How to Sell Books in 7 Steps

10,000 tickets were sold for this year's Book Expo Australia!

10,000 tickets were sold for this year’s Book Expo Australia!

This weekend was a bookish one for me… On Saturday I taught creative writing at the Mosman College. Then on Sunday I attended Book Expo Australia, where my Northern Beaches Writers’ Group and I had a stall to sell our books… I was also ‘booked’ (he he!) in to talk at the Expo about:

  • ‘Reading to Children’, and
  • ‘The Power Words Have to Endure, Bring Success & Contentment, and Even Fight Cancer’ – a bit of a mouthful for a title, but a very interesting talk about the creation of new literacies, technology and publishing.

Selling books was a major theme on both days.

During my creative writing class, my students and I discussed which books we were currently reading and naturally recommended books to each other. Word of mouth has to be one of the best and oldest ways to sell a book! Since I am as yet unable to sell any of my own books (hurry up, universe – my novels are awesome!), I ended up recommending books by author buddies here in Australia. We have so much amazing talent in Australia!

Book Expo was, naturally, full of books – so my Northern Beaches Writers’ Group and I had to compete with the many other wonderful authors and booksellers trying to sell. It was a fantastically bookish day, and I had lots of fun selling books and raising money for the Kids’ Cancer Project. I also learnt the following things about selling books (much of which could also be said about things other than books):

What a shiny stall! So much to see and do!

What a shiny stall! So much to see and do!

1. Shiny Things Matter

The bigger and brighter your stall, or book, or personality – the more attention you attract. People don’t like to miss out and, if it looks like fun, it most probably is fun. Be fun! Be shiny! Even if yours is a serious book, the book-buying process is supposed to be fun. Keep it fun for readers!

One of the winners of our lolly-jar guessing competition. Congratulations, Liana!

One of the winners of our lolly-jar guessing competition. Congratulations, Liana!

2. People Like Free Stuff!

We had a free lolly-jar guessing game, free postcards, free chocolates for anyone who answered a bookish question, and free smiles. Other stalls had free badges, free bookmarks, and M&Ms. ‘Free’ is a good reason to walk over. ‘Free’ tells people that they’re getting value for money – without even buying anything, they’ve already received a benefit!

3. Be Curious

Readers love to talk about books. If you ask them about their likes and dislikes, you’ll be better able to recommend one of your books, and there’s a greater chance it’ll be suited to their tastes. If none of your books appeal, you’re at least being nice, which helps your author-brand – they may like your next book!

4. Be Unique

Every successful book has an interesting hook. Being succinct with your pitch to passers-by saves everyone time. They will either like the idea of a race against time to save an advanced-technology mechanical dolphin with a hidden secret or they won’t – same with the adventure that sees an outback flash flood become a gateway to another world. Focus on what makes your book different to others, and you will stand out.

5. Apply the Art of Storytelling to Selling

There’s a story behind every book – why it was written, how and where. For the books written by my Northern Beaches Writers’ Group, it was to raise money for the Kids’ Cancer Project. Knowing the story behind a book gives readers an appreciation for process and purpose, and endears them to your book. Those readers will then hopefully have a story to share with friends and family when they recommend your books through that all-important word of mouth.

Talk about variety – look what I found for myself in among all the books: a Dr Who Tardis necklace! Great idea Peggy Bright Books!

6. Offer Variety

It can be intimidating for readers to approach a book stall hosted by a single author. What if they don’t like that author’s books? They will feel bad about turning the author down, face-to-face. So despite the impulse to keep competition at a safe distance, it can actually be better to have a stall offering a variety of books (or bookish paraphernalia – see Tardis necklace!) for sale, giving more choice to readers. They’re bound to find something they like!

7. Good Products Sell

More important than all the above is to have a good product. Unless it’s good, it won’t sell. If it’s good, it will. Period.

So, with that in mind, I should go and do some writing now – and ensure it’s the best it can be!

Zena Shapter

Zena Shapter writes from a castle in a flying city hidden by a thundercloud, reaching across age and genre into the heart of storytelling. A multi-award-winning author of speculative and contemporary fiction, she teaches writing at festivals, libraries and schools, judges various literary awards, mentors and edits other writers, and encourages everyone to value the importance of creativity. She loves movies, frogs, chocolate, and potatoes, though not at the same time!

2 Comments:

  1. Great points Zena, I agree with them all. One other point is getting the pricing right and that often isn’t easy. There is massive competition out there for the book buyer’s dollar and finding the right price point can be very tricky. Often we seek a particular return on our book — if we bought it from the publisher at cost price then we want to resell it at an appropriate mark up but how does that fit with what the buyer is expecting? If you price your book too cheaply it can suggest that the book is rubbish (or you undervalue your work), if too expensive and you aren’t well known then you won’t sell many. Hitting that sweet spot that maximises your book sales and doesn’t send you broke is an art and not a science and it may take some time to get it right.

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