Today's guest post is from author and poet Debra Winegarten, who has enjoyed success in promoting her books through events. To learn more about promoting with events, see my previous interview with Debra.
Promote Your Book Through Events
by Debra Winegarten
I’m a total extrovert and I know that not all authors fall into this category. I have been honored and humbled by friends of mine who have stepped forward and all on their own, set up book events and speaking engagements on my behalf. I encourage folks, if they’re a bit shy, to enlist their friends in helping promote their work. I have found that friends like nothing better than to contribute to my success, which may be in part, a reflection of the type of friend I am to others.
I always go out of my way to ensure that my friends’ projects are successful, and I think people remember that and want to return the favor. When I go about scheduling a local event, I look to see how I can contribute to the organization. Sometimes, it’s offering to donate $1 from my book sales at the event back to the organization. Other times, I will tailor my presentation to their needs. Often, I’ll offer to give a small writing workshop on a topic that’s salient to the group.
As authors, we have big imaginations and large amounts of creativity. I encourage authors to put on their creativity hats and use them when designing their marketing campaigns. I will say that one of my first books, which was about Katherine Stinson, the fourth woman in the US to earn her pilot’s license in 1912, came out the month before 9/11. That actually sucked because my target market for that book was female pilots, many of whom lost their jobs as a result of 9/11 because airplanes laid off a lot of pilots and the women were some of the first to get laid off.
But a funny thing happened out of that. I didn’t let the fact that those women lost their jobs stop me. I just reached out and figured out that male pilots, too, wanted my books, and they wanted to give them to their daughters. Then, I discovered that there’s a whole lot of pilots who have their private licenses and don’t fly for the airlines. And those people do have money, because owning a private plane costs a lot of money.
Once I figured that out, I found out that almost every little dinky town in the US has a little airport or airstrip, and there’s people hanging out there all the time. And there are fly-ins and air shows all over the country, all year long. You can see where this is going. Before long, I was trading books for rides in small airplanes, and at each air show, I met folks who introduced me to other folks.
Before I knew what was happened, I was invited to go to the EAA annual convention in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where I was a featured speaker and had a spot at the Author’s Table. Over 20,000 people come to that event over a week’s time period. I made connections there to keep me busy for the next year, and sold out two printings of that book. I still buy them now on ebay and resell them.
About the Author
By day, Debra Winegarten, a third-generation Texas Jew, is the First Undersecretary of the American Astronomical Society at The University of Texas, at Austin. By night, she writes. You can find out a bit more about her and order her books at www.sociosights.com.
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