|
White Papers from the Gold Coast Institute Fellows |
|
|
No
Autograph Parties for Speakers
by
Dan Poynter, CSP. One
of the joys of being a published author is being appreciated for your
Work. Getting a favorable response to your book from a crowd of people
is an event most authors look forward to. But many authors and
author-publishers misunderstand the purpose of a book signing and they
attend unprepared. Book
signings are a form of product promotion not available to producers of
other goods or services. But autographings
are not a party in your honor—you and your book are probably not even
known yet. Bookstores, both chain and independent, stage events
to attract potential customers into their stores. The stores supply the
venue; the author supplies the audience. Never
do an autographing;
always offer a mini seminar. Attract buyers to your autograph
parties. —Terri
Lonier, author, Working Solo.
An
"autograph party" says, “Come and appreciate me (and buy a
book)”; a "seminar" says, “Come on down and I will give
you something free (information) that will improve your life.” Always
think of the benefit to the
potential customer. How can you lure them away fro the TV, out of the
house and down to the store? Your
appearance is a publicity opportunity for you and it will require hard
promotional work. Patricia
Bragg (Health-Science) publishes health and fitness books. To promote
her mini seminar at a local bookshop in Santa Barbara, she posted
handbills in all the local health food stores. Then she made a emailing
to her customer list within a 50-mile (driving) radius. To multiply her
efforts, she asked her friends to forward the announcement to people in
their address book who were interested in health and fitness and might
like to meet her. The store was packed; she was on for over four
hours—until closing time. The store sold out on many of her titles and
gave out rain checks. Authors
are celebrities; they are the draw. People think if you wrote a book,
you know something. And, you probably do. Nonfiction books are written
from the best research you can do, you direct your material toward a
certain type of reader and you further explain your advice with your own
experiences. Book writing is a journey. Often we do not know where the
process will take us. We learn everything there is to know about our
subject and, in effect, we are gaining an advanced degree in our area of
interest: (we conduct the research and then we write the paper.) So,
authors are pretty special, often interesting and do know quite a bit
about their subject area.
When
my parents taught me not to write in books, they did not know they
were raising an author who would autograph them. They turned my last
book tour into a guilt trip. The
store might publicize your appearance with a sign in the window for a
few days and may place a notice in their event schedule. Attracting the
rest of the crowd is up to you. Don't
be stingy. Generously mention other books in your category. Go over to
the shelf where your book is displayed and find books that you like.
During your mini-seminar hold up the books and describe what you like
about them. "This is one of my favorite books—and the perfect
companion to my book." "This is the book that inspired me and
got me started in this field." And so on. Why let the attendees go
home with one book when they can carry three or four? The store will
notice your (improved) sales and that will make it easier to get booked
at other stores. These
free mini seminars may lead to paid speaking. Go for the exposure and go
prepared. Your book deserves it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DanPoynter@ParaPublishing.com - 1-800-PARAPUB Dan
Poynter,
CSP, has
written more than 100 books including Writing
Nonfiction,
The
Skydiver's Handbook
and The
Self-Publishing Manual.
He
has been a publisher since 1969. Dan is past-chair of NSA's
Writer-Publisher PEG and the founder of the PEG newsletter. See
http://ParaPublishing.com.
© 2005
|
|