Send Out Copies of Your Book

   Send out copies of your book before publishing it to get reviews, and/or buzz before your official book launch. I did not do this with my novel, Leah’s Garden. I began writing this novel many years ago and after several failed attempts to procure a publisher or an agent, I finally decided to publish it myself in the Amazon age of self-publishing. It was a huge undertaking for me as I am not what I would call computer savvy. I simply figured that publishing it and attempting to get all of the little details right would be the most difficult part of the undertaking. I did publish it, opened a Facebook and Twitter account with author page and told all of my friends that I had published a book. So, I asked myself-what else can I do to get my novel, Leah’s Garden, noticed out of all the millions of other books on Amazon?

Getting Noticed

   I checked out all of the local bookstores in the Tulsa area. The only stores in Tulsa that sell new books are the big chains like Barnes and Noble and Books a Million. I knew if I could get a signing at one of the big stores I would maybe be able to convince the Tulsa World newspaper to put a notice in the paper about my signing.  I quickly discovered that being an Amazon author would limit me to selling on Amazon and Kindle, almost exclusively. Many self published authors are content to sell their books that way. In fact, most sources I read on the subject did not recommend self published authors bother trying to get their books into the bookstores. Getting my book into bookstores and libraries is exactly what I wish to do, because my ultimate goal is to get noticed and someday get a publisher.  Through research I found out that I would need to be published on Lighting Source/Ingram for a big chain like Barnes and Noble to even consider letting me do a signing.

   I decided to put that on the back burner and I kept calling bookstores in the area and all except one sold used books and were not interested in doing signings for local authors. That is how I discovered Another Chapter Bookstore located in Owasso, Oklahoma, about fifteen minutes from Tulsa.  Its wonderful owner, Karen Barros, a former elementary school teacher, had a lifelong dream of opening a small new book bookstore and after she retired, she did just that. In an age where independent book stores find it hard to compete against the big chains and Amazon, she has proven it can be done. She supports local authors by not only giving them book/launch signings but also actually stocking local authors’ books. Her bookstore has a coffee shop and a large children’s section plus child-sized table and chairs to make their space inviting. Children are encouraged to take a book off the shelves and sit down and peruse it at leisure. If Karen is in her office she will often come out and offer to read to them. She plans a full calendar of events each month. I am grateful-she gave me my first book launch. I called the local newspapers and managed to get a notice into the Owasso Reporter. I put out a few reminders on Facebook and Twitter leading up to the day. I sold nineteen books that day. Okay, that was all of my family and friends. I had worked hard to get that signing and it felt good to feel like a real author. But it was only the beginning.

Don’t Give Up

   Next I published on Lightning Source/Ingram. Ingram is actually the warehouse/distributor for most of the books in North America, including all of the big five publishers. Lightning Source is a Pay on Demand publisher, exactly like Amazon, only their quality is more consistent, as Amazon uses multiple printing sources. And with Lightning Source, a bookstore can buy your book at a 55% discount, exactly as they do from say, Random House books, and stock it and whatever copies don’t sell they can write them off and get a refund! So a Lightning Source/ Ingram author should be able to have his book stocked just like any other.  I walked into Barnes and Noble hoping to get a signing. They told me they cannot do signings for POD books, because they cannot order them. Right. Okay, so I go home, deflated, cried a little, dried up those tears and did more research. Turns out Barnes and Noble has a small press office where a small publisher can send a copy of the book, a press release and a review of the book to them and tell them why they should order the book and you must jump through this hoop and if they agree to stock your book, they will change it in the computer from POD to warehouse, even though it is the same POD Lightning Source book. Argh.

   I have made up a press release, and I have researched reviewers and sent copies of Leah’s Garden to them. Another way to get noticed is to send your book to contests/awards. When I went to the awards websites I noticed all of the past winners had a publisher, so I decided if anybody was going to take me seriously I would have to create a publishing company with sole proprietorship. This took a little research and a fifteen dollar fee to my state secretary’s office. Then, I had to change all of my copies at Amazon, Kindle and Lightning Source/Ingram. It was gratifying and well worth the effort to see Green Garden Press on the front pages of my novel. Do your research. There are a lot of awards programs out there that are not legitimate. Beware of the awards programs that have too many categories or if they offer to sell you stickers for your book. I sent over twenty copies out to about five or six awards programs (they often require more than one copy of your book). Now I am waiting to hear back from somebody or get a review. I have reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, but unfortunately, those don’t count.

   I also did a Goodreads giveaway. I am thinking of doing another one for Christmas and maybe look into discounting my book for Christmas sales. One thing I have learned as a publisher is that you never stop trying to get your book noticed. I keep active on my social media accounts and work on the next novel. I am aiming to be finished with it by sometime next summer.