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What's Your Biggest Challenge with Your Book?

I'd be interested to learn what authors/publishers on this network think their biggest challenges are with their book. I wonder if there's any common, pervasive challenge we all face.

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The biggest challenge I've encountered so far is setting book signing events. Working within my budget constraint - it's a challenging purchasing enough to cover an event.
Hi Michelle,
Look in your local newspaper or special event pages. Get a few authors together to join you in getting a booth. I've joined a writer's group for three years and we have around 12 authors who go around together to cut the cost of the booth. Oct we have six authors for a two day event that cost $150. Each will pay $25. Not bad. The sales of the books, help us order more and we start the cycle again.
If you don't have many friends who are authors, join a writer's group at a bookstore. Great networking, too.
Sometimes book signing events are not all that great. How about when trying to set up with a book store..offer to give a small seminar about an interesting topic and be sure you have something to give away...carol stanley
HI Carol,
Book signings so up and down. Sometimes I do great and other times not one book gets sold. We have found, "in our group," that with one author, people are not brave to come up to you. They feel that if they do, they have to buy. With a group signing, they can talk to all authors and go from one to the other to decide on a book.
Don't get me wrong, I have had times alone doing good. The most I've ever sold at a signing has been 12 books. I hear of authors selling 30-50, and it amazes me!
Getting past the "big name" publisher bias. There are some bookstores who feature small press and self-publish - but there is a bias about anything not coming out of the big houses....yet a review of Writer's Market shows more and more "big houses" are requiring some "self-publishing" hustle from their authors.
Marilyn,

What do you mean by "big name" publisher bias? I'm not sure where that bias exists. Book buyers exhibit no bias towards big name publishers. In fact, most book buyers are unaware of which company published the book they're buying. Book buyers purchase a book to solve a problem (in the case of non-fiction) or for entertainment (in the case of fiction). If it meets the buyer's criterion, it doesn't matter who publishes the book.

Bookstores purchase books that sell. If the book sells, it doesn't matter to the bookstore who the publisher is. What is important to the bookstore is the ease of acquiring the books. As long as a book is available through a distributor or wholesaler the bookseller buys from, it doesn't matter who the publisher is.

Wholesalers do care who the publisher is. The largest wholesaler in the US, Ingram, refuses to buy books from a single title publisher. For Ingram to be interested, a publisher must have at least ten titles available. This precludes a self-publisher or single title publisher from selling to Ingram, but it doesn't show a bias towards "big name" publishers. It only shows a bias towards publishers with ten, or more, titles.

Distributors will buy books from any publisher if they believe they can sell the book to stores. Distributors do want books that are attractively packaged and professionally edited because they know that helps sell books. If the book's topic will appeal to the bookstore buyers with whom they do business, they will buy it. There are distributors who specialize in self-published authors, such as Midpoint Trade.

The biggest bias may be towards books published by POD publishers. These books can be every bit as well written, edited and manufactured as books from the big name publishers, but the returns policy of many POD publishers makes bookstores reluctant to buy them. (Many POD publishers sell books on a "non-returnable" basis. Bookstores are accustomed to being able to buy books on a returnable basis).
That was excellent explanation for everyone Bill....I went with Morgan James and they partner with Ingram,,,which gives my book a little better chance. It is going tobe released September1.....Hoping for book stores sales...Busy internet marketing and that is adaunting experience...Hoping all that I do will also result in bookstore and other sales. I think POD is great for someone who does not have the money to publish and is willing to spend dollars on good editing and also aggressively pursue the marketing end with other hooks..like give aways, speaking and seminars. It is all very challenging and requires lots of work and attention...Thanks for your help..carol stanley "For Kids 59.99 and Over"
Writing successful query letters. Of my 21 novels, the query letters for only five of them have garnered requests from (real) agents to read the first three chapters.
That is a lot...At least there is some interest...pretty good..Keep up the work and remember it is a game of doing something everyday to accomplish goals...carol stanley
Phil,

Query letters are something of a misnomer. They more properly should be called "pitch letters." The industry lore suggests that a good query letter contains three elements: the hook, the cook and the book. The hook is what makes your book unique. The cook refers to you, the author. And the book describes what your book is about.

Let's say you have a book on organizing. The hook may be that you have the organizing system Oprah uses. You, the cook, may be the best organizer in Los Angeles. And the book may be how you can teach anyone to get organized in one year, or less.

There are two good books on the subject of query letters: THE AUTHOR'S TOOLKIT by Mary Embree and HOW TO WRITE A BOOK PROPOSAL by Michael Larsen. Michael is a book agent who works with his wife at Larsen-Pomada Agency.

BTW, getting five agents interested enough to request chapters to read is remarkable. Congratulations!
Bill: A question...What do you think the best way to approach radio stations for interviews. My book is set to release September1...and I feel talking about the book on the air would be a great marketing tool..Any suggestions..Carol Stanley
Hi Carol,

give your character or book a purpose. I find that making my character come alive and talk about the purpose of writing the book, which might tie into something going on in current events. Radio stations like news.

Martha Tucker
www.newimagewriters.com

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