Sell More Books, Part 8: Stalking
Ten Ways to Sell More Books
8. Stalking
Among the strategies to sell more books, “stalking” is near the top of the list. This goes double for indie-authors, probably because the word has two meanings:
stalk |stôk| (verb)
• pursue or approach stealthily.
• harass with unwanted, obsessive attention.
Some might call the first a noble endeavor, certainly a time-honored skill, and one of the keys to our evolutionary survival. Stealth being the operative word. The second is simply a lawsuit waiting to happen.
To the prey, and in this case I mean the reader, there is little difference between the two definitions. These days, we call stalking behavior “marketing and promotion.” Stealthy or not, your approach may well determine your success.
To start off, we might describe a writer’s life as a lonely life, (much like a hunter’s, except the latter actually puts food on the table). The dedicated writer may have few friends, and certainly a family that doesn’t understand. Such is not always the case; yet stalking, if improperly handled, will ensure that it is. What’s the loss of a few friends? Or alienation from the family? Perhaps it’s for the best, especially if you claw your way to the best seller list.
Stalking begins at home: friends, family and neighbors, as in, read my book, please. From there, it’s necessary to pursue anonymous people, complete strangers. Anyone with the ability to form sounds from words is fair game. And in the modern digital world, your prey is boundless.
Stalking was much harder in the old days… Gunning down critics, for example. Or carrying around cumbersome manuscripts, waiting in publishers’ driveways; or riding elevators, pitch in hand. I often wear a trench coat to the supermarket, lined with pocket editions of all my books, and I’m ready to whip them out at a moment’s notice. Door to door sales is another kind of stalking, surely, though not as effective as it used to be.
The real hunting ground nowadays is social media. All stalking can be done from the convenience of your own living room, and in new, never-before dreamed of ways. I’m not sure I can correctly put “stealth” and “email blast” together in the same sentence, yet many have tried. Auto-posting also comes to mind; endless shout-outs and animated gifs. Cunning, it is not. The legal definition of harassment varies from state to state.
Once you’ve committed to stalking, you’re left with the how and the who. The how entails technique. Remember our watchword: stealth. To that, you might add subtlety.
And who to stalk? Well, make a list: bloggers, critics, reviewers, agents, editors, celebrities, other writers, and people who like to read.
Next week: niche markets
8. Stalking
Among the strategies to sell more books, “stalking” is near the top of the list. This goes double for indie-authors, probably because the word has two meanings:
stalk |stôk| (verb)
• pursue or approach stealthily.
• harass with unwanted, obsessive attention.
Some might call the first a noble endeavor, certainly a time-honored skill, and one of the keys to our evolutionary survival. Stealth being the operative word. The second is simply a lawsuit waiting to happen.
To the prey, and in this case I mean the reader, there is little difference between the two definitions. These days, we call stalking behavior “marketing and promotion.” Stealthy or not, your approach may well determine your success.
To start off, we might describe a writer’s life as a lonely life, (much like a hunter’s, except the latter actually puts food on the table). The dedicated writer may have few friends, and certainly a family that doesn’t understand. Such is not always the case; yet stalking, if improperly handled, will ensure that it is. What’s the loss of a few friends? Or alienation from the family? Perhaps it’s for the best, especially if you claw your way to the best seller list.
Stalking begins at home: friends, family and neighbors, as in, read my book, please. From there, it’s necessary to pursue anonymous people, complete strangers. Anyone with the ability to form sounds from words is fair game. And in the modern digital world, your prey is boundless.
Stalking was much harder in the old days… Gunning down critics, for example. Or carrying around cumbersome manuscripts, waiting in publishers’ driveways; or riding elevators, pitch in hand. I often wear a trench coat to the supermarket, lined with pocket editions of all my books, and I’m ready to whip them out at a moment’s notice. Door to door sales is another kind of stalking, surely, though not as effective as it used to be.
The real hunting ground nowadays is social media. All stalking can be done from the convenience of your own living room, and in new, never-before dreamed of ways. I’m not sure I can correctly put “stealth” and “email blast” together in the same sentence, yet many have tried. Auto-posting also comes to mind; endless shout-outs and animated gifs. Cunning, it is not. The legal definition of harassment varies from state to state.
Once you’ve committed to stalking, you’re left with the how and the who. The how entails technique. Remember our watchword: stealth. To that, you might add subtlety.
And who to stalk? Well, make a list: bloggers, critics, reviewers, agents, editors, celebrities, other writers, and people who like to read.
Next week: niche markets
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