Promoting/Marketing a Book/Novel

Well, I gave it a try, and damn if it didn't work. This past weekend I sat at a booth at an art fair in my hometown, and I actually sold books. The whole thing was my sister's idea, and I was hesitant (mainly because space rental was one hundred dollars). But, I took a chance, and I ended up selling 17 copies of my novel, which more than paid for my booth space. Plus, I sold 6 copies of my full-length short story collection, 2 copies of my chapbook of short stories, and 7 copies of my poetry collections. I was pretty sure I was going to sell a few books because I knew that I would see people that I know. However, what made things really interesting was that I sold about 50% of the books to complete strangers. They would come up, talk to me for a little bit, and then say, "Sure, I'll give your novel a shot." Cool stuff, really.

So, I would recommend renting space at art fairs, especially if it's in your hometown.

Now, with the sales from the art fair, and some family-related sales, and some sales that trickled in from a mailing I did, I now have sold . . . 76 copies of the book.

Slowly but surely folks, slowly but surely.