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Yo Ho Ho And A Bottle Of Rum
Yar! Ahoy, mateys, this be the end of Talk Like a Pirate Day. It did be spent at Oktoberfest, and with me little sister and her hound coming aboard our ship. Or something. I suck at talking like a pirate, so that's all you're getting.
So, Oktoberfest. There was not!oompah music (They didn't have a tuba. I felt gypped.) There was beer (that I didn't drink). There were pretzels. (I don't think they were big since they only cost a buck. I wouldn't know for sure since I never saw one.) And there was lederhosen. (Dude, lederhosen!)
Also, there was a local author book signing. My mom participated because she is in fact a published author in the local area. Yay Ma!![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cho_malfoy and I were there to help out and lend emotional support. What we really ended up doing was coming up with ideas for how to build confidence, speak in public, and sell books.
These ideas are also slightly edited to expand upon what I wrote.
1. Start with hope in your pitch: When trying to sell a book, don't tell someone something dark, like everyone dies at the end. Say something positive, like they're all in a better place at the end.
2. Take a deep breath before you speak: A trick I picked up in a speech class. Taking a deep breath increases your oxygen (duh!), which in turn lowers the pitch of your voice. A deeper voice carries better.
3. Roleplay for confidence if needed: I noticed a lot of things I said about confidence in my notes boiled down to acting like Don Draper or Barney Stinson. I'm surprised I didn't make a note to suit up.
4. Create an image: Trying to sell a book? Try to make yourself look like a happy, confident writer.
5. Speak up: We were next to traffic and not!oompah music. Using your six-inch voice just wasn't going to work.
6. Don't go straight into the pitch: Some of the other authors, when they saw people walk up, would immediately start describing their book and why it's awesome. No hi, how are you doing lead-in. If a person is really curious about your book, they'll ask for details after you get the basic social pleasantries out of the way first.
7. Push the website: One of the writers apparently was telling people who couldn't buy the book at the moment that if they visited the website, there was currently a special on shipping. Great idea.
8. Keep a positive attitude: I'm going to sell all my books!=yes I hope I sell a book.=no
9. Color is key: Wear a color that draws attention (within reason). If possible, match your table display colors with the book cover. Pleasing to the eye attracts people.
10. Handouts: Something to remind people of your book. They can use it as a bookmark or something and be reminded every time they see it.
11. Personal connection: If there's a personal story that goes with the book's writing/creation, let people know. It makes it more interesting/memorable.
12. Have a wingman: Worried you'll be ignored? Have a friend wander around and occasionally come over to talk to draw attention, who also understands to move on as soon as a customer walks up.
13. Author events are a team effort: Mostly they're boring, so you should bring someone to talk to.
14. Don't air your opinions of the stupidness of the general public: Whenever popular books come up, I start badmouthing Twilight readers. Thankfully, onlycho_malfoy was around to hear me.
15. Book summary: If you want to put some sort of paper display with your books, a summary works well since people won't have to pick up the book and flip it over.
16. Take responsibility for your own work: My mom offered to letcho_malfoy and I try to sell her book since we were so impassioned about it. Of course, the point of this event was to have authors autograph their books, so there wasn't a point to us doing it.
17. Having a poster helps: Something big and shiny that draws attention? Always a good thing.
So, Oktoberfest. There was not!oompah music (They didn't have a tuba. I felt gypped.) There was beer (that I didn't drink). There were pretzels. (I don't think they were big since they only cost a buck. I wouldn't know for sure since I never saw one.) And there was lederhosen. (Dude, lederhosen!)
Also, there was a local author book signing. My mom participated because she is in fact a published author in the local area. Yay Ma!
cho_malfoy and I were there to help out and lend emotional support. What we really ended up doing was coming up with ideas for how to build confidence, speak in public, and sell books.These ideas are also slightly edited to expand upon what I wrote.
1. Start with hope in your pitch: When trying to sell a book, don't tell someone something dark, like everyone dies at the end. Say something positive, like they're all in a better place at the end.
2. Take a deep breath before you speak: A trick I picked up in a speech class. Taking a deep breath increases your oxygen (duh!), which in turn lowers the pitch of your voice. A deeper voice carries better.
3. Roleplay for confidence if needed: I noticed a lot of things I said about confidence in my notes boiled down to acting like Don Draper or Barney Stinson. I'm surprised I didn't make a note to suit up.
4. Create an image: Trying to sell a book? Try to make yourself look like a happy, confident writer.
5. Speak up: We were next to traffic and not!oompah music. Using your six-inch voice just wasn't going to work.
6. Don't go straight into the pitch: Some of the other authors, when they saw people walk up, would immediately start describing their book and why it's awesome. No hi, how are you doing lead-in. If a person is really curious about your book, they'll ask for details after you get the basic social pleasantries out of the way first.
7. Push the website: One of the writers apparently was telling people who couldn't buy the book at the moment that if they visited the website, there was currently a special on shipping. Great idea.
8. Keep a positive attitude: I'm going to sell all my books!=yes I hope I sell a book.=no
9. Color is key: Wear a color that draws attention (within reason). If possible, match your table display colors with the book cover. Pleasing to the eye attracts people.
10. Handouts: Something to remind people of your book. They can use it as a bookmark or something and be reminded every time they see it.
11. Personal connection: If there's a personal story that goes with the book's writing/creation, let people know. It makes it more interesting/memorable.
12. Have a wingman: Worried you'll be ignored? Have a friend wander around and occasionally come over to talk to draw attention, who also understands to move on as soon as a customer walks up.
13. Author events are a team effort: Mostly they're boring, so you should bring someone to talk to.
14. Don't air your opinions of the stupidness of the general public: Whenever popular books come up, I start badmouthing Twilight readers. Thankfully, only
cho_malfoy was around to hear me.15. Book summary: If you want to put some sort of paper display with your books, a summary works well since people won't have to pick up the book and flip it over.
16. Take responsibility for your own work: My mom offered to let
cho_malfoy and I try to sell her book since we were so impassioned about it. Of course, the point of this event was to have authors autograph their books, so there wasn't a point to us doing it.17. Having a poster helps: Something big and shiny that draws attention? Always a good thing.