Book Marketing Tips - Events

Have you tried Live Events?

So a couple of weeks ago I went took the stage at a convention, twice in fact. I have organised and carried out a talk before, it was on 10 steps to writing sci-fi. This time I decided to base my lessons around building a universe. I love doing talks, probably because part of me always wanted to be on stage, but it is a really good opportunity to set yourself up as someone who knows what he or she is talking about. Obviously it does help if you understand the subject matter and can write an engaging talk. 

These talks are a great way to market your book, without obscenely pushing it down your audiences throats. Ensure that the topic corresponds in some way to the theme of your book and find ways of using it as an example. Also use of your book cover in some of the imagery works on the sub-conscious so that the audience will feel like they recognise your book.

If you have taken on a booth at the show then make sure you reference to people where they can come if they have further questions on the subject, thus drawing reference to your book/books without ever mentioning it.

The second way I took to the stage was in a Q&A panel, dedicated to self-published authors. This was a great opportunity to answer questions on both myself and my book, allowing me to be more direct in my approach to self-marketing. It was also useful to let people know more about what was coming up and what was new. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and even if the audience themselves don’t have a whole lot of questions the moderators are there to keep things moving. 

Recommendation is, if you have the opportunity to appear on stage to talk or be questioned at a live event, then do it. Nobody can speak more eloquently about your book than you, give everyone the chance to hear you.

Good luck and keep going.

Written by Martin Wallace