How To Sell Books Offline
How To Sell Books Offline
In this digital age, there is still marketing power promoting books offline. While the focus for launching your book these days is online an author can get fast results when they learn how to sell books offline.
There is a multiplicity of strategies to market and promote your book offline! A little bit of creativity adds to the effectiveness of offline strategies.
Make sales fast
Promoting your book offline can actually generate fast results and what does every author desire? Sales, of course – book sales.
There are unique, cost-effective and advantageous ways when marketing offline for getting in touch with potential clients.
Book launches, book signings, author talks, author interviews on radio and television, newspaper articles, a speaker’s circuit, flyers, and personal networking are proven and tested methods for marketing your book. These strategies can be leveraged to your advantage once you focus on your target audience.
Book launch party
When I self-published my first book on Amazon – both as an eBook and as a paperback – I organised a physical book launch. My venue was the Resident’s Lounge in the Q1 Tower on the Gold Coast.
In readiness, for the launch, I purchased a number of author copies of the paperback and had them shipped to my Australian address from the United States. This was long before Amazon started printing books in Australia.
Launch party mechanics
Once those books actually arrived here I started planning my book launch party.
An influential businessman agreed to be the guest of honour and his role was to officially launch my book.
I sent out email invitations to the book launch and I made sure there was an RSVP date on the invitation. A friend did the catering and there was a delicious array of canapes, cheese and wine.
At the entrance to the launch room was a registration table supervised by a launch team member. As the guests arrived they would register their name, email address and mobile number the purpose, of course, being to grow my email list.
There was a sales table displaying my books. I wanted to facilitate immediate sales and made sure my merchant facility was available for credit card transactions. Another launch team member was responsible for “manning “ the sales table.
About 30 people attended the launch. The end result of this launch party was book sales and lots of promotion. Among the guests were people that I’d never met before so I was expanding my personal network as well.
A reporter was present and I remember her providing me with quite a lot of online publicity about the event.
This book launch achieved its purpose: books sales, overall promotion and a wonderful personal networking opportunity.
Book launch venues
I’ve done a lot of book launches in my publishing career and some of the venues have included
- Sydney Opera House
- National Library of Australia
- Parliament House, Canberra
- a Sports Club
- Art galleries
Various high profile personalities – government ministers, distinguished academics, Indigenous leaders – have launched my books.
Not every book launch has been a high profile event. There’s been room for low key events as well. Often I’ve done small, intimate launches with just a few people in the home.
It doesn’t matter what kind of launch you have. The bottom line is – will your book launch event result in sales and good promotion.
Flyers
When you have a book launch or book signing or any kind of promotion create an attractive flyer. You can do this for free in Canva.
It really doesn’t take a lot of effort or money to create an attractive flyer for your book. The flyer must be eye-catching and should include pertinent details such as your name, a reproduction of the book’s cover, details such as your website, email address and mobile number together with the date, time and place of the event. And don’t forget an RSVP date.
Flyers are then placed in strategic places where your target audience hangs out. Bookshops, libraries, churches schools, other appropriate places.
Combine offline methods with online strategies
While there is great merit in exploring offline opportunities to launch and promote your book there is even power when you combine offline marketing methods with online strategies.
Facebook Live is very powerful. Your physical book launch can be promoted online as a Facebook Event. Author interviews can be turned into YouTube videos. And of course, there are promotions that you can do on various social media platforms.
At the end of the day with selling books offline I encourage you – just be creative and think outside the box.
Author and coach
Pingback: How To Market Your First Book | Fast Self-Publishing Online