Dublin Galyean's Blog: Marketing a Book
October 10, 2014
Perks
When I finished writing Bougainvillea Blues, I had already decided to self-publish, partly because I wasn't sure it was good enough to get a literary agent or a publisher and partly because I didn't want to give someone the opportunity to say "no." Also, I had been in a writing group and two had already used the self-publishing arm of Amazon, Createspace. Since then I've encountered other writers who used the service, which allows you to buy as many services as a book publisher provides or nothing, meaning the cover, interior design, and editing is all done by the author.
I chose to get a fairly inexpensive version of all three.
I had some idea of the work involved, but, as a friend whose daughter self-published said, it's almost as much work promoting the book as it was to write it.
But the major surprise as been the feedback. Some writers have told me how much they like the writing. One friend said he knew I could write, but had no idea how well until he finished reading the book. Some men said they could identify with Joey and his sexual trials. Some women said they had no idea how boys felt. A few said they cried while reading certain sections.
So far the most surprising response has come from someone I have not talked to in forty-nine years, my senior prom date. She wrote a 3-page handwritten letter. She called the book a page-turner, complimented me on how well I captured San
Diego in the 60s, and wondered how much of what Joey suffered was autobiographical. Then she went on to tell me about her life and family.
I'm not sure why I wrote this book though it started as a way to deal with the craziness and discomfort of my youth. Then it became a fun puzzle, figuring out how these fictional characters (with some connection to people I grew up with) would interact and how I could make them entertaining as they encountered disappointment, love, and death.
When I told my marketing guru friend that it took me about 20 years to complete, he asked if I could commit 10% of that time promoting it. Ten percent seemed like such a small amount of time, so I said I could and am now almost three months into the marketing campaign with only twenty-one to go.
Two book signings down, four set up over the next four months in Reno, La Canada, and Ramona, and many more to arrange. Maybe my next book will be about how to market a self-published book.
I chose to get a fairly inexpensive version of all three.
I had some idea of the work involved, but, as a friend whose daughter self-published said, it's almost as much work promoting the book as it was to write it.
But the major surprise as been the feedback. Some writers have told me how much they like the writing. One friend said he knew I could write, but had no idea how well until he finished reading the book. Some men said they could identify with Joey and his sexual trials. Some women said they had no idea how boys felt. A few said they cried while reading certain sections.
So far the most surprising response has come from someone I have not talked to in forty-nine years, my senior prom date. She wrote a 3-page handwritten letter. She called the book a page-turner, complimented me on how well I captured San
Diego in the 60s, and wondered how much of what Joey suffered was autobiographical. Then she went on to tell me about her life and family.
I'm not sure why I wrote this book though it started as a way to deal with the craziness and discomfort of my youth. Then it became a fun puzzle, figuring out how these fictional characters (with some connection to people I grew up with) would interact and how I could make them entertaining as they encountered disappointment, love, and death.
When I told my marketing guru friend that it took me about 20 years to complete, he asked if I could commit 10% of that time promoting it. Ten percent seemed like such a small amount of time, so I said I could and am now almost three months into the marketing campaign with only twenty-one to go.
Two book signings down, four set up over the next four months in Reno, La Canada, and Ramona, and many more to arrange. Maybe my next book will be about how to market a self-published book.
October 8, 2014
Book Signings
I always dreamed of having a book signing at the bookstore where I had purchased books for my students. I would walk in the door and see all the books being featured. Browse the new fiction table. Glance at the best seller shelf. Could one of those be mine?
I had put a slip of paper in my wallet: book signing at Vroman's. A goal so far from reality, the writing of it seemed delusional. It was about as far-fetched as getting to play baseball for the Yankees that I had fantasized as a LIttle Leaguer.
On a Sunday recently, it happened. Enough of my friends and colleagues and former students showed up that we had a standing room only crowd. I read from my novel, Bougainvillea Blues, just like I used to from from Oliver Twist or Grapes of Wrath or The Awakening in class. Friends listened to my book the way students listened to those classics, laughing in the right places and quiet at the poignant spots.
Of course, what I didn't realize during all those shopping trips to Vroman's was that all I had to do was pay money to get a signing. That seemed to take some of the specialness from my earlier vision: publisher promoting book and arranging for a stop at Vroman's on my national promotional tour.
Then a few friends pointed out that though I self-published and didn't have a major publishing house pushing my book, I had to have a book, even to have a paid-for event. That is, I had to put in the years of work to finish writing a book. Which I did.
Since setting up the signing at Vroman's, one of the few thriving independent bookstores in the LA area, I am now scheduled for others: at Flintridge Books in La Canada, at Grassroots in Reno, and at Unicorn in Ramona. All set up by me. No PR machine behind me.
Vroman's was my second signing. The first coming at a restaurant Fiore Market Cafe, owned by a good friend. But Vroman's was the special one and while the sales were pretty good, what pleased me most was people listening to the conversations and adventures of characters I HAD CREATED.
I had put a slip of paper in my wallet: book signing at Vroman's. A goal so far from reality, the writing of it seemed delusional. It was about as far-fetched as getting to play baseball for the Yankees that I had fantasized as a LIttle Leaguer.
On a Sunday recently, it happened. Enough of my friends and colleagues and former students showed up that we had a standing room only crowd. I read from my novel, Bougainvillea Blues, just like I used to from from Oliver Twist or Grapes of Wrath or The Awakening in class. Friends listened to my book the way students listened to those classics, laughing in the right places and quiet at the poignant spots.
Of course, what I didn't realize during all those shopping trips to Vroman's was that all I had to do was pay money to get a signing. That seemed to take some of the specialness from my earlier vision: publisher promoting book and arranging for a stop at Vroman's on my national promotional tour.
Then a few friends pointed out that though I self-published and didn't have a major publishing house pushing my book, I had to have a book, even to have a paid-for event. That is, I had to put in the years of work to finish writing a book. Which I did.
Since setting up the signing at Vroman's, one of the few thriving independent bookstores in the LA area, I am now scheduled for others: at Flintridge Books in La Canada, at Grassroots in Reno, and at Unicorn in Ramona. All set up by me. No PR machine behind me.
Vroman's was my second signing. The first coming at a restaurant Fiore Market Cafe, owned by a good friend. But Vroman's was the special one and while the sales were pretty good, what pleased me most was people listening to the conversations and adventures of characters I HAD CREATED.
