Pitch a Pair

When I saw this article at the Shelftalker Blog I was immediately impressed by the simple, yet creative book marketing idea it portrays. In a nutshell, an author who wrote a book about salamanders and she let a bookstore know about it. It was such a great fit for the area (that has a lot of salamanders) the bookstore decided to host not only the author, but a naturalist who could bring live salamanders to the event as well. They did a presentation together, a total win win all around for the author, the kids, the nature center and the bookstore.

Whether you are trying to entice a group or venue to host you as an author, think bigger, think beyond one book one author. This author was blessed to have the bookstore so excited that they did the legwork to expand the event themselves, but it won't always be that easy for everyone. It will be more likely that you'll need to at least have tentative ideas (make sure they'll fly if you pitch them) so that the host understands you're trying to eliminate as much hassle as possible.

Have you ever successfully paired up with someone else or pitched a full event around your book? Hope you'll share and inspire the rest of us.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Cause You've Got Personality...

There's a song with lyrics that go something like "cause you've got personality, walk with personality, talk with personality...

Whether you're researching a publishing opportunity or how to sell something you've written, those lyrics point out a key consideration many people overlook- personality.

What I mean by this is sometimes writers (myself included) look at dollar signs, effort (word count), and similar quantitative factors when considering an opportunity. All of these things are important for sure, but they're only part of the equation. In my mind, it's just as important to consider if the task fits your working style, if it fits your introverted or extroverted nature, or simply whether or not you'll enjoy it.

True, sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do in order to make ends meet etc. But whenever you can, go the extra step and I can almost guarantee you'll be happy with the results.

If you'd like to read a bit more on this topic, you can find a recent article of mine here