Yvonne and I had lunch today with Sandy Beckwith, a fellow author and self-described "recovering publicist" (among her many writing and speaking related former and current career activities). Since figuring out how to promote and sell books is the challenge we hear about most from authors, Sandy's experience and her willingness to share are a wonderful combination.
Yvonne will likely treat you to a more in-depth interview of Sandy soon, but we didn't want to hold back on encouraging authors to find out more about her on your own. Her website is filled with full text articles and links to lots more. With titles like "12 ways to keep your nonfiction book in the news" and "Get paid to promote your book!" -- well, she got our attention.
Not surprisingly, one of Sandy's books is Streetwise Complete Publicity Plans, which focuses on how small businesses can develop effective PR campaigns. (Note: if you're an author with a book for sale, you're a small business.) She also teaches an online 4-week course specifically for authors who want to learn how to create buzz for their books: "Book Publicity 101: How to Create Book Buzz" (note: the correct dates for the next course are listed on her website as April 3 - 28; the registration form has the wrong dates, but should still work).
As most authors quickly discover, even with a traditional publisher, much of the responsiblity for promoting and selling books falls on the author. Even if you have a publisher that's willing to work with you, it pays to be an effective partner in the book marketing effort. Sandy Beckwith is a great resource for learning how!
I'm envious that you managed to meet Sandy in person. Online, I've found Sandy to be *so* helpful - her willingness to share her marketing knowledge gives authors a sense of just how to get the word out.
Posted by: Kris | February 05, 2006 at 03:16 PM
AND...Don Pablos was great! Good choice, Sandy. I look forward to many more meetings. Next time, lunch is on us.
Posted by: Yvonne DiVita | January 11, 2006 at 06:22 PM