The Poet As
Marketer…..Noooooooooooo…….
Don’t be
scared. I’m not going to try and turn you into a salesperson. You worked your
butt off and now you have a book. Let’s talk about some painless ways to get it
into the hands of people you’re NOT related to!!
Before we
talk about you, let me introduce you to my friend John Dorsey. He’s a regular
guy, and a great writer, who has set the bar on book sales. He’s amazing! He
does some pretty incredible things, and not only does he sell a lot of books, but
he does a lot of nice things for other writers, and publishers as well.
John is in
his early 40’s. He’s been writing since he was thirteen, so he’s written a lot.
He is humble and kind, not fat-headed about his success at all. We (Blue Horse
Press) just published a gorgeous book of his, Your Daughter’s Country.
Of course we posted it on our Facebook pages but so did John. He has 1,500
friends. They started ordering as soon as John made the post. Because he is a
great poet and also well-liked.
One key thing John does, is set up a lot of readings. Not just to his beloved
coffee house and local bookstore. Traveling ones. To the beloved coffee houses and independent
bookstores of poet friends. To universities. To writing programs. John doesn’t
have zillions of dollars but he does the legwork, makes the phone calls and
emails, and makes it work. And as Rich told me last week when we were
discussing this, “poets that bring books
to readings sell boxes of books!”
This was
just posted on John’s Facebook page last Thursday:
The article
says “The reading is free and open to the public; a book sale, reception, and signing will follow the
readings.” This is wonderful. I can’t do this. I don’t have the contacts, or
the mobility. And you can see, it’s not just about John, it’s about another
poet as well. I love that he includes others in his opportunities.
So now let’s talk about you, and me
too.
Besides going to readings, a few things you can do are:
Keep a copy
of your latest book with you all the time – in your glove compartment. In your
luggage. In your purse if it’s large enough. You never know who you’re going to
meet, or who might want one. I gave a book to a TSA agent once, when I was on
the way to a writer’s workshop. He remembered a poet who went through his line the week before! He told me she gave
him a book. He was delighted to get one of mine. Did he pay for it? I didn’t
ask him to. I knew that if he liked it, he’d go online and order a different book.
And he’d probably talk about it too!
Come to think of it, I had already given a copy to the cab driver and the
passenger who shared a ride with me to the airport. One of the poems resonated
with the passenger and she was thrilled for a copy. The cab driver? Even if he
gave it to his next fare, someone will have gotten a copy of it. On the bright
side, my luggage was lighter. That’s a win-win for me =)
from bookst.com |
Don’t feel
you have to cram every poem you’ve ever written into one manuscript. That sells
one book. Plus putting a manuscript like that into some sort of order is hard.
Make smaller books. They won’t cost as much for people to buy. If they like
them, they’ll buy others. It will be a win-win for both you, and your growing
fan club. (Note: making smaller
books is FUN!!)
KEEP YOUR
BIO UPDATED! There are two kinds of bios: the 50-word bio that goes with
journal submissions, and the “big” bio that goes under “About the Author” at
the end of your book. Make sure your 50-word bio includes the names of your
latest book, and the publisher. Not all journals publish bios but most do.
Every time you have a poem accepted to a journal, you want your book to be in
the bio; if someone likes your work, they’ll read your bio. Make it easy for
them to buy your book.
This is my
49-word bio:
Tobi
Alfier is a multiple Pushcart nominee and multiple Best of the Net
nominee. Her full-length collection “Somewhere,
Anywhere, Doesn’t Matter Where” was published by Kelsay Books. “Slices of Alice & Other Character
Studies” was published by Cholla Needles Press. She is co-editor of San
Pedro River Review (www.bluehorsepress.com).
It has no
individual journal credits in it because in my opinion, it says what it needs
to say. This is very much a matter of opinion though, so do what works for you.
Just be sure you keep it updated with new books.
Write
reviews on Amazon of books you like, and ask people to do the same for you. You
do not have to have bought the book on Amazon. You just have to be an Amazon
customer. If you’ve ever bought anything at all, you are a customer.
Make an
“author page” on Amazon, and keep it updated. Unless you have a website, this
will be the easiest place for people to read about you. This isn’t perfect…I
have a lot of credits under my old name (Tobi Cogswell). The author page only
accepts credits by “Tobi Alfier”. I personally don’t care, but you might. So
full disclosure.
If there’s
a journal that publishes you a lot, you may want to consider buying an ad, if
they take ads. Chances are a lot of people will already know you from reading
your work in that journal again and again, they may just need a little nudge.
As you meet
fellow writers and buyers of your book, keep in touch with them. It’s easy for
me because I’m addicted to email and these people are my friends. I know not
everyone is that way, but try. I love when I finally get to meet someone I’ve
been emailing with, and I’m shy! Just try.
You don’t
have to be pushy!
You just
have to write kick-ass books, be a good person (in my opinion), and make it
easy for people to find you.
And
most important? Be nice to the presses who publish you so they’d welcome a
chance to work with you again!
- - - -
Tobi Alfier's most recent collection of poetry is Slices Of Alice. She is also co-editor with Jeff Alfier of the San Pedro River Review. Don't miss Tobi's columns on the craft of poetry: insert your email address in the "Follow By Email" box to the right of this article and you'll be notified every time a new article appears.
Alrighty then. Plus a good dose of humor about those rejections from those "errant fools" who wouldn't know poetry if it was served with Brie and 'Slices of Alice' or a nice Charcuterie of poetic genius.
ReplyDeleteIt's always good if you don't let yourself be derailed by rejections, it's a part of writing. Get a rejection? Do three submissions! Someone doesn't want your book? They may have 20 books stacked on their bedside table already. Don't spend too much time being irritated, and don't even try to rationalize someone else's behavior - it takes away from otherwise productive time. Buy a baguette, eat the Brie and Charcuterie, and move on :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat advice as usual from a wonderful person and poet. Thanks Tobi. All the best. Brent Pallas
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Brent, poet and photographer extraordinaire. You're home then? I have enjoyed reading about all your travels, meals...have you ever considered being a food writer? You could style the photographs AND write the articles!!! Thanks again for reading the blog post.
ReplyDelete