Author of Sister of the Circuit, Shadow of the Owl, and a recipe for a pretty decent mushroom fritta...
My dear Lucky Readers,
We have a big month coming up. Lucky has 28 days left to fund and is behind 420+ copies. Now is the time to buy an extra copy for your local library or for your niece. Now is the time to convince your neighbor that they want to jump on the wagon. Now is the time to make this dream a reality. Think of it this way: this is a campaign that your vote can actually influence!
Also, trot over to my new project Children of the Teller (www.inkshares.com/books/children-of-the-teller) and give it a gander. I have entered it into the Inkshares/Geek & Sundry Fantasy contest that runs until November 1. Fun fact: Children of the Teller was to be my NaNoWriMo 2016 project and NaNoWriMo 2016 starts November 1. One simply can’t plan perfect timing like this.
To help support Teller, I have recently posted an update about the opportunity for readers to add their input to the novel. Check it out on my novel page.
As always, I welcome your feedback. I’m on Twitter, Facebook and Wordpress. Let me know what you’re thinking about!
- Webster
Greetings Jackolytes,
The copy edited version of Sync City has spent a couple of weeks back at the mothership getting its penultimate mission directives before heading back off to Girl Friday Productions to get fully beaten into shape! And this is good. This means we are making distinct progress toward bringing Jack and his ride into your hands.
There are still a number of technical areas to deal with – the cover for example – before its ultimate completion. But for now, it’s onto the marketing stage. The goal here is to get Jack and Sync City into as many hands as possible on launch day. And why do you want this? Easy. So you can look cool at parties. When some drops the fact that they have just purchased the outstanding Sync City, you can casually say “Sure, I know it. I went to school/uni/ pubs/worked/ played sport/chatted/emailed/Facebooked/Tweeted (delete as applicable) with the author. I was there from the beginning.” Automatic kudos!
With this in mind, I’d love it if you can spread the word to friends and family and have them jump on board – and who doesn’t like having cool friends and family. To do this, you need to send them to this link and have them hit pre-order (some supervision may be required). If you yourself haven’t pre-ordered, then now is the time! Sync City and a lifetime of awesomeness awaits!
Cheers,
Peter
I approached these outlets in person with my book in hand as soon as it was printed and "orderable".
I came prepared with a short pitch on "why their customers will like the book." I told them it was orderable in their system at the standard industry discount.
If I got any positive reaction at all, I also pitched setting up a book signing at the same time. I never mentioned "crowdfunding" because at this point, it looks just like any book from an author who has a publisher. Talking about crowfunding after your book is out will only confuse people and take away from the central message you want to convey which is "I have a great book from a reputable publisher that your customers want because . . . "
I left a copy of the book with them along with my business card.
This approach worked out pretty well. I have made author appearances at three different Barnes & Noble locations so far and am working on booking more. I’m also in several local Indie stores.
Approaching store managers in person worked better for me than writing or emailing. They get way too much correspondence from self-published authors and don’t spend much time (if any) reading these correspondences because they aren’t interested. They don’t really want to deal directly with authors, mostly just with distributors, their salespeople and sometimes publishers.
Don’t go to bookstores or libraries on the weekend or near the end of a workday. Try and catch these managers when their location isn’t very busy. Around 10 am or 2 pm are good times. Don’t try and catch them just before or after lunch.
Even if you catch them when they have a little free time, they will evaluate your pitch in about 30 seconds and make up their mind very quickly whether they want to spend any more time than that on you or your book.
So be ready to impress them with your pitch right off the bat. "I have a great book from a reputable publisher - your customers want it because . . . . AND it is orderable in your system at the standard industry discount". Smile and hand them your book with your business card sticking out of it. Be ready to answer any questions they may have, but keep your answers short. Smile a lot. Tell the manager you like her shoes or something:-)