If you enjoy talking about your book, then you will enjoy radio interviews. Radios, just like newspapers, are looking for local news—which is you.
There is no shortage of radio stations. Start by calling the nearest stations and asking for the program director. Then ask this person if the station has a program that does author interviews. Get the name of the person who handles these programs and propose doing an interview. Be prepared to explain why the radio’s listeners would be interested in your book.
Do not send your book to a radio station unless you have talked to the program director first. Otherwise, you could be wasting a book and postage.
Quite often, an interviewer will not have time to read your book. For this reason, always mark the most interesting passages with a felt-tipped marker. Then place tape on the margins of these pages, so they can be turned to quickly. Generally speaking, the larger the radio station, the less time your interviewer will take to review your book.
Prepare a List of Provocative Questions
Having prepared for lectures and newspaper interviews, you should know the highlights of your book. Use these highlights to draw up a list of questions, and send this to the interviewer ahead of time.
In answering these questions, use examples from the book to illustrate your points. The examples must be brief. You cannot ramble on the radio, or you’ll lose your listeners, There should be active conversation between the interviewer and you.
Practice With a Tape Recorder
After writing down the questions and answers, with examples, use a tape recorder to test their length and how they sound.
Try to shorten your answers as much as possible. The briefer the answers, the more ground you'll be able to cover.
Provide Other Reviews Also
When you give your book, plus questions and answers, to the interviewer, include your newspaper reviews with the package. Mark the strong points made in these reviews, as they may act as a guide to the interviewer, who has little time to prepare.
As you enter the radio station booth, you become an entertainer. So enjoy yourself. Having prepared well, you can relax and act as if you’re sitting in your own living room, chatting with a friend.
The actual interview that is aired may be one-third to one-half of the time that was devoted to interviewing you. When you are unsure how to respond to a question, ask that the question be rephrased. Don’t try to answer questions if you don’t have good answers.
Don't Say “My Book”
Instead of saying “my book/’ repeat the title of your book. This is how the listener will remember how to order the book at a bookstore. Repeat the title whenever possible.
Another reason for repeating the title is that some listeners may have tuned in late. They won’t know what you’re talking about unless the title is repeated.
Say Where the Book Is Available
This can be a problem, without the assistance of the interviewer. Discuss this subject openly before the interview. Ask how listeners will know how to buy copies unless they’re told.
It’s best to have the interviewer state where your book is available. Prepare a large label on the back of your book from which the interviewer can read out ordering information to listeners.
Handling Spontaneous Interviews
Some interviewers prefer not to tell you what their questions will be ahead of time. They believe it makes the interview more spontaneous and interesting. That’s fine. Handle questions the same way you would if you were in your living room. Most interviewers using this technique plan to edit the results heavily.
Arrive Early for the Interview
Plan to arrive early in case directions turn out to be confusing. This also provides time to familiarize yourself with the station. You will probably sit in a relatively small room with the interviewer. The only other person nearby will be the technician handling the taping equipment.
Bring an Extra List of Questions
There will be occasions when the interviewer has not prepared at all. Even the list of questions you supplied earlier will have been misplaced. Make sure you have brought a copy of the material you furnished earlier.
The interviewer should be able to assimilate every major point on this preparatory sheet within one minute, which may be all the time he or she has. You’re expected to do the entertaining, so be prepared. When necessary, take the interview into your own hands. If the interview is live, use station breaks to suggest the next questions to be asked.
Make a Copy of the Interview
Always make or obtain copies of radio interviews. They will help improve your next performance and may be useful in selling your book to a major publisher. You can also quote from them in promotional material.
Appearing on Television
Television talk shows are anxious to interview well-known authors of best-selling books. Most authors will appear for no fee, as they’re glad to get the publicity. Talk shows such as “The Tonight Show” and Merv Griffin select their guests with great care. When a large publisher’s resources are behind you, it’s possible you might appear on one of these shows ... if you have written a bestseller.
As an author-publisher, concentrate your energies on local stations. Cable and public service stations may be your best bet initially. Experience gained at radio station interviews will serve you well.
Contacting Television Stations
By consulting a TV guide, or a friend who watches TV constantly, you can quickly compile a list of local talk shows on which authors are interviewed. Contact these stations to obtain the names of their program directors.
When program directors appear interested in your book, send a copy to them. It should be prepared in the same manner that you prepared books for radio interviews.
Remember to take an extra copy of the book when you go to the interview. It may be the one that appears on the show. Also take the original artwork or photographs of any subjects in the book that might make good closeups.
Television hosts are notorious for not previewing authors’ books. The list of questions, answers, and anecdotes that you prepared for radio interviews will be even more important to the success of television interviews. Further streamline this material for television, as you may have to share air-time with other personalities.
If time permits, suggest relevant portions of your book the host may wish to read, particularly those that are amusing.
Many talk show hosts are quite willing to inform their viewers where your book can be obtained. Tape this information to the back of your book, and point it out to your host just before the show.
Are You Worried About The Audience?
If you’re worried about confronting an audience at your first TV interview, don't be. The small local stations at which you have your first interviews will probably not even have audiences. The room you'll be in may be smaller than your living room, and the camera so small that you won’t notice it.
If you are fortunate enough to have an audience, it will enhance your interview. The audience can ask questions, which will keep the conversation moving.
The TV interview will be edited, just as most radio interviews are. Just be sincere, interesting, and add humor whenever possible. They’ll keep your best and edit the rest.
Speak with fervor. Sound genuinely concerned about your subject. Remember how you wrote your book? In a fury!
Whenever you make a point, be prepared to offer specific examples illustrating this point.
And be concise. There are three good reasons to be brief:
1. Never bore the audience (even if you cannot see them).
2. By being brief, you can cover more territory in your book.
3. Give the host plenty of air-time. They have egos; they like to hear their own voices. If they wish to extoll the virtues of your book, don’t interrupt them. Those listening will be far more impressed by another’s compliments than your own favorable opinions of your book. Encourage these compliments by careful planning.
Some hosts enjoy badgering their guests a bit. If so, stand your ground. When the host says something you believe to be incorrect, cordially present the more accurate view. Do not let anyone (host or member of the audience) sway you from your beliefs. Don’t compromise yourself. A little controversy will make the interview far more interesting to the audience and other viewers. The audience may even express support for your stand, especially if the host makes a custom of badgering guests.
Maintain your sense of humor in all situations.
Marketing to Bookstores
Do you believe that all you have to do is place your books in bookstores—even on consignment—and they will automatically sell out?
There are too many books written and published each year to be sold, or even displayed, in bookstores. This is a considerable problem even for major publishers, who have promotional resources vastly superior to those of small publishers.
The chronic over-supply of books, combined with the limited capital of most small publishers, poses a serious dilemma. This is not the worst of it, though. There are seven additional stumbling blocks for a small publisher who wishes to sell to bookstores.
1. Shelf space at many stores is now controlled by computer-measured sales. To get a book on the computer is nearly impossible for an author-publisher unless a chain store or large wholesaler chooses to pick up your book.
2. To place books in stores, most author-publishers must consign them. In most cases, the expenses involved in doing this preclude real profits. The time involved in placing books, returning to count sales, and returning again to invoice the books is not profitable if you have only one book that sells fewer than ten copies monthly.
3. Bookstores, even large ones, pay slowly. It is not uncom-
mon to receive payment for books six months after they’ve been sold. You may be thankful simply to get paid at all. Author-publishers (and other small presses) are the last to get paid by independent stores, chains, and the wholesalers who stock stores. This can cause havoc with your cash flow.
4. If stores accept your books, on any basis, they will not be prominently displayed in most stores. Normally, your books will be displayed spine out.
5. Displayed spine out and receiving little publicity, a significant number of the books you place on consignment will be returned. This percentage often reaches as high as 40 percent for even the major publishers.
6. Returned books will seldom be in resalable condition; many will be in too poor a condition to give away. But if you do not refund the store's money (if it has paid for them), the store will not accept your books in the future.
7. There being more than nine thousand bookstores in this country, the headache of invoicing that many different accounts will probably be beyond your physical resources, even if your book sells well.
The information in the balance of this chapter will tell you how to minimize the above problems—if your book is one of the few that has a market in bookstores.
Have you followed the advice provided in the previous eight chapters? If you haven’t, how will book buyers know that your book is available in the stores?
Have you hit the local newspapers, contacted civic groups, called your local library, arranged autograph sessions, and arranged both radio and television interviews? When you know that publicity will appear within a week, then you can place books in local bookstores.
Approaching Your Local Bookstore
During the period when you’re organizing a publicity campaign, map out the stores within a reasonable distance. Call their managers, explain that you have a book you’d like to place on consignment, and describe the upcoming publicity for the book. Make a list of those stores that will accept your book.
Make Display Cases
Before placing books in a store, make a display case that will hold ten books. You may be able to obtain ready-made display cases at one of your local stores, if they are disposing of them.
Take your books to stores in these cases; they’re the only chance your books will probably have to be displayed face out. They make a nice compact package, which can be placed in a small space. Attach your business card to the side of the case, so clerks will know how to contact you when their supply of your book is getting low.
Ask the manager to locate the display case on the counter next to the cash register, so that everyone who comes into the store will notice the availability of your book. Ask for this privilege for one week. This is highly desirable display space, so the technique has a better chance of success in independent stores than in the large chain stores.
Make Display Posters
Space is usually at a premium in most bookstores. For this reason; it’s a good idea to prepare display posters that can be placed in windows of the store.
Place a dust jacket of your book on these posters. If you don’t have a dust jacket, use a good facsimile of your book’s cover.
Keep hand-lettering on these posters to a minimum. They must be neat, if the manager is to agree to place them in a window, and even then, competition for window displays is keen.
Place at Least Ten Books in Each Store
By placing ten books with a store, there is a better chance that they will be displayed face out. When ten books are displayed face out, they usually take up no more space than if they were displayed spine out.
Be bold. Ask if the manager has enough room to display your books face out. If the manager hesitates, suggest that the store display them face out for one month only.
If the manager declines to display your books face out, then place only three or four books with the store. If you give more than that, the balance will probably be placed in a storage area.
Prepare an Invoice
Even though your first “sales” to a store will probably be on a consignment basis, prepare an invoice with your terms at the time the books are placed. If it’s on a consignment basis, state that on the invoice in order to avoid confusion in the future.
Most stores accept books on consignment for ninety days only. At the end of that time, you are required to come to the store, do an inventory of books sold, and make out an actual sales invoice. Do not expect the store to do this for you. If you do not return, you’ll never get paid for books sold or recover unsold books.
What Should the Sales Discount Be?
The sales discount granted on the books is a matter of negotiation. Offer a 30 percent discount initially; most stores will ask for 50 percent. Suggest a compromise at a middle figure, using the word "compromise.”
276 How to Publish, Promote, and Sell Your Own Book Restocking Your Books
You’ll probably return in a week to see how your books are selling. Don’t be surprised if they are all still there. If you have not generated enough publicity for your book, it’s time to wake up.
Expecting people to buy your book without even telling them it exists is like expecting them to find a needle in a haystack. It’s not too late. If you want to sell your thousand books, start a genuine publicity campaign.
Your books may be displayed spine out by now, with your display case nowhere in sight. Stores dispose of other publish* ers’ display cases, so don’t be too disappointed if they didn’t save yours. Your poster may have met the same fate.
After two or three weeks, if you’ve generated a fair amount of publicity—and your book fills a genuine need—you may have to restock the store. Ask the manager if you can write up an invoice for the sold books and replace them with new books. If your books have done well, the manager may simply tell you to write up an invoice for all the books, thereby canceling the consignment arrangement.
Many stores, particularly the chain bookstores, will write up a purchase order on their forms. You’ll receive a copy to place in your files. Even so, make out an invoice of your own, in order to keep track of when the bill is paid.
Local independent bookstores often pay their bills at the time they’re presented, while chains may take three months to a year to pay you.
Keep Good Records of Local Sales
Considering all the work you’ve done to generate publicity, making display cases and posters, placing books in stores, and then restocking these stores, you’ll be fortunate to earn $ 1 per hour for your time.
Nevertheless, keep excellent records of your sales to local stores. These sales will have considerable influence on the buying decisions of the large chain stores. While the profits on local sales may be nil, the fact that you’ve generated demand for your book is invaluable publicity.
Don 't Overlook Specialty Stores
If your book makes a good gift, it may do well in stationery stores. Be imaginative in selecting retail outlets for your book.
The author found that an excellent market for the Hemorrhoid book existed in health food stores. A small health food store in his hometown sold more than a hundred copies of this book during its first eighteen months. A display case was prominently placed by the cash register for one month, and the books were later moved to the general bookcase. The sales at this store were instrumental in selling the book in volume to the largest book wholesaler to national health food stores (see the next chapter).
If your book relates to health, place it in health food stores; if it relates to music or exercise, try record or sporting-goods stores. It may sell far better there than in bookstores.
After you’ve established a strong sales record locally, offer your book to the chains. As mentioned earlier, Waldenbooks seldom purchases from one-book publishers; the same is true of Crown Books. A complete list of bookstore chains can be found in The American Book Trade Directory. Call your local libraries until you find one with this reference.
Before sending a sample book to these chains, telephone them first so that you are sure to send your books to the proper department and person.
278 How to Publish, Promote, and Sell Your Own Book Composing Your Letter
In communicating with chain bookstores, it’s important to stress the ability of your book to garner publicity. The author's letter to Waldenbooks, which resulted in a purchase order for one thousand copies of Hemorrhoids, is included here. Note the enthusiasm of the letter and its short paragraphs. Be sure to enclose an ABI form with your books. It suggests that you know what you’re doing.
The letter mentioned at the bottom of the example was from Bafry Kramer, reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Concerning his article on the subject of hemorrhoids, he revealed: “Of all the stories I ever wrote for The Wall Street Journal, it got the most reader response. . . .” Kramer’s letter was certainly helpful in establishing this book’s popularity.
The letter to Waldenbooks was sent before the book had been placed in local outlets. Waldenbooks had earlier picked up Jerry Steiner’s book.
Both Waldenbooks and B. Dalton utilize a system called “category buying” to select books from publishers. B. Dalton introduced this system in 1981, and Waldenbooks began category buying effective January 1, 1983.
Under this system, the central merchandising department of the chain makes all purchasing decisions. Each category of books has a group of buyers responsible for selecting the books in that category. They use best-seller lists and information compiled from computerized cash register systems to purchase both new titles and backlist titles.
Category buying does not encourage wide distribution of small press books. Under this system, small presses will have far more difficulty establishing their books in these chains.
Policies change periodically, which is one of the reasons you should contact the buyers of the chains before sending them an ARC.
WMmdM (ck«U lflgu»e*achCA«6M OMIWM
December 14, 1977
Waldenbooks Company Attn: Thomas Simon 179 Ludlow Street Stamford, Conn 06902
Mr. Simon:
Jerry Steiner (Home For Salt By Owner) has strongly suggested that a copy of this book be provided to your offices. It was received from the printer last week and is self-published.
The following newspapers intend to feature the book as a news article:
San Diego Union Lew Scarr (Medical 714-299-3131 Editor)
Santa Ana Register Kari Granville (Medical 714-835-1234 Editor)
Los Angeles Times Harry Nelson (Medical 213-625-2345 Editor)
and James Bacon (syndicated columnist—including LA Herald Examiner) intends to feature the book in his column. 213-7481212
These newspapers are the first, third, fourth, and fifth largest in the state. Each of the named individuals has received an advance review copy and has been personally contacted by myself. In each case, the response has been enthusiastic (high incidence in the industry helps).
More than one hundred advance review copies have been forwarded to the normal trade reviewers.
In discussing the placement of the book with local Waldenbook
stores, each manager contacted has requested the book on consignment.
The purpose of this communication is to allow for a more formal arrangement. Should you prefer to handle the book on such a basis, our volume discount on orders is: 10-49 40% (net 30
50-199 45 days, and 200-up 50 100^6 cash refunds with
resalable returns.)
Please call us collect with your preferences.
Best regards,
Robert L. Holt
(Enclosed are copies of the ABI form, the only other widely read info on hemorrhoids, and a letter which indicates the response to be expected from newspaper articles on the subject)
RLH:lc
Obtain Payment Before Filling Re-Orders
A smaller chain of bookstores also purchased the author’s first book soon after it was released. A month and a half later they re-ordered, but they hadn’t paid for the first books yet. The author told them the second shipment would be sent when payment had been received for the first one. Payment was received immediately.
You should request payment from both chains and independent bookstores before filling additional orders; otherwise, serious cash-flow problems might develop. Examples of what can happen are explained in the following chapter, on wholesalers.
When sending an ARC to the chains, be sure to list your discount policy. This is important in any future discount negotiations.
If you are asked for a higher discount than 50 percent, state that you normally do not grant a higher discount unless it is on the basis of “no returns.” This means that a buyer cannot return books for a refund.
Another reason for going to a higher discount is if you request prepayment of the order. Try to hold the line at 55 percent when requesting prepayment on a thousand books or selling them on a “no return*' basis.
The retail discount policies of both a major and a small publisher are shown below. These were in effect on January
Small Publisher
1 25^> prepaid only 2-9 30 10-499 40 500-over 50
Your past experiences with managers of bookstores have probably been pleasant. You have found most of them to be quite intelligent, gracious, and sensitive.
As a new author-publisher, you may be inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt. You may even assume that the average manager will be anxious to further your literary career by actively assisting in the sale of your books.
When you receive out-of-town orders for your books from bookstores, you don’t hesitate to fill their orders immediately, granting them up to a full 50 percent discount to assure their profitability. You may even absorb the postage charges.
Your faith and confidence in these managers begins to fade, though, when you discover that approximately half of them do not pay for ordered books within six months of shipment. Those who pay after six months must usually be reminded by repeated dunning letters.
What will gall you the most will be the 25 percent who do not pay for your books at all. They may have “lost” your invoice, gone out of business, be too short of cash, or simply feel little obligation to pay debts to out-of-state small publishers. These non-payers will include well-known names in the book-selling business.
You’re left with the gnawing feeling that you’ve been mistreated. You’ve lost the value of the book, its mailing package, postage, invoice, and time spent packaging and mailing the book. Most of all, these bookstore managers have stolen the hundreds or thousands of hours that you spent in writing and publishing the book.
How do you avoid this experience? It’s simple. Whenever you receive an order from a bookstore, return it with a request for prepayment, as described in Chapter 41.
Virtually all the stores will prepay for their orders within four to six weeks, without even a protest. They must fill orders for their customers.
It may surprise you to learn that it is not necessary to grant a discount on your single-copy orders. Most bookstores will still prepay these orders at no discount, in order to satisfy their customers.
Selling to Wholesalers