Being a self published author can have it’s ups and downs. One of the hardest things to do yourself is to get your book into the hands of your readers. It takes hard work and determination, but here are 5 helpful ways that I have learnt over the years since my first book was released 10 years ago. I hope they help you along your journey as a self published author too.
Your Website.
- Selling books via your website is a great way to get your books directly to your readers and let’s face it, all readers love the chance to have a signed copy of the book. Ordered through your website, you can send them a personally signed book with a little message too. This does take a little setting up, and fortunately for me, I have an IT expert who is my son, so I don’t need to handle all that techy stuff that is beyond me. Of course, listing your books for sale on your website is one thing, but leading your readers there to purchase is another topic altogether. While I do get sales dribbling in, I admit I still need to work on this myself. My Books Sale Pages on my Website
Local Bookshops.
- These can be your best supporters. As a local author, most independent bookshops are happy to sell your books for you. Build up a relationship with the manager/owner, always be considerate and attend events at their shop to help support them. If you would like to speak to them about your book, arrange a meeting time that suits them. The Book Cow -Kingston has been a wonderful supporter of local authors ever since it opened the doors in December 2020. Paperchain Bookstore have been another awesome supporter of this local author. They have happily provided the space for all my book launches and signings when a launch wasn’t possible to due covid. It’s harder to get your books into stores outside your local area, but it too, can be done. For example, last year I knew I was heading to Coffs Harbour to attend business meetings with my husband. I emailed in advance an enquiry to the local bookstore and asked if we could meet to discuss the selling of my books. They were more than happy to meet with me. Obviously, you can’t always travel interstate to distribute books yourself, but always take advantage of the opportunity if you do. Finding a distributor to do this for you, is difficult, but not impossible. I didn’t have a distributor for my first four books, however, the first two in my Adamson Adventures were published traditionally. This meant they did have a distributor and thankfully when my publisher closed and I found myself self publishing book 3, I now had the connection with a distributor who was more than happy to take on the third book in the series. They do take quite a hefty percentage of your sales, but if distribution around the country is your goal, then it’s worthwhile considering.
My Local Book shop https://bookcow.com.au/, a wonderful and supportive shop for all local authors.
My book signing of Fossil Frenzy at Paperchain when we couldn’t hold a launch.
School Visits.
- Over the last two years due to Covid, this has drastically reduced. I had many school visits cancelled but hopefully this might start looking up again this year. Some schools you will sell quite a few books, while others you may be lucky to make one sale. Always check with the school if they are happy for you to send in order forms. I have had schools in low socio-economic areas that have preferred I didn’t. In that case, just be happy to motivate the kids, read to them, discuss your writing process or inspiration and hope they enjoy the experience. School visits can be hard to book, as there are so many other wonderful authors out there trying to do the same thing and schools have very little money or time to allocate. I recommend a speakers agency to help you with bookings. Here in Canberra I use Kellie Nissan from Just Write Words and her Speakers Agency Write Angles . Kellie is wonderfully helpful, I can’t recommend her enough.
Telopea Park School visit 2020. Talking about Australian dinosaurs and introducing Fossil Frenzy the Adamson Adventures 3. Years 3- 6.
My visit to Chapman Primary School last year. I ran writing workshops for all year levels, K -6.
Markets and Conferences.
- These can be a great way to interact with readers and their parents. As a children’s author our market audience is not only the kids, but their parents too. They hold the purse strings so it is beneficial to be able to talk to them directly. Markets and conferences are a great place to be able to do this. I live in a small rural community that every second year holds a Country Fair, I always have a stall at this event. There are often local markets throughout your area, it’s up to you to decide how often you want to be involved. A new night market Tuggeranong Night Markets is just starting in our area but as it’s outdoors and we are coming into our winter months, I am yet to decide whether I will hold a stall there or perhaps wait until the weather starts to warm up again. I definitely prefer indoor markets but these are hard to find. Conferences can be worthwhile, during the CBCA National conference held here in Canberra in 2019 I was able to contribute to the local author stall and get my books in front of teachers and librarians. My next opportunity is in 2 weeks time at the Goulburn Bookfest.
CBCA National Conference 2019
Royalla Country Fair, March 2020, just before we were plunged into our first Covid Lockdown.
Canberra Writers Festival 2019
Think Outside the Box.
- When I published my two Australian picture books nearly 7 years ago, I didn’t settle for just local bookshops. I thought about other places that might like my books. National Park gift shops, tourist information shops and other tourist destinations were keen to support my books. I managed to distribute them in both National Parks near Canberra and even the Big Merino in Goulburn. Then, when hubby and I did our drive across Australia, I took the books with me and spoke to tourist places from here, all the way across the Nullarbor to Perth. Even The Pinnacles north of Perth purchased copies. With Fossil Frenzy, I found the National Dinosaur Museum here in Canberra to be hugely supportive. They not only held my book launch but invited me to return for a second reading twelve months later. While in Perth last year, (yes WA did open briefly to interstate travellers) I was fortunate to be able to do a talk at the Clarke Earth Sciences Museum at UWA. I’m always on the lookout for different or unusual opportunities. Just recently I saw that the Australian Museum in Sydney were holding a Dinosaur Festival this upcoming school holidays in April. So I reached out with an email, and now have copies of my book for sale in the Australian Museum Bookshop. How roarsome is that!
My talk at the Clarke Earth Sciences Museum UWA, with paleontologist Dr Kaila Thorn.
Book launch at the National Dinosaur Museum December 2020.
As a self published author, distribution of your books does take quite a lot of work. However, even with a traditional publisher a lot of the marketing is still up to you. My goal is to get my books in the hands of as many readers as I can, especially those reluctant readers looking for something different, irresistible, and packed full of fun and action so that they learn to love reading. All the hard work it takes to distribute my books is worth every moment.
How do you share your books?
Do you have a distribution plan?
Do you have other thoughts on how to distribute books other than my suggestions?
I would love to hear your thoughts, please share in the comments below.