Tag: #Books

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Selling Books Face-To-Face #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

May 6, 2024

Do you attend book selling events? (Can be local events such as craft shows and festivals.) What is your best tip to sell books at one?

I love book signing events! Or any event where I can meet people and talk to them about books. My books, specifically. Just yesterday, I took part in a craft fair at the firehall a few blocks away.

It wasn’t a big event. If more than 400 people came, I’d be surprised. I heard several of the exhibitors lamenting their poor or non-existent sales. But in 6 hours, I sold a dozen books. While that isn’t a huge number, it was enough to meet expenses and make a small profit.

But the highlight of the day was talking to several people who’d bought a book at a previous event, or borrowed a book from a friend to read, and told me how much they’d enjoyed it. Then there was a fellow vender who bought three of my books first thing in the morning and mentioned that she was up to Chapter 7 in The Marquesa’s Necklace by the end of the event. (Sadly, that meant she didn’t sell much herself.)

I’ve participated in big events, too.

The first time I did a book signing was at a comic con in Cheyenne, WY, back in 2016. I had no idea what I was getting into. I overspent and overbought, but learned a lot and had fun. I’m still using the banner I had created for the event. (Official records say 12,000 people attended. It was the biggest event I’ve taken part in.)

Things I’ve learned over the years and many events:

Even if you have a chair, be prepared to stand. A lot. It’s harder to talk to people if they are towering over you. (Standing is easier on your neck, too!) I often move out from behind the table to have a conversation, and cut down on the noise in a busy room.

Make sure your books are easy to touch, and don’t be afraid to pick up one and hand it to a person showing an interest. Last year, I moved to a display rack to hold my books, and my sales went down. Coincidence? At the last event last year, and the first one this year, I still used the rack, but I also placed copies of my books directly on the tables. My sales returned to standard levels at both events.

Top tip? Be prepared to smile and say hello. Don’t wait for them to approach you. (If they are avoiding eye contact, it’s OK not to bother them.) Have something they can walk away with. Your business card is a necessity, in my opinion. I’ve tried the trick of having candy on the table, first to attract people, and second to keep them hanging out for a few minutes, but it doesn’t work for me. On the other hand, people like taking the postcards I have featuring my books. They can be used as bookmarks, and are a heck of a lot cheaper than having commercially produced ones.

What else?

On a personal level, if you can, enlist a buddy to help. It’ll make it easier to take breaks. Otherwise, make friends with the venders next to you. I haven’t run into one yet that didn’t mind keeping an eye on things while you run to the restroom. You’ll want to keep your throat wet, so bring plenty of water or your beverage of choice.

That’s more than one tip, I know, I couldn’t help myself from oversharing. Still, I’m sure that other authors will pick up on something I didn’t know or forgot. Check out their posts in the links below. Or add your suggestions to the comments.

And, as always, please stay safe until the next time!

(FYI, my next signing event is the 3 Rivers ComicCon in Pittsburgh, PA, June 1-2nd. Quite the switch from the Pleasantville PA spring craft show! https://3riverscomicon.com/

May 6, 2024

Do you attend book selling events? (Can be local events such as craft shows and festivals.) What is your best tip to sell books at one?

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The First Book Paycheck #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

May 2, 2022

What did you do with your first book “paycheck?” (Thanks for reminding me of this idea, Richard.)

For those of you who aren’t indie authors, or you’re new to the business, here’s a sad but true fact of life. It takes a minimum of three months to get the first money payout from the major ebook retailers. By then, an author may or may not remember what they sold to earn that money! I only had one book available at that time, so the what was easy, but I had to go back and figure out how many copies I had sold to earn the small amount of money I received.

What did I do with it? I don’t remember. Nothing special, I’m sure. Chances are I used it to offset the cost of publishing Wolves’ Pawn, that first book.

I haven’t had a “big” paycheck yet, and I’ve continued to put all my earnings into my next book or into publicity, hoping one day to make that big score. It’s as close as I come to gambling.

But here’s where I get to play ‘what if.” What if I woke up one morning and found out I’d become a best selling author overnight? What would I do with the anticipated paycheck? Truth is, I have no idea but I’d find something to splurge it on, I’m sure. Buy some flowers to plant in my yard.  Perhaps some quality chocolate. I could see a trip to the bookstore happening!

Let’s find out about the other authors. How did they spend their first book paycheck? Just follow the links below to find. out. 

And, as always, please stay safe until next time!

May 2, 2022

What did you do with your first book “paycheck?” (Thanks for reminding me of this idea, Richard.)

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

 

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 

To Rise From The Depths of Despair #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

April 18, 2022

We all get discouraged at one time or another (or all the time!) in the process of writing. How do you defeat the feeling?

Most of us have those days. Days when it’s hard to put words on paper because there’s a chance no one will ever read them, or your inner voice says they aren’t good enough. Times when it’s tempting to give up. Days when books sales seem non-existent. I do.

How do I get past that? It can be tough.

I wish I had a fellow author living next door, someone to sit and talk writing with, but most of my communication with other authors is done via social media. Although it’s helpful, it isn’t the same as talking to them face-to-face. Still, any affirmation is helpful.

Another way to find support is on-line. Reading positive reviews from readers can help. Knowing that other people appreciate your work can be a boost to the ego. Or, at least, provide a temporary lift to the spirit.

But the best way I have found to fight despair is to go back and read my own work. It may not be well-known or award-winning or on the best-seller list, but it’s proof that I’ve accomplished something that not everyone can. I wrote a book. And it’s not bad. Actually, I’ve released ten now, and to see them lined up on a shelf is a thrill. Yes, I know there are plenty of people who have written more, but ten is nine more than I ever thought I’d write back when I first started.

One thing I remind myself on days when I an having a rough time – don’t take myself too seriously. I have a bad habit of doing that. 

Here’s where I should close with some marvelous deep and wise words of wisdom. But I’m not feeling particular wise today, so we’ll skip that. Instead, I’m going to head over to the other posts on this hop, to find out the secrets that others may share. Just follow the links below.

Until next time, please take care of yourself.

April 18, 2022

We all get discouraged at one time or another (or all the time!) in the process of writing. How do you defeat the feeling?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 

 

 

What Do Covers Have To Do With It? #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book
 
April 4, 2022
Let’s discuss. “Let’s face it, books are judged by their covers.” —Whitney Hill
 

Your mother may have told you “Never judge a book by its cover,” but it’s the way of the world. Just ask an author who has changed their covers and then changed them again. And again.

Have you ever watched a person pick out a book at a bookstore or book signing event? The first thing they do is scan the cover and read the title. If that quick peek passes their inspection, they may pick up the book and read the back. If THAT passes their judgement, they’ll open the book, flip through the pages, and then either tuck it in the crook of their arm, or put it back on the shelf and move on.

Sorry authors, but it’s true. Unless a customer is looking for a particular book, that’s the way it works. All that hard work you put into the finding just the right words is secondary to the cover. At least, that’s true for the first of your books a customer reads. Once you’ve entertained them with your story, they may overlook a less-then-stellar cover for a second story, knowing what they will find inside will allow them to escape from the real world or expand their knowledge.

And that’s why we see shelves of the same cover repeated over and over with minor variations. You know, the half-naked brawny men with six-packs, the shadowy figure running from an explosion, young lovers embracing but not kissing? Marketing experts have decreed that’s what customers will buy, and we as authors must follow their advice. The sad part is, there’s a large measure of truth mixed in.

I’ve experienced this. The first covers I used for the Harmony Duprie series were meant to highlight the ‘fun’ part of the books. (You can see those covers here and here. Just scroll towards the bottom of each page.) Although my cover artist received many compliments on her work, I soon found out that they appealed to a younger age group than what I intended. That was one of the several reasons we changed them.

I also see it in action at book signing/cons/other events I’ve been a part of. Not just for my books, but for other authors as well. People will walk down the middle of an aisle to avoid eye contact/interaction with the vendors, including writers. The cover of a book is the only opportunity to reach potential buyers.

There a few exceptions to this. An appearance on traditional media can help. A well-done post on Facebook or other social media with a great snippet can attract potential readers, with or without a cover, and there’s always word of mouth. But these rarely bring an author long-term exposure. (unless they get lucky!)

What makes a brilliant cover? This is where I step aside. I don’t have the ‘eye’ to do design. Thank heavens for my cover artist! I’ve watched her do her magic, and while I understand what’s she doing, I couldn’t recreate it. Thanks, K.M.!

Now, on to find out what the other authors on this hop have to say. Just follow the links below. And, as always, until next time, please stay safe!

 
April 4, 2022
Let’s discuss. “Let’s face it, books are judged by their covers.” —Whitney Hill
Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.
 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
 
 
 

Bookmarks or Turning the Corners? #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

Feb 28, 2022

Let’s start a war. Do you dog-ear books or use a bookmark? Do you ever make notes in your books?

Warning: My original major in college was library science. I volunteered as a library aide in elementary and high school, and I worked part-time as a librarian for a few years. There should be no surprise at my answer.

Please, please, do not fold the corners of your books! Especially not a library book. Find a piece of scrap paper if you need to mark your spot and don’t have a bookmark. A piece of napkin, or ribbon or yarn, and if it comes down to extreme measures, a tissue.

I’ve found postcards and grocery lists and recipes in books I’ve borrowed. All of those are perfectly acceptable. But I’ve also run across books with page after page of folded-down corners—not just one or two and I want to scream!

And let’s talk about making notes in books. I recently bought a used book – fiction – where on the first page, almost every sentence, almost every word, was underlined. And the second page was in similar condition. After that, nothing. I don’t get it. There’s no logic to it. Did the previous owner suddenly stop reading the book after two pages? But what was so gripping about those first two pages that didn’t carry through to the rest of the story. I don’t understand.

It’s not like it was a textbook. I can understand underlining, highlighting, and making notes in a textbook. But this was a mystery, part of a well-known series. (Not mine!) Can someone explain this phenonomen to me?

As you can tell, I am a proponent of book marks. I have lots of them, in different shapes, sizes and style. Don’t worry, I didn’t lose my place in any books by pulling the bookmarks out to take the picture. They all came from books I’ve finished. I have a habit of storing my bookmarks in a book instead of on a shelf or in a drawer. They are better protected that way. I’ve had some of these for twenty or so years.

How many bookmarks do I own? Who knows? I would have to flip through the pages of every book I own to see if I left one there. That’s not going to happen.

Bookmarks can be cheap giveaways, or they can be tokens of someone’s love. When it comes to your personal books, I’ll look away if you dog-ear or write notes in them. But please, for the sake of everyone else, please don’t do that to a library book or a book you’ve borrowed from a friend!

Let’s hear from the other authors on this loop. Just follow the links below. And you can chime in too, readers. Talk to me in the comments.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

Feb 28, 2022

Let’s start a war. Do you dog-ear books or use a bookmark? Do you ever make notes in your books?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Just Twenty-Six Letters #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

May 10, 2021

Inspired by a comment on a recent post. Discuss:
It never fails to amaze me that ALL the books ever written are made up of just twenty six letters.

I first saw this statement as a response to a post on another author’s blog hop post, and a small piece of me died. A little more of me shriveled when shortly after, I saw the same statement on Facebook. I had to restrain myself from answering and starting a war on social media. Here, I can express myself.

Now, I understand what the folks who shared the sentiment were trying to say. Language is a marvelous thing. The way we can arrange shaped to have meaning is amazing. Even if the lines and shapes are sometimes incorrect, our minds can translate them to the correct meaning.

But here’s my problem. At its face, the statement is English-centric and ignores the differences between languages. The Russian alphabet has thirty-three letters, the Spanish one has thirty. Then you have Japanese, with different written languages and seventy-one or more characters.  Are they any less important than English when it comes to writing?

But can the English language be used to translate every other language using those 26 letters? The answer is, not really. Take Irish, for example. The word AMAINIRIS (“ARM-AN-ERISH”) means the second day after tomorrow. There isn’t an equivalent word in English. There is overmorrow, but that’s only one day after tomorrow.

Let’s throw in how the same word can have different meanings in different countries. In Nigeria, the word ‘hammers’ is the act of coming into big money. It has nothing to do with power tools.

The point being, words are more than twenty-six letters strung together. Language is words and context and color. Books are more than words.

What do you think? Let’s talk about it in the comments. Don’t forget to check out the other authors on this hop and see what they think. Just check out the links below.

And, until next time, please stay safe.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

May 10, 2021

Inspired by a comment on a recent post. Discuss:
It never fails to amaze me that ALL the books ever written are made up of just twenty six letters.

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

That Don’t Impress Me Much #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

 

Feb 22, 2021

What does it take to impress you when you are reading someone else’s book?

First, thanks to Shania Twain and Robert John Lange for the title.

I’ve written here before about the mistakes that make me put down a book. Lots of misspelled words, grammatical errors, a boring storyline. So, what does it take to impress me?

Let’s start with the story. Please give me something fresh. Unlike many readers, I don’t want to know what the end will be before I finish the first chapter. I want to be strung along. Make me guess the ending. Give me an unexpected hero. How about an old lady who saves the day?

While we’re talking about the ending – please don’t disappoint me. If you’ve spent the entire book building up the female MC, having her learn self-defense and how to shoot a gun, let her rescue herself. Don’t have her lover rush in at the end to save her.

I love stumbling across a well-done book in a new (to me) sub-genre. Let’s say a modern interpretation of Greek mythology written as a love story, for example. Maybe a historical thriller, or a time-travel story that isn’t a romance.  The first steampunk novel I read blew me away.

The problem with this is I can easily burn out the genre in no time flat. So, I might miss a really well-done book because I’ve read several mediocre ones in the same category, and they all start to blend together. Heck, once I attempted to read all the James Bond books and even that got tiresome.

I’m not against reading classics, either, although I don’t have the same thirst to read them as I used to. I find the style that many of them are written in no longer suits my preference in reading.

Back to the original question – what does it take to impress me? It’s a fresh approach, a new way of looking at a story. One an author has put effort into to make it feel polished without losing touch with the reader. The book needs to be crafted, not just thrown together. It’s hit or miss. I can love one book from an author and only be mildly pleased by another.

How about you? What does it take for a book to impress you? Let’s talk about it in the comments.

Don’t forget to check out the other authors on this hop and see what it takes to impress them. Just follow the links below,

And, until next time, please stay safe.

Feb 22, 2021

What does it take to impress you when you are reading someone else’s book?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 

Favorite Reads #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

March 23, 2020

Ask your readers to share their favorite books.

This post is for you! Share your favorite books and tell us a bit about them.

Here’s one to get the ball rolling from Chelle de Notte on Twitter:

Tell the Wolves I’m Home is my favorite book.  And a greater story…it paints a very clear picture of being set in a certain place and time, yet the emotions are timeless.

And one from me:

First off, it’s ridiculous to ask for one favorite book. So, I’ll bend the rules and go with the Harper Hall Trilogy from Anne McCaffrey. The story of Menolly, her struggles and her ultimate triumph, found a place in my heart the first time I read the books.

Now, it’s your turn. Share the books that have touched you, entertained, you, or taught you in the comments below. And if someone else has already mentioned your book, I don’t care, add it to the list again! I’ve already broken the rules, so you can too!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


March 23, 2020

Ask your readers to share their favorite books.

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.