Class Act: Sell More Books Through School and Library Author Appearances

By Barbara Techel

Class Act: Sell More Books Through School and Library Author Appearances is the definitive guide to promoting your message and selling books to schools and libraries. And it's not just for children's book authors: It's the ultimate how-to manual for authors of any title of interest to these audiences, detailing how to
spread the message they were passionate enough to write about in the first place
get recognized as an expert speaker
book speaking gigs and personal appearances
and ultimately, sell more books!

Arranged in logical order, these chapters tell you all you need to know about proven methods for:
what to include in your presentation
How to tweak it to appeal to various audiences
planning and preparing your most effective speaking approach
locating and locking in appropriate speaking venues
what to charge
pitching and promoting your presentation
organization, planning and followup
fulfilling book orders that result from your talks
leveraging modern technology in speaking and promoting appearances

Much bonus material is included, such as:
Helpful preparation checklists
Real-world advice from other professional author/speakers circuit,
Immediately applicable tips & advice about what to avoid as well as what to do
A final chapter on helping your event organizer help you to succeed

A comprehensive index helps you quickly locate the information you need now, making CLASS ACT a handy reference tool you'll use again and again. If it's not in here, you probably don't need it!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barbara Techel
• Release date: Jul 12, 2011
• ISBN: 9780980005271

Barbara Techel

Barbara Techel is the award-winning author of the Frankie the Walk ‘N Roll Dog book series. She has shared her story of hope and inspiration about her dachshund, Frankie, who is in a wheelchair, with thousands of children and adults since 2007. To date they have made over 300 appearances in Wisconsin and many more via Skype to classrooms across the US and Canada. Barbara is also a speaker and publisher. Barbara and Frankie are avid volunteers as a therapy dog team. They routinely visit a local hospice community, hospital and senior assisted living facility, where they “walk their talk” about the inspirational nature of perseverance in the face of challenge.Since before her first book was published, Barbara has worked tirelessly to promote her books and the positive message they embody. She has garnered coverage for her story from local, regional and national media through these efforts, and continues to develop and refine her marketing message and approach. CLASS ACT is her first book about what she’s learned, but not likely her last.

Book preview

Front_ClassActCover.jpg

Class Act

Sell More Books Through School

and Library Author Appearances

Barbara Techel

MINI_GRAY_joyfulpawprints_press_logo.tif

Joyful Paw Prints Press, LLC

Copyright

Published by:

Joyful Paw Prints Press, LLC

Copyright © 2011 by Barbara Techel

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, extracted or transmitted by any means electronic or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or by any information retrieval system, without the prior consent of the author.

Disclaimer

This is an informational guide and is not intended as a substitute for legal or other professional services. Readers are urged to consult a variety of sources and educate themselves about the business of publishing and marketing. While every effort has been made to make this guide accurate, it may contain typographical and content errors.

The information expressed herein is the opinion of the author, and is not intended to reflect upon any particular person or company. The author and publisher shall have no responsibility or liability with respect to any loss or damage caused, or alleged to be caused, by the information or application of the information contained in this guide.

ISBN: 978-0-9800052-7-1

Updates

Web links and contact information change occasionally. If you see any contact information that needs updating, please email the publisher at [e-mail].

Photo Credits

Front Cover - Garrett Wusthoff

Back Cover - Julie Hauck

Interior Photos - Legacy Studios, Barbara Techel

Acknowledgments

Thank you to my marketing consultant, Mary Shafer of The Word Forge, for encouraging me and believing I could write this book; and for her expertise as editor in making it the best it can be.

A big and gracious Thank you! to all the authors who contributed valuable insight to the manuscript:

Melissa M. Williams – melissamwilliamsauthor.com

Ingrid King – ingridking.com

Joe Dwyer – shelbysgrace.com

Suzanne Lieurance – suzannelieurance.com

Mary Shafer – maryshafer.com

Linda and Allen Anderson – angelanimals.net

Lynne Carol Austin – lynnecarolaustin.com

Dayna Hilton – childrensbookauthordaynahilton.blogspot.com

Jenny Pavlovic – 8statekate.net

A very special thanks to photographers Michael McGill and Garrett Wusthoff for their artistic work on the shot for the book’s cover. Also to Principal Debbie Hammann of Elkhart Lake Elementary School for organizing the student photographer, the schedule and the classroom where we held the photo shoot, as well as to the early day care students who participated.

Thank you to indexer Carol Roberts of Roberts Indexing Services (robertsindexing.com) and last but not least, thank you to graphic designer Caryn Newton of Lantern Glow Design (lanternglowdesign.com) for her skillful layout and expert guidance in preparing this book for print and digital production.

About the Author

author_photo.tif

Barbara Techel is the award-winning author of the Frankie the Walk ‘N Roll Dog book series. She has shared her story of hope and inspiration about her dachshund, Frankie, who is in a wheelchair, with thousands of children and adults since 2007. Barbara is also a speaker and publisher. Barbara and Frankie are avid volunteers as a therapy dog team. They routinely visit a local hospice community, hospital and senior assisted living facility, where they walk their talk about the inspirational nature of perseverance in the face of challenge.

Since before her first book was published, Barbara has worked tirelessly to promote her books and the positive message they embody. She has garnered coverage for her story from local, regional and national media through these efforts, and continues to develop and refine her marketing message and approach. CLASS ACT is her first book about what she’s learned, but not likely her last.

Find Barbara Techel Online:

Website: joyfulpaws.com

Blogs: joyfulpaws.typepad.com, frankiethewalknrolldog.com

Facebook: facebook.com/barbaratechel, facebook.com/sellmorebookstoschoolsandlibraries

Twitter: twitter.com/barbaratechel, twitter.com/joyfulpaws

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/barbaratechel

Find Barbara’s special dog, Frankie, online:

Facebook: facebook.com/frankiethewalknrolldog, facebook.com/frankiesdisabledanimalrescue

Twitter: twitter.com/walknrolldog

Contents

Introduction

Content is King: What to Include in Your Presentation

Preparing to Present

Finding Speaking Venues

What to Charge for Your Appearances

Pitching and Promoting

Successful Organization and Business Steps

More About Book Orders

Some Final Thoughts

Introduction

Making personal appearances in and selling books to schools and libraries can be a wonderful source of revenue for an author.

To take full advantage of these unique settings to sell your book, you must first have a good overall understanding of how to market yourself and your book. That book must be of high quality, meaning it should be well-written, professionally edited and proofread, and produced to industry standards. Secondly, it helps to have the right tools at hand to help you easily promote and sell your book. That’s where CLASS ACT comes in.

In this book, I share everything I wish I'd known when I started out promoting my new books. I'm offering you what I learned through real-life personal experience. In this handy collection of tips and how-to's, along with all the forms and other resources I developed along the way, I want to save you the learning curve: Someone should benefit from all that hard work!

One of the best ways for you to promote yourself and your book is to just get out there and do it. That may sound funny, but it’s easy to think your way into an endless cycle of not knowing where to start, and so being afraid to get going. When it comes to book promotion, especially to libraries and classrooms, action is your friend. You’ve already taken a great first step by buying this book. Read it through, then begin talking with teachers you know, or friends of teachers. Let them know what you’re up to, and what you have to offer. Also, with the Internet and other technology we have at our fingertips these days, we have so many options available to help us connect with these potential presentation venues.

School and library budgets are not what they used to be, so considering Skype as a tool to connect with schools and libraries is another viable option for authors. This is a win-win situation for authors who can’t travel, and schools and libraries whose budgets have been cut. It’s also a great green way to support our environment, since it avoids auto and airplane emissions!

Personally, I find this a very exciting time to be an author, with all the changes occurring in the publishing industry: We have so many more ways through which we can connect with audiences than ever before. The advance of technology has also leveled the playing field, allowing more people to find the financial means and courage to share their stories. So, with this book as your guide and a little organization, effective marketing, consistent effort and referrals, you can be selling books to schools in no time.

Ready? Set? Let’s go!

Barbara Techel

Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin

May, 2011

Content is King: What to Include in Your Presentation

The beginning of every presentation is a promise, that the time and money your audience members part with to attend your talk will be rewarded with something of value to them. When you step in front of any group, there is an unspoken question in the mind of every member of your audience, no matter their age: What’s in it for me?

You need to take some time to think about how you will answer this question, so you can communicate the value of your message immediately and hold your audience’s interest: You have roughly ten seconds to do so before you lose them.

Take the time to think about and answer these questions, which will help you best determine the needs of your audience:

Who is the average person in this particular audience, and why are they attending my talk?

What goals do the members of this audience share in terms