My Marketing Experiences (2nd Instalment)



Gorf L-Abjad, Malta



I am now going to report further on my Maltese marketing experiences. 

As my first book was set in Malta, I thought it would appeal to English-speaking tourists visiting the island as well as Maltese citizens, many of whom speak English.  Therefore, I carried out some research into Maltese bookshops and book distributors in Malta.

Considering the tourist angle, I decided that the most popular locations where tourists might purchase books would be Valletta (the capital of Malta) and the airport.  I emailed the main distributors, explaining the purpose of my communication and asking for a meeting to discuss the matter further.  In Valletta, I walked around the main tourist areas such as the city centre and the nearby sites of historical interest until I found a suitably positioned independent bookshop.  Then I made contact with the Manager of that shop via email, again explaining my purpose and arranging a meeting.

The meeting with the bookshop manager went well, and it turned out that she was the daughter-in-law of the owner.  I left a free book with her, which she prominently displayed, and asked her to contact me if it sold and if she would like more copies.  That same afternoon she emailed to say that she had already sold the book and I arranged to take in five more copies on a sale or return basis.

Then, unfortunately, she told me that she was leaving Malta with her husband, and I should deal with her mother-in-law in future.  However, the mother-in-law did not prove easy to contact, nor did she have such a good command of the English language.  In fact, neither did she have such a good understanding of promotional skills, nor with regard to customer care as her daughter-in-law; after all suppliers can also be customers!

After leaving it for some time, to allow an interval in which the books could be sold, I contacted her in the manner suggested by her daughter-in-law and made an appointment to meet while visiting the shop.  She was not there, but I did notice that there were now only two books left for sale on the shelves.  My second attempt to see her also proved to be a disaster, and therefore, I just turned up unannounced one day.  Luckily, on this occasion, I found her in the shop.  With some difficulty, I explained who I was and that as now there was only one book left on the shelf, my invoice was due for payment.  At first she protested, saying that she did not understand what I was talking about, but after some persistence on my part, she paid the invoice.

However, she did not want to take any further copies of the book on a sale or return basis despite the others having sold well.  Also, I was not confident of dealing with her in future, as it had been so difficult to obtain payment.

In my next post, I will describe my experiences with the two distributors who replied to my email.

My Marketing Experiences



Valletta Waterfront - where the cruise liners dock



My first step was to inform friends, relations and colleagues about the book I had written and where it could be obtained, in the hope that they would either purchase a copy themselves, or pass information on to others that it was available.

As I’ve said before, it can be embarrassing promoting what some would assume to be a commercial enterprise, to friends, relations and colleagues, many of whom would expect you to give them a copy free of charge.

However, after you have spent possibly around a thousand UK pounds on publishing, it could prove difficult for you to also have to cover the cost of printing several copies.  Some people could also be under the impression that publishing costs did include a certain number of copies printed free of charge, but this may not necessarily be the case unless the publisher offers a special deal; in that instance you might be able to obtain approximately 5 free copies which you should use for marketing purposes (see below*).

My second step was to contact the establishments I had mentioned in the book, ie restaurants, hotels, etc.  I made a specific point of arranging to visit them personally, presented them with a free copy* of the book, and in two instances, managed to persuade them to sell copies of the book on a sale or return basis.  In fact, the restaurant from where the view on the front cover of the book was taken, has proved to be my best marketplace with them having sold more copies of the book than anyone else, and one of reviews (Goodreads) materialised from a sale that took place there.  Unfortunately, now that restaurant has closed down due to pressures of the current economic climate, but I will be continually grateful for their support.

My third step was to visit a local bookshop in my hometown and arrange to take part in a morning described as “Local Author Signing” (Caxton Books).

I personally paid for this event to be advertised in a local newsletter that was distributed to 5,000 local households, arranged for free advertising in the local paper, and the bookshop also promoted the event.  Eight people turned up on the day to buy the book, have it signed and chat to the author, and several of those people I already knew.  In total I sold 15 copies of the book because there were some advance orders, and the bookshop kindly allowed for some to remain on their shelves, which were sold subsequently.  However, the profit from sales did not even cover the cost of advertising in the local newsletter.

My fourth step was to carry out some marketing in Malta – the small island where the fictional murder mystery took place. 

This was a further attempt to obtain free publicity which I will explain about in my next posts, together with providing some other ideas on where marketing can be achieved for just a small outlay.

Self-Publishing: Interim Summary (1)

Spring in Malta : A profusion of Wild Flowers

Each post I have issued so far tells the story of my self-publishing experiences in a similar way to individual chapters in a book, and therefore, it would make sense to read them in date order, ie

APRIL 2012

Being a Self-Published Author

- provides background information on the first book I have written and those I intend to write in future.

MAY 2012

Why Self-Publish?

- describes the options available to those who have written, or intend to write, any type of book whether factual, or a work of fiction.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Self-Publishing

- as the title implies gives a balanced view of how the advantages and disadvantages relate within the self-publishing environment.

The Other Disadvantages of Self-Publishing

- the information provided here may not be so obvious as self-publishing organisations will undoubtedly place more emphasis on the advantages of using their services and play down the disadvantages which authors may have to determine for themselves.

Self-Publishing: Lessons Learnt

- during my first self-publishing experience, I feel that I learnt a lot which will be of benefit to me in the future.  If any readers of this blog have some self-publishing experiences that they would like to share, do please contact me.

If you would like to read the posts like chapters in a book, select from the list to the right in the sequence shown above.

JUNE 2012

In my future posts (the first of which will be available next week), I will tell the story of my marketing experiences.