Did I mention that it is not easy to publish a book? The hardest part about publishing your book is the marketing aspect - and perhaps the most expensive. I have been selling my books through various events where I had to spend a nominal fee for a “vendors table.” It was great in that I was able to sell a couple books to cover my costs, and I was also able to connect with people.
Recently when mother’s day came along, I had two events and the prospects looked high. Two events for ‘mothers’ how could I lose? I was even able to bring my own mom to the first event. Nearing up to these events, I ran around getting supplies for my display table, and I even had this idea to buy carnations for each mother who bought my book as a nice personal touch.
Everything was ready and prepared, except for one thing: SALES. Sales do not just come to you, you have to earn them. You have to engage people and hope that they will be interested in buying your product.
I went from one event to another, and at both I was unable to pull a lot of sales. I admit I had a few books sold (which is better than nothing), but there weren't a lot of people visiting the vendor tables. I remember immediately after the events feeling a bit disappointed. Especially because I have had past success in doing these events.
In creating this blog, I vowed to show you my experiences in publishing my first book, which includes the good, the bad and the very ugly.
I guess that is why I tweeted this:
'Setbacks' and 'surprises' are all apart of the business, and it’s all a part of life. Everyone has experienced them, but it is how you recover from it. The immediate reaction was disappointment, but the long term outlook was that I gained not only valuable experience, but I was able to continue to network and meet new people.
The positive side of it was that I was able to get new Facebook and Twitter contacts, and just because they didn’t buy it that day, does not mean that they will never buy.
Going forward, generally speaking, I need to be conscious of the events that I go to. Some of the things I would like to know are will I have direct access to the attendees during the event? Will the sales only be after the event? How many mentions will I receive during the event to encourage people to visit my table? These are all things that I feel will help me to prepare properly for the events that I attend.
I have already thought about some other ideas that I think will work well for me in the future. The recent situation was a learning experience for me, and one that I feel has helped me grow.
Until next time~
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