"In life, there is nothing more common than talent and intelligence. What is missing is passion, persistence, commitment, and dedication." ~ Calvin Coolidge
If the number of books published each year is any indication, talent and intelligence are well served in the writing community. However, that might not be the whole truth. Talent and intelligence, essential to the writing process, do not yield many sales without the qualities of persistence, commitment, and dedication.
Say what you will about writing being an end in itself, I am convinced that writers write to be read. So, unless you plan on giving away your hard work, sales are important. Personal experience has shown that when a person lays down cash for a book the chances of them reading it rise dramatically.
Persistence by the author is what gets your book into the hands of readers. Expensive ad campaigns may be great. I’ve never had one so I can’t be sure of that. When I was preparing to self-publish my first book, I read a book called Guerilla Marketing. Its ideas are way out of date now—except one, utilize every free and low-cost source available.
That requires some searching, although I have been ambushed by a few. I like local events: craft fairs, festivals, holiday markets, and local businesses with a connection to my books. Facebook groups are notorious for would-be marketers out to sell you their services, but the pages of family, friends, and readers are the new word-of-mouth. Though the old-fashioned way still works as well as ever.
There are so many book fairs, literary festivals, and author signing events out there that you will likely find yourself in the position to pick and choose the ones you like. You can tell you are committed to selling your books when your vacation includes a book signing. Picking a place to vacation based on the possibility of sales or location research also qualifies as true dedication.
Events don’t always go as planned, but not planning for them has a definite outcome—zero readers.
Jack LaFountain
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