Are You Ready for Publicity?

One of the reasons I’ve been so intense on getting my book covers, bookmarks, and series posters done in a hurry lately is the fact that I have some publicity and marketing opportunities coming up.

Back in December, I was invited to be the host author at my daughters’ elementary school during their Literacy night which went on in January.  They held an event with several different booths, from libraries to myself talking about publishing.  They came in short waves, had the opportunity to check out my little power point presentation (hello college flashback!) on the steps to publish.  From editing to choosing a book cover, to uploading your book.  It was fun and informative, and I had some of my YA books there for them to check out.

It was small exposure, but it was exposure nonetheless.

But there’s a catch to these things, a catch people don’t really think about when they start signing up like mad for local events.  If you don’t have a book worth promoting, why waste your money?

That’s not to say your content isn’t good, but remember when you go to these events, there’s going to be a whole host of authors out there trying to get their work seen.  It’s a competitive market, whether you like it or not, and each author is trying to one-up the other.

I did a book festival last year, and I sold a handful of books.  I was hoping for a better turn-out, and I didn’t come close to breaking even when it came to cost of printing out my books, printing out a poster, paying for the table, book marks, business cards, etc.  And that’s the hazards of being a fresh indie author in the business– you rarely break even.

You operate at a loss, hoping to recoup your costs with ebook sales, and sometimes you do, and sometimes you don’t.

Does it mean you should skip out on these events?  Well, yes and no.  Some people say all exposure is good exposure, but that’s not necessarily true.  If your book isn’t professionally edited, designed, and covered, your book might find its way into the hand of a person who will then tear it apart.  If you don’t have something worth looking at, you’re going to get those passing glances, and people giving your table a wide berth.  If you have a poor looking cover, but your table partner has a good book, you have to suffer to consequences of standing there all day watching your neighbor getting attention while yours is given the polite pity smile and the customer moves on.

I watched that happen last year.

My books had terrible covers, but the person next to me were even worse.  Her book was a third the size of mine, and three times more expensive.  She became so enraged after my sixth sale of the day when she’d sold none, she started screaming at customers who passed by, and started to rip down her posters and art work.  The scene drove people away, and gave me a good lesson in Authors Behaving Badly.

Now I think about those handful of people who have my first two books they purchased the year before and I feel uncomfortable.  I feel sad that although they got a decent, meaty story, the design and covers were lacking, unprofessional.

I’ll be at the book festival again this year and all of my books are redesigned, edited, formatted, and I’ve paid my cover artist to provide me bookmarks and a series poster.  It was a lot of money, and I probably won’t recoup my costs, but this year will be far more worth it.  This year I’ll be passing out something I can be proud of.

These events aren’t cheap, and that’s another thing to remember.  The tables are expensive, printing is expensive, promo items are expensive.  Then you have travel costs, food, drink, lodgings.  In the end it could cost you a good couple hundred dollars to get this all done.

And if your book isn’t edited, isn’t professionally covered and designed, you might want to think about putting that money you’re saving into making your book look like it belongs on the shelf of a bookstore.  I’m talking about a real cover, not a createspace template.  I’m talking about a real editing job, not yourself or your (insert friend or family here). 

These events happen annually, sometimes bi-annually and in fact, if you do a google search, you might find events happening monthly or even weekly.  There are street fairs, book clubs, library readings, bookstores wanting to feature local authors.  There are school events, various conventions, and markets happening all year long.  So why rush into something when your money can be better spent in making something worth marketing.

The truth is, most people don’t come to these events with a load of cash to drop on books.  I’ve been planning to go to the Phoenix Comic Con this year, spending quite a lot of money to share a table with a good author friend of mine for the weekend.  I’m not anticipating selling a lot of books, because people are going to be there for Mark Sheppard and Bruce Campbell (mmm yes please! lol).  I might get lucky with the few browsers who happen to glance at my stuff and are intrigued by the artwork they see on my covers.  They might be intrigued by my premise and want to drop a few bucks on an unknown author.

Last year at the festival dedicated solely to books, I sold six.  Six books.

At cons, often your sales will be less.

And if you don’t have a book worth looking at, you’re probably looking at less.  You’re not going to make an impression, or become an overnight sensation with sub-par work.  And while the writing might be good, there is more to being a successful author than having a story to tell.

So it’s time for an exercise in patience.  Maybe your money is being better spent elsewhere, because while yes, it’s good to take these chances, use logic.  Why waste money this year when you can make a far better impression next year?

I’m writing this out of experience, out of having made the mistakes.  It’s not a day at Disneyland, shelling out hundreds of dollars on my books’ covers and editing, but it’s worth it, and I can show up now at these events with my head held high knowing I did it the right way.

So just some food for thought.  There are events and cons coming up and as I’m watching people gear up for them, I’m both excited and nervous.  I want people to succeed.  I want to succeed, too.  So take a breather, look at your work, look at what you’ve got and truly decide, am I ready?