Author Name: Jay Thomas Willis
Book Title(s): Implications For Effective Psychotherapy With African-Americans; As Soon as the Weather Breaks; The Cotton is High; Born to be Destroyed; Paranoid but not Stupid; Why Black Americans Behave as They Do; Hard Luck; When the Village Idiot Get Started; Educated Misunderstanding; The Devil in Angelica.
Marketing Subject: Marketing at Conferences
One way to market your book is to participate in nationwide professional conferences. There are many annual conferences that will relate to the subject of your book. You need to contact these conferences and make plans to attend some of them. You should plan to present a paper on a topic related to your book, and rent a booth to sell your book. This will help you to make the most of the conference and get some exposure for your book.
First, purchase a booth and sell your book. Usually you can attend these conferences for the price of your booth, since they know you will be selling your book rather than attending all events. The way to find out about these conferences is to read professional journals, newspapers, and magazines. Potentially, you can meet a lot of people, and pass out some cards or brochures on your book. This is a good time to utilize your postcards, bookmarks, and business cards. Have copies of the order form on hand for your book. It’s important that you leave your introverted self at home, come prepared to be friendly and extroverted, put forth the best part of your personality. Be aggressive, don’t just sit back and wait on people to come to you, but don’t be overbearing. Here is where you can learn to be a salesman if you don’t know already.
Second, you can present a professional paper on a topic related to your book. Be sure to match your book and topic with appropriate conferences, otherwise it might seem as though you are coming out of left field. The selection committee for the conference will screen the topic appropriately. Be sure also you find out when the conference will be held, and submit your proposal for your paper in plenty of time. If you are late you lessen your chances of getting your paper accepted for presentation.
At the conference, have someone you trust to watch you books and materials while you make your presentation. Never leave your books and materials unattended. Otherwise you might come out on the losing end. Whatever you do, always act in a manner to sell yourself. Be able to give a concise explanation of what your book is about without hesitating or stuttering. You never want to end up being more negative than positive. In that way you want sell many books. Then, practice your presentation so you make the best one possible. Presentation means everything. If it’s good it will sell books; if it’s bad you will sell fewer books. When you present your paper let conference attendees know that your book will be for sale in the lobby, and give each of them a brochure on your book.
In this way you can get good exposure for your book, in addition to making a profit. Most of these conferences are well attended, and people usually come from near and far. You might have to attend several conferences before beginning to achieve your desired effect.