When Terry McMillan’s first novel Mama was published in 1987, her publisher only sent out press releases and review copies — their standard low-level effort for first-time authors. So Terry took the promotion into her own hands.
She wrote more than 3,000 letters to bookstores, colleges, chain stores, African-American groups, and other groups asking them to stock and/or promote her book. She offered to do readings wherever they would give her space.
The response was so great that she ended up doing her own book tour to 39 cities. Her efforts gained plenty of rave reviews for her book as well as two reprintings in six weeks.
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This story has been excerpted from About the Author by Alfred Grossbrenner and Emily Grossbrenner
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I received the same question twice in 15 hours (once here and once on Facebook): How could this work for ebooks in today’s market?
My answer: Absolutely, it would work with ebooks, but instead of sending 3,000 letters to bookstores and organizations, you would send 3,000 emails or letters to online book sites, ebook reviewers, book bloggers, potential JV partners, other authors who write books like you.
The key point of this story is not who she sent the letters to, but how many she sent. It’s a numbers game, and few book authors or even Internet entrepreneurs make full use of the numbers game.
First rule: The Numbers Game. Second rule: Create relationships around the numbers who respond. Build from there.
When Terry McMillan’s first novel Mama was published, she took promotion into her own hands.
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To promote her first book, Terry McMillan wrote more than 3,000 letters to bookstores, etc.
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Few book authors or even Internet entrepreneurs make full use of the numbers game.
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Second rule: Create relationships around the numbers who respond. Build from there.
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Book Marketing 101: How to Create a National Bestseller – How to out-sell the New York Times bestsellers without breaking the bank. This is an inside guide on how other authors and self-publishers have created national bestsellers with persistence, elbow grease, and some investment of time or money. Also includes John Kremer’s insight on how to create a bestseller. Ebook download. $30.00.
Book Marketing 104: 192 Marketing Ideas I’ve Learned from Others — In this mini-guide, I describe 192 marketing ideas I’ve learned by reading bestselling books and magazines, attending seminars, and watching TV. Learn the seven successful strategies of every bestseller, guerilla marketing for writers, the meaning of success, a bestseller’s take on selling books, the ten secrets of publishing success, how to be a good talk radio guest, how Terry McMillan became a bestselling author on her own, and how Elmore Leonard became HOT! Ebook download, $20.00.
About John Kremer
John Kremer is author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books, the Relationship Matters Marketing program, and many other books and reports on book marketing, Internet marketing, social media, and book publicity. -- John Kremer on Book Marketing.