Think about content

Another of my letters for the BAIPA News [August 2008]

Many think we in the book world are an endangered species. That in the brave new world there will be no books. It reminds me of radio in the 50s when television hit the country. It was going to be the end of radio. Oh my gosh, with pictures on TV who would want to just listen to a radio. And radio did suffer. Their audience declined, the industry moaned and groaned. And today with satellite radio and the Internet and podcasts and rss feeds, radio (audio programs) is thriving. That’s what happening to publishing.

Anecdotal

Okay, so you’ve written that novel. And you’re publishing it yourself. Now what? Do you have what it takes to market your book? To sell enough copies to make it a success? I talked with one author who has done just that. Yes, it takes effort. Yes, it takes time. Yes, it’s scary. But it can be exciting, too.

I met J.Brooks Dann the other day for coffee at the Starbucks on 4th at Brannan, in SOMA. We had been introduced by a mutual friend and had met face to face at a BAIPA meeting. We got to talking about his book, Anecdotal, a novel he has written and is marketing successfully.

We talked about how he has achieved the success he has with his book. What stuck with me is: “I’m not afraid to get out there and sell my book.”

He has distribution in about 30 bookstores now. But what’s really interesting is how he got that distribution and what else he has done to sell his books. He holds readings — in bookstores and bars… mostly in the West. He meets store managers and owners face to face. He delivers the books to the stores. He travels. He makes himself vulnerable. He opens himself to rejection, to slings and arrows, and people being insensitive and critical.