End of the year coming up, and what a busy year it has been. My book, Murder on Route 66, came out in July, I took a six week motorcycle tour to promote it, we went through two (either hundred, or five-hundred year) floods, and still managed to make our annual trek to rural Florida for the winter. And now at year's end I just put my book up on Kindle. Check it out http://tinyurl.com/867y8zo .
Don't laugh, for me this meant conquering a big technological hurdle, even if most of it was mental.
There were other mental challenges to take on during the year as well. Before I hit the road, I had contacted a number of places I thought might carry my book. I made a point during the tour of visiting as many as I could. I'm a strong believer in face-to-face contact. This wasn't always easy. I hate trying to be a sales person, and I respect the fact my book, any book, is not suited to everyoe. I did it anyway. Somewhat difficult, but it did pay off in some books being ordered that might not have been picked up otherwise.
In a similar vein, I hate making cold calls, but I made it a point to stop in at places I felt might be potential markets for my book. When I was a teenager looking for a summer job, my mother gave me some excellent advice. She convinced me I should go up one side of the street, then down the other, making a job pitch at every business I encountered. I had a job long before the day was over. I didn't pitch my book at every business on Route 66, but I used some of the same principle. Some places turned out to be interested, others didn't. In those cases where they declined, I still made out. I learned. Knowledge is power.
Sometimes success is a matter of luck. At other times, success is in the details. In Tucumcari, the setting for Murder on Route 66, the Chamber of Commerce held a signing for me. I had a great time, and a great turnout. They had done a terrific job of promoting the event before I got there. Great attention to detail. For example, when I arrived for the signing, Lisa Laureault, the director, asked me to park my motorcycle at the entrance to the building. The bike drew attention. It sparked interest. It told people the guy doing the motorcycle tour was on the scene. It let everyone know the guy inside wearing a bandana and biker clothes was the author they had heard about.
One important lesson I learned was to not put too much store in all the things I thought I knew. I had heard not to bother with independent book stores, and I had heard I should focus on them and forget about the big chains. What I learned from experience, was that preconceived stereotypes are unreliable. Some events will work, and some won't.
Overall, I felt the tour went very well, and was a terrific thing to do. I met a lot of people, introduced my book to (hopefully) future fans, book stores, and shops. And, how could I go wrong taking my bike on a sixty-five hundred mile road trip? What I would do differently would be to do even more promotional work in advance, especially trying to get articles and interviews in newspapers and journals. Every day on the road was a set of opportunities, but most of the work had to be done in advance. Once on the road, there was no such thing as advance time. It was all execution.
I always have fun revisiting my trip. I hope you enjoyed your vist to my blogspot. You can also visit my website, http://www.glennnilson.com/ , or e-mail me at ride2write@yahoo.com . Most important, have a good year, and enjoy the ride.
Glenn
