Sexy Six Authors Q&A #9:Who could/would help a writer to sell books?

This post would be the continuation of Q&A session with the Sexy Six team and in case you’ve missed the 8th post, here is the link to it.

It’s a pleasure to interview the six sexy authors from the Sexy Six team. A warm welcome to our blog and we hope that you’ve enjoyed the interview session with us.

We’ve asked them a few questions and the answers for each question from all six of them will be published as a series. Let’s check out question #9

Who could/would help a writer to sell books? 

Chris Lange 

Fans. I’m a huge fan myself, I love my favorite authors and I’m sure they love me too.

Leanore Elliott

Your fans. Many of mine have sold lots of books for me.
Jennifer Theriot

I think getting your name out there is paramount. Word of mouth and networking .  If you have a good product to sell, then don’t be afraid to get youself out in the book buying world. Every famous writer had to start somewhere. Just do what feels right. ?

Maggie Nash

That’s a tough one…I think the best thing to help sell books is for the writer to write more books!  Reviews also help..but their needs to be a high volume.  Positive or negative, it doe t matter really.  My lowest rating book continues to be my best seller.
Morticia Knight

Readers are the answer. I know I tell my friends, ‘OMG – you have to read this book/series ! ‘ and they buy it based on my recoommendation. I do the same thing, and most of the time they’re right. There are many books and authors I never would’ve known about if they hadn’t been recommended to me. I can’t think of a better way to sell books.

Sandy Wolters

That’s a good question that I just don’t have the answer to.

Advertisement

MARSocial Special Interview: Question & Answers #9

Hello everyone! So, finally we received all answers from our participants from MARSocial author network. Are you excited to read the answers yet? Question #9 is “Who could/would help a writer to sell books?” by Jaro Berce.

Let’s check out the answers from all 11 author participants !

1) Coleman Weeks

Readers and other authors, for some the biggest challenge is themselves

2) Viv Drewa

Social media if you’re an Indie. Otherwise agents or publishers.

3) K. J. Rollinson

See the answers to question one. Of course, you can pay for advertising, and you can also pay reviewers and others, e.g. Twitter accounts to advertise your books for you.

4) Sam Reese

I’m not sure I understand this question exactly, but I think family, friends, and a publisher if you have one would do all of this. As for who could, I’d say anyone could. Like all things, selling books is about building relationships and a fan base.

5) Neil McGowan

Anyone with an interest in books! If you’ve read something that moves you, tell others; leave a review. Promo sites are okay but unless you pay for it, you don’t get massive exposure and even if you do, there is no guarantee that you will recoup your outlay. Also, the authors themselves can drive interest in their work by interacting with people via social media, being visible at local festivals and events, giving interviews etc.

6) Marion Lovato

Family and friend, if they’re supportive, could really help sell your books just by word of mouth.

7) Jaro Berce

My, my … the toughest question to which I do not have an answer. If I had, I’d be selling my books in tons.

8) Marie Lavender

Tough question.  I think writers automatically assume that being an author is easy.  When they first approach the idea of publishing, they think, “I will write books and someone else, the publisher most likely, will sell them.  Easy!”  No, it’s really not.  And it doesn’t work that way anymore.  The industry has changed.  The term of “author” is changing.  Now an author has to be part writer, part marketing genius.  Publishers now are looking for writers who can not only write, but market themselves, basically “sell” their own books.  New authors tend to get jaded by this fact.  And, I agree, it is exhausting.  So, if you’re lucky, you get with a large publisher that has a whole marketing team to help you.  But, in most cases, you don’t have that.  And, even if your publisher has some marketing tools in place, they won’t cover everything.  You have to learn to be more than just a writer.  You have to be an author.  You have to sell your product.  You.  And your books, of course.  

Who else helps a writer sell books?  Fellow authors usually help by endorsing books or talking about them in social media.  Word of mouth is the best tool, though, and the best source is from readers.  So, how do we go about getting that?  That goes back on the reader in some ways.  All I can suggest is this.  If you are an avid reader of a certain genre, do your favorite authors (even if they are indie authors) a favor by doing these two things:  1) Leave a review.  You have no idea how much that helps an author, especially a fledgling one, sell books.  Be honest about what you liked or didn’t like, but be fair.  What one person doesn’t like may actually be someone else’s cup of tea.  2)  Tell your friends and family about this author and the books you loved, and why.  Chances are someone will get curious and look them up.  Word of mouth is everything in this business.

9) LaRae Parry

Good question, Jaro. The best way to sell a book, hands down, is word of mouth. Readers who like your books will help sell them.

10) Theresa Moretimer

The media can help you sell books if you have a great press release. In my case, the persons involved in the prevention of domestic violence can help me due to the fact that write about it and I speak pubicly on the warning signs and what I personally went through.

11) Annie Edmonds

Well Jaro, I think anyone can help a writer sell their books. Readers do it all the time without knowing. One great review can sell books. Or telling a friend about a good book is helping the author sell books. 
 
Those two things are what I think every writer dreams about. Word of mouth and good reviews. And by the way as long as the reviewer is not attacking the writer their review can help that author sell books. 

The next question is “Who could/would help a writer to sell books?” by Jaro. Stay tuned with us for the next post !