Blogs by Jerry W. Engler
Word of mouth magic moment
1/21/2009 10:03:12 AM
Every promotion I've ever read about in the book industry seems aimed at when the magic moment comes, and a book has achieved enough momentum that it is gaining the most valid advertising of all, word of mouth.
That would seem to come when enough people have read the book or talked about it that it begins to sell irregardless of new promotions.
So, I've often wondered how many books sold does that take? Is it 5,000, 10,000? This is a big country.
I'm closing in on 4,000 books having been sold in the near future, and I'm wondering if I saw the beginning of the magic moment last week. I signed books for the public at Hastings Bookstore in Hays, Kansas. It was a good signing, but what impressed me was that since the last time I had been there, roughly in September I think, they had sold 15 of my books.
When you're getting started, I haven't found it unusual at all for a store not to sell any of your books between signings, or to have sold very few, say one to four. So, what is happening here with the jump to a number like 15.
Memories already are becoming hazy, but I am suddenly remembering that in my last several signings, possibly all of the stores had been selling some of my books in between.
If it is my magic moment, that person you hear singing in the distance is me. I always did like that song, "This Magic Moment."
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January 2009 Blogs
• Word of mouth magic moment - Wednesday, January 21, 2009
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