Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Where Else Can You Sell Books Besides Bookstores? by Morgan Mandel

Morgan Mandel at senior group.
With the demise of so many bookstores, authors who choose to have print books need to think outside the box about where to hold their book signings.

On February 22, I did a presentation for a senior group at Jameson's Charhouse. This was arranged by a travel agency individual who set up a Valentine's month outing with visits to a confectionary, a floral shop and then the luncheon where I spoke about romance, romance books and writing.

I had a great time and the audience was quite receptive. I'll be looking for similar venues in the future.

I'm almost through with my work in progress, Forever Young, and am more and more leaning toward self-publishing again. One reason is many of the publishers seem to be publishing in 2013.

I don't care to wait that long if I don't have to, so I'll probably go the Kindle route, plus Create Space for print at Amazon. That way I'll stay on budget, but still have books available for signings

What about you? What places do you recommend for booksignings, other than bookstores?  Please share.

Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com/
Killer Career now 99 cents on
Kindle and Smashwords.

9 comments:

Katie Hines said...

I did a book signing at our local library (actually went to three libraries), before which I did a short presentation to my target age group about writing. I engaged them in writing their own response to a sentence that I started, and we had a great time.

Lea Wait said...

I write a mystery series about an antique print dealer who solves crimes -- so I've done signings at antique shows. (I'm an antique dealer myself, so that helps!) This year my new mystery, Shadows of a Down East Summer, includes the diary of a young woman who posed for Winslow Homer in 1890, so I'm workng on a couple of signings/talks on Homer in art galleries, and in a 19th century inn that is one of the settings in the book. Libraries, for sure. And, of course -- book groups are great!

Cheryl said...

I held my first book signing at our church bazzar. My friends say that craft fairs are good for them too.

Mona Risk said...

I had a book signing once at our church, but I gave the proceeds to the church. Another time I held a huge party at my place, cooked dinner, and invited all my friends. Instead of bringing a bottle of wine, they bought my books.

Jan Christensen said...

As an RVer, I've held a booksigning at a campground, and plan to do more when another book comes out. I've also done a couple at libraries.

J.W. Nicklaus said...

I have done a signing at a large, regionally well known independent bookstore, and another at the Tucson Festival of Book which was held on the UofA campus.

I found the campground idea refreshingly original, and I really like the confectionary store for its romantic nuance!

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith said...

Library talks, writing groups, craft and book fairs, being willing to sub for a speaker who can't make it, coffee shops, art galleries, recreation centers, Inns, I've done all of the above.

Marilyn
http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com

Kaye George said...

I plan on trying the grocery store. Other writers have had success there.

Deb Larson said...

I've tried a pharmacy - didn't do too good there, a PowWow which went well on several occasions, and book stores that have been iffy and good, depending on the circumstances. Organizations have been a great outlet and so have book clubs. Craft shows are okay and libraries are usually pretty good too, although it's good to remember folks at a library are used to reading great books for free!
DL Larson