Yesterday was a neighborhood potluck picnic in our cul de sac. I love this kind of event. It is wonderful to sit and talk with all the friends that I see in passing, but never have time to really talk to. One friend asked about how Hold on to Your Horses is doing, so I pulled out one of my advance copies to show her. The book kicked around with me for the rest of the evening and several more people read it. Everyone was very complimentary, which was very nice. A couple of people asked when it is going to be available for sale. I told them I expect the truck to arrive next week. I was asked how many books I’d ordered. 2000. I was asked how many I’ve pre-sold. 100. There was a small sound of dismay from the group. Then they ask what I’m going to do next. That is a harder question to answer. Not because I don’t have an answer, but because the answer would require a lecture on basic internet marketing. The didn’t come to a picnic for a lecture and I didn’t want to dominate the conversation, so I mumbled some stuff about blogs and Amazon.com. Then the topic moved on to other things.
Truth is, I’m disheartened that I haven’t sold more copies of Hold Horses yet. I know logically that there is no rush, but I really want this project to be a self-publishing success story rather than the story of a woman who sunk $5000 into printing and now has thousands of books sitting in her basement. I can still get where I want to be, but there is going to be additional work involved. I figure I’ll do my next marketing push after the books arrive. “Buy it now” is much more attractive than “Give me your money and I’ll send you a book in three weeks.” Also, once I have books in hand I can start sending copies to places where the book might garner attention. Perhaps I can volunteer to do an appearance or story time at the library. There are articles that I intend to write, which could potentially help bring attention to the book. 700 books sold is my success mark. At that point, the print run will be paid for and anything beyond that is extra. That is also more than most self-published books ever sell, so I can count it as a success that way as well.
Time to get back to work.
I would be more likely to buy a children’s book from an unknown author (especially if they were giving free autographs or book marks) if they were at place I visited then from a random recommendation from a blog or internet site. It’s kind like girl scout cookies, I won’t go online searching for them to buy but if I happen across them while going into a store–I would buy them. I see you book being the same way. People browsing the internet aren’t likely to stop and buy it (especially when it is available for free) but someone walking by your booth might stop and buy something. Go to events where kids are and try selling them there.
Mom’s kinda working on the school and public libraries in central IL, but Grand-dad’s not well so she’s off in KC… She might be back in a week or two, and I’ll get on her… Or, as soon as I get the book I ordered (I DID place that order, yes? Tell me I didn’t screw up and half complete the order), I’ll start poking the local folks myself…
Actually, reaching nearly 15% of your sales target on the pre-orders strikes me as a pretty good ratio, especially since you don’t have a pre-existing fan base to work off.
It occurs to me that many of the conventions Howard goes to also offer child care. And that the children of convention-goers are likely to be enthusiastic little idea-factories who will identify with Amy. Maybe they’d like some coloring sheets with a brief description of the book discretely located at the bottom?
Hi Sandra,
Settle in for the long burn for “Hold on to Your Horses”, not a flash. That’s the secret. That’s the key. So many authors simply quit pushing after their initial release, never realizing that not only must they have a quality product, but they must build momentum as well.
Remember, Schlock has several thousand pages of “advertising” supporting it…creating demand as folks find it. Momentum is built…and even it still is going to require constant pushing.
Build up your website. Put articles on the site instead of in your blog (blog the stuff but post the articles on the site) to build content. Embed your blog in the front page of your site. Have Howard change your “Sandra Tayler” link on Shlock to your “horses” site after your blog is embedded there. Get your links out there…for instance…where’s the link to your “horses” site on your livejournal? How are people going to find it?
Write some more “Amy” adventures…short ones for on-line content. Maybe you and the artist can illustrate some “online” adventures etc…
One-hundred pre-sales is actually a decent number for a 1st, self-published book…but you have to keep pushing.
My fourth book only sold 200 copies in preorder…and I was worried. What happened? Have I lost my audience? Have I exhausted my market?
Then one day I looked up and realized I’d sold several times that. When did that happen?
It’s a slow burn….but it does get bigger…and eventually it will take on a life of it’s own.
Keep adding fuel!
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
http://lifeisaroad.com
Nancy, I like the color sheet idea with information on the book . That’s a great idea. Free coloring pages given out wherever the book is on sell is a wonderful idea.
The truth is making the book is only part 1 of the challenge. Part 2 is working hard to sell the book. You can do it Sandra….just realize it may require even more effect then creating the book did.
I promise I will be buying a copy of your book for my daughter once my hubby finds another job.
Ona
Y’know, knowing that your profit per book, when you’re charging the same rate as the general market, is 65%, makes the appeal of self-publishing more understandable to me. I’m not sure I could do it — there’s a lot of work for that extra 60-55% of the take! — but still, the gross profit does look pretty good if you sell out.
I like your ideas for spreading the word. Good luck! We plan on buying at least one–where do we pre-order?
Oh yeah—it’s me, Wendy!
Good point. I’ll probably be talking to libraries and schools this fall. Unfortunately too many of these types of marketing efforts cause stress on the family, so I’ll have to keep it low key.
This is a good point. Word is more likely to spread when there are physical books to show off. That means doing another marketing push after shipping books has an excellent chance of working.
Excellent idea. I’ll have to look into coloring pages, perhaps even for Worldcon.
Thank you for taking time to respond. It is helpful to have advice from someone who has walked this road. Thanks for the reminder about links from blog to website and back. I’ll have to dig into that this week and make it happen.
No need to feel bad. Bills before books.
Yes, the profit margin is excellent, but the process is a lot of hard work and frequently very discouraging. Even Howard’s books, which do make a profit quickly, are exhausting in effort and shipping.
This is evidence that I need to take the advice above and put a link on this blog. You can pre-order through http://www.holdontoyourhorses.com. There is also a free pdf of the book available for download if you want to read before you buy.
Hi Wendy!