Alley Cats to a T-Bone

In my last couple of posts, I tried to illustrate why it’s so hard for an author to make a living by writing. Hopefully, I succeeded in that endeavor so that this post will be well received. The truth is, as authors, we’re just way too close to our work to effectively sell it. That’s why we have a hard time doing things like writing blurbs and synopses.

Quite frankly, I’m probably like 99.9% of all other authors who can’t figure out why it’s so hard to get the word out. Hell, all you have to do to find a dozen alley cats is throw a day old T-Bone out the window an viola, cats. I may not know much, but I’m pretty sure my fictional musings are better than a leftover T-Bone.

At least one can hope.

Anyway, when it comes to marketing I was stumped once again with the same old question. What else can a writer do to get the word out? So, I enlisted the help of Miranda. For those who don’t know, she’s my girlfriend, my brown-eyed girl, capable of seeing past my obstacle of close proximity (reference my last two posts).

When I asked her what she thought I should do, she responded like someone tasked with pointing out an elephant in the room. She said, “Why don’t you write an interactive post. People like getting involved and this way you can enlist the help of others too.” The not just me implication sunk in later.

Needless to say, my proximity disability immediately kicked in and it took her another half hour to explain why this was a good idea. I’m still skeptical but here it goes. A big part of marketing is getting the word out, and to that end, I put forward this challenge:

To all my followers (Blog, FB, Twitter),

While you are reconnecting with family and friends as the holidays approach, take a moment to mention this new novelist you came across. His name is L. Davyd Pollack and he has some interesting things to say. Check out his website and blog. He’s also on FB and Twitter.

Notice that I didn’t say anything about buying a book. The challenge here is to get the word out to at least ten new followers in all fifty states (not 57, I’m not greedy). That’s it, ten new followers in each of these United States. And for the new followers, make sure to touch base with a post to let me know your home state.

Thank you all for your help and hope you have a wonderful Holiday Season.

BTW, and this is not part of the challenge, but if any of my followers are looking for a gift that their special someone doesn’t already have, try one of my books  . . . Just saying.

Happy Holidays to all,

Davyd

 

Books Be That . . . My Child

Let’s see.

Where do I start?

I wish this subject were something

near and dear to my heart.

 All rhyming aside, it really would make my life as an author a whole lot more convenient. But then, I wouldn’t be a writer, I’d be a marketing manager or more specifically, a book marketing manager working on ways to market my books. That’s what I want to talk about today, book marketing. And yes, it’s an absurd subject for anyone who considers themselves a real novelist. Here’s why.

 I’m going to assume that any adult reading this will be able to empathize with the following scenario regardless of their parental status. And to broaden the range, if you aren’t a parent but do consider your pet(s) as part of the family, that will do nicely. OK, back to being an author who is expected to be able to make a living from selling his or her books.

 Selling your own book should be an almost impossible task, and if it isn’t, I personally think there is something seriously wrong with you. Picture yourself standing behind a table with portraits of your children, and /or pets displayed proudly. Don’t worry; you’re not the only one. It’s a big room (as in book fair), and there are a hundred other people doing the exact same thing.

 

Suddenly, a stranger who you’ve never seen before and probably will never see again, walks up to your table, picks up the picture of your first-born son and says, “How much for this one?”

You smile with glee and pride, “$14.95.”

Remember, you are not selling portraits; you are selling your heart and soul. As far as you’re concerned, it’s a steal at twice the price. But your customer says, “Oh, I didn’t realize he was that expensive. How much for that one?” The customer points to the picture of a much smaller child, your first-born daughter.

“$8.95.”

The customer doesn’t even touch your daughter’s picture. Instead, she starts to back away.

 You think fast and before you have a chance to rationalize the consequences, you shout, “I’m running a special for today only. Both children for $19.95, while they last.”

 A second smile appears, but this one is on the face of your customer. She isn’t smiling because she just bought two brand new and beautiful children: children, both of whom represent the best of your being. No. She’s smiling because she just bought them for a discount.

Davyd

 

2015 (fall) Meet The Authors Book Fair

So here I am, back after an eight-month hiatus from blogging. Why so long and why am I back now? Well, first and foremost, I have something interesting to talk about. However, it isn’t writer related. Rather, its publisher related and for once, it’s good news. BTW, in case you don’t already know, I’m self-published.

 

That said, here we go. November 21^st & 22^nd was the weekend of the Fall Meet The Authors Book Fair sponsored by Authors For Authors. You can visit them at www.authorsforauthors.com to find out more about what they do. Anyway, as for the book fair, it was my first time participating in the Fall Extravaganza and I had high hopes for a glorious triumph in sales. There was just one problem . . . it rained on Saturday and then, it rained on Sunday. Yeah, you guessed it. Traffic was slow and just to illustrate how slow, many of my fellow authors wrote off the entry fee and packed up early due to a lack of sales.

 

Fortunately for me, I have some retail experience so I know that sometimes you get sales just because you’re the only one left with something to sell. This was the thought that kept me, along with my outstanding sales crew (Miranda and the kids), going through those long and rainy days.

 

It was a good thing too because at about 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, L. Davyd Pollack sold out. Yes, for the first time ever, I sold out. Yep, did I mention the fact that I sold out? That’s right—I sold out. And . . . yeah, I sold out . . . Okay, Okay, I won’t bore you with any more bragging about how I went to a book fair on Saturday with two big boxes of books and when I left the book fair on Sunday, those big boxes were empty. Why? Because I sold out.

 

But the truth is; I couldn’t have done any of it without the help of everyone who got up from the couch, got in their cars, braved the ugly skies, and came out to the Meet The Authors Book Fair. Even if you didn’t buy a book, I want to thank you. And for those of you who did buy, I sincerely hope you enjoy your new read. You have purchased a small treasure written by an author with a fresh voice, that hasn’t been homogenized into the reprocessed regurgitations of commercial writers with big brand names and little else. Every self-published author has poured their heart and soul into the book you are about to read and all that work was done for free (no million-dollar advances here). So keep an open mind and a forgiving heart when you come across something that isn’t quite right.

 

As for those of you who bought a book from me, I just have two things left to say. Thank you and . . . uh—all sales are final.