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BREAKING NEWS!

An American Family in WWII has been vetted by Smithsonian Museum curators and is now on sale at National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. and Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles, Virginia.

Author Dr. Sandra O'Connell will be reading from An American Family in World War II at the Brooks E. Kleber Memorial Readings at the Army War College in Carlisle, PA on November 4.

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Dr. Tom Costello, Publisher

HOW TO TURN
A DREARY BOOK
SIGNING INTO THE TIME
OF YOUR LIFE

September 02, 2010

You’ve seen celebrities at their book signings—lines out the door, paparazzi, security, banners, balloons, posters, and lots of advance publicity. Take it down a notch and have a look at the author who may even have had a top selling book or two. Upon arrival, this author is directed to a waiting table where books are nicely displayed with a poster or two. The store manager hovers as a medium-sized, but enthusiastic group gathers. Shoppers will watch with interest and some may venture over to see what the fuss is about, and there will likely be a steady stream of fans drawn by store displays and advance advertising. Have a look now at the first-time, independently-published author who has had no advance publicity: This author may arrive at the bookstore only to find that not a single employee knows anything about a book signing. It might take a good half an hour before someone figures it out and sets up a table and chair somewhere in the store. There may be a mad scramble to locate the books that the store manager may have ordered. Sometimes a single poster has been tacked up somewhere. But there is nothing to identify the author at the signing table, leaving customers uncertain as to why this person is sitting at a small table with a stack of books on it. Some may think the uncomfortable-looking individual is there to wrap gifts. Some, not wanting to be shamed into buying something they don’t want, refuse to make eye contact and walk in wide arcs around the table. Sounds grim but this can be turned around. Rule one for new authors is that book marketing must begin by focusing on getting media publicity before thinking about book signings. Once an author has a scheduled newspaper, magazine, television, or radio interview, it is time to set up as many book signings as possible. Most make the mistake of doing it the other way around. Secure the publicity, schedule the book signings, and then promote the signings in your interviews. A week or even two before your signing, make certain that the bookstore has ordered enough of your books. (It’s always good for them to have at least 50 books on hand.) Pack your car the night before the book signing. Bring lots of pens, adhesive tape and push pins, ten to twenty copies of your book, business cards that promote your book, copies of your press release, at least two posters, a banner, a card table with two folding chairs, three to five helium-filled balloons, a basket of candy, a note pad, and a camera. If you have clipped any newspaper or magazine articles about you and your book, have them laminated to set out on your table at the book signing. It is important not to go to a book signing alone. Bring husband, wife, grown child, friend—but bring someone, even several someones, to help you. And if you can get a whole bunch of people to come and play the part of a crowd of enthusiastic fans—it can only help.
If the clerks at the book store are clueless about your book signing and don’t even have a place for you to sit, have your assistant carry in your table and chairs and set them up in a high traffic area of the store. Put a poster or banner on the front of the table. If possible, affix a poster or banner above and behind your table.
Bill Davis, of our most successful authors, ordered a free-standing, life-size photo cut-out of himself posing as one of his characters to use at signings. The first time he used it, he completely sold out of books. Make certain there is a good size stack of books on your table with at least one book face-out. Tie the balloons to your chair, set out your business cards, laminated articles, basket of candy, press releases, and keep your notepad handy. Be sure that your assistant takes lots of photos of you signing books and hopefully surrounded by people waiting to buy your book. Almost everything suggested above are things that a bookstore will not do for a new author at a book signing. But remember, by allowing you to sign your book in their store, booksellers are granting you precious retail space in a high-traffic area and that’s to be appreciated. The success of your book signing is really up to you and what you put into it.

News Archive

Legal Advice Book Publishing

Business Book Publishing

One of the best ways attorneys can market their law office is to write a legal advice book. If you are an expert in a specific area of law, becoming a published author catapults you ahead of the competition. You'll spend far less publishing a book than you spend for a Yellow Pages ad - and you'll quickly learn that a book is a far more effective form of marketing.

If you own or manage a business, one of the best things you can do for yourself and for the business is to write a book. This is a more effective form of advertising and promotion than any newsletter or brochure could ever be. As an author, you achieve a credibility and stature that only few business people attain.

Childrens Book Publishing

Christian Book Publishing

Most people who want to publish a children's book are surprised to discover that a book filled with full color illustrations will cost more to produce than they can sell it for. You can have a full color cover, course. And if you want to you can even include up to four pages of color illustrations.

The growth of Christian bookstores over the last few decades testifies to the enormous interest in this subject. If you have an inspiring story to tell - a story about faith, hope, peace - there are people who want to read about it.

Cook Book Publishing

Fiction Publishing

The world seems to have an insatiable appetite for cookbooks. Many cookbooks are merely catalogs of recipes. What we like are cookbooks with personality and we can help you to get your cookbook out into the world. And we can also help you to turn your collection of recipes into a profitable fundraiser for your church or service organization.

Fiction continues to be the most popular categories among writers, even though all of the evidence shows that fiction is the most difficult to sell. If you want to write a novel that can find a niche audience, try the approach of two of our writers: that is, ground your fictional story in the kind of facts that readers can measure.

History Book Publishing

Biography Publishing

In recent years history has become something of a national pastime. We can't seem to get enough of the past, and now the bestseller list includes many history books. Community histories have caught fire around the country, and interest in genealogy has made family history books increasingly popular. We have also noticed a growing interest in company/corporate histories.

You don't have to be rich or famous to write an interesting, successful biography or memoir. But if you have the ability to be brutally (or even humorously) honest about yourself, people will read it. They'll read it because the truth about anyone's life...the unvarnished and detailed truth...is endlessly fascinating.

Military Book Publishing

Non-Fiction Book Publishing

Books about military experiences, and particularly books about World War II, are among the most popular in the nation right now. If you have a war story but you need help with the writing, Word Association can help turn your memories into a book.

Non-fiction is a vast and popular genre. It encompasses all that is written about actual events and real people. It can be a real life mystery, love story, even a comedy. Sometimes there is a thin line between fiction and non-fiction; sometimes non-fiction can be told in a story form like a novel.

Poetry Book Publishing

Self-Help Book Publishing

Few people write poetry to make money, so although we encourage manuscripts from talented poets, we do so with the tacit understanding that you will keep your day job.

This is the section in every bookstore that rings up the highest sales. If you've got a book about how to make people healthier, wealthier or happier, you can sell a lot of books.

Sports Book Publishing

You don't have to be an athlete to write a book about sports, but you do have to be an impassioned expert in some phase of it. Books about golf sell in the millions, and we've got quite a good one on our list. Books about running have been hugely popular for more than 20 years now, starting with The Complete Book of Running in the 1980s. And a sports book doesn't necessarily have to be non-fiction. Check out our superb thriller, Runners' Blood, a novel with a solid scientific grounding.

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