Lorraine Enos' article on marketing and publicity is loaded with great ideas on promoting your work and making crucial contacts.

Get Your Five A Day



We all know that we’re supposed to eat five servings of vegetables a day, but many writers don’t know that they should also strive for five contacts—defined loosely as any email, phone call, or snail mail to a bookstore or media outlet--a day.

I’ve read many books on marketing and publicity and the five a day rule is the most useful piece of advice I’ve picked up. When I first read it in 1001 Ways to Market Your Book by John Kremer, I thought it was ridiculous. There was no way that I could work a full-time job and make five contacts a day.

However, since I’m stuck working at a place I affectionately call “Patriarchy Place,” I figured that if I diligently worked on my marketing, I might be able to earn enough to quit the job and write full time, so I decided to challenge myself to make five contacts a day.

I’m not really a phone person, so I decided to “reach out and touch” someone--actually lots of someones—via snail mail and email. I diligently surfed the Web in search of the names, snail mail and email addresses of local libraries and bookstores and prepared press packages to send out. The first week I sent out about 17 packages and dozens of emails to bookstores asking them to stock my book. Unfortunately, I still haven’t received responses to any of those press packets or emails.

The next week I decided to vary my strategy and visited two libraries and a bookstore asking for signings. I got very noncommittal answers from everyone I spoke to and it was really tempting to let myself get discouraged and to give up and resign myself to the idea that I was a hack and that no one wanted to read my stuff.

But the next day was particularly hellish at Patriarchy Place, so I strengthened my resolve to keep knocking on doors, both literally and figuratively, until one finally opened. I logged on to Barnes & Noble.com’s store finder and started calling bookstores to ask how I could go about setting up a book signing at their store. Much to my delight, everyone that I called was pleasant and receptive. Even more surprising was the fact that the phone calls were not as bad as I’d thought they’d be.

My spirits lifted; I continued calling bookstores and booking signings. I’ve got several booked in the next few months and I’m continuing to look for new outlets to sell my book.

Have I given up on email and snail mail completely? No. Email is one of the easiest ways to get your five a day, because it lets you communicate at any time of the day or night. Although email hasn’t yet gotten me a book signing, it has netted me a speaking engagement at the National Press Club in Washington D.C., an invitation to the Illinois Authors’ Book Fair, and some decent media coverage via email.

Do I always get my five a day? No, but I’m averaging 25 contacts a week and starting to make progress in my quest to be a financially successful author. So the next time someone reminds you to get your five a day, turn to your trusty rolodex and start dialing that phone.

Sidebar:



How to Find Contacts



Log on to Google.com and search for bookstores. After visiting each site, send emails to those you think might be interested in carrying your book.
Visit Borders.com, Barnes & Noble.com, and BAMM.com to find local outlets that might be interested in hosting signings.
Visit Switchboard.com to find local independent bookstores which might be interested in hosting signings. However, before you start making phone calls, visit the bookstore to find out what types of books they carry.
Log on to http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/, http://www.ipl.org/div/news/, or http://www.newspaperlinks.com/home.cfm to find local newspapers and send press releases introducing yourself and your book(s).
Go to http://newslink.org/ to find newspapers and radio stations. Many radio stations host call-in shows or interview guests on air, so check out local and non-local radio stations and email the appropriate hosts advising them that you’d love to be interviewed.
Lorraine Enos has a Bachelor's degree in Accounting from Illinois College. She has worked as an auditor for the U.S. Military and held various computer-related positions in private industry. Lorraine is the author of The Portable Coach: A Do-It-Yourself Approach to Personal Coaching (2002, PageFree Publishing) and has co-authored a soon to be released military thriller. She can be found on the Web at http://lenos66.com or send email to lenos66.netzero.net