It always surprises me when I speak to someone and they tell me that their books are not selling. Each and every time it is usually because no effort is going into marketing.
There are a lot of writers out there who depend on the their publishing company to do the bulk of their marketing for them. I'm one of those people who is a true believer that you, the writer, have the golden key when it comes to selling your books.
This is not to say that my book sales have been fabulous this month. There are a whole lot of things I could be doing that I have not been doing and at least I recognize that. Every time I am on public transit, I could be slipping my business card to someone with a book in their hand and telling them about my books. I could be hanging around outside bookstores and letting people who are coming in and out know about my books. I could be talking about them in casual conversations every chance I get. Perhaps it is my Canadian politeness factor that keeps me from being that aggressive. However, I am fully aware that I would be selling more books this way.
On an up note, I will be going to a "Faith and the Media" symposium on Thursday, October 1st in Brampton, Ontario. There will be 500 people at this event and I definitely plan to discuss my books. As well, I'm hoping to go to a Simply People festival in October and get a table where I can showcase my books. I just need to work out the timing so it will go well with my teaching hours. Today, there is Word on the Street that is a huge book and magazine festival in Toronto. I was planning to get a booth right after the last one happened called Writer's Block. This is something I definitely hope to work out for next year. My approach to Word on the Street has been "manana, manana," always tomorrow, tomorrow. Honestly, I prefer going to the event and it would be great if I had some business cards to let people there know about my books too.
Here's to self-publishing!
