Trying to sell my book anywhere but on the internet is forcing me to confront my inner shy person. There’s a reason I didn’t follow my father’s footsteps into sales. For most of my life I suffered telephone anxiety. Anytime I had to call someone who wasn’t in my inner circle I would write myself a script so I’d be sure to get my request out as efficiently as possible. I’d make lists of the main points so I wouldn’t let my nerves run away with me and get off the phone before I’d finished getting all of my points across.
For me, the invention of email has been a huge relief. I can compose my communications as carefully as I like, proofread them and never have to confront a stranger who doesn’t already have some idea of what I want. Recent trends towards email bankruptcy - people who are so overwhelmed by the flood of incoming messages that they don’t actually read them anymore - are a major worry for me. I have had to pick up the phone once again.
The first stage of selling a self-published book was easy enough. I invited everyone I know to a book release party. Then I did a Goodreads giveaway and a Kindle promotion. So far so good. Now comes the difficult part: contacting libraries and bookstores to try to schedule readings. This requires making contact with strangers. I am feeling my way along, here. There are phone calls involved. I can psyche myself up for about one a week.
Lucky for me, my first foray went well. I contacted the Germanic-American Society in St. Paul and now have a reading scheduled there in the fall. I’m even trying to interest a bookstore in South Carolina in hosting a reading during an upcoming trip to Clemson.
Eventually I hope to get brave enough to talk to real people in person. A few weeks ago, I tried to gather the courage to ask a local bookseller how I would go about trying to set up a reading. Instead, I spent 20 minutes taking inventory of the memoir section and then slunk out deciding that I wasn’t quite there yet. Maybe next month.
