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From the days of the door-to-door salespeople peddling the Encyclopedia Britannica to the managers of modern bookstores lining up authors for book signings, selling books has been fraught with experts, all claiming to have the best solution for increasing in-person book sales.
The gambit runs from annunciation classes to free giveaways. While I don’t disagree with some or even most of what the “Experts” claim are the answers to making your selling dreams come true, I disagree with the importance most of them place on these gimmicks.
I start with three basic rules to increase in-person book sales.
1. Arrive early, or visit the establishment beforehand to familiarize yourself with the space. Watch how things work and how the staff and patrons interact. Introduce yourself to the people who work there. This gives them a connection, making them more likely to direct patrons to you. I like to pretend I’m part of the staff.
2. Dress appropriately for the venue. We don’t want to overdress or underdress. Sticking out, unless it’s intentional, is never a good thing. What we look like and how we portray ourselves is key. Even before the first word is spoken, people make many unconscious conclusions about each other just from visual contact.
3. Be Positive, engage, and be you. Each of these points is important on their own. No matter what happens at home, on the way to the event, or even in the parking lot, it stays there! Our attitude is the second point of interaction. How we say what we say is paramount. Low, unenthusiastic approaches sink the sale before getting out of the dock. There is also a fine line between being overly excited and pushing. Be Positive.
Attitude is not just how we say something. It's also how we don’t say it. Too often, I see authors sitting behind their tables, looking at their cell phones as potential sales walk by. I call this “Distracted Selling.” The primary reason for being at a book signing event is to sell books, so that should be the primary focus. Every person who walks past us is a potential sale and, more importantly, a loyal reader who buys our next book. Stay alert and find a commonality between a person and ourselves. Be Engaged.
“I see you got the memo. We both wore a hat today.”
“I noticed you’re looking up at the genres. What is it you’re looking for?”
Find a way to connect with the person that doesn’t start with “Hey, do you want to read a book about…?”
The last point may be one of the most essential parts. Authors ask me what lines work best to start the conversation. My answer is that there are no “lines.” I don’t plan what to say. I’m being me. Being at a book signing event and being positive and engaging is worth anything if you aren’t being genuine. People will pick up on it quickly. So, find your style and run with it. We can read many books on the subject and try to emulate the approaches they discuss, but none will work if we aren’t ourselves. Be You.
In everything I have touched on in this blog, the one constant has been us, the author, the person doing the selling. That’s because what we are truly selling isn’t a book. It’s us.
“Did you get the memo?”
The person standing before us buys or passes on the book depending on how our message and image come across. We, the author, want our creation to be the focal point, and it is. We can’t see what that focal point is if we aren’t paying attention.
Luca DiMatteo, DPM
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