How to Sell Your Books: Four Takeways from BOWS

The third annual Business of Writing-Success conference was a smashing success for the 42 attendees at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art on October 11, 2014. 

One of the best features of BOWS is that it reaches out to presenters whom people wouldn’t normally associate with writing. After all, what does a voice coach or a sales trainer have to do with writing a book?

Quite a lot, as it turned out.

Each presenter provided something unique and valuable for writers who want to sell the books they have worked so hard to write. For example:

Takeaway #1: The Importance of the 30-Second Speech

Dan Compo, an actor and voice coach, lectured on the importance of creating a 30-second speech to present to anybody who wants to know what we do as writers. The 30-second speech answers four questions, Compo said: 

• What is your name? 
• What is your profession? 
• What have you recently done? 
• Where are you going?

But delivering a 30-second speech is not easy. “We seek authenticity in your performance,” Compo said of anyone who might be listening to the speech. “Being authentic is really difficult.”

Compo quoted famed acting coach Charles Conrad, who said, “Get the attention away from yourself. Focus on your listener, not on you.”

Takeaway #2: Setting Goals

Robin Wayne Bailey, best-selling author (he refuses to limit himself to the label of science fiction writer) of Frost and the Dragonkin trilogy, discussed the importance of having goals in writing. 

His goal, he said, is one every writer can identify with: to make money. “I’m not here to create art. I’ll let the public be the judge of that,” Bailey said. “I have to make you keep turning the page.”

Bailey said he has three goals for writers: 

• Write every day. 
• Finish everything you write. 
• Submit for publication everything you finish. 

He allowed that he may put aside a project for a while, but he always comes back to it. "I generally have five or six projects going at once," he said.

Although he acknowledged the importance of social media, Bailey cautioned writers not to get too caught up in promoting themselves. His rule is that if he spends one hour on the Web promoting his work, he must spend an hour doing what he calls “real writing.” 

“You must have product to sell,” he said.

Takeway # 3: Build a Following BEFORE You Write a Book

Deb Clem-Buckert, a parenting blogger who was a regular blogging contributor for The Kansas City Star, discussed the importance of building a brand and a following before searching for a book deal. 

“I was  very calculated in how I built my brand,” she said of her blog, which includes personal stories as well as recipes. Her blog reaches out to women who have similar experiences in parenting, yet Clem-Buckert established her own niche, since her child is a teenager. Other similar blogs, she said, are written by the parents of toddlers.

Clem-Buckert emphasized the importance of social media for writers. “You have to have the followers before you write the book,” she said.

Takeaway # 4: Learn to Sell Like a Used Car Salesman

Michael DeLong, an award-winning sales trainer, presented on one of the most unusual topics: how to sell your books like a used car salesman. “You’ve got to know how you appear to other people,” said DeLong, who recommended that authors videotape themselves before giving a pitch. 

He also said authors should get to know something about the person or publisher to whom they are pitching their books. “You know what the publisher can do for you,” he said, “but what can you do for them?”

However, DeLong also cautioned writers about being overconfident or cocky. “Don’t have on your mind the answer to the question before they ask it,” he advised.

  

That was just in the morning session. Four more presenters gave takeaways in the afternoon. If there is interest, I will present more in a future post. Meanwhile, start planning now to attend the next BOWS in 2015 so you can take away your own gold nuggets.

My Pitch: Selling a Book in One Minute

So, you’re writing a book and you want to sell it to a literary agent or publisher? 

Okay, you’ve got one minute to tell me what your book is about, make me fall in love with your character, and suggest titles your book will sit next to on the bookshelf.

Go.

Sounds daunting, doesn’t it? Yet that’s exactly what authors must do, according to Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry, known as The Book Doctors, authors of The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published (Workman, 2010). The Book Doctors held a “Pitchapalooza” event in Kansas City, MO, on February 28; I was one of 20 or 25 lucky souls randomly selected to pitch a book to them and three other experts in front of an audience of about 300. The experts critiqued each entry, giving both positive feedback and suggestions for improvement.

I’ve spent the weeks since then doing primarily two things: 1) writing my book, which helps in knowing what to pitch, and 2) rewriting and rewriting and rewriting my pitch, incorporating the experts’ suggestions as well as some new ideas of my own.

I thought it would be a good idea to present my pitch here so all of you prospective authors can get a sense of what's in store for you. But also I need your help.

Whether you’re an author, a literary agent or publisher, or a reader (the most important audience, anyway), your feedback is crucial in telling me whether I’m on the right path or even if my idea sounds worth investing time and resources in turning into a novel. After all, there’s no sense in writing the darn thing if nobody is thrilled enough to buy the book.

A pitch is similar to what you see on the dust jacket of each book: Those few sentences that tell you what the story is about, who the main character is, and why you don't want to put the book back on the shelf. And the author has to be able to give the pitch in one minute or less. (For the record, the following version took me exactly one minute to read aloud to myself.)

So, here’s my pitch as it currently stands. (Of course, everything below is © 2011 Greg Gildersleeve.)

Damon Neumeyer does not want to move to “the district,” where the freaks live. But when his power to create darkness is discovered, he and his family – his always working father, overprotective mother, and very ordinary brother – are forced to move to the special section of town, where he can grow up alongside other kids who have powers.

Damon eventually gets used to the place and his new friends, but when some of them form a group called The Power Club, Damon wants to join. To win their approval, Damon must discover just how powerful and terrifying his darkspace can be – and that is only the beginning of his journey. Protesters, a classmate who can cause kids to disappear forever, and a rogue terrorist convince Damon that The Power Club can be a force for good. But can Damon convince his teammates that being heroes is more important than softball practice?

The Power Club combines the super-powered action of Michael Carroll’s The Quantum Prophecy with the coming-of-age fantasy of Ursula K. LeGuin’s Gifts. It takes readers on an amazing and terrifying journey of discovering the powers within us all.

What do you think?