Dan Janal | Publicity and PR Leads Blog

Would you hold a book signing at a restaurant?

That’s what Ian & Margery Punnett, authors of  “Dizzy the Mutt with the Propeller Butt” are planning to do on  Saturday, August 7th from 9am-11am, at the Longfellow Grill in Edina, MN.

You gotta go where the buyers are, and if they think  that’s the place to sell books,, then more power to them! Let’s use this example to inspire all of us authors who are looking to sell more books.

Self-publishing guru Dan Poynter is famous for saying “bookstores are the worst places to sell books.” Let’s see if the Punnetts are on to something big and glorious that we can all learn from!

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No self-respecting publisher today will talk to an author who doesn’t have a large “platform” of followers who will by a book and a marketing plan that shows how the author will sell the book.

So how did Stieg Larsson become a best-selling author, years after he died without publishing a book in his life?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, his best-selling “The Girl Who…” series is a best seller in the US and from what I can tell from my visit to Madrid, all over Europe as well.

I don’t have the answers. Do you? Why would a publisher take on an unknown author, who is dead, and promote the heck out of his books when it seems like most publishers won’t lift a finger to promote a book from an unknown (living) author?

Any ideas?

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This month, we had a large number of alumni clients re-start their PR LEADS subscriptions. While we’ve always gotten new clients during this recession, and we  always had a few alumni resume, this month clearly showed a great trend.

Why? Many reasons, internal and external, with lessons that will help you grow your businesses:

1. This newsletter. I started this a few weeks ago after no having any consistent communication with my clients. Why did I stop writing the newsletter several years ago? Maybe I got lazy. Maybe I got complacent. Both are not good attributes. Perhaps just putting my name in front of people reminded people that they should get back on board. Maybe you should do some kind of communication with your clients.
2. The economy is improving. Stock market is up. Consumer confidence is up. GM is repaying loans faster than anyone thought possible. Home buying is up. Sure there are rough spots out there and the new economy has changed some business models, but things are definitely looking up.
3. Market consistently. There’s always a new gimmick and people grab at it. But 100 years of research has shown that doing the right things consistently always works if you keep on doing them, day after day, month after month. So do your PR, write articles, do webinars, teleseminars and speeches; and stay in touch with your  clients, prospects and alums, and get referrals. It all works.
4. Competition. Sure, we’ve all had competitors enter our space in the past two years. Looks like people have tried the rest and are coming back to the best. Remember that quality always wins in the end. Continue to offer great service to your clients and they’ll stick with you.
5. Marketing. I’ve started writing more articles, appearing on more teleseminars, webinars and Internet radio shows as well as offering helpful advice on Linked In, Facebook and Twitter. The result is that many people who sign up for PR LEADS put “web” or “Google” or “Internet” as the referral source. Online marketing actually works. Try it.
6. Listening to great advice from Alan Weiss, Mark LeBlanc and Christian Mickelsen. When you pay for great coaching, you are investing in yourself.
7. Law of Attraction. ‘Nuff said.

I’m sure the answer lies in all these factors and probably a few more that I’m too blind to see. So hang in there. Good times are coming!

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