Barbara J. Hamby

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To Market, To Market

After taking my books to two functions recently and not selling a single book, I’ve naturally been reflecting on how to sell books. Each author has a different method of setting up displays. Some have giveaways with advertising on them. Some offer candy or cookies to get people to look at their books. When I went to Wordstock, I decided to wear a bright red scarf and bright red earrings and lipstick. A lot of women came to my table and looked at my books. Some men headed for the table until they saw the book titles.

The author at the next table at Wordstock told me about a signing she had gone to where a writer of erotica behaved like a circus barker and drew big crowds. It’s possible that erotica could draw crowds without the hoopla, however.

Probably where you take the books is more important than how you display them. Find Romance in Later Life was written for people in the second half of life. Therefore, I should probably do better at retirement homes and senior centers than at book signings for the general population. Older people may also be inclined to read more poetry.

My experience at our local senior center was not encouraging, however. Three or four people pooled their money and bought one book, then took turns reading it. At my arthritis swim class, a woman bought the book, read it, then asked if I minded if she passed it along to another person in the class. What could I say? She owns the book and it’s hers to lend. We all lend books occasionally, and unless we’re writers, it doesn’t occur to us that the writer sells fewer books that way.

It’s possible that people today, even avid readers, don’t have the same feeling about owning books as previous generations did. There are so many media forms today to take up space, that books are not as precious as they once were. The sound byte mentality that television, computers and electronic games have fostered, doesn’t relate as well to books. About half of the books that I read come from a library and go back there, rather than staying on my shelf to be dusted.

It’s been said there are more writers than readers in this country. That’s possible and sad. If that is reality, then marketing must be constant and effective.

Recently, I’ve spent a little time and money advertising on line. We’ll see if that drums up any business. Stay tuned for future reports.