I had just done my first well-publicized well-attended book signing. After sitting at a lonely table all day, being ignored by shoppers in a university bookstore, I sold four books. My income for the day was slightly higher than what I could earn at McDonalds in just one hour. Plus, at McDonalds, I could get free fries.
Getting the book published was hard enough. Now, I needed to sell enough copies to make a living. With a traditional royalty of 10% and a cover price of $16.00 per book, I calculated that I’d need to sell a whopping 200 books per day to make my target annual income of $80,000. Even a much more modest income of $40,000 would require selling 100 books a day.
When I wrote out these numbers, I reached for my pistol, planning to take the easy way out.
Through some excellent friends at the Toastmasters Organization, however, I was lucky enough to see some light at the end of the tunnel, and contrary to the advice that most people give after a near-death experience, I ran to the light.
My new friends, who were all professional speakers and trainers, suggested that getting on the paid speaking circuit might be an alternative to suicide.
As a published author, you are an expert in the field on which you wrote your book. As a result, you can get yourself booked as a public speaker. Later on, we will discuss countless venues for speakers, and how to book yourself, but first, let’s look at why speaking beats signing.
A speaker can take a more active and aggressive part in the sales process, without hitting people on the head. Instead of sitting at a table, and waiting for people to come to you, you will prepare and deliver a speech (usually 45 minutes to one hour) to a captive audience at some previously arranged event. Maybe you will be presenting at a company conference or an association meeting. Either way, the PR, invitations, and arrangements are done for you. So, at the very least, you will have bodies in the room.
As a speaker, you actively present your opinions and ideas. You give people a preview of what is contained between the pages of your book before they go through the work of reading it. If people like you, they will buy the book. In fact, people will buy the book just to have you sign it, even if they have no plans of reading it. Remember, you earn the same if they read it or not.
An accomplished speaker can count on a high percentage of attendees buying his book. This is not true of the author sitting quietly behind a table at a strip mall.
Selling Your Book
Every speaking venue is different. Some venues pay a fee, others might allow you to sell books in the back of the room. Some will do both and others will do neither.
If you are able to sell your book, arrive early. Before you speak, set up a table to display your books. Hanging a poster is a good idea, so that people will not just walk past the table. Making up postcards with your book, title, photo, website, and contact info is an excellent idea also. Some authors have given away items, such as cups, mugs, stress-relief desk toys, or bookmarkers, all with their book title, name, contact info and photo. You can either give these away to anyone who asks for them, or you could include them with the purchase of a book. Have your table set up before you go on stage. This way, as people file in, they will stop and look at it. Make sure the announcer mentions the table when he does your introduction. He or she should also tell people that the books might be purchased at any time, even during your presentation. While you are speaking, you will also mention the table. And be sure to bring a copy of your book to the front with you, so that people can see it.
What to Talk About
If you are a non-fiction author, the subject of your talk should be easy. You will talk about the content of your book. If you are a fiction author, however, you may find that people don’t want to listen to the story line for an hour, but you could create a non-fiction talk that relates to the theme. For example, if you write historical fiction, you may want to talk about history. Louis L’Amour wrote almost exclusively westerns that were fiction, but he was regarded as a foremost authority on the old west and toured the country lecturing at universities, giving non-fiction talks about the history of the old west.
Jack London is often considered the first celebrity writer. He was a well-paid and sought after speaker. He endorsed products and posed for photos. Mark Twain launched his literary career by self-publishing a book and then selling tickets to speaking engagements, which he arranged himself. Jack Kerouac and Charles Bukowski were such colorful characters, they were asked to speak all over the USA and Europe.
Whatever subject you wrote about, it must have some basis in fact, and you must have done some research. So, that is the field that you want to talk about. During the talk, of course, you can relate back to your book.
Paid Bookings!
As a speaker, you can actually get paid to give a presentation, and, generally, you can still sell your books at the back of the room. Can you imagine the local garden society paying you $200 just to go speak for an hour? That is the equivalent of selling more than 120 books. Even if you only sell an additional ten or fifteen books, you will have done well for one hour’s work.
According to data published by professional speakers organizations, the average full-time speaker earns $220,000 per year. Becoming a full time speaker, charging thousands of dollars per booking is probably not your goal, and it may even detract from your writing. The point is that the money is in the speaking. If it is numbers of books sold, rather than dollars earned, that interests you, then think of a man like motivational speaker Tony Robbins. He speaks to audiences that number into the thousands and sells books into the millions.
You can speak for a small fee, a large fee, or no fee. Regardless of the fee, the important thing for the author is that every speaking engagement is opportunity to tell a large number of people about your book.
Where and How to Get Bookings
Schools, universities, libraries, clubs, civic associations, political organizations, special interest groups, and even big corporations all hire speakers to give presentations. The variety of speaking venues is endless.
Concentrate your efforts on the area closest to your home before you start investing money and time traveling to other places. You can do Google searches on your computer to find nearby organizations. Make a list of keywords that you might use to search. For example, every town or city has a number of writers groups. Contact them and ask if you could be a speaker at one of their meetings. There are also writing classes at night schools and universities. They love to hear about writers who have managed to publish their work. They may be interested in hearing a talk about the steps leading up to publication. Next, think of other themes. If you wrote a book about classic cars, find a classic car club. If your book deals with family, find organizations related to children, education, mothers, fathers…the possibilities are endless.
My books, for example, are all first hand accounts of my adventure travels in Southeast Asia. As a result of the years I spent living with monks, boxers, hill tribes, teachers, police, and politicians in various countries, I have become a de facto expert not only on martial arts and adventure sports but also on Buddhism, Asian languages, culture, history, and politics. And I have been booked to speak about any and all of these subjects both in person and on radio interview shows. The venues where I have spoken have run the gamut from universities and public schools to bars, restaurants, libraries, clubs, associations, churches, and martial arts clubs. Since I left my high-paying job in New York after 911 to pursue an adventure life, people also see my story as inspirational. Now, nearly all of my speaking engagements are as a motivational speaker. These bookings are extremely well paid, with speaker fees running into the thousands of dollars.
The Pitch
Start by writing out a detailed description of what you will talk about. For example, "areas covered in my book Trials of the Single Mother, such as budgeting for the family, raising children alone, finding a new partner…" In your contact letter or e-mail, tell the title of your book and the subject. Then, in a methodical and detailed manner, explain what it is that you will talk about. This assumes that you have already done your research on the group you are soliciting, and you have tailored your pitch letter to those subjects that should appeal to them.
For example, if you are speaking to a group of terminally ill patients, you might not want to start with a tagline like “Achieving your dreams is a conscious choice.” Or if you are speaking to a group of women against the Super Bowl, you probably don’t want to have a pro-sports slant to your cover letter or in your talk. Even though it is the same book I’m pitching, I want to lead with that aspect that would most appeal to your listeners, so I modify my cover letter and my talk depending on whether the group is more interested in linguistics, culture, comparative religion, or business.
Whenever possible, send your pitch by email. Email is cheap and you can reach the greatest number of organizations in a single day. Use a Google search to find websites of the groups you want to target. Click on the “Contact Us” box and record their email address. The research takes time, but once you have built up a database of contacts, everything will go smoothly and quickly. You can buy mail merge or client data programs that allow you to send your pitch to hundreds of recipients at the touch of a button.
If you must send your pitch by post, include a flyer, brochure, or postcard featuring your book. Follow up with a phone call three days later. Suggest a specific date or time frame when you would like to speak. The date you suggest should be at least two months away, and many clubs plan their schedule six months in advance. If they tell you they are already booked for that time, ask them what their next availability is.
Additional Opportunities
Rather than just setting up a booth or a table at a trade fair or garden show to sell your book, arrange to get yourself billed as a speaker. As you become more proficient in your public speaking, you should actively seek out radio and press interviews, too. The more interesting you are, the more times you will be invited back as a guest. Every successful booking you have this year can translate into one booking next year. By marketing continually in your first year, you should be able to completely book up your calendar for your second year.
Selling more books can help you get a better, more lucrative contract with a bigger publisher for your next book. Use your speaking engagements and interviews as a bargaining chip in your negotiations. Publish the interviews on your website along with MP3 or wave file recordings of your speeches and interviews.
Speaking makes you an expert. Being an expert sells books. Selling books makes you an expert. Your speaking will support your writing. It will give you more exposure and opportunities and lead to more lucrative book contracts.
