Category: PR and Marketing

Book Publishing 101: 5 Ideas for Getting Your Book Sold on Shelves

Posted on by Claire McKinney

books sold

Getting your indie or self-published book sold in stores isn’t easy. Even if you have an account with a well-known distributor like Ingram or Baker & Taylor, these wholesalers aren’t going to proactively market your book to libraries and bookstores. They may add your book to a catalog or newsletter (for a fee), but you’ll have to do much, if not all, of the work yourself.

See our detailed blog post about the subject in “Book Publishing 101: Why Your Distribution is Disappointing.”

Here are a few ideas we recommend you try to get your book sold in stores:

  1. Ask friends to request the book. Ask your friends and family from anywhere and everywhere in the country to request or ask about the book in their local bookstore. Also have them try to take the book out at the local library, so that the library can become aware that it exists. This is a small thing, but it’s a great word of mouth tactic.
  2. Visit individual stores. Go to, or call, bookstores and libraries individually and “sell” your book to them. Ask for the manager or book buyer (or, for libraries, to speak to a librarian) and explain who you are and what your book is. Offer to send them some of the reviews, press materials, and a copy for them to check out.
  3. Offer books on consignment. Most booksellers will consider taking the book on consignment, and you may need to fill out an agreement. Make it as easy as possible for the store to say “yes”.
  4. Small press programs. For a chain like Barnes & Noble, check out their small press submission programs, located here on their website.
  5. Book clubs. If you know anyone in a book club, ask them to consider using your book for their club (which may meet in a local bookstore or may least be connected to one). To jump start your research, Where Writers Win has a database of book clubs in each state.

We have worked with many indie authors who have had success hand-selling their book to stores. A few of them have their books carried in regional Barnes & Nobles, or have their book sold by their local indie bookstore. It is a labor intensive process, but if you take it one step at a time you will see results.

Thanks to Sharon Noble, who asked about getting books into stores on the comment section of our Where Writers Win article!

Clowns in Greenville: Is it a publicity stunt, or the real thing?

Posted on by Keely Flanagan
Pennywise IT publicity stunt
The OG Pennywise the Clown, Stuff of Nightmares.

This week, news outlets started writing articles about clowns that have been hanging around an apartment complex in Greenville, SC, trying to lure children into the woods with money (New York Times has a great, hair-raising story about it). Some of the initial thoughts that popped into my head were: Is this real? Is this a publicity stunt? If it is fake, this is crazy. If it’s real, I am disturbed.

The first version of Stephen King’s terrifying movie IT, portrayed in the ‘90s by Tim Curry, has provided me with the life-long fear of clowns. I know that I am not alone in this fear because there is an official phobia for it (coulrophobia). It just so happens that a new version of IT will be released in theaters in 2017. Earlier this summer the studio released a “first look” of the updated Pennywise the Clown.

These clowns that are hanging around Greenville can, according to children, be found in a house back by a pond. That immediately made me think of the scene in IT when the one kid goes into the abandoned house and flies out of there on his bike. These clowns that are coming out at night, trying to lure children into the woods, sounds an awful lot like a real-life version of IT. Which makes me wonder, is this a publicity stunt for the new movie?

If it is, it is brilliant. Using a small town in Maine would be too obvious. But a small, up-and-coming Southern town is subtle enough to be extremely creepy. It also reminds people that there is in fact a movie coming out next year about the world’s most infamous and evil clown. If that’s the case, we will see if a viral news story about clowns sneaking around a town, somehow managing to evade the police but not regular civilians, can get people into theaters in 2017. It is nothing if not creative.

Companies have been extremely innovative like this before with a publicity stunt, to the demise of others. In 2007, book publisher Algonquin promoted their book An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England by sending letters from a Beatrice Hutchins to book section editors at newspapers, asking for the main book character to burn down Edith Wharton’s house. People were not too thrilled. (Read more from the 2007 review at Washington Post.)

When it comes to using clowns to scare people, even if it is clever, it is also wrong in so many ways. There’s the safety of the community: scaring children and pretending their lives are at risk is morally flawed. Who’s to say there won’t be copycats who do in fact want to kidnap children? There’s also the fact that the police are on the case, using their time and resources to investigate. No publicity stunt is worth putting people’s lives at risk or causing fear to an entire city.

And if these clowns that are flashing lasers at night in the woods, hanging around an apartment complex, and waving at women in the streets are real…We’ve just entered a Stephen King novel.

Publicity 101: 5 PR Skills You Won’t Learn in Class

Posted on by Keely Flanagan

College PR Skills CollegeDegrees360College: an experience like no other! The end of summer is nigh, which means students are heading back to their dorms to prepare for the next four months of studying (partying) and classwork.

Although a college degree in public relations will provide you with many PR skills that you will be able to use in your career, like writing press releases or pitches, there are just some things that your public relations 101 or even advanced public relations classes won’t be able to teach you. Theory is one thing—but going out in the real world is another!

5 PR Skills You Won’t Learn in Class:

How to make contacts. Sure, you have Facebook and a bunch of LinkedIn connections with former classmates, professors, and even some of the people you worked with in an internship, but media contacts are precious items that you’ll gather as you build your career as a publicist.

How to network. Your professors may force you to go to a networking event or two, but you’ll learn how to talk to people once you start going out to conferences and meeting reporters or bloggers over coffee.

How to talk on the phone. As a publicity assistant you’re going to be making a lot of phone calls that may come with some “ums,” “ahhs,” and awkward silences. Pitching over the phone is something to be learned dialing phone numbers, not from a communications book.

How to implement a plan. I’ve taken a class or two on content marketing, but the only real way to understand what it is, how to implement it, and how to fine tune the plan is to start it—otherwise you’ll never know what the results will be.

How to make clients happy. For the next several years, you’re going to cooperate with different clients who have different personalities, and expect different results. As you continue to make relationships with your clients you’ll get a better understanding of who they are and what they want.

Public relations is harder than it looks—that’s what publicists and communications experts are for. When you get a job in public relations, you’ll learn to excel at these PR skills and be on your way to becoming an experienced publicist!

Tweet at @mckinneypr with your college stories—or “eye opening” moments in your career!