Publishing a Book Is Not the End but Rather Only the Beginning in Getting Your Book Read

Congratulations on getting your book published!  

Now, get to work!

If, like me, you signed with a small publishing house, you must do almost everything to market, publicize, advertise, and sell your book to get it read.  Nothing about it is glamorous.  All of it is time-consuming, frequently disappointing, soul-sucking, and expensive.   You must become shameless and relentless at self-promotion, leaving you with bouts of imposters’ syndrome and self-doubt, not to mention less financially secure.  The modern-day author’s life isn’t for the faint-hearted or starry-eyed idealist.

Here are a few things to consider:

  • Take advantage of your publisher’s free offerings, like posting on their social media using some marketing lingo.  Publishers often get discounts on promotional/marketing deals, but they’re still hundreds of dollars each.

  • Enter “book award” programs at around $70/entry, plus copies of the book.  

  • Do book fairs but the fees and expenses may not be recouped.

  • Visit/call independent bookstores.  However, most small bookstores buy only a few copies wholesale from Ingram at about 30-40% discount, with the right to return.  Some may agree to carry on consignment but will take 40-60% of sales.

  • Do readings at bookstores, libraries, and schools.  Getting approval could be difficult.  Once approved, publicize the event through traditional and social media, flyers, word-of-mouth, etc., and market the book through give-aways, raffles, and a book sale/signing during the reading.  

  • Find bloggers and other reviewers.  You may be asked for a physical copy of the book, book copies and/or a gift card ($10-$50) for a giveaway contest, etc.  

  • Contact traditional and social media to try to get publicity.

  • Talk to everyone you encounter about your book and enlist everyone to do the same.  This may require giving away free copies.

  • Join/form an author group to swap marketing ideas.  Note, however, that some of them may be competing against you in the same genre and you’ll have to deal with all the emotional and psychological ups and downs inherent in any competition.

I don’t mean to discourage anyone from writing and publishing their ideas.  But I also don’t want writers to believe in the false hope popularized by the movie Field of Dreams: “If you build it, they will come” – i.e., “If you publish it, they will read.”  In truth, if you do nothing more than just publish, chances are they will not read.  If you want to reach readers beyond your family and friends, doing nothing is simply not an option.  Of course, neither book sales nor increased readership can be guaranteed no matter what you do but doing nothing ensures no book sales and no readership.

Marissa Bañez is a lawyer and author of the children’s illustrated book, Hope and Fortune.  Her second book, Hues and Harmony (How the Rainbow Butterfly Got Her Colors) will be published on July 20, 2023.

Author Visits & Donors Choose: How to Get Authors In Your Classroom

by Carly Black

The vibrations immediately pulse through your body and the energy of the crowd is infectious. Live music is the best way to experience the art musicians create. The experience of meeting or hearing an author talk about their writing feels a lot like being at a concert. Hearing music played live adds new connection and emotion to the songs and the artists. Meeting an author in person has always had the same effect for me.

Meeting author Suzanne Collins at The Hunger Games premiere party in Los Angles was a true fangirl moment for me. Walking into the massive tent felt exactly as I imagined walking into a Capitol party might feel. Celebrities mingling about and here I was in awe of the decor and dedication to making it feel as if I’d stepped right into the book. An English teacher’s dream come true courtesy of my brother who was working for Lionsgate at the time. 

The night introduced me to several of the actors and actresses where I learned their thoughts on playing particular characters. The young tribute actors felt like my people and we had great conversations about reading the series. About halfway through the night, we found ourselves standing in the center of a crowd, all trying to get a selfie with Taylor Lautner. That’s when I spotted her. Suzanne Collins was being ushered through the crowd. If I was going to meet her this was my only chance. I pushed past the few people standing between us and introduced myself. I remember telling her, “I’m a middle school teacher from Ohio and my students have loved reading The Hunger Games trilogy. Could I get a photo?” 

She was so gracious and let me take a quick photo before rushing off out of the party. To me, she was the greatest celebrity in the room. Meeting an author to thank them for sharing their talent and expressing the impact they have made on readers is part of what I love about my job. It’s not a requirement of course, but it’s a super cool part of being a teacher of readers. 

In 2010 I had the privilege of attending the NCTE conference where I was introduced to several of my favorite authors. Some of the authors I met were debuting their first novels at the time and they quickly became beloved authors for me. I’m reminded of my conversation with author Sarah Weeks. She shared her book So B It and her heart for people with disabilities. Her book was the first one I read from the pile of books collected from the conference. 

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After meeting all the authors that first day of the conference I wanted to devour every book they had ever written. I can remember specifically walking up to Laurie Halse Anderson and using every ounce of my energy to not lose it right there in front of her. Another major fangirl moment for me. I had read her book Speak several years before and it’s definitely in my top ten reads. Meeting her in person made me want to read every book, short story, and poem she had ever written. Laurie sat at her table signing my book and casually talking with me about life. After that conversation, I was convinced that if we lived near each other we would be best friends. At least the invention of social media now lets me pretend to be friends with my favorite authors. 

All of these encounters have convinced me that everyone needs to meet their favorite author or any author really. As an English teacher, these have been some of my favorite experiences. Events, where I have been able to meet an author, help me feel a stronger connection to a favorite story or introduces me to their new novels. Sometimes it’s a new introduction altogether. 

Sharing opportunities to meet authors is even more fun when given the chance to introduce students. Authors can feel like untouchable celebrities to the voracious reader. But the truth is, like any celebrity, they are human. In fact, they often do their own marketing which includes book signings or meet and greets. If meeting an author can make a reading impact on me it’s possible to have the same effect on students. 

Follow a Local Library

Libraries often invite authors to talk about their books or share a writing workshop. I’ve made it a habit of checking nearby library calendars for author events. Some even have an email subscription that will send events to your inbox. Another great way to stay on top of these events would be following them on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. 

My first student group to meet an author was an hour’s drive to a major city south of us. My colleagues thought I was crazy, but my students had just finished Brandon Mull’s latest book Fablehaven. Several of them mentioned never loving to read until reading that book. When I learned that Brandon would be at a nearby library I began making plans to take students. The hour drive seemed completely worth the time if students could meet the author who helped them identify themselves as readers. 

We drove down on a school bus immediately after school with about 12 kids, one parent and myself. Brandon talked about his experience with writing Fablehaven, answering all the questions from kids who asked where he got such funny ideas and interesting characters. He signed copies of books and other swag for the kids. Some of my kids had never owned their own book, let alone a signed copy. After this experience, many of the kids who went ended up finishing the seven-book series. 

Book Stores

Another great place to meet authors, especially local authors, would be your local bookstore. Our small town doesn’t have a bookstore so we have to keep in touch with stores from nearby cities, but like libraries, they usually have website calendars, social media, and email lists.

My favorite local bookstore, Main St. Books, often brings authors to share and sign books. One April they had invited my co-teacher’s favorite Ohio YA author, Mindy McGinnis. My co-teacher raved about her novels and often shared them with our classes. At the time I had not read any of her books but of course, I was up for an evening out to hear her talk about her latest book, Heroine. 

Mindy talked about how she collects ideas for stories and some of her process for writing those stories. Many in the audience had specific questions about her books and they all made me want to rush out to read anything she’d written. I bought two of her books that night! Since then I have collected all of her novels and have been binge reading them all. 

Mindy and I struck up a conversation about teaching, she’s a former school librarian. That night was the start of a very long conversation about how I could bring her in to meet my students. Almost a full year later we are finally making that a reality. 

Grant Opportunities

Thanks to a grant through the Buckeye Book Fair that helps teachers and librarians bring Ohio authors to their schools we are able to host Mindy for a full day. In anticipation of her visit, our English department has planned a special giveaway each month.  

Thanks to my fully funded Donors Choose project my students now have copies of Not a Drop to Drink, which we will read as a whole class, and five copies of her other novels for our monthly reading assignment. If you’ve never tried Donors Choose I highly recommend creating a project. Use this link to get started and possibly snag a boost to your project. They are always working to find donors that want to help with different literacy projects. You never know what supplies or events might get funded. Did you know you can now ask for funding to attend professional development or field trips? 

If you are looking for a way to engage students with reading or help them make connections to the stories you read in class talking to authors in real life is a great place to start. Sharing student quotes or projects with authors through Twitter is another great way to connect. Some authors are willing to video conferences with classes as well. Bringing the story to life by learning how it was written and the background about its inception can turn kids on to books. 

Carly Black spends her days encouraging tenth-graders in West Salem, Ohio to believe reading and writing is totally cool. At night she chases preschoolers with her teacher husband and in the morning repeats the process all over again. Find the lessons and ideas she uses to encourage her students and tame her tiny humans on the blog www.TeachMomRepeat.com.