Hi Kathleen, how many books should a debut memoirist or new-to-genre author (without tons of buzz but with hustle and talent) expect to sell at bookstore events where they don’t have a connection (like their hometown bookstore)? I imagine it varies wildly, but considering the expenses of travel, what do you think a good range might be? Manage our expectations, please. And thank you!
Hi! Sorry I didn't get to your email. This is SO hard to predict. It's helpful to consider how many books an author needs to sell to make the expense worthwhile. I have seen authors sell as few as five copies at an event with no local connections. Was that worth the travel cost? No. I would say with confidence that you are looking at selling fewer than 20 copies in places with no connection. By fewer, I mean MAYBE 10-15. To me, that is not a good range to justify travel expenses. A better range is 20-25, but that rarely happens where there is no connection/publisher support.
Thank you so much for getting back to me here. Your experience is so helpful and level-setting for my students — and myself! It's also helpful for me as I develop author events at Memoiring. We have book pre-order requirements for some Zoom events (like the one with Alia Hanna Habib tomorrow, which is also for Paid Subscribers), and we are exceeding these numbers. I'm thrilled to be supporting memoirists and adding real value to their launch experience while creating memoir community. (Also some bookstores are much better at hyping authors than others. It's a bandwith/resource thing I'm sure!)
I hired a marketing company to get the word out about my forthcoming book. There is a lot of social media as the foundation for the marketing plan they've created, but I've read so many arguments for and against the efficacy of social media to promote books that I'm bewildered.
Frankly, I'm too burnt out to regularly engage on social media. They will produce blogs and articles for me but so far, I don't like the ones I've seen for their other clients.
What, in your opinion, is the best to worst method to market the only book I'll ever write?
It looks like you prefer Facebook ads, but this company seems to place ads only on tik tok. What do you think of tik tok ads?
I don’t like TikTok ads because people scroll right past them. I like Facebook boosted posts, but it depends on the book. If the audience is a bit older (40+), they can be good for exposure. I don’t feel like social media should be the foundation of a campaign because there is not a lot of payoff, and not every author wants to put in the time (nor should they).
Press releases tell media what the book is about. A pitch tells them why they should cover it. While I create press releases for all the books I work on, I also write pitches with several angles, possible questions, and talking points.
It’s hard to say what would work for your book without knowing more about it. Is the publisher doing anything to promote it?
Hi Kathleen. I'm a screenwriter, producer, etc.. Years ago I wrote the film "The Bucket List" which coined the term. I'm now writing a book called "The Bucket List Life" which details how my original "Justin's List of Things to Do Before I Kick the Bucket" spurred me on to write the film and get other aspects of my life in order, but more so how (at the now overripe age of 55) I found myself in a mid-life rut and wrote a new list, which I've been following for the past year and has changed my life once again. The book is intended as a practical (more than philosophical) guide to "Designing a life you want to live," through several areas: Physical and Mental Health, Social Wellbeing, and Financial Knowhow, all through writing a personal bucket list. I've got a pretty solid outline and am now thinking about building a platform, agents, publicists, self vs traditional publishing, and would love to hear any thoughts/reactions you have to the concept, plan, etc. Thanks very much! Though I just joined as paid, I've been reading your "stack" for the past few months and have gotten an enormous amount from it. Happy New Year.
Hi there. I am familiar with the movie The Bucket List. I like the book's concept, and it sounds relatable and aspirational. Let's look at each option:
-Platform: A newsletter called The Bucket List Life could work really well, but you have to treat Substack like a second job to make headway. I subscribe to several newsletters, comment on them, and use the notes feature. I started with 50 email addresses in 2023. Conversely, Instagram could be really fun for something like this, using Reels and carousels to show people what it means to design the life you want to live (I could certainly use help in this area).
-Self vs Traditional Publishing: A platform is non-negotiable if you self-publish. You won't have distribution in retail stores or support from a publisher. That could hinder the book's success and be costly. If you publish traditionally, you will have early copies to send out, you can get blurbs, you have sales support, marketing, and publicity. Which leads me to the next:
-Agent: You will need a literary agent to champion the book if you want to go the traditional route. I can help here.
-Publicists: I take on projects like this--it's in my wheelhouse. There are a lot of publicists out there, and they all charge different fees. What happens is that I discuss what I can add to the project, especially if the in-house publicist is handling part of the campaign, and I consider my fees very reasonable. You won't get a complete sense of what you need until the book is acquired. However, I do work with people in tandem with agents before a publisher acquires the book. For example, I helped someone with their proposal, found them an agent, and I am filling in the Marketing/Publicity portion of their proposal. It is going out on submission later this month.
Happy to have an email convo about this if you'd like: kathleen@kmspr.com
A long time ago I was thinking of doing some Meta ads and I put $35 in my account and then chickened out. So this money is still sitting in there. I’m 6 weeks out from my book’s release date (2.10) and I’m thinking of doing some FB and IG ads since the money is still there. What do you recommend? A “vibes” or tropes post? A book trailer (I have one)? What ads have you seen work even a little bit in the past, if any?
When I run ad campaigns on Facebook for clients, I tell them $500 is what will get them the most bang for their buck. $35 is going to limit your reach. My most successful ads have been boosted posts on Facebook that include the book cover, a description of the book, and a link to buy it. Very simple, no bells and whistles. Book trailers don't generally do well. If you can write something clever about tropes, go for it. If you start with $35 and see movement, add more money to the campaign if you can.
This is great, Kathleen. I just noticed that my latest book (2021) is discounted on Kindle. In your experience, do ads like this work for backlisted titles?
Thanks! That's what I was thinking - see how the first $35 goes and then continue if it seems to help at all. I'll keep it simple like what you mention above. Thanks so much!
I’m curious about creative marketing strategies you’ve seen lately. I’ve seen authors offer writing workshops to people who buy 5 (or more?) of their books. I’m inspired by community-building approaches like that, that go beyond a “book club”. What local and virtual ideas are people trying?
I'm considering doing an "audio vault" to give preorders some kind of personal connection to me. I'm a community-oriented person, too. But I don't know yet if that will be successful.
I've seen those offers, too. They are creative, but they are also a lot of work for the author. If I'm being honest, I haven't seen any recent marketing strategies that knock my socks off. One that I often think about is this: If someone has a robust subscription base on Substack and they run a paid newsletter, maybe offer free yearly subscriptions for people who buy the book + send the receipt. That way, the author is not responsible for putting together a writing workshop. You always have to think about the added value of whatever you offer and what the reader will get out of it.
Locally, where I live in NJ, silent book clubs have exploded. The Silent Book Club even has a newsletter on Substack. It might be worth checking that out.
Hi Kathleen, how many books should a debut memoirist or new-to-genre author (without tons of buzz but with hustle and talent) expect to sell at bookstore events where they don’t have a connection (like their hometown bookstore)? I imagine it varies wildly, but considering the expenses of travel, what do you think a good range might be? Manage our expectations, please. And thank you!
Hi! Sorry I didn't get to your email. This is SO hard to predict. It's helpful to consider how many books an author needs to sell to make the expense worthwhile. I have seen authors sell as few as five copies at an event with no local connections. Was that worth the travel cost? No. I would say with confidence that you are looking at selling fewer than 20 copies in places with no connection. By fewer, I mean MAYBE 10-15. To me, that is not a good range to justify travel expenses. A better range is 20-25, but that rarely happens where there is no connection/publisher support.
Thank you so much for getting back to me here. Your experience is so helpful and level-setting for my students — and myself! It's also helpful for me as I develop author events at Memoiring. We have book pre-order requirements for some Zoom events (like the one with Alia Hanna Habib tomorrow, which is also for Paid Subscribers), and we are exceeding these numbers. I'm thrilled to be supporting memoirists and adding real value to their launch experience while creating memoir community. (Also some bookstores are much better at hyping authors than others. It's a bandwith/resource thing I'm sure!)
This is one of the many aspects I love about this newsletter. I just learned about silent book clubs.
Hi Kathleen
I hired a marketing company to get the word out about my forthcoming book. There is a lot of social media as the foundation for the marketing plan they've created, but I've read so many arguments for and against the efficacy of social media to promote books that I'm bewildered.
Frankly, I'm too burnt out to regularly engage on social media. They will produce blogs and articles for me but so far, I don't like the ones I've seen for their other clients.
What, in your opinion, is the best to worst method to market the only book I'll ever write?
It looks like you prefer Facebook ads, but this company seems to place ads only on tik tok. What do you think of tik tok ads?
And, how do you feel about press releases?
Thanks!
Hi Debra,
I don’t like TikTok ads because people scroll right past them. I like Facebook boosted posts, but it depends on the book. If the audience is a bit older (40+), they can be good for exposure. I don’t feel like social media should be the foundation of a campaign because there is not a lot of payoff, and not every author wants to put in the time (nor should they).
Press releases tell media what the book is about. A pitch tells them why they should cover it. While I create press releases for all the books I work on, I also write pitches with several angles, possible questions, and talking points.
It’s hard to say what would work for your book without knowing more about it. Is the publisher doing anything to promote it?
The book is going to be self-published, because it's timely now, and no agent would touch it.
Do you send pitches to the same people you send the release? Or just to those most likely to pay attention? The topic needs to be covered somewhere,
I never send press releases. I send individual pitches to people who will most likely cover the book/interview the author.
Thanks for your insights!
Hi Kathleen—HNY! For adult thriller writers, what podcasts are best to be featured on and why?
Hi Raymond, Happy New Year! Check out the pods listed here--they are pretty good.
https://podcast.feedspot.com/thriller_book_podcasts/
Oh, this is great! Thank you! And thanks to Raymond Paul Johnson for the question--this is a question I didn't even think of asking, but should have!
Hi Kathleen. I'm a screenwriter, producer, etc.. Years ago I wrote the film "The Bucket List" which coined the term. I'm now writing a book called "The Bucket List Life" which details how my original "Justin's List of Things to Do Before I Kick the Bucket" spurred me on to write the film and get other aspects of my life in order, but more so how (at the now overripe age of 55) I found myself in a mid-life rut and wrote a new list, which I've been following for the past year and has changed my life once again. The book is intended as a practical (more than philosophical) guide to "Designing a life you want to live," through several areas: Physical and Mental Health, Social Wellbeing, and Financial Knowhow, all through writing a personal bucket list. I've got a pretty solid outline and am now thinking about building a platform, agents, publicists, self vs traditional publishing, and would love to hear any thoughts/reactions you have to the concept, plan, etc. Thanks very much! Though I just joined as paid, I've been reading your "stack" for the past few months and have gotten an enormous amount from it. Happy New Year.
Hi there. I am familiar with the movie The Bucket List. I like the book's concept, and it sounds relatable and aspirational. Let's look at each option:
-Platform: A newsletter called The Bucket List Life could work really well, but you have to treat Substack like a second job to make headway. I subscribe to several newsletters, comment on them, and use the notes feature. I started with 50 email addresses in 2023. Conversely, Instagram could be really fun for something like this, using Reels and carousels to show people what it means to design the life you want to live (I could certainly use help in this area).
-Self vs Traditional Publishing: A platform is non-negotiable if you self-publish. You won't have distribution in retail stores or support from a publisher. That could hinder the book's success and be costly. If you publish traditionally, you will have early copies to send out, you can get blurbs, you have sales support, marketing, and publicity. Which leads me to the next:
-Agent: You will need a literary agent to champion the book if you want to go the traditional route. I can help here.
-Publicists: I take on projects like this--it's in my wheelhouse. There are a lot of publicists out there, and they all charge different fees. What happens is that I discuss what I can add to the project, especially if the in-house publicist is handling part of the campaign, and I consider my fees very reasonable. You won't get a complete sense of what you need until the book is acquired. However, I do work with people in tandem with agents before a publisher acquires the book. For example, I helped someone with their proposal, found them an agent, and I am filling in the Marketing/Publicity portion of their proposal. It is going out on submission later this month.
Happy to have an email convo about this if you'd like: kathleen@kmspr.com
A long time ago I was thinking of doing some Meta ads and I put $35 in my account and then chickened out. So this money is still sitting in there. I’m 6 weeks out from my book’s release date (2.10) and I’m thinking of doing some FB and IG ads since the money is still there. What do you recommend? A “vibes” or tropes post? A book trailer (I have one)? What ads have you seen work even a little bit in the past, if any?
Hi Jennifer,
When I run ad campaigns on Facebook for clients, I tell them $500 is what will get them the most bang for their buck. $35 is going to limit your reach. My most successful ads have been boosted posts on Facebook that include the book cover, a description of the book, and a link to buy it. Very simple, no bells and whistles. Book trailers don't generally do well. If you can write something clever about tropes, go for it. If you start with $35 and see movement, add more money to the campaign if you can.
This is great, Kathleen. I just noticed that my latest book (2021) is discounted on Kindle. In your experience, do ads like this work for backlisted titles?
Definitely. Try Facebook ads.
Thanks, Kathleen!
Thanks! That's what I was thinking - see how the first $35 goes and then continue if it seems to help at all. I'll keep it simple like what you mention above. Thanks so much!
I’m curious about creative marketing strategies you’ve seen lately. I’ve seen authors offer writing workshops to people who buy 5 (or more?) of their books. I’m inspired by community-building approaches like that, that go beyond a “book club”. What local and virtual ideas are people trying?
I'm considering doing an "audio vault" to give preorders some kind of personal connection to me. I'm a community-oriented person, too. But I don't know yet if that will be successful.
Sounds interesting. What’s an audio vault?
Cool!
I think of it as a private podcast. A limited series? something like that LOL
Hi Julie,
I've seen those offers, too. They are creative, but they are also a lot of work for the author. If I'm being honest, I haven't seen any recent marketing strategies that knock my socks off. One that I often think about is this: If someone has a robust subscription base on Substack and they run a paid newsletter, maybe offer free yearly subscriptions for people who buy the book + send the receipt. That way, the author is not responsible for putting together a writing workshop. You always have to think about the added value of whatever you offer and what the reader will get out of it.
Locally, where I live in NJ, silent book clubs have exploded. The Silent Book Club even has a newsletter on Substack. It might be worth checking that out.
"That way, the author is not responsible for putting together a writing workshop."
And how many readers are interested in a writing workshop? It really depends on the nature of the book.
Yes, but there are also numerous writing workshops already available, so it may not work at the level it needs to to create meaningful sales.
I agree. It seems like a bit of a disconnect to me.
Thanks, Kathleen. Hadn’t heard of silent book clubs. Will check that out.