There was a good turnout on a chilly Friday night in Paris to hear my story about my story “French License.” How I got the book in the right format, to distribute on marketplaces. How I secured a professionally designed cover. How I chose print-on-demand services. How I knocked on the doors of dozens of independent bookstores to get hard copies on shelves. What I did to promote, and what’s coming next in the process of marketing and selling the book. There was also a hint of projects under works which should see the day soon.
It was great to hear all the questions, and learn where other writers are at in their author journey. At some points it was like a really cool brainstorming session on what other things I could do to build interest.
Warm appreciation to Paris Creative Writers and their fearless leader Gray for sponsoring. Thanks to the Louvre Anticafé for hosting.
For future events, please visit this page: http://startgoingplaces.com/about-2/appearances/
You keep hearing the phrase, “Oh, it’s so easy to publish your own book these days.” It is not. And even if a writer gets his or her book in e-book form on the Internet, that’s not the end of it. What counts is getting people to actually BUY it. And that is a lot of work, as you know. Being published the old-fashioned way years ago, I was not expected to be a business person and spend half my time trying to design my books, to advertise, promote and market my own books. For many writers this ‘doing it yourself’ is not where their talents are. They’re creative and they want to write. Sigh, it is a different world these days and of course one must adapt. Bon courage!
So true, Miss Footloose! You’d think traditional publishers would play this up to authors who are on the fence. But they don’t. Why? Because unless you’re Ken Follett, they won’t do much of the marketing/promotional work. You’ll STILL have to do that if you want your book to sell. Either way, it’s on us authors. My hope is there’s a point when more of the interest in the new title comes organically, or there’s a cumulative effect making each effort perform better. For most of us, that’s several books and years down the road.