or her directly and shamelessly beg for a review. Check for national publications whose subject matter closely relates to the topic of your book and see if those publications do reviews. Once you get a review, hype those reviews on the website I'm about to have you set up. Also, if you book is listed on Amazon or Barnes and Noble's websites, they have a procedure by which you can send them your reviews and they will post them along with your book listing.
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Step Five: Set up your own website to promote your books. There are lots and lots of free hosting services if you don't mind your site being used as an advertising platform. For only a few bucks a year you can have your own dedicated site. I strongly recommend the latter. In order to attract people to your site provide some valuable service that people will want to use. I provide these services to other writers, although legions of people question their value (and even more question my common sense). Send out newsletters if you have the time.
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Step Six: If your book is listed on any of the major online booksellers, have your friends and family get on and post positive reviews for you. In order to raise your rankings on these sites, have everybody that you know who wants a copy of the book do two things. First, they go in and ask the local bookstore if they carry that book. If not, have them demand "WHY THE HECK NOT???!!!???" After about the third or fourth request, they're very likely to order one or two copies. After your friends or family members leave, have them order the book from Amazon or B&N. Each sale drives your rankings a bit higher. With the first sale, you're book will be down in the 2.5 to 3 million ranking area. You need to be higher to get exposure.
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Step Seven: Now it's time to get bold. Contact the national talk shows. Shows like the Oprah Winfrey show are great vehicles for exposure. Especially Oprah. If she chooses to highlight your book in the Oprah Book Club, it may well be time to start shopping for that beach house in Fiji. Practically every book she's ever featured went on to be a best seller. And the authors didn't need her help on subsequent books. If you get outrageously lucky and are invited onto a national talk show for an appearance, don't let ANYTHING stop you. Even if you have to go to the Bank of Mom and Dad to get the funds to finance the trip, the results are likely to be such that you'll be paying them back on the next royalty check.
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