To the Book Mobile
Peddling as Fast as I can
Who said selling books would be a piece of cake? Even
writing one is no sweet tater pie. Funny though, at least from my perspective,
writing is really the easiest slice of the pastry making to me. I can whip
together a fictional recipe in a blink, the tale flowing faster than my fingers
can keep up with it. More times than not I’m working three to six novels
simultaneously while some say they’ve worked years to finally finish their
first on the next wishful best seller list. Am I forfeiting quality for quantity?
My loyal few followers don’t seem to think I should give up on the expensive
hobby, mine not theirs. Fact is its downright fun, the writing part that is;
proofing and editing, no so much, unless you’ve landed on a best seller list.
Necessary evils are...well…necessarily evil. Traditional publishing…prompt the
puke heaves now…make me sick to the lower extremities. Just the mere thought of
seeking an agent or submitting query letters to pad my rejection resume force
me into a life only a reclusive ole hermit would understand and appreciate.
Yep, I do love to write but transforming my masterful
scribbling into something resembling a book is no easy row to hoe. Having
someone like good ole Bob to publish them makes that part much easier but,
still, the one backing these investments stares me down in the mirror, some
alter ego he makes. I struggle with the self promoting and selling part though.
I compare it to making cold calls, or being the girlie show barker or even a
glorified snake oil peddler. Readers give you that look, their eyes saying it
all, is this really worth the price of admission? Quickly you find out
just how many times you can return to the well, especially when it comes to
family and friends. Rule of thumb; never benchmark you sales on your very first
release...unless it was a best seller. Everyone can be taken in by that blessed
event, not expecting that you intend on birthing another. Your first child
might be a cutie pie but birthing them left and right sort loses its luster,
unless you’ve banked a best seller.
Reality can truly provide harsh lessons if you’re not on
some zillion best seller list. Flaunting shamelessly isn’t as easy as it sounds
for those lacking Koontz, King or Roberts last names. No one pays me to write
or lines up around the corner for their signed copy. Hooks, gimmicks, off the
wall contests and/or giveaways may offer some hope. Finding an affective hook,
gimmick, contest or giveaway poses the ultimate challenge. Merely standing
behind a table, smiling and nodding at foot traffic is comparable to trolling
the streams with a bare hook. What do you really expect to catch if you don’t
toss out the right bait? I’m not convinced having a room full of hungry authors
really snags that many buyers. It could do just the opposite. Possibly the
shopper is overwhelmed by the selection or guilt ridden, they’re plagued with
buying a book from one particular author and slighting the others. Maybe the
price is too costly; given the fact they can shop at the library for free or
download a copy to their Kindle much less than that old clunky hardback.
Then there are those dreaded yard sales and flea markets.
Is someone really going to pay $15.95 for my book when they can buy books three
for five dollars or a quarter a piece? Heck they can visit the library and take
home a bag full free. Better still, they can shop the book event and then go to
the library and have them order the one that interest them. Still, mine are
homegrown, nurtured tenderly and can be signed, creating a keepsake. Can you
say souvenir or collectable? Think about it. Suppose I do land on a best seller
list or hit the big time. You will have one of those early releases, a rare
gem, an actual signed and dated copy, marking it as a viable candidate for EBay
or Craig’s List. You can even boast you knew me when. Peddling your goods,
keeping your name out there and creating a must have book phenomena is no easy
task. Five times I have proven this theory. I have twenty others lined up
waiting their chance to take the reading world by storm.
I confess. I’m a genre hopper. My writing is all over the
place. I’ve published two detective books, one on bullying, a memoir and a
paranormal thriller. I’ve heard you should find your wheelhouse and stick with
it and develop a following, target a market. I’m unfortunately cursed. I have
no targeted market. I write about what I like to write about which includes a
variety of flavors, from my Bigfoot trilogy to missing cat mysteries, from end
of the world sagas to high school reunion thrillers, golf stories to witches or
sea monsters, people vanishing at mountain resorts to more southern nostalgic
memoirs, zombie westerns to sea turtle encounters, I’m all over the place. How
to you wrap a marketing and promoting plan around this mess? There’s but one
thing for me to do. I just keeping peddling books as fast and furiously as I
can, hopeful that one day my imaginary book mobile will crash through the
zillion best seller barrier.
Life was much easier when the only reader of my work was
me. But then again, what I have experienced has been priceless thus far; the
friends I have made, fellowship experienced among authors, sharing our stories
like worn and weathered road warriors. Where else would I have had the
opportunity to appear on radio and television shows, not once, but numerous
times so far? I’ve spoken at Lion’s Club meetings, local colleges and schools;
not bad from one who used to be introverted. I’ve participated in more
festivals and events than I ever visited just for fun. Some have been
successful, others have been quite agonizing, but all have been bonding and
life changing experiences, good, bad and ugly alike. Such is the life of the
not so famous book peddler, hungering to land on a best list somewhere.
Shameless plug: Go to Amazon or any site where books are
sold on line and type in T. Allen Winn to make your selection and purchase. But
wait…visit Clock Tower Books in Georgetown ,
S.C.
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