Networking Is A Great Word!

Too many authors think of the word "networking" as something only pushy members of the Chamber of Commerce participate in.  Nope. Networking a good thing. Networking is nothing more than building relationships. It is at the root of all great promotion. In fact, it is at the root of our capitalistic economy. So, if you’re having trouble with any aspect of your promotion campaign, consider your networking skills.

As an example, you will have an easier time booking a signing or workshop at a bookstore where you know the staff. You’ll have an even easier time if you’ve funneled your readers to that bookstore to buy your books (and other books, too!) They are sure to notice and be eager to stock your books on a regular basis.

Ditto for sending your online buyers to one store. You’ll be surprised at how your ratings benefit, as an example, if you use links to your book’s buy page at Amazon exclusively. The better your book sells there (and hits their bestseller list in its category) the more sales begin to grow incrementally without any more effort on your part.

The same concept works with almost everything you do for your book. It’s a bit like the golden rule, isn’t it? What your mother always told you tends to work well in marketing, too.

One of my other promotion golden rules is to learn about other industries and from other industries. In the case of authors, the more they know about retailing, the easier it will be to convince a retailer that they would make a fine sales and promotional partners for authors. So, may I suggest my recent book, A Retailer's Guide To Frugal In-Store Promotions: How-To Increase Profits And Spit In The Eyes Of Economic Downturns Using Thrifty Events And Sales Techniques . 




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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog: