NEIGHBORHOOD AUTHOR Presented by Aimee & G. S. Wright WHAT IS - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

CONNECTING WITH YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD AUTHOR

Presented by Aimee & G. S. Wright

WHAT IS AN INDIE AUTHOR?

IAD 2016

DIFFERENT TYPES OF AUTHORS

• An “indie author” is a self published author.
• A “hybrid author” is someone who self publishes some of

their work and traditionally publishes other.

• “Traditionally published authors” are published by larger

publishing houses.

• Small press publishing and vanity presses are somewhere

in between. The authors are generally on their own with a lot of the work.

IAD 2017

WHAT IS INDIE AUTHOR DAY?

• Indie Author Day was created by industry leaders with an

interest in self publishing. They wanted a way to reach out to writers and libraries to market their tools and services.

• IAD is hosted by libraries and bookstores throughout the

United States and Canada.

• Idaho had 3 participating libraries in 2017.

– Boise Public Library, Boise, ID – Buhl Public Library, Buhl, ID – East Bonner County Library, Sandpoint, ID

• Sign up at indieauthorday.com

WHY DO WE PARTICIPATE IN IAD?

IAD 2017

WHY DO WE PARTICIPATE?

• IAD was announced and Buhl Public Library was invited to

participate

• BPL had already been doing author programs, so we had a

list of contacts

• Writers are patrons & patrons are readers
• Garth & Aimee had been participating in author events

across the state and had their own contacts, as well as an understanding of what authors need out of an event

• Garth wants to sell books

IAD 2017

WHAT DO WRITERS NEED?

• What are writer’s needs/motivations?

– Making contact with other writers and the outside world – Swapping ideas and knowledge with other writers; what works for them? what doesn’t? why? – Making contact with potential buyers – Selling books

WHAT ARE WE DOING???

PLANNING AN IAD EVENT

• The national IAD event site didn’t offer what I thought I

needed, but I realized that gave me the freedom to do what suits us best and to provide what our writers actually need, not what is “prescribed” (or marketed) by industry.

• My first decision was to expand to ALL writers, ALL ages,

at ALL levels of their writing journey; not just indie, not just published.

PRESENTERS 2016

“Creating” presented by Dave Erickson of Buhl “Finishing” presented by Garth Wright of Buhl

BASIC PLANNING

• Make a rough schedule

– How much time is available? – What do you want to include? – Food? Menu?

• Find your people

– Writers for workshops – Presenters for workshops – Authors for book signing – Customers for book signing

PRESENTERS 2016

“Publishing” presented by Patricia Marcantonio

• f Twin Falls

“Marketing” presented by Mechelle Fogelsong of Buhl

TWO EVENTS IN ONE

WORKSHOP

• Presenters
• Participants
• Networking
• Lunch!

BOOK SALE & SIGNING

• Authors
• Tables
• Customers
• Snacks!

Writers Book Sale Customers Writers Workshop

PUT OUT THE CALL

IAD 2017

WHO ARE WE INVITING? We NEED writers. The writers are our audience. Writers are the workshop attendees, the workshop presenters, the book sellers & often the book purchasers as well We also need customers for the book sale.

Writers Presenters Attendees Book Sellers Customers

RECRUIT

• Make a file listing every writer you know in the area
• Add every writer who has been involved in the library’s

past events

• Search the stacks for local authors
• EVERYONE knows a writer, ask EVERYONE to spread the

word

• Encourage writers to commit in advance.

You need to know how many tables for the book signing & how much food to prep.

• Don’t rule out people who are from out of the area. If

they are interested they will make a way to attend.

PRESENTERS 2017

AFTEN BROOK SZYMANSKI CODI GARY

COMMUNICATE

• I keep a list of past participants and people who have

shown interest. Some use email, some use Facebook, some I have to call. I start with this list, letting them know what’s in the works and try to get feedback for what they’d like to see.

• We have a Facebook group and use it plus email to keep

people informed.

IAD 2016

THE SCHEDULE

2016 SCHEDULE

Time Event 11:30 - 12:00 For writers: “Meet and Greet”, grab some food and settle in! 12:00 - 1:00 “Digital Gathering” presentation on YouTube with experts in their fields. 1:00-1:10 Break 1:10-1:40 Mini Workshop 1: Creation 1:40-2:10 Mini Workshop 2: Finishing 2:10-2:20 Break 2:20 – 2:50 Mini Workshop 3: Publishing 2:50 – 3:20 Mini Workshop 4: Marketing 3:20-3:30 Break 3:30 - 5:00 For EVERYONE: The public is invited to meet the authors, ask questions, and purchase books. Authors are encouraged to bring information and materials to share with the public, and, of course, books to sign and sell!

I tried to keep everything short & sweet. Everything flowed well, but seemed a little too rushed. We had lunch for the authors at the beginning of the day because we were starting at noon, and cookies for everyone at the book sale.

2017 SCHEDULE

Time Event 10:00 Meet and greet, introductions 10:15 Aften Brook Szymanski will speak on getting your book written. 10:30 10:45 11:00 Codi Gary 11:15 11:30 11:45 Break 12:00 Panel discussion 12:15 12:30 12:45 Lunch & videos 1:00 1:15 1:30 Author talks 1:45 2:00 2:15 2:30 Book sale and signing 2:45 3:00 3:15 3:30 3:45 4:00 4:15 4:30 4:45 5:00

I expanded the amount of time we had available, cut back the presenters to two and eliminated the IAD videos. I increased the amount of time for the book sale Things did NOT go as planned, but it was a fantastic event. I learned to roll with it and see what the writers wanted from the event.

CHECK IN TABLE

A sign in sheet Pre printed name tags for those who signed up early, blank ones available for surprise attendees Nice looking name placards for book signing tables

FOOD!

2016

• Hotdogs
• Chips
• Potato salad
• Soda & bottled water
• Cookies

2017

• Vegan chili
• Baked potatoes
• Butter, cheese, green
• nions, Fritos, etc.
• Coffee & bottled water
• Cookies

FOOD!

MARKETING INDIE AUTHOR DAY

IAD 2016

MARKETING

• Book signings and sales bring authors but I can’t advertise

a book sale until I have committed authors.

• I start out a couple months in advance, advertising for

writers.

• As the event nears I start advertising for readers to come

to the book signing.

• Create a private Facebook group to keep the authors up

to date as well as informative updates through e-mail.

IAD 2017

INTERNET

• The IAD website has free graphics and sample text to use

in promotion. If they don’t have what you want, just ask for it. They will create it for you!

• Create the event on Facebook, add it to your website, and

any other social media you use.

• Make sure there are shareable links for your event. Share

the heck out of it! Add it to town and area based Facebook groups. Encourage all involved to share it as well.

• Highlight participating authors and their books.

IAD 2017

PERKS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

• Easily shareable.
• No paper waste!
• I get contacted after the event by people who saw a post too

late, but they want to be in the loop for future events. I encourage them to join our Facebook group.

• Authors can use the group to privately share other events they

are participating in, ask questions, or share ideas.

• Facebook spreads wider than you expect. It brings in people

from out of our local area.

IAD 2016

EVERYWHERE!

• Put eye-catching flyers everywhere
• KMVT, Times News, Buhl Herald, whatever is available in

your area

• Allow people to use their talents to help
• Display participating author information, flyers and books

in visible places throughout the library.

• Talk to patrons about the authors, encourage them to

check out the books.

IAD 2016

ENLIST YOUR ATTENDEES

• Authors MUST promote these events. I stress to

everyone I speak to that they need to spread the word to bring in not only more authors, but customers for the book sale.

• Authors, who commit and spend time promoting the

event, attract readers who will come to the signing.

• Have your social media events and posts ready & easily
• sharable. Encourage writers to RSVP

, share the event & tag their friends.

IAD 2016

WHAT I LEARNED

WHAT I LEARNED

• Writers like to talk and share their knowledge. TELLING

writers that they have 30 minutes to do a presentation does NOT mean that they will believe you. Be ready to cut them off. Leave some extra time, longer than you expect, between the speakers and the signing, because speakers go over and there will be extra questions.

• Make sure the writers feel special, valuable & wanted.

What do they need to be comfortable? Special dietary needs?

IAD 2017

WHAT I LEARNED

• People come to the book signing to support their friends

and family, but appreciate cookies as well.

• BE FLEXABLE: hiccups happen, scheduling needs change,

roll with it. Don’t hyper plan, schedule things too tightly or freak out when things go wrong, because they will.

• Make sure things work. Authors like their coffee and it’s

hared to make coffee when the fuse keeps blowing. Start the coffee early enough that it’s ready when they get there.

IAD 2016

SOME WRITERS ARE UNPLEASANT, BUT MOST WRITERS ARE FANTASTIC

• Some of the authors

won’t like to play nice. Be respectful, but don’t allow disrespect either to you or the presenters. Tell them how it is.

• Most of the writers truly

enjoy and appreciate Indie Author Day and look forward to doing it again.

IAD 2017

HOW TO REACH US:

G.S. Wright https://gswright.com/ garth.s.wright@gmail.com Facebook.com/gswrightauthor Amazon.com Aimee Wright Buhl Public Library 208/543-6500 aimee.w@cityofbuhl.us Indie Author Day http://indieauthorday.com/