This week, I discuss five examples of Advertising that DOESN’T WORK plans.
DisclaimerI base all commentary in this blog on personal experience. I understand that some authors have successfully used any/all my “doesn’t work” examples.
I retired from my full-time high school and university teaching career in June 2012 after thirty-nine years.
I met with my longtime friend, Jeanne C. Stein, best-selling author of “The Anna Strong Chronicles” and other titles. We began reading and commenting on each other’s writing in the 1980s.
Jeanne is amazing. Her perseverance in making herself is a testament to her determination. I value her advice.
She suggested I start with science fiction.
I did.
While waiting for responses from publishers on one manuscript, I submitted another to what called itself a “co-publisher.” They accepted the manuscript and published it in early 2014.2nd DOESN’T WORK EXAMPLE.
Expecting winning a writing competition to boost sales
At the recommendation of my publicist, Sherry Frazier, I entered Traveler’s HOT L in a book competition. It won the science-fiction category. I bought stickers to put on the covers of the copies I’d purchased from the co-publisher. I added “Named Best Science Fiction Book” in the 2014 USA Best Book Awards” to my website and my Amazon Author page.
I expected sales to soar. Sales did not soar.
Sales did not increase to any noticeable extent.
In last week’s Part 1 of this brief series, I described the non-marketing of my co-publisher. That my publisher did not acknowledge the award anywhere but in an in-house memo, didn’t help.
3rd/4th DOESN’T WORK EXAMPLES.
Discounted print and eBook sales/Free eBook events
3. Amazon KDP allows authors to conduct sales. Each sale has a strict time limit and allows only fixed levels of discounting in the sequence of sale prices.
I’ve done this more than once, hoping that continuing to do the same thing over would this one time have a different result. There was no significant surge in sales, even when the books were at the most discounted price.
I posted these sales on
- Twitter—multiple times each day.
- Facebook at least once daily on my Author’s page, on my personal page, and in more than one group I belong to.
- my website.
4. KDP also allows authors to allow free downloads of eBooks for limited times. I could copy/paste the above verbiage here, but I won’t. Sales did not increase after the giveaways, even though most of my giveaways moved that eBook into the top 100 free eBooks for a time.
5th DOESN’T WORK EXAMPLE.
Book signings and Author Chats
I’ve had over 5,500 students in my teaching career. A significant majority liked me as a teacher and most of those on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter follow me. At least a plurality of those individuals live close enough to San Diego, CA, that driving to an event from where they live to where a book signing was, isn’t out of the question.
My first book signing was at Mysterious Galaxy. The store specializes in SciFi and Mystery books and is well-known throughout the Southwestern US. My time-travel book, Traveler’s HOT L was a natural. They publicized the event, and I spread the word. There was a full-house in their venue, and I sold 34 copies. I found out later that the average sales at a book signing are six books, so I was happy.
However, one event does not a successful marketing strategy make.
I set up a signing in the library at the high school from which I’d recently retired as a Biology teacher. Many former students and a half-dozen teachers came.
I sold about twenty books.
I rented a booth at the City of La Mesa Arts Festival. Not a bad venue. Moderate foot traffic.
I sold six books.
I visited every Barnes and Noble store in San Diego County, one in Orange County, and one in Riverside County. Three of them sounded interested, two did not do signings, and one never responded to my query. I got one signing at the store in Escondido.
Their advertising comprised putting the poster I gave them in the window. The venue inside the store was in a corner with little traffic. There were no signs inside the store directing customers to the event.
I sold two books.
I did a book signing at the university bookstore where I’d been full-time faculty for eight-years. They set my table up in the entry foyer to the bookstore. People had to walk around the display to get to the bookstore's items for sale.
I sold two books.
I scored an “Author’s Chat” at a branch of the San Diego Public Library system. They marketed in their mailer. About a dozen people attended.
I sold four copies.
I rented space in a satellite building of the university mentioned above. Great room. I did a PPT presentation on the process and highlighted the three science fiction books I had published by that time. Over twenty people came for the presentation and a few others wandered in after the presentation.
If memory serves, I sold ten books.
In a nutshell, I struck out far more often than I hit a home run with book signings.
6th DOESN’T WORK EXAMPLE.
Book Boosts on social media
To the best of my knowledge, after twenty dedicated blog posts…
I sold no books.
What’s my advice about advertising?
Work with a publicist or marketing firm. If you don’t sell books then, at least you have someone to blame. 
SEO: book marketing, authors as marketers
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