Book Promotion Tip from Lynda M. O’Connor of O’Connor Communications, inc:

The most effective way to promote a book is to identify the audiences most likely to be interested in your topic. Is it about war, sailing, football, politics, history, adventure or romance?  Does the action take place in a certain region of the country?  The key audience might be as broad as all men or all women, but can be segmented by marital status, special interest or age. Find out what magazines and newspapers your audience reads and what radio and TV stations they tune into to and contact the appropriate editors and producers.  Arrange presentations at clubs or organizations, which your audience attends, and do book signings at stores that sell products that target them.

Continuing with the discussion in an earlier post concerning creating eye catching display tables, pairing modern books with classics casts a new light on both works.  My favorite recommendation is to read The Great Gatsby, then The Double Bind by Chris Bohjolian and/or Netherland by Joseph O’Neill.  The Double Bind plays with the plot of The Great Gatsby; the main character in Bohjolian’s book meets the Gatsby characters and discusses their post-novel life.  Then, the book ends with a blindsiding kicker.  Netherland is often referred to as the “new” Gatsby because it deals with a similar underlying theme of achieving the American dream, whether it is possible and at what cost.

Reading a book that updates a classic for a current audience adds meaning to both works and is great for a bookstore discussion event.  Philip Roth’s Everyman is a modern re-telling of The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy.  Both books reflect their authors; the scene with the main character flirting with the woman runner on the beach is pure Roth.  Lovers of Tolstoy would pick up on his style within the first few paragraphs of Ivan Ilyich.  The similarities in the views of two aging writers who are, shall we say, extremely self-confident are thought and discussion provoking.  These books can be read in any order, but I found I understood Tolstoy’s book better having read Roth’s first.

Switching to the other end of the age spectrum, Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld gives a 21^st century female take on The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.  Many readers are familiar with Salinger’s classic since it is on most middle school reading lists, but it felt different reading it as an adult after Prep.  As with many pairings, one of the takeaways is ‘nothing is new under the sun,’ the facts and circumstances change but the themes resonant over the decades.

For the truly ambitious, War and Peace inspired portions of The Emperor’s Children by Claire Messud.  The opening scene in both books is a snapshot of high society.  As a modern novel, Messud doesn’t try to give every perspective of a period in time as Tolstoy attempts, but she still provides a sweeping panorama of New York literary life.  I liked Messud’s book much better after reading War and Peace, I recommend tackling Tolstoy before Messud.

Finally, a current favorite, The House on Fortune Street by Margot Livesey, boldly declares a literary godparent for each of the four main characters.  As Keats was an observer of life, so Sean watches and reacts to circumstances.  Admiration for Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland helps the reader sympathize with Cameron.  The plot of Jane Eyre is directly quoted in Dara’s life.  Abigail is Estella from Great Expectations.  Reading each of these source books adds tremendous depth to the meaning and style of Fortune Street. I read Great Expectations right before Fortune Street, remembered Alice as I read it, and went back to Keats poetry after finishing the book.  As for Jane Eyre, I’ll re-read it again to better empathize with Dara’s decisions.

Pairing classics with modern literature highlights back-list books and encourages customers to try the classics they wish they had read in school.

The First Prize winner:  ”German Toast” by Soxy Fleming

Encouragement Award winner: Jake Budge (middle) with his “Book View”

A glimpse of the Biblio-Art exhibition.

I set aside a wheelbarrow full of 80 vintage books, of various subject matter, condition and appeal.  Artists could select a book, either in person or online, and create an artwork inspired by the book.  The artwork could make use of the book (as in we are not against the books being given a new physical arrangement) or simply be informed by the book.  Out of the 80 books barrowed, we sold 65.  Not bad for a first year, we thought.

Now, two weeks after the (flexible) deadline of 14 August, we have exactly 30 official entries.  A reasonable turn-out, all things considered.  And the entries are, with only two or three exceptions, nothing short of spectacular!  We are so overwhelmed by the work that has gone into them and the quality of the works produced that we are now feeling incredibly humbled.  What on earth are these brilliant artists doing trusting mugs like us, who have never owned a gallery before, do not have any real artistic qualifications (apart from a lifetime appreciation) and have only ever pulled one exhibition together before (and that was for a relative!)?!  Humbled we are.

Charli Simkin

Next weekend is Port Fairy’s Ex Libris Book Fair, which attracts plenty of booknuts.  There is a massive secondhand book sale, and other dealers come from across the state to set up stalls.  There are also author sessions and this year we also have a few artists attending (a children’s book illustrator, Leigh Hobbs, famous for Old Tom, and now Mr Chicken, and newspapers cartoonists).  I put myself on the Committee of this Book Fair earlier in the year, something I have been meaning to do for the past five years, but with babies haven’t felt able to give any time.  This year I could give some time, but not nearly enough!  What my husband and I did do, though, was offer to sponsor an author, in the hope that our sponsorship could help make the Book Fair a more memorable one.  A result of this is that Sonya Hartnett, an author that is a personal favourite of mine, is going to be speaking in my shop.  There are several other sessions being held at Blarney Books, and, perhaps needless to say, the weekend is looking exciting!
The launch of our Biblio-Art Awards exhibition is on the Saturday night of this Book Fair.  We are making it open to everyone, and have specifically invited each of the artists to attend.  We are putting on champagne and nibbles, and will be announcing the award winners at this time ($1000 first prize, $250 people’s choice).  We have a judging panel which does not include ourselves, but does include friends who have owned an art gallery for a good 15-20 years, and an art historian!  (At least our judges have credentials!)
We will also be launching the online exhibition over the weekend as well, so for all those who cannot make it to town will not miss out!  We can’t wait to show everyone what has come of this competition!  As the interest has been substantial and we have had a lot of extremely positive feedback, we plan to run this event annually.  Financially, I doubt we’ll come out ahead this year, but personally this has had incredible rewards.  Check our website next weekend to read all about it!

Really, it CAN be that simple.  Draw them a little path to your door.  Make sure when you’re standing at an arrow, you can see the next one.

This probably isn’t something you want to do everyday since locals will quickly tune out your advertising if its ALWAYS there.  But if you’re having a special or there’s an event going on nearby generating lots of foot traffic, a little chalk may help bring people in.

A bucket of sidewalk chalk will cost around $2-$5 depending on the size of the bucket.  Chalking a block will take around 5-10 minutes depening on how spry you are and how quick you can get up and down.  You’ll use around a half stick per block. Remember, get the big sidewalk chalk, not the tiny little blackboard chalk!  . Keep your message simple!  No more than can be read at full stride as people step over it.  Keep it to one line.  Bigger letters are better. Chalk lettering will last anywhere between 1-3 days depending on the weather, so you can do this the night before an event so long as you’re not expecting rain or wind.

Rainy Day Paperback logo by Chris Goodwin

The problem with free clipart is its free.  It means it gets used by everybody and all blends together.  If you’re getting ready for a big advertising push in the downmarket, it is probably worth your time to actually commission your own one-of-a-kind artwork. It’s hard to establish a distinct presense if you look like everybody else.  So here’s some guidelines for how to commission art for your bookstore.

It’s not as expensive as you think!

Prices all depends on what you want.  If you want a simple black and white linework logo to use in print ads, you may be able to get it for $50.  If you want a logo that can be used both as a tiny internet icon, can be printed 6 foot tall on the side of your van, and you can sell on t-shirts, expect to pay a LOT more.

Be honest with the artist as what you are going to do with it.  This will affect the price.  The major price difference is in whether or not you want to produce goods (totebags, t-shirts, etc) for sale with the art on it.  If you do, you will need to pay the artist more for reproduction rights for commercial use. (or pay royalties)  If you intend only to use it in advertising and on your website, that is generally less expensive as you are not selling the artist’s work directly.  Also, the price will vary depending on whether the artist is giving you exclusive use or non-exclusive use.  Non-exclusive use basically means the artist may resell all or part of the image for use in a different context. Non-exclusive use also means the artist may sell prints of the artwork without the text related to your business.

I suggest making sure that you have exclusive use of the image and the artist will not resell it.  If you’re on a budget, I also suggest NOT buying the right to reproduce the image on goods right away.  You can go back and buy those later if you feel the need to.  (keep in mind that the price may rise if it’s been several years between initial commission and buying repro rights.)

If you want both a black and white and a color version of the same logo, keep in mind you can order the linework first, then come back and have the artist color it later!  Ditto if you want several similar versions of the artwork for different uses (black & white adcopy, website logo, bookmarks, buttons, etc).  If you want a simple version to start, than want to commission a larger more detailed variation later, you can do that!  Try out a small piece first, then you can take the plunge into a total brand makeover.

And keep in mind that you DO have a valuable resource you can trade.  Artists generally LIKE books and may be willing to work for a gift certificate instead of straight cash. Or some mix of books and cash.

How do I even FIND a reputable artist?

Look around town.  See a logo you like? Ask the business who did their logo.  Usually this will be someone local.  You can find out then if they recommend that artist or if they had problems working with them.

You can also check Craigslist for postings.  Ask for references on people they’ve worked with previously and give them a call.  Also check with the Better Business Bureau and make sure there aren’t any claims against the artist!

However, the internet is often your best bet.  I highly recommend a stop by Artist Recommend It just collects testimonials on GOOD artists.  You’ll see a finished commissioned piece with each entry and info on how the process went.  You’ll often also see a link to the artists commission rate so you can get a ballpark estimate of what that artist costs to hire.

If you find someone you like elsewhere, be sure to check Artists Beware to see if they’re listed as a bad artist.  Artists Beware lists both bad artists AND bad clients.  Don’t let Artists Beware scare you.  Remember, it is a space for people to specifically publicize bad transactions!  It’s a lot like reading the police blotter.  It is not representative of the larger community. Most artists work hard and will deliver your art in a timely fashion.  Be sure to read the info on bad commissioners too.  Don’t be them!

Pay in parts and keep records

For all but the smallest commission, it is standard for you to pay in two or more installments.  You are expected to pay some amount either up front OR when the initial concept sketch is done.  The balance will usually be due at the end.  For some small commissions, artists may request payment in full up front.  In general, unless it is an artist you have worked with before, I suggest selecting one that asks for a deposit and a final payment.  If they require all the money up front, instead ask for deposit and payment on completion.  This decreases likelihood that your art gets put on the backburner.

Make sure to keep records of how much you paid and when, in case there is some type of dispute. Make sure you have everything in writing so it is clear what you are paying for and when you expect it to be delivered.

Find out what the revision fee is

Not every artist will charge a fee for revisions.  Some will.  Usually you’ll get two-three revisions of the initial concept sketch included in the price.  This lets you dial in on what you want.  After a certain number of revisions, you’ll start getting charged for the extra work.  If your artist does NOT charge a fee for multiple revisions, you may want to write one into your contract anyway.  Why?  This forces you to FOCUS.  If there’s no cost, its often easy to waste a lot of time nitpicking over details and then end up back where you started in the first place.  If there’s a revision fee after X number of times, you will give your artist better directions and get your art faster!

Get REALISTIC completion dates

Be realistic.  Your artist probably cannot whip up your logo overnight.   Find out at the start when your artist will be doing your art and when it is expected to be done. (Remember, there may be other clients in line first.  Find out how long the line is.)  If there is a specific drop dead date you need the art by, make sure it is 100% clear to artist you need it by then.

Keep in mind that due dates also depend on YOU.  If the artist sends you a sketch to approve and you take two weeks to get back to them, that may totally screw up the timeline.  If you will be unavailable at some time during the process, make sure the artist knows that so they can get you things to approve before you leave. You want them to send you the sketch to approve before you leave on that two week vacation, not have it arrive one day in and leave them hanging for two weeks waiting to hear back from you.  It’s a two way street on getting your art done.

Be specific on what you want but allow the artist some room for creativity

Rainy Day logo #2 by Ursula Vernon

The artist cannot read your mind.  BE SPECIFIC.  Even if you only have a vague idea of what you want, give them some specific items to base the concept around.  Tell that what colors you want, how big, what you will be using it for, and what elements you would like to include.  Send reference photos or existing art if you have it. To use an example, I commissioned art that incorporated the name of the store (Rainy Day Paperback) and the book store dog.  I gave the artist the vague spec I wanted the dog, with an umbrella, in the rain, splashing in some puddles with some books.  I sent along pictures of the dog.  The artist sent back a couple different sketches showingseveral different layouts and I picked the one I liked most.  I hadn’t originallay specified the hat, slicker, or boots, but it worked.  I also hadn’t specified how to include the books, so the book strap was suggested by artist. Once the general sketch was approved, more details were added.  We went through one more round of revisions and then finalized this design.

Let the artist do the art

Hire an artist because you like their style.  Do NOT hire an artist and then ask them to draw in a totally different style!  You would not hire Van Gogh and then say “hey, could you paint more like that Picasso guy…”  Guide the artist in the direction you want, but if they say “perhaps it would work better this way…” pay attention.  You may be asking them to do something anatomically impossible, use colors that just don’t look together, will reproduce badly, or make the text unreadable.  Let the professional guide you… but if you feel you want to go a different direction, ask WHY they don’t want to do it your way.  They should be able to articulate why they can’t do it that way (example: “If I put the leg there, they would have to have a second knee joint to be in that position”).

Credit the artist

Stick it on your website somewhere as to who did the art and a link to their website.  It will also save you time down the road if you need to go back and get a variation on your art or negotiate reproduction rights if you include it there.  Plus it makes it easier for other businesses to find info on the artist and whether they’re reputable or not. Remember, artists get the majority of their business through word of mouth.  (and you should know by now how important word of mouth is to YOUR business) The two artists shown here are Boston area artist Chris Goodwin (color logo) and North Carolina based Ursula Vernon (black & white logo).  Both come highly recommended.

Enjoy your art!

Make sure to get a both a hard copyand a digital file of the art.  Now go promote your brand with some memorable art!

I’ve given this a lot of thought.

In my previous piece – ‘The Second Renaissance’ – I wrote about the internet and how it is changing communication and attitudes. It would seem that the internet is a good place to advertise. Websites are neither difficult nor expensive to set up and maintain. The downside is that there are, literally, billions of websites so the book buyers aren’t likely to find your website unless they already know about it.

We also know that book people – and especially used book people – like to visit as many stores as they can, because, unlike B&N or Chapters, every one of our stores is different. So I thought it would make sense to have a lot of used bookshops on one site. Actually, it would be best if ALL the used bookstores were on one site, searchable by location. If that were the case, anyone going for a drive, or moving, or visiting another city, could go to the site and find out what bookstores there were in the area, their hours, location, number of books, etc.

Next – how do we get the word out to the shops and the customers? Advertising on the net can get expensive – and, like other advertising, it often doesn’t work. We’re used book sellers – most of us don’t have much money to spare – let alone to waste! What we do have, is the customers and friends in the business. We too tend to visit other stores.

So we tell our customers and we tell our fellow booksellers. This is cooperative advertising on a grand scale – much like Abebooks or Amazon – except the site isn’t run for the benefit of some venture capitalist whose only concern is how much money can be squeezed out of each seller.

I first thought of this about five years ago. I have a friend who is a Perl programmer who set up the database for me at a reduced rate, and hosts it free. I created the rest of the website and spent many hours listing every store I could find from other lists and websites until I had nearly 900. I knew I would have to have quite a few listings if I were to be taken seriously. Finally, I launched it – www.WeSellUsedBooks.com . I don’t charge buyers or sellers.

I mass mailed to all of the listed stores about what I was doing and generally tried to get the word out. I suspect that most of my emails went straight to the spam box and were never seen. There has been a slow growth of listings – over 1200 now from several countries – but the explosion of listings that I expected didn’t happen. In the meantime, I had other concerns and pretty much left it to do it’s job – just doing basic maintenance.

Elsewhere on bookshopblog.com, either in an article or through a link – I forget which – I read about the importance of relevant links and the use of tags. Obviously I had been missing some important bits of information. It hadn’t even occurred to me to ask the listed stores who had websites to give me a link.

Putting that new knowledge into practice, in the past few weeks the links have increased from 150 to 220 and visitors to the site have doubled. If you google ‘used bookshops’ I come up around #9 and for ‘used bookstores’ #15. It’s hard to get much higher than that considering the competition ahead of me is Biblio, Abe, Amazon, etc, but I think it’s very respectable. I think it’s starting to happen!

I have a few goals with this particular article – apart from the obvious brief surge in visitors to the site: I’m hoping store owners will list their stores and tell their customers and other stores about it and I’m hoping that readers will tell their friends and the stores they visit. But most important of all, I’m hoping their will be suggestions on how to improve the site and how to get the word out to more people.

I believe that this can work for all of us, costing us no more than a few minutes each to list our stores, a few more minutes whenever we change our hours or move, and a few minutes to add a link to our personal websites, and perhaps a mention of the site on our bookmarks.

The potential is enormous! If we got big enough we could even have a listing site for B&M stores only – and it should cost a lot less than Abe or Amazon.

Together we could do it. Separately, we are just victims of the chains and the listing sites. This is the potential magic of the internet, and of the new attitudes – of working together.

I will answer anyone who comments either here or through the website, www.WeSellUsedBooks.com and I hope there are hundreds of you to respond to!

Tweet Tweet Tweet!

Twitter is one of those social media services that people either love to deathor just plain don’t get.    Who wants to read a 140 character update saying things like  “I just realized I accidentally had some books on “Judaism” marked as “Jedism” instead. Kabbalah does not give you a light saber”? At least 787 people read that yesterday on my Twitter feed.

Twitter is probably best described as microblogging.  It’s the bastard child of blogging, social networking, news feeds, and online forums.  Stick web 2.0 in a food processor and chop it into 140 character bite sized pieces and there you go.  That’s Twitter.

The premise is pretty simple.  140 character updates on “what are you doing?”.  This can be anything from deep thoughts to mundane tasks to actual plugs for your business.  And you read the same thing from people you follow.   Lots of Tweets are simply passed along links indicating what people are reading.   There is where the power lies.  Twitter is in some ways like a turbo charged mailing list.  You’ll get a fast turnaround on anything you post, generally within minutes.  Got a customer that’s given you a vague description of a book but you aren’t sure what it is?  Post a query to Twitter and if your pool of followers is big enough, you often will get a response.  It lets you pick other people’s brains.

For most booksellers you’re probably more interested in Twitter’s ability to deliver sales than anything else.  Indeed, it can be a cheap may to announce sales, events, or showcase new things you’ve just acquired.  Many libraries use Twitter to remind people about events happening that day since it can send a text reminder to phones. You can too.

The trick with Twitter is you need to hit a happy medium between being a broadcaster and a receiver.  Broadcasting means you post things you want OTHERS to read.  Receiving means you’re reading other people’s messages and responding to them.  Do some of both.  Often a helpful response to another person’s query can be worth more than a broadcast.  If someone says “I’m looking for info on Byzantine architecture” and you respond with “I have this book on Byzantine architecture. Is this what you were looking for?” and a link, you may make an instant sale. Even if you don’t sell that to the person you originally responded to, replies are visible to other people, so it lets you casually slip a plug for your goods into a natural sounding conversation.

Now that you get the basic gist of what Twitter does and why you’d want to use it, lets get specific on HOW to use it.  When you sign up, make sure to add an avatar and a very brief description in your profile.  That very brief profile will help people find you.  Don’t bother with complete sentences.  Just list your interests. Make sure your avatar is easily recognizable.  Your store logo is often a good choice IF it’s square.  If it’s not square, you may be able to use part of your logo.  If not, consider a portrait of yourself.  It gives people more of a feeling of a conversation if they can see your face.  I personally use a ‘headshot’ from one of my sculptures. It combines that feeling of talking face to face and also conveys message I’m an artist. To do the same thing, take a photo of you reading your favorite book.  Then they get your face AND get the idea you have something to do with books.

Start by posting some tweets.  Even though you’re not talking to anyone yet, if gives people an impression of who you are.  If you have NO messages posted, people often won’t follow you.  Get at least a dozen tweets in before you start looking for friends.

Now that you have that done, you need to get people to follow you and find some people to follow.  Following people means they’ll often follow you back for a “test ride” and see if they like you.  If they don’t, they’ll unfollow.  Don’t feel bad about unfollowing someone or being unfollowed.  Consider that initial period of following a bit like going to a cocktail party.  You’re chatting with people to see if you want to have a longer, more serious discussion outside the party.  Not everyone will be a keeper. (and not everyone will keep you.  Don’t worry about it)

The first “person” you should follow is Hashtags

Hashtags are basically Twitter’s version of website tags.  Just put a # in front of any word or acronym and you have a hashtag!  Following the user hashtags means they’ll start indexing your hashtags into the Hashtag.org database so people can search them.  This lets people find people talking about what they want to know.  Hashtags can be useful because you can use them to clarify the context of a post.

Hashtags are also used for specific events.  This includes things like the Superbowl but can also include weekly networking events like #wedquote.  #wedquote is an event on Wednesday’s (duh) where you post your favorite quote.  The hash tags means quote lovers can find them all.  Events like that can draw in new followers that would otherwise never discover you.

Now back to followers, check your local library and see if they have a Twitter feed.  If so, follow them.  (if none of the locals have one, use the Library of Congress )  When on their Twitter profile click “followers” and you’ll see who is following the library.  Follow them!  If they’re reading about library events, they’re probably interested in books!  Following them will alert them to your existence and they may follow you back.  You want people that like books to know about you!

Also check the other section “following”.  This is who the librarian is reading.  Often this will show you OTHER nearby libraries, publishers, etc.  Follow those too.

Remember, following is not forever and not everyone will follow you back.  Numbers will fluctuate from day to day.

After that initial frenzy of actively adding followers, sit back and read.  Respond to what other people are saying by clicking on the arrow that appears when you hover over the text.  See who you want to keep, who you don’t want to keep. Adjust.  If you find someone you really LOVE the info they post or their replies, do the same look through who they’re following and who’s following them and add people.  They probably have similar tastes!

There is a search feature on Twitter itself to find things but its often down.  There’s many third party sites that will suggest people to you as well.  Just run a google search.  Make sure you’re logged into Twitter to use those services.  Don’t use ANY service that asks you to input your Twitter password! If it can’t pick up the data simply from your username, its probably just a phishing site trying to get your password.

Don’t feel compelled to read EVERYTHING everyone posts. You will quickly end up with hundreds (or thousands) of people you’re following.  If you’ve been away from the computer, you do not need to catch up days worth of tweets.  Go back about a half hour to an hour and that will show you what’s currently going on.  Also check any direct messages and @ replies.  Direct messages are private mail.  @ replies are public responses, about equivalent to someone casually calling to you from across a crowded room. These will have more specific info targetted at YOU.

A note on direct messages:  this is like e-mail.  Do not spam people with ads via direct messages. Unless they requested you send them specific info, don’t send them an ad.  Many people will do this as soon as they see they have a new follower.  They’ll send a DM with a link to what they’re saying.  It’s RUDE.  Don’t do it.  It will get you dropped by most Twitter users.

Retweeting is a another common practice you should know about.  You can also request followers retweet your message.  Basically retweeting means “take this message, pass it on.”  The proper way to  pass on such messages  is as “RT @source name “message here”".  That tells people someone else said the message, not you.  You don’t have to retweet EVERYTHING you see marked RT, just things you think deserve repeating.  To request people pass on your message simply say “please RT”.  Don’t mark everything you post as “please RT”.  Save it for important or urgent items.  Consider it like marking items “VERY IMPORTANT” or “HELP!”.  Don’t do it with everything, just what really does deserve that kind of attention.

One last etiquette thing.  If you post a link to something that is not appropriate for all ages or not safe for work, call is NSFW.  (sometimes also labeled as NWS) This alerts people to the fact that they may not want open the link at work or with their kids sitting on their lap.  Always err on the side of caution.  Sometimes there’s no way around posting a link to something not work safe.  If someone asked you for help finding info a particular book of Mapplethorpe photos, you’re guaranteed to be linking to something that should be labeled NSFW.

There are many different applications that can make Twitter easier to use if you have lots of followers or lots of people you’re following.  Start with the basic web interface.  When you feel you want to upgrade, ask your own followers what they recommend.  This will give you quick, live feedback on what applications people think really work well.  Since these are people reading you, they may also be able to give you a more specific reason why they think you’d like THAT app.

My Twitter feed