One thing most first time authors know or will quickly discover is however good your book is it will never be a best seller if no one knows about it.

There are two sure fire ways to get publicity and sell a book.

1)   If you are a celebrity and write your memoirs. In this age of celeb culture even if the book is rubbish they fly off the shelves. They are displayed by bookshops in prominent positions, pushed in the papers, magazines and on TV. You cannot fail to succeed.

2)   You have already written a best seller or two. Again your book is displayed in most bookshops, pushed in papers, TV etc., etc.,

So what about the rest of us? All that can be done is produce a website (more detail on that here). Post blogs, set up a profile on Facebook,  Myspace  and Twitter.  In short try and get yourself known by plugging away hoping that some day someone will notice.

Many book publishing coaches, marketing gurus and publicists still advise local book signings and readings. I do not think they work in our modern society unless of course you have written a book with a specific local flavour. Most small signings sell four or five books and will get your book on the shelf of a few local independent shops. But without recognition and serious publicity the book will stay on the shelf gathering dust (at least until it comes time for it to be returned).

So what can really be done? Not a lot! Just keep chipping away and hope for that rare lucky break.

That is unless of course you can come up with a killer idea. Even then it might not have the effect you are hoping for. Whatever you decide to do you need to be sure that it is relevant to your book.  If the people your killer idea attracts are not the type of person who will purchase and enjoy reading what you have written then you have simply wasted your time.

A case in point is the Naked Blonde Writer. Her killer idea is to read her first chapter in the nude. Great idea you might think especially if you have the looks and figure to pull it off. From her website there is media interest in her stunt and her Facebook fan club is increasing in numbers at an envious rate. However I suspect that a very few are interested in her book or what she will be reading.

I would lay odds that most people watching will not even register what she is saying.  So will she sell more books? Probably, more than if she had done nothing but a significant number? I would have to say no. Let’s face it the vast amount of visitors to her website will not be interested in the fact she has written a book.  There may even be a danger of putting serious buyers off. I can imagine the thought process now. If she has to do that to sell her books they can’t be very good can they?

Time will tell. If her sales rank on Amazon increases substantially and stays there then she is right and I am wrong

What do you think?

I have to admit it did give me an idea. Why not do a spoof version? If she gets loads of extra traffic then perhaps I could get some of it too. So what the hell (I hang my head in shame. What a hypocrite!).

So here is my answer to the Naked Blonde Writer; NOT the Naked Blonde Writer

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