Comments on: Effectively Promoting Your Book: Getting the Most out of a Booksigning

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:00:54 +0000

Ikarus said: “Then again, you could offer to do a bit for a class (English, art, etc) instead of the whole school. An elementary school might work better.”

Depending on your audience, it might make sense to do an elementary school instead of a high school. However, keep in mind that kids that young don’t buy their own books, so you won’t sell any by doing an event at a grade school. You’d be more likely to reach the buyers (their parents) by speaking at a library or bookstore. However, speaking at a grade school might be useful because it helps you develop your presentational skills and helps you build contacts among decision-makers (like librarians and teachers). Parents, teachers and librarians are three groups that can really help you sell your book.

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:45:08 +0000

I think the hardest part of the typical promotional event is getting people in the room. Advance publicity is really important. At the very least, make your fliers eye-catching and informative.

By: Holliequ

Holliequ — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:01:53 +0000

I feel a sense of shock. I might actually be able to handle a promotional event. :O The only thing I’d have to work on is speaking. I tend to ramble. It’s relevant rambling, but still, people probably get bored after a couple of sentences.

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 05:11:19 +0000

Marketing a comic book...
I'd recommend looking into comics conventions near you. If you can pay for a booth, great. If not, Marcus Hart has some ideas on how to market a book at comic book conventions. His advice on marketing novels applies just as much to comic books, I think. If it's a really small convention and you've been published professionally by a well-known publisher, I'd recommend asking the organizers if there's an opening on a panel. (It probably won't happen, but there's nothing to lose).
Aside from comic book conventions, I think it's really important to establish an online presence. I'm obviously a fan of making your own website, but Facebook and Twitter and a few other social-networking sites have also worked well for some writers.
Schools will probably be less receptive to a comic book writer than a novelist. However, try anyway. Some libraries carry graphic novels because they think that's the best way to reach young readers, especially males. I'd recommend pitching yourself to the school along the lines of "Hi, I'd like to talk about writing careers for students that aren't very interested in literature."
Talk to comic book stores near you. Would they be interested in doing a signing event? (This will be easier to set up if you've been published by a legit publisher).
Do events at college campuses near you. Don't forget to do advance work, like posting fliers a week or two ahead of time. Otherwise no one will know where or when to show up.
I'd recommend looking into online advertising like Google Adwords. That will help drive traffic to your website. If your budget is large, consider advertising in magazines that are geared for comic-book readers. (Wizard, for example).
There are a variety of websites geared to comic book readers. Figure out which bloggers and webmasters like your kind of story, and offer them a promotional copy. "Hey, B. Mac. I know you love comedy with a paranormal twist. Would you like to read mine?" A positive review will introduce your work to hundreds or thousands of potential buyers; a negative review costs you very little. It only costs you $5-10 to buy and send a promotional copy, so you can throw them around.
If your comic book has a genre, you might want to pitch it at a convention dedicated to that genre. For example, there are horror conventions, fantasy conventions, etc. A lot of the people that like fantasy novels like fantasy comic books, for example.

By: The ReTARDISed Whovian

The ReTARDISed Whovian — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 04:03:04 +0000

I’ll have to get over my fear if I’m to have any hope.

Speaking of public appearances, how was A Series of Unfortunate Events promoted before it came out that Daniel Handler was the author? I know there were events where Handler acted as a spokesperson for the character, but other than that I have no idea.

By: Dforce

Dforce — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 03:58:46 +0000

Do you have any advice on promoting comic books specifically? I’ve wondered how one of those events might go down. How does one survive that?

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 03:54:02 +0000

Ack. An author's presentational skills-- including his ability to speak in public-- are an important part of the package. There aren't that many ways for a new author to promote his first book.
1. Low-key promotional events like book-signings. Publishers like these because they require very little investment.
2. Paid advertisements. Publishers will probably only spring for these if you've sold a lot of books already.
3. Word of mouth. You have very little control over this. Also, your fans can only spread the word if you have fans. Book-signings are one way to build your fanbase. It is often a frightfully slow process, though.
4. A well-trafficked website. Starting a website is a great first move and I highly recommend it. Please check out our Blogging category for more.
5. Media publicity. This is sort of unreliable. Can you convince your hometown paper(s) to write a story about you? Probably, but that won't move many copies. A new author probably can't get on NPR or Fox because he doesn't have an audience.

By: The ReTARDISed Whovian

The ReTARDISed Whovian — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 03:44:43 +0000

I think I’d be petrified if I did a booksigning. I can’t even give class speeches!

“And then… um, Kennedy got shot and the gunman… ran away, so, like, yeeeeeeah.”

I’ll get over it, because believe it or not, that above example isn’t the worst. Originally, I was like this:

“Th-then i-it started… snowing and all the famine, uh family went to pla-play outside in the snow. Th-the snow was cold, and it was white too. Um… the end?”

The second example was an assessment of a TV show. I can’t remember what it was. I suck at speeches.

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 03:40:08 +0000

Call up a few high schools in your area; ask if they’d be interested in providing a venue for you to speak to students that want to write. A receptionist in the front office can probably point you to the right person.

Logistically, you’d probably be doing this as an after-school event. If you were a bestseller like JK Rowling, then the school could hold an assembly during school hours, but that’s probably not realistic for you or me. I’d also recommend asking any English teachers you know at this school whether they’d be interested in letting you speak about careers in writing. I can’t guarantee you’ll get anything out of them, but it’s a start.

Doing an after-school event at a high school is a fairly easy, low-benefit proposition, I think. There is pretty much no chance that a high school student has $20 on him and would be interested in buying your book. However, you can pass around a sheet so that you can later contact people that are interested. The main reason I’d recommend doing high schools is because educators can be very influential in moving books. (For example, a local author sold 1000 copies of her book here because her former school assigned her book as part of the eighth-grade curriculum).

In terms of advance publicity, I’d recommend finding out which teachers at the school run any writing clubs or writing outlets (like magazines, newspapers, etc). Ask them to inform their students where and when you’ll be speaking, and throw in a sentence or two about what the students will get out of it. Also, please look into printing a few fliers and stapling them around the school. (Some high schools only let you post fliers if you get them approved, so ask first).

By: ikarus619x

ikarus619x — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 03:24:21 +0000

Then again, you could offer to do a bit for a class (English, art, etc) instead of the whole school. An elementary school might work better.

By: Wings

Wings — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 02:52:35 +0000

That would be fun *wishes on nearest star*.

Note to self: figure out how to make Meg’s shirt in the book (a white tank top with a silver lighting bolt design). And see if Pierce’s inspiration wants to help me at the signing.

- Wings

By: ikarus619x

ikarus619x — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 02:44:14 +0000

And how do people get promotional events at a high school? I go to one, and I’ve never seen anything like that.

By: ikarus619x

ikarus619x — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 01:52:15 +0000

What about cosplay? Either you or models dressed as the main charactors. I’m writing for a comic involving power armor, and fans might want to see that. If they ever exist *fingers crossed*