5 Creative Ways to Sell Your Book Locally
Thankfully, there’s a big pendulum swing happening when it comes to shopping:
People want to support local businesses.
Authors, this means YOU!
The nice thing about selling your book locally is that you can do what we talk about all the time at Evergreen Authors:
Build relationships and partnerships that go far beyond book sales.
Now is a great time to connect with local businesses and propose win-win opportunities to partner up.
Here are five creative ways we’ve seen smart authors do this locally:
1) Host an event at your local specialty store
This could be a bookstore, gift shop, specialty food store, or any other place that might be related to you, your brand, your book, or your genre. You are not limited to places that sell books!
In fact, if you can host an event at a place where your book will not have any competition on the shelves, you might be setting yourself up for some great sales.
2) Partner with local cooperative workspaces
Cooperative workplaces like WeWork and Regus are all the rage right now, for good reason. Not every workspace is the same, so you’ll want to do your homework.
Many of these cooperative workspaces host weekly events and they are always looking for new speakers.
You can pitch a workshop or webinar, a paid event, or simply ask to showcase your book somewhere prominent within the space.
3) Bring a copy of your book to local librarians
Chances are you will have to pitch a library event through the powers that be at the county level, however there is absolutely nothing like making a personal connection with your local librarians to see if they could host you for an event or showcase your book in some way within the branch.
You can also reach out to your local librarians via email if you’re not able to visit them in-person.
4) Consider senior centers, community centers, hospitals, day care centers etc.
We talk a lot about meeting your audience where they’re at and focusing there, instead of blasting your book to the entire world and hoping someone sees it.
Here are some questions to ask yourself to figure out where to find out where your ideal readers are hanging out locally:
Where do your ideal readers congregate?
What local organizations or community groups are they part of?
What activities or hobbies do they like to do in their leisure time?
What local professional groups or trainings are they involved in?
Then: Can you host a reading there, or maybe teach a workshop about the content of your book or the publishing journey?
5) Get a booth at a craft fair or flea market
Hear us out: this can be an amazing way to connect with readers, especially if your book is perfect to give as a gift.
Again, you’ll want to do your homework here.
Look for craft fairs and flea markets that have a large social media presence or a reputation for a large attendance, and be sure of this before you spend money on a booth.
A few important things to keep in mind about selling your book locally:
When we say host an event, we mean this very broadly.
Only you know what you’re comfortable with and what is feasible.
We will say, however, that the best events we’ve seen authors host go far beyond a simple reading at a bookstore.
Consider teaching something at your event or presenting on something that goes beyond the scope of your book.
You are not limited to an in-person event: webinars and teleconferences can be equally lucrative and can live forever as content on your website.
Emails to general mailboxes tend to go unnoticed.
See if you can find out who the person is that you need to connect with at any of these local organizations.
A personal connection is always best when you’re pitching to someone you don’t know.
Remember, the best marketing is about making a personal and authentic connection with people.
Need help better emails to pitch your book? Check out our bestselling Marketing Templates →
Focus less on selling books and more on creating an experience.
We think your best bet for straight book sales is through creating targeted ads with your book on Amazon.
READ MORE: Does Amazon Advertising work for books?
Your local sales should have a different focus, which is creating lasting partnerships and unique experiences.
Still stuck on what to do? Attend other author events!
This is the best way to get inspiration for your own offerings and connect with the right people.
