By Lynette M. Burrows
When Lisa first broached the idea of Disruptive December with the Writers in the Storm team, I liked the idea but didn’t have a clue what I could add to the discussion. Lisa made a suggestion, and I agreed to write about how being an independent author doing in-person events is a disruption. But it turned out I underwent a kind of personal disruption that's both related and feels important to share.
Not a Marketing Gene in My Body
I started off as a reader ever since the first Dick and Jane book I could read on my own. Then I began telling stories verbally, acting out stories (both ones I’d read and ones I made-up), and scribbling them down on whatever papers I had. But the people who surrounded me didn’t believe authors could make a living, so I put aside writing and became a registered nurse specializing in pediatrics.
Pretty soon, the writing bug returned in full force. I retired as a nurse and invested serious time in my writing. I wrote several books before I wrote one I felt worthy of being published. When I published it, it got some wonderful reviews. But sales weren’t what I had hoped for… Knowledgeable authors and marketers said the market had changed and we needed to buy ads to sell our books. Now, a registered nurse gets educated on chemistry and physiology and psychology, but there’s not one marketing class in nursing school. But I’m great at learning stuff on my own.
Self-Education Isn't an Easy Button
Educating oneself on marketing isn’t as easy as it sounds. That’s because most of the marketing lessons in books or classes are for products like cars or houses or even life insurance. And those techniques made little sense to me. But finding qualified education about marketing books was difficult.
Oh, there are lots of books and people out there that say they know how to do it…but in reality, they know how to do it for their books or for one or two specific genres of books. I read a lot of those books. Took some classes and tried a bunch of different things. But most of those books and classes assume you have a lot of money to invest in marketing your books. Since I don’t have a lot of money to invest in marketing, much of their advice was unusable.
Know Your Audience
One of the pieces of information from regular marketing is “know your audience.” My problem was I couldn’t articulate who my audience was other than it’d be someone like me.
So I do what I always do—research. I read books, watched videos, took some classes, and experimented with Amazon ads. I spoke with other authors and learned how they marketed their books. Some were quite clear about their audience. Others were at as much of a loss as I was.
Then a few months ago I watched “The New Approach to Personal Branding that Changes Everything,” a video by Chris Do, a personal branding coach, CEO and founded The Futur, an online education site with a mission to teach one billion people how to make a living doing what they love (without losing their soul). (Disclaimer: I have taken no courses from Chris Do or watched any of his other videos and do not know if they are worth pursuing.) However, that 50-minute video of his changed my approach to branding and marketing through a single tip and a template on how to use AI.
AI as a Branding and Marketing Tool
AI has been much maligned in the creative community for good reason. Stealing images or words of other creators is not okay.
But AI has a purpose. It can be very useful in data collection and analysis. And that’s how Chris suggested we use it. In the video he shared a template of a specifically worded prompt. The wording is intended to guide ChatGPT into helping us understand who our audience is.
Now, before you zip over to YouTube, you first need to understand your business. Know why you write what you do, what tropes and themes you commonly use, what you hope to gain by publishing your book, what you are passionate about, and the relevant details about your company.
My request to ChatGPT, for example, includes the following: I write suspenseful soft science fiction with characters whose character growth is as important as fast-paced action and themes that make you think. I’m a company of one employee (me) with contractors for covers, editing, proofreading, and other services. The more specific your details in the prompt, the more likely you’ll find the answer helpful.
For me, the answer was like a beacon from a lighthouse showing me the way through choppy seas.
Disruption Through Clarity
AI won’t be 100% accurate, but it can come close. Pick the parts of the answer that resonate with you and you will develop a better understanding of your reader.
The clarity of understanding my ideal reader helped me see how I could better reach my market. Let me say that another way. Knowing who my readers are has given me insights into where I can find my readers, and how I can appeal to them.
Understanding how detailed my prompts had to be for AI helped me frame other questions whose answers had eluded me. For example, my books are an uncommon blend of genres, so I thought finding comp titles was an impossible task. But when I gave ChatGPT a detailed prompt, I discovered I was wrong. Not only that, its answer showed me why those books were good comp titles. It helped me understand how to talk about my own books and how I can discover comp books through my own reading.
Disruption through Networking
Another frequently touted “good” marketing technique you read about is how valuable networking with other authors is. But being an introvert, that feels like it’s hard.
Especially when you can’t go to conferences, you don’t know authors in your genre, or you would much rather be a wallflower.
Where can you network? Writer’s groups. Online and in person. Facebook groups. LinkedIn, BookTok, BlueSky, Mastodon, etc. For me, the easiest way was to go to an event and be open to hanging out with the other authors. Have coffee after the event? Sure. Sit and chat a minute? Sure. I often let the other people talk first, but I also have a couple of questions in reserve.
I recommend you have more than the traditional, what do you write, question in mind. Ask an easy get-to-know-you question like: what are you reading? Have you been to this event before? Any tips for a newbie? What’s been your most successful event/consignment shop?
To date, my networking has given me a spreadsheet full of potential consignment shops in my city and nearly as many local events.
Why Do Local Consignment and Events?
In-person events and consignment shops may not immediately yield income, so you have to be clear on what your goals are for doing this.
Benefits can be sales, but there are other benefits too. You’ll meet readers. Local people who may not have heard of you before, but they’d love to brag that they met an author from their city. Local readers might be connections to other events, such as book clubs.
Meeting local authors may make connections that become good friends.
You’ll learn about your area’s literary network. Maybe in your area it is small, if so you can help it grow.
You might learn about other places to sell books and be able to get recommendations to new venues via the new author friends you’ve made.
If you do readings, you’ll be able to observe people reacting to your words. Their reactions will help you gauge where your writing is strong and where you can improve.
The long tail may include more people signed up for your newsletter, more sales, more connections, and more confidence.
To get the most out of your local consignment or event, understand who that store or event appeals to. Is that something your ideal reader might like? The closer the shop or event matches your ideal reader, the more successful you’ll be. You’ll grow more comfortable with each one you do so that subsequent ones are easier.
Tips on How to Start Your Own Path of Disruption on a Local Level
You Don’t Have to Do It All
Figure what you can handle, back it up a step and try that. If that is doable, then add another piece. Don’t push it too fast too soon. You don’t want to over-saturate your area or over-extend yourself into not being able to follow through. Right now, I'm adding one consignment shop or event per quarter.
Thing to Have Beforehand
Have a one sheet, a bio, all your links and book descriptions available.
Know how many books you have in inventory and how many you’re willing to put with the individual.
Have bookmarks or business cards to hand out.
Practice a one or two-line book description you can give verbally when appropriate. It’s smart to have a similarly short bio to give.
Send a brief email asking for an in-person meeting to discuss consignments or events when possible. Be agreeable and polite even if the answer is no.
If you get accepted for consignment or an event, be sure to set yourself up for success and get enough information beforehand.
Ask Questions About the Event and/or the Venue
How many books do you recommend I bring? What size of table will there be? Is it okay to put out bookmarks or business cards? Where do I wait/stand/sit? May I bring tall banners? May I bring snacks to share with the other authors? How many others will be there? What will happen in the event of bad weather? When may I set up and take down my display? May I promote the event?
Before the Event
Consider visiting the venue ahead of time. I have done photoshoots at shops carrying my books and at events. I use those photos on my website and social media and I clearly label the site and event operators.
Always share the photos and information about event or venue before, during and after the event. Don’t forget to give credit to the store and/or organizers.
At Events
Set up your table and yourself for success by following advice from PR and marketing experts like in this WITS article by Alex Greenwood.
If you have a giveaway item, make certain it appeals to your target audience. For example, I wouldn’t put candy on my table because it tends to draw children (not my target audience) as well as adults.
Be helpful. Offer to bring snacks if you can. Offer to help with set up or take down. Be personable with staff. Be open to interviews with by other authors, or interview an author or two yourself during events.
Don’t Burn Bridges
I had a situation where I applied to be part of a book event a month or two ahead of time. I waited and waited and when I began seeing other authors featured as being part of that event; I figured I hadn’t gotten approved this time around. Then one evening, I was scrolling through Facebook and saw a post mentioning how I was going to be at the event that would end in an hour. I said a few NSFW words to vent some frustration, then sat down and wrote the organizer of that event. In my note, I expressed my apologies for missing the event. I said that being new to the event; I assumed I had missed the communication, giving me the approval and details for the event and asked for an explanation of the procedures because I didn’t want to miss out on the next event.
I got a prompt response and heartfelt apologies. The mistake was on the organizer’s behalf and I got links and private group access that will allow me early access to the next event.
Forgive Yourself and Others Often
Everyone makes mistakes. If you’re new to local consignments and/or local events, you’ll make some mistakes. Other authors will make mistakes. Event organizers and store owners/operators make mistakes too.
Forgiveness doesn’t mean you forget. Be professional, polite, and gracious. Forgive the small stuff. Forgive even if the mistakes are egregious, but consider avoiding another event or shop run by that person.
Pricing and Packaging as Disruption
The most basic way independent authors can disrupt publishing is through how we price and package our books. We can write stand alone books or multi-book series, We can create special editions or an omnibus. And we get to set our own prices.
Setting prices is tricky. There's a school of thought that you should never price your book for free as it devalues your book. Another school of thought insists you price your book at the high end to create a sense of value. And there's everything in between.
The disruption comes because as independent authors and publishers, we can change our prices based on our goals. Want to get more books into the hands of more readers? Run "free for a limited time" offer. Want to entice readers with a special edition? Try it.
I need to get more books into the hands of more readers, so I'm trying a little bit of everything. While I'm doing that, I'm gathering as much data as I can so I can make better decisions in the future.
Create Your Own Level of Disruption
It’s an exciting time to be an author. We have the potential for more control and power over our products and our careers than ever before. We have tools that authors have never had access to before. Not only that, we get to decide what we do and how we do it.
That can feel lonely and overwhelming. So remember to lean on each other a little. Reading blogs like Writers in the Storm is one place we can lean on each other. Lean on AI or other technology as you are comfortable doing so. Get involved in local events and consignment shops, even if it’s just one venue at a time. You get to choose disruption your way.
Have you worked with local events and consignment shops before? Will you do more (or do your first) in the new year?
About Lynette
Lynette M. Burrows is an author, blogger, creativity advocate, and Yorkie wrangler. She survived moving seventeen times between kindergarten and her high school graduation. This alone makes her uniquely qualified to write an adventure or two.
Her series, The Fellowship Dystopia, is a “chillingly realistic” alternate history in 1961 Fellowship America where autogyros fly and following the rules isn’t optional. Books one and two, My Soul to Keep, and If I Should Die, are available everywhere books are sold online. Book three, And When I Wake, is scheduled to be published in early 2025.
Lynette lives in the land of OZ. She is a certifiable chocoholic and coffee lover. When she’s not blogging or writing or researching her next book, she avoids housework and plays with her two Yorkshire terriers. You can find Lynette online on Facebook or on her website.
Top image from DepositPhoto.com
