Producing a book to be sold to the public requires a bit of a thick skin. Remember the old saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”? It is so true for your book, whether it be the cover, the layout, or the content itself.
I sell my books at fairs, both in schools and holiday and crafts fairs. At the school fairs, the parents and the students can be laser focused on a particular subgenre of books for young readers. If I don’t have the right audience, I can go home without a sale. And I need to remember that it has nothing to do with my books.
At craft and holiday fairs, I need to depend on readers among the buyers, or those who consider a book to be a great gift. And I must put myself out there. I can’t sit at my table and read a book, eat my lunch or in any way ignore those passing my table.
One of the most interesting lessons to me has been people’s reactions to my book covers. They have been critiqued by some in the book world and have sometimes come up short. But then, I do an event and the covers, usually on posters, draw the browsers in. They love the covers. They look inside at the illustrations, and they ask if I did them. I tell them no, and they ask for my illustrator.
The lesson? Don’t be discouraged by just one or two opinions. Get your books out there and see that first, not everyone will think your books are great, and two, some opinions will not reflect in the sales you make. Be open to making changes if your sales reflect the negative opinions, but don’t take those opinions as gospel immediately. Let your books speak for themselves.
Best of luck.
Linda Maria Frank
Article Submitted: 03-02-2024.
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Author’s Page At Book Marketing Global Network:
http://bookmarketingglobalnetwork.com/book-marketing-global-network/linda-maria-frank
