Time and
Commitment are Keys to Book Promotion
by Mike O'Mary, My Dream of Things Publisher
As the publisher of the trade paperback and e-book editions of
Madeline Sharples’ Leaving the Hall LightOn, I’ve had the pleasure of working with someone who really “gets it” when
it comes to what an author needs to do after
the book is written. In fact, I’ve already told other authors about Madeline
and encouraged them to follow her and learn from her example.
When Madeline first contacted me about becoming her publisher, I was
intrigued. The hard cover edition of her book had good reviews, but then her
publisher went out of business. I read Madeline’s memoir and was blown away by
the story of her son’s bipolar disorder and suicide. But what really got me was
the story of Madeline’s journey in the aftermath of the suicide.
It was obvious to me that Madeline’s memoir is a very powerful book.
Still, I didn’t make a final decision about becoming Madeline’s publisher until
we talked about what would be involved in promoting her book. The reality is
that writing a book is only half of the journey. Once the book is published,
the second leg of the trip begins—and it’s all about promoting your book. (It’s
sort of like climbing a mountain. Finishing your book is like reaching the
summit. It’s an exhilarating feeling. But you’re not done. You need to come
down from the mountain and tell us about it!)
Unfortunately, not all writers understand the importance of the second
half of the journey. They think they are done when the book is written and
published, and that a good book should sell itself. That’s not the way it works
though, and when Madeline and I talked, it was clear to me that she understood
this and was willing to work hard to promote her book. In fact, I’ve never seen
anybody work harder at it.
One of the things Madeline and I discussed early on was a list of
things that I could do as her publisher, things she could do as the author, and
things we could do together. Through these and other efforts, Madeline’s memoir
reached the #1 ranking among memoirs by women (out of 2,800+) in Amazon’s
Kindle store in September, garnered 80 reader reviews on Amazon and 45 ratings
and 17 reviews on Goodreads, and sold more than 1,000 copies during September
and October.
Here are some of the things we did:
Beef up the book’s Amazon page: Madeline has her book on her blog, and
I have it on the Dream of Things website, but I treat the book’s Amazon page as
its main presence on the Internet. That’s where most of the sales will occur,
and the page can include all kinds of content, most of which can be managed
through Amazon’s Author Central. We linked all of the editions (hard cover,
trade paperback and e-book), added the “Search Inside” feature, expanded the
book description to include blurbs from reviewers, selected categories for
rankings, added the book to Shelfari.com (which is an Amazon subsidiary that
feeds even more info to Amazon), etc.
Reviews: It’s a challenge to get reviews from the big name reviewers,
but I believe reader reviews are just as important. Madeline has asked many
people to review her book. The key here is don’t be shy. Ask friends,
relatives, subject matter experts, bloggers…anybody who might be willing to post
a review.
Goodreads giveaway: We gave away free copies of the book to five
people drawn at random from a list of people who signed up for the drawing over
three weeks. The winners agree to review the book, and many people added the
book to their “to read” list. (I followed up with everybody who did not win and
offered them a 33% discount on the book.)
Virtual book tour (aka “blog tour”): Madeline did a blog tour when the
book first came out in hard cover, and she is doing another one now. You can
pay someone to organize a blog tour for you (I believe Madeline used WOW! Women
On Writing to organize a tour for the release of the hard cover edition), or
you can do it yourself, as we (mostly Madeline!) have been doing this time
around.
Subscribe to HARO (www.HelpaReporter.com):
HARO is a free service that connects reporters with subject matter experts. A
reporter puts out a call for experts on a topic, and then you can respond with
a brief “pitch” that tells how you can help them. It’s great publicity if you
get interviewed or featured in a story.
Events: I know Madeline has participated in a number of book
reading/signing events in California, and she also traveled to Chicago for a
series of three readings and a radio interview over a whirlwind weekend in
September.
KDP Select: I think this is the most significant thing we’ve done so
far, and I think this is a great “secret” that every author should know. I
enrolled Madeline’s book in the Amazon KDP Select program. That means the
e-book is available exclusively through Amazon for 90 days. In return, Amazon
Prime members are able to “borrow” the book from Amazon for free (we still get
paid for “borrows”), and we can give away free copies of the e-book for five of
the 90 days. In early September, we did a three-day giveaway, and promoted the
heck out of it via a bunch of websites and e-newsletters that cater to Kindle
readers. We gave away 14,000 copies during those three days. If you’re a
first-time author with a small publisher, that kind of publicity is invaluable.
One week after the free giveaway ended, Madeline was ranked #1 among paid sales of memoirs by women in the
Kindle store. The giveaway also helped increase the number of reader reviews.
Other things: We’ve also been seeking media interviews (very
challenging without a publicist, but we had a nice interview on WGN radio in
Chicago); we’re doing a little bit of advertising online (again, targeting
owners of e-readers); and we’ve talked about entering Madeline’s book in a
contest or two.
Bottom line: there is almost no limit to what you can do; it’s
mainly a matter of time and commitment!
About Mike O'Mary: I am so fortunate to have found Mike O'Mary and Dream of Things. I am definitely one of the dreamers he started his publishing business for.
Mike O’Mary is founding dreamer of Dream of Things, and a writer of
essays, fiction, drama, and sketch comedy. He has published stories and essays
in the Sunday magazines of the Chicago Tribune, Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News,
Baltimore Sun, Cleveland Plain Dealer and Detroit Free Press, and in the Catholic
Digest. He was a regular commentator on WNIJ – Northern Illinois Public Radio,
doing weekly commentaries as part of the local segment of National Public
Radio’s Morning Edition program. He has also written and produced sketch comedy
in Chicago, and he is a regular contributor to Freelance-Zone. Mike has a BA in
Economics and English-Writing from Knox College and a MFA in creative writing
from the University of Montana. He also attended the Second City Comedy Writing
Program.
“I started Dream of Things because I wanted to find ways for us to
work together more often. I also hope to make a lot of new friends and to work
with many of them. Dream of Things is a place where other “dreamers” can share
their ideas and stories and have fun in the process.”
