Chapter 23
We had made stops at two large Barnes & Noble stores in our area. Even though 'Lady Justice' was available online at Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com, it was not in the brick and mortar stores.
We kept getting the brush-off from the managers and finally we discovered why.
Evidently, individual Barnes & Noble store managers don't make decisions on which self-published novels to stock. Everything comes from the corporate headquarters in New York.
One kind manager told us to go to the Barnes & Noble website and look for the self-publishing submission section.
We found the site and sure enough, if you were self-published, you were required to send a copy of your book along with other submission requirements, if you wanted your book considered for inclusion in the brick and mortar stores.
So we sent what was requested and actually received a reply that our book was somewhere in the huge stack to be reviewed. They promised to let us know --- some day.
So, if that's how the system works, maybe it's the same for Borders. We went to the Borders website and were shocked to read that Borders will absolutely not stock a self-published book!
HOLY COW!
If you're self-published, you might as well have leprosy, because nobody in main-line publishing wants to have anything to do with you.
It's really sad. How many REALLY great pieces of literature will never see the light of day because they are written by a new author?
So, the big book chains are a long shot. How about the small, independent bookseller?
I found a website for the ABA, American Booksellers Association, comprised of small, independent bookstores.
Like the newspapers, we pulled up the websites of each store, one by one, and state by state.
We had prepared a sales campaign brochure which we emailed to EVERY member of the ABA in ALL fifty states; over four hundred independent bookstores.
We did the same thing as with the newspapers and saved the emails in a special address book for our next attack.
By this time, we were getting feedback from our previous sales. Readers were emailing us, saying how much they enjoyed 'Lady Justice' and were looking forward to the sequel.
Armed with positive reviews, we sent our next barrage of press releases to all the newspapers in Missouri,Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Florida and New York.
We waited two weeks and sent a follow-up solicitation with reader reviews to the 400+ independent bookstores.
We're nothing if not persistent.
Friday, September 10, 2010
The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author Chapter 22
Chapter 22
I realized that if I was ever going to get the exposure for 'Lady Justice' that I wanted, I was going to have to find a 'traditional' publisher who would take my book.
I read about a book titled 'The Writer's Market' online and found a copy in our local library.
Virtually all of the publishers, both traditional and self-publishing, were listed with their submission guidelines.
The vast majority of traditional publishers said either that they don't accept unsolicited or un-agented submissions.
So maybe I should find an agent to represent me
I turned to the literary agent section and was surprised to read that most of the agents didn't want to talk to you unless you were already a successful author.
Hold on a minute! Publishers don't talk to you without an agent and agents won't talk to you if you're not previously published.
WHO MADE THESE RULES???
It became quite obvious that the deck was stacked against the new author unless, of course, he or she was a celebrity.
Oh well, nobody said it would be easy.
I went through the 'Writer's Market' and pulled up the websites of all the publishing companies and literary agents that would accept unsolicited submissions and followed the directions on each site.
I received a few replies thanking me for my submission, but regrettably, the subject matter of my novel didn't fit into their current plans.
I did receive positive responses from one literary agency and several small publishers, but when I did my research on them, they all had reputations for taking anything that was sent to them, and most were less reputable than the company I already had.
Another dead end.
I realized that if I was ever going to get the exposure for 'Lady Justice' that I wanted, I was going to have to find a 'traditional' publisher who would take my book.
I read about a book titled 'The Writer's Market' online and found a copy in our local library.
Virtually all of the publishers, both traditional and self-publishing, were listed with their submission guidelines.
The vast majority of traditional publishers said either that they don't accept unsolicited or un-agented submissions.
So maybe I should find an agent to represent me
I turned to the literary agent section and was surprised to read that most of the agents didn't want to talk to you unless you were already a successful author.
Hold on a minute! Publishers don't talk to you without an agent and agents won't talk to you if you're not previously published.
WHO MADE THESE RULES???
It became quite obvious that the deck was stacked against the new author unless, of course, he or she was a celebrity.
Oh well, nobody said it would be easy.
I went through the 'Writer's Market' and pulled up the websites of all the publishing companies and literary agents that would accept unsolicited submissions and followed the directions on each site.
I received a few replies thanking me for my submission, but regrettably, the subject matter of my novel didn't fit into their current plans.
I did receive positive responses from one literary agency and several small publishers, but when I did my research on them, they all had reputations for taking anything that was sent to them, and most were less reputable than the company I already had.
Another dead end.
The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author Chapter 21
Chapter 21
Some how, we had to let the world know about 'Lady Justice' and it was up to us to do it.
Authorhouse had done a fantastic job producing the book, but after that, it was all on us.
Obviously, our connection to the outside world was the Internet. Some how, we had to get people to our website, www.booksbybob.com.
We were on all the social networking sites, but we needed more.
The marketing guy from Authorhouse had sent us an email with links to sites he thought might be useful to us.
One was a website listing all of the newspapers in the United States, state by state.
I had read that Authorhouse would prepare a press release for me --- for a fee, and submit it to selected papers, but again, I could do that for myself, so I studied press release construction and prepared my first press release.
The process was grueling. I had to pull up the newspapers in a particular state and then open their website and find the appropriate email address for press release submission.
I spent as much time as I could spare, and over a two week period, I sent press releases to EVERY newspaper in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Florida and New York.
I have no idea if any paper actually published the releases, but they certainly received them. We did get responses from a couple of newspapers who offered to review 'Lady Justice' if we sent their book editor a copy, which, of course, we did. We haven't heard back from them yet.
We did learn a trick. After I sent all the emails the first time, I pulled up the sent messages and put the email addresses in a special newspaper address book. It would save me hours of labor on my next press release barrage.
I had also found websites on the Internet,I-Newswire.com, PR.com, Free-Press-Release.com, and Prlog.org, on which I could post my first release. I used them all.
If the world didn't know about 'Lady Justice', it wasn't for lack of trying.
Some how, we had to let the world know about 'Lady Justice' and it was up to us to do it.
Authorhouse had done a fantastic job producing the book, but after that, it was all on us.
Obviously, our connection to the outside world was the Internet. Some how, we had to get people to our website, www.booksbybob.com.
We were on all the social networking sites, but we needed more.
The marketing guy from Authorhouse had sent us an email with links to sites he thought might be useful to us.
One was a website listing all of the newspapers in the United States, state by state.
I had read that Authorhouse would prepare a press release for me --- for a fee, and submit it to selected papers, but again, I could do that for myself, so I studied press release construction and prepared my first press release.
The process was grueling. I had to pull up the newspapers in a particular state and then open their website and find the appropriate email address for press release submission.
I spent as much time as I could spare, and over a two week period, I sent press releases to EVERY newspaper in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Florida and New York.
I have no idea if any paper actually published the releases, but they certainly received them. We did get responses from a couple of newspapers who offered to review 'Lady Justice' if we sent their book editor a copy, which, of course, we did. We haven't heard back from them yet.
We did learn a trick. After I sent all the emails the first time, I pulled up the sent messages and put the email addresses in a special newspaper address book. It would save me hours of labor on my next press release barrage.
I had also found websites on the Internet,I-Newswire.com, PR.com, Free-Press-Release.com, and Prlog.org, on which I could post my first release. I used them all.
If the world didn't know about 'Lady Justice', it wasn't for lack of trying.
The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author Chapter 20
Chapter 20
The day of our first Arts & Crafts Fair arrived.
It was late October and the event was outdoors. Since we had signed up at the last minute, we were delegated to an'overflow' site. It turned out to be several miles from the actual event.
We were directed to a patch of grass between a hot dog stand and a table full of garage sale crap.
We set up our booth and waited anxiously for the flood of fans who would buy my book.
Someone must have given them bad directions, because no one came.
The few people who dropped by for a hot dog walked by our booth and never even looked in our direction.
We sat there four hours, froze our butts off and didn't sell a single book.
Not a very auspicious start.
Our next event was at the Harrisonville, Cass County Public Library. I had emailed and sent postcards to every old classmate that I could find. The library had posted a book-signing notice on the door and the local newspaper had run an announcement for us.
This was bound to be a success.
On the night of the event, I was thrilled when about a dozen old classmates showed up. Each bought a book and we had a great class reunion.
But not another single soul other than my old friends came.
I learned a valuable lesson. If people don't know you or you're not a celebrity, they just don't care.
Our next event was another Christmas Craft Fair. This one was inside and we had a more captive audience.
We noticed right away that people weren't drawn to our booth even though it was decorated to the hilt.
It was difficult to ignore our 12 x 18 poster advertising 'Lady Justice Takes A C.R.A.P.'and if that didn't get your attention a second poster admonishing
"Give Someone C.R.A.P. for Christmas", was hard to ignore.
We soon discovered that nothing was going to happen unless we made it happen, so we stood at our table and spoke to anyone who even glanced in our direction.
We found that once we got their attention, and our infectious personalities kicked in, most would listen to the story of "Lady Justice'.
We also found that if we could engage them in conversation, about 60% of them would buy a book.
We sold 37 copies that day --- a victory!
Our next event was in the library of our small town of Osceola, Mo, population 835.
Again, we posted notices all over town and the local paper had run ads for two consecutive weeks. We even sponsored a promotion for the local Food Bank; "Bring in a can of food and receive a 10% discount".
Four families showed up, all were close friends. No one else cared.
The rest of our events at craft fairs went much the same as the second one. Once we figured out how to attract the shoppers, we could sell the book.
We sold books at our ten events, but we could tell right away that if 'Lady Justice was going to be a best seller, it was going to take more than craft fairs.
The day of our first Arts & Crafts Fair arrived.
It was late October and the event was outdoors. Since we had signed up at the last minute, we were delegated to an'overflow' site. It turned out to be several miles from the actual event.
We were directed to a patch of grass between a hot dog stand and a table full of garage sale crap.
We set up our booth and waited anxiously for the flood of fans who would buy my book.
Someone must have given them bad directions, because no one came.
The few people who dropped by for a hot dog walked by our booth and never even looked in our direction.
We sat there four hours, froze our butts off and didn't sell a single book.
Not a very auspicious start.
Our next event was at the Harrisonville, Cass County Public Library. I had emailed and sent postcards to every old classmate that I could find. The library had posted a book-signing notice on the door and the local newspaper had run an announcement for us.
This was bound to be a success.
On the night of the event, I was thrilled when about a dozen old classmates showed up. Each bought a book and we had a great class reunion.
But not another single soul other than my old friends came.
I learned a valuable lesson. If people don't know you or you're not a celebrity, they just don't care.
Our next event was another Christmas Craft Fair. This one was inside and we had a more captive audience.
We noticed right away that people weren't drawn to our booth even though it was decorated to the hilt.
It was difficult to ignore our 12 x 18 poster advertising 'Lady Justice Takes A C.R.A.P.'and if that didn't get your attention a second poster admonishing
"Give Someone C.R.A.P. for Christmas", was hard to ignore.
We soon discovered that nothing was going to happen unless we made it happen, so we stood at our table and spoke to anyone who even glanced in our direction.
We found that once we got their attention, and our infectious personalities kicked in, most would listen to the story of "Lady Justice'.
We also found that if we could engage them in conversation, about 60% of them would buy a book.
We sold 37 copies that day --- a victory!
Our next event was in the library of our small town of Osceola, Mo, population 835.
Again, we posted notices all over town and the local paper had run ads for two consecutive weeks. We even sponsored a promotion for the local Food Bank; "Bring in a can of food and receive a 10% discount".
Four families showed up, all were close friends. No one else cared.
The rest of our events at craft fairs went much the same as the second one. Once we figured out how to attract the shoppers, we could sell the book.
We sold books at our ten events, but we could tell right away that if 'Lady Justice was going to be a best seller, it was going to take more than craft fairs.
The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author Chapter 19
Chapter 19
My next contact with Authorhouse was with a guy in the marketing department.
They have a full line of services to help you promote your book --- for a fee, of course, --- a really hefty fee!
The guy I talked to was really helpful, but his job was to sell me more stuff. He said he would send me an email outlining some of the marketing programs that were available. The email came and I looked at the packages ---YIKES!
One program was a "social media" package. For a mere $799.00, they would create pages for me and 'Lady Justice' on a whole slew of media sites and create a 'blog' that I could use to drive traffic to my website where, hopefully, people would click on "order book".
At age 66, while I am quite competent with the computer and the Internet, I've never cared about any of the social interactive sites.
Never needed to.
I've never Tweeted or blogged or any of that stuff, and now my publisher is saying I should do it if I want people to know about my book, or, they can do it for me for a measly $799.00.
As I perused the sites they would set up, it occurred to me that all of them were free. Why pay them the big bucks to do something I am perfectly capable of doing myself?
So I began.
Three days later, I had accounts on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Booktour, Classmates, Shelfari, Goodreads, LibraryThing, Yahoo, Google, LinkedIn, WeRead, Gather, Amazon, Bebo, Wordpress, AuthorsDen, MyLife and WritersNet.
WHEW!
No wonder they charge $799.00. It's a heck of a lot of work to set up a complete profile with photos and links to your website.
But I did it and it didn't cost me a dime!
My next contact with Authorhouse was with a guy in the marketing department.
They have a full line of services to help you promote your book --- for a fee, of course, --- a really hefty fee!
The guy I talked to was really helpful, but his job was to sell me more stuff. He said he would send me an email outlining some of the marketing programs that were available. The email came and I looked at the packages ---YIKES!
One program was a "social media" package. For a mere $799.00, they would create pages for me and 'Lady Justice' on a whole slew of media sites and create a 'blog' that I could use to drive traffic to my website where, hopefully, people would click on "order book".
At age 66, while I am quite competent with the computer and the Internet, I've never cared about any of the social interactive sites.
Never needed to.
I've never Tweeted or blogged or any of that stuff, and now my publisher is saying I should do it if I want people to know about my book, or, they can do it for me for a measly $799.00.
As I perused the sites they would set up, it occurred to me that all of them were free. Why pay them the big bucks to do something I am perfectly capable of doing myself?
So I began.
Three days later, I had accounts on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Booktour, Classmates, Shelfari, Goodreads, LibraryThing, Yahoo, Google, LinkedIn, WeRead, Gather, Amazon, Bebo, Wordpress, AuthorsDen, MyLife and WritersNet.
WHEW!
No wonder they charge $799.00. It's a heck of a lot of work to set up a complete profile with photos and links to your website.
But I did it and it didn't cost me a dime!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author - Chapter 18
The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author
Chapter 18
My next contact with Authorhouse was a person who could help me set up a website.
This was not a part of my original publishing package. The fee to set up a site was $399.00 plus a monthly hosting fee.
Wow! More dollars out and none coming in.
I searched the Internet for other companies that sold, constructed and hosted websites hoping to find better deals.
Most were sites that required you to use one of their stock templates and were really cheap looking.
The company recommended by Authorhouse was American Author. They specialize in websites for authors.
I looked at a number of websites that American Author had created for other writers and the quality was really superior to what I had found for not that much more money. So I gave them the green light and bought the site.
The first thing they wanted was to sell me a domain name for what I later determined was a rather exorbitant price.
I had gone online towww.godaddy.com and bought the perfect domain name for $9.95.
Booksbybob.com
Authorhouse sent the information and graphics on ‘Lady Justice’ to American Author and in about a week, my site was up and running.
One of the things I really wanted was complete control of my site content and the ability to change and add things as needed.
As a Realtor for 31 years, I had considerable experience with Realtor websites and knew what I wanted.
I was thrilled when my site first popped up. It loaded quickly and was really beautiful.
After studying the tutorial, I found it had all the features I needed and I had total control of the editing process.
I went to work and in the next few days, customized my site to exactly what I wanted.
Now comes the task of letting the world know that Lady Justice Takes a C.R.A.P. is on the market.
Chapter 18
My next contact with Authorhouse was a person who could help me set up a website.
This was not a part of my original publishing package. The fee to set up a site was $399.00 plus a monthly hosting fee.
Wow! More dollars out and none coming in.
I searched the Internet for other companies that sold, constructed and hosted websites hoping to find better deals.
Most were sites that required you to use one of their stock templates and were really cheap looking.
The company recommended by Authorhouse was American Author. They specialize in websites for authors.
I looked at a number of websites that American Author had created for other writers and the quality was really superior to what I had found for not that much more money. So I gave them the green light and bought the site.
The first thing they wanted was to sell me a domain name for what I later determined was a rather exorbitant price.
I had gone online towww.godaddy.com and bought the perfect domain name for $9.95.
Booksbybob.com
Authorhouse sent the information and graphics on ‘Lady Justice’ to American Author and in about a week, my site was up and running.
One of the things I really wanted was complete control of my site content and the ability to change and add things as needed.
As a Realtor for 31 years, I had considerable experience with Realtor websites and knew what I wanted.
I was thrilled when my site first popped up. It loaded quickly and was really beautiful.
After studying the tutorial, I found it had all the features I needed and I had total control of the editing process.
I went to work and in the next few days, customized my site to exactly what I wanted.
Now comes the task of letting the world know that Lady Justice Takes a C.R.A.P. is on the market.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author - Chapter 17
The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author
Chapter 17
The creation of novel #2 stopped abruptly with the arrival of Lady Justice #1.
It was time to launch our marketing campaign.
First on the list was the local senior center. We were regular attendees at the Thursday afternoon tea dance and knew there were at least two hundred seniors there for lunch every day. I was almost afraid we wouldn’t have enough books to go around.
I shouldn’t have worried.
After talking to the senior center administrator, we learned that the company that manages the activities there don’t allow vendors.
Wait a minute! I’m not a vendor, I’m an author!
No, you’re a vendor and you can’t sell your book here.
To our dismay, we discovered that the same company managed virtually all the senior centers within driving distance.
So much for that idea.
Our next outlet was the local libraries.
The closest large town is about thirty miles from our home, but close enough for us to be called “local”. We contacted the library to set up a book signing date and were informed they only do book signings once a year when they sponsor a large event for any local author who wants to participate. The event was in September. We missed it by a month.
Better luck next year.
OK, Peg and I spent thirty years living and working in the Independence, Mo area, so we contacted the Mid-Continent library in our hometown. It turned out the Mid-Continent manages thirty branches in the Greater Kansas City area and we could submit our book for consideration at their next branch manager meeting.
We sent them a book and waited and waited ---nothing.
OK then, I grew up in Harrisonville, Mo and attended school there through Freshman year until my parents moved to Blue Springs, Mo. I had attended several high school reunions and kept in touch with several old classmates.
I called the Cass County library and was totally shocked when they readily agreed to a book signing.
Cool! Our first gig!
We also contacted the library in our little town of Osceola, Mo. population 835. They also agreed to sponsor a book signing.
So, two down, but where next?
In early October, before my book was in print, I had attended a book signing at the huge Barnes & Noble store in Overland Park, Kansas. The author was a friend of my step-son. I was elated when the author introduced me to the Community Relations Manager of the store as a new author, and he promptly handed me his card and said to call when the book was available and he would set up an event for me.
I figured this one was in the bag.
But when I called a month later to schedule the event, all I got was a run-around and eventually an email saying that all available time slots were taken for the rest of the year. Call back next year ---oh well.
So far, the only books leaving our garage were the ones we were giving to friends and family.
Not much profit there.
Three of our prime sources for sales had evaporated almost before we opened the first box of books.
Then, our copy of Rural Missourian came in the mail. They have a section where they spotlight upcoming events in the communities they serve. With the Christmas Season approaching, the events calendar was loaded with Christmas Arts and Craft Fairs.
We said, “ What the heck. Why not?”
So we contacted the event co-coordinators and scheduled four craft fairs around our two library appearances.
It wasn’t exactly the book tour I’d hoped for, but it was a start.
Chapter 17
The creation of novel #2 stopped abruptly with the arrival of Lady Justice #1.
It was time to launch our marketing campaign.
First on the list was the local senior center. We were regular attendees at the Thursday afternoon tea dance and knew there were at least two hundred seniors there for lunch every day. I was almost afraid we wouldn’t have enough books to go around.
I shouldn’t have worried.
After talking to the senior center administrator, we learned that the company that manages the activities there don’t allow vendors.
Wait a minute! I’m not a vendor, I’m an author!
No, you’re a vendor and you can’t sell your book here.
To our dismay, we discovered that the same company managed virtually all the senior centers within driving distance.
So much for that idea.
Our next outlet was the local libraries.
The closest large town is about thirty miles from our home, but close enough for us to be called “local”. We contacted the library to set up a book signing date and were informed they only do book signings once a year when they sponsor a large event for any local author who wants to participate. The event was in September. We missed it by a month.
Better luck next year.
OK, Peg and I spent thirty years living and working in the Independence, Mo area, so we contacted the Mid-Continent library in our hometown. It turned out the Mid-Continent manages thirty branches in the Greater Kansas City area and we could submit our book for consideration at their next branch manager meeting.
We sent them a book and waited and waited ---nothing.
OK then, I grew up in Harrisonville, Mo and attended school there through Freshman year until my parents moved to Blue Springs, Mo. I had attended several high school reunions and kept in touch with several old classmates.
I called the Cass County library and was totally shocked when they readily agreed to a book signing.
Cool! Our first gig!
We also contacted the library in our little town of Osceola, Mo. population 835. They also agreed to sponsor a book signing.
So, two down, but where next?
In early October, before my book was in print, I had attended a book signing at the huge Barnes & Noble store in Overland Park, Kansas. The author was a friend of my step-son. I was elated when the author introduced me to the Community Relations Manager of the store as a new author, and he promptly handed me his card and said to call when the book was available and he would set up an event for me.
I figured this one was in the bag.
But when I called a month later to schedule the event, all I got was a run-around and eventually an email saying that all available time slots were taken for the rest of the year. Call back next year ---oh well.
So far, the only books leaving our garage were the ones we were giving to friends and family.
Not much profit there.
Three of our prime sources for sales had evaporated almost before we opened the first box of books.
Then, our copy of Rural Missourian came in the mail. They have a section where they spotlight upcoming events in the communities they serve. With the Christmas Season approaching, the events calendar was loaded with Christmas Arts and Craft Fairs.
We said, “ What the heck. Why not?”
So we contacted the event co-coordinators and scheduled four craft fairs around our two library appearances.
It wasn’t exactly the book tour I’d hoped for, but it was a start.
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