AlienFlower's Journal

2:07PM

The Poet’s Second Job
By Bruce E. Mowday

Being a writer, from creating poetry to novels, is a lonely profession. Sitting behind a computer screen for hours searching for the right word, or phrase, can be frustrating. But there is another loneliness that is more frustrating; it is devastating and can lead to the artistic juices being drained.

True loneliness for a writer is stuck behind a stack of your own books at a store and having no one come by to purchase a copy, or even to talk to you. The rejection is complete to you as an artist and a person.

This happened to me once at a major bookstore. I entered the store before the appointed starting time and went to the book signing area where my books were on a table. No one else was in sight, not even the book chain representative who scheduled the signing.

There were no posters or other marketing material in the bookstore announcing the signing. The bookstore marketing guru didn’t even tell the people in the store that the signing was taking place. Those I had told about the signing came to the store, inquired of the signing location and were told no such signing was taking place. The store had a PA system but of course no announcement was made. It was a disaster. Needless to say, I didn’t stay long and I haven’t bothered working with the chain since then.

I didn’t take the lack of book buyers personally. The experience was a valuable lesson learned and contributed to many highly successful talks and signings.

Authors need to work with bookstore representatives to make sure the public is aware of an appearance. If the public doesn’t know your book exists or the author is signing on a particular night, no one will show for that signing. Authors need to be more than artists; they need to be marketers, sales persons and public relations agents.

When before the public, authors need to be enthused about their work. If the authors are not excited, why should the public buy the book? I had a signing at Gettysburg for a book I authored on the Civil War. I was paired with another author from the same publishing house for two hours at one location. The other author was unhappy, to say the least. He didn’t like the title of the book the company picked and he didn’t like the cover. He talked about his displeasure and stood at the table with arms crossed – a sure sign to buyers to stay away. I moved as far away from the disgruntled author as I could and tried to engage those who came close to the table. My partner made it difficult but books were sold.

Authors need to come out from behind their computers and connect with the public. When I give talks to groups, I like to arrive early and talk to members and find out what interests them and then try to work some of what I’ve found into my talk.

I was the guest speaker for an early morning Rotary Club breakfast meeting that met at beautiful Longwood Gardens, home to members of the du Pont family for years. By early, I mean up at 5:30 a.m. to get to the talk on time. I had breakfast with three members, all with the first name of Dave. The table was known as the Dave table but I was allowed to join them. They are characters and took every opportunity to promote Daveism. We discussed my new book on the Revolutionary War battle of Brandywine which took place on September 11, 1777. I told them that some of my research took place at the David Library. A plot was hatched and it was decided at the end of my talk one of them would ask where I did my research. When I said the David Library the members of the table would get to their feet, cheer and clap. It went off as planned. The rest of the club groaned and then just about every one purchased a book.

Many of the members of the public like to talk with authors and get to know them and take away a signed copy of a book. The personal experience and connection is not only fun for the person but the author. I like that personal connection and I enjoy talking with those interested in the subjects I write about.

Meeting the public and having book signings shouldn’t be a chore and if properly promoted shouldn’t be a humiliating experience. Marketing and sales is actually an author’s second job. Authors should enjoy the challenge and the time away from the lonely keyboard.

(Bruce E. Mowday is the author of six books, including the just released "The Selling of an Author: A Marketing Guide for Writers to Increase Book Sales" by White Mane Publishing of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. For more information on Mowday and his books, see www.mowday.com, or email him at mowday@mowday.com.)