Back in the 1960s a woman named Jacqueline Susann turned out a series of glitz novels that sold millions of copies and were subsequently developed into popular movies, including
The Love Machine and Valley of the Dolls. After she died somewhat prematurely of cancer, Susann’s husband, television executive Irving Mansfield, wrote a biography of her called
Life with Jackie. In it, he explained how his wife had gone from a totally unknown person to become a consistent producer of blockbuster novels.
According to Mansfield, Jacqueline Susann really wasn’t a superior writer. And time has borne that out, since almost none of her novels are in print today. However, what Susann’s secret for creating best-sellers was, was that she recruited a sales force that had been virtually ignored before.
One morning Susann showed up at the warehouse from which her books were shipped out by trucks. She brought 15 boxes of fresh doughnuts and five gallons of hot coffee for the truck drivers. No one had ever treated them so nicely, so they moved all of her books to the back end of every truck and made sure they were the first ones off-loaded when shipped to bookstores.
Next, Susann got in her car and spent weeks driving across the country personally visiting bookstores. However, not for autograph parties. Instead, she would walk in and ask to see the manager on duty. She then would go to a shelf, pick up a copy of her book, pay for it at the cash register, personally sign it for that manager, and give it to him or her. Each of those managers wound up telling everyone who came into the store about that incident, and book sales skyrocketed.
Although I, personally, was never a big fan of Susann’s novels, I had great respect for the savvy she had for selling books. And, quite frankly, she taught me the value of wooing the first level of book sellers. Here are some tips I, in turn, can pass on to you.
Put your face in front of the publisher’s sales staff. Two or three times each year publishing houses hold sales meetings at the home office. The traveling sales reps are shown the new catalogs and are told about new book issues. According to Steven Holey, direct marketing specialist for Baker Publishing Group, this is a prime opportunity for authors to teach the sales reps how to sell their books.
“No one knows a book better than its author,” says Holey, whose company owns such subsidiaries as Bethany House, Revell, and Chosen Books. “So, when an author comes in and points out key passages, special features, and fascinating research in his or her books, we make notes and use these anecdotes when we, in turn, talk to the bookstore owners and buyers for the chains. It gives us a special edge in the selling process.”
I know this to be true. Some years ago I wrote four books for Warner Press called the “Success in Christian Living Series.” Each book was also made into a book on tape. I asked my editor if I could be allowed to talk for 15 minutes at the quarterly sales meeting. I had to drive several hours just for this 15 minute presentation, but it proved well worth it. I gave each salesperson a handout sheet listing key selling points for each of my four books. I read scintillating passages from specific chapters. I explained the value of buying the whole series rather than just one or two books. I further explained how the tapes and books complimented each other. That next quarter, my four books were the top selling products for Warner Press. Thus, the more the salespeople know about your book, the better able they are to sell it.
Put on a talk for the bookstore owners. Most writers don’t have the leeway of dropping everything and going town to town to visit bookstore owners personally. However, there is another venue by which this can be accomplished. There are people who work as book distributors. They represent numerous publishers in selling to independent bookstores, college bookstores, and hospital gift shops. Quite often they will sponsor a regional breakfast meeting or evening dessert get-together in which they will invite the staffs from 25 or 30 bookstores to come to hear about new products. If you can get yourself booked as the speaker for that event, you’ll make a lot of friends and move a lot of books.
Walt Seward is a national book distributor for such companies as Zondervan, Kregel, Thomas Nelson, Tyndale, and Harvest House. Once each year in key districts of the country, he puts on luncheons for bookstore owners. He buys lunch for everyone at a nice restaurant in a private dining room, gives away a lot of free books as door prizes, and has a guest author give a 30 minute speech. The author does not give a sales pitch, rather he or she gives a motivational talk or informational presentation that is entertaining and enlightening. Walt then closes the program by briefly plugging six or eight new book titles, and then there is an autograph party for the visiting author.
Two years ago I got up at 4 a.m. to drive to eastern Ohio to be a speaker at one of these luncheons. We had 59 managers and salespeople from 23 independent bookstores in the crowd. I gave a humorous inspirational talk based on material in my book How to Fulfill Your Potential. Afterward, I stayed and shook hands with folks, signed some books, and posed for a few photos. The next week I did the same thing for a similar gathering in Illinois. Sales of all my books shot up 40% in those two states during the next two quarters as a result.
Sitting at booths at booksellers’ conventions can put authors “in front of” some of the bookstore owners, but of more value is being able to talk directly to the people who sell the books to the stores and to those who, in turn, sell books to the customers. So, hey…grab a doughnut and some coffee and make your presence known.
About The Author:
Dr. Dennis E. Hensley’s 47 books include Millennium Approaches
(Avon Paperbacks), Money Wise
(Harvest House), and The Power of Positive Productivity (Possibility Press).
Visit him at Dennis E. Hensley
* This article is available for your publication, for a F-E-E.
This article may NOT be reprinted without monetary compensation and written permission from the author.
For reprint rights or comments/questions about this article, please contact the author.
|
