Networking

I just want to pass along an epiphany I had today while speaking with NY Times best selling and multi-award winning author Jodi Thomas. She was humble enough to sit down with me at Barnes and Noble and pass along some valuable information on marketing. I got to pick her brain for about an hour, and I learned so much, and, seeing as how this blog is meant to educate fellow writers, I shall not withhold my learnings. I shall share.
My first question to her was how she marketed her first novel. It was published in 1988, before social media, or at least as we know it today. Her answer was so simple it was shocking: You put yourself out there in every way you can possibly think.
But how does one do that when you can't reach thousands via Facebook, Twitter, blogs and websites?Another simple answer: You tell everyone you know, and in turn, make sure they tell everyone they know.
In other words, network!
Well, duh! Why didn't I think of that?
I guess I did, but in our society we do that by utilizing the internet. I guess I never stepped back long enough to think it through. Or I thought it through too much, really. Yes, it is an advantage to have the internet to reach people you don't know, but don't underestimate those you do know!
Jodi told me she had friends in different cities. She would travel to each city, telling her friends to gather their friends and meet her at a local bookstore or what have you. Same worked for family. They brought their friends and their friends brought their family, and boom, she would be pleasantly surprised with a crowd, which garnered attention from strangers who were curious about said crowd. The sales of her first novel eventually took off, and bam, she became known.
So the moral of the story: don't underestimate networking through family and friends by word of mouth. Out of all I learned today, that has stuck with me the most. I made a list of towns within traveling distance which are home to friends and family. Next, I plan to contact libraries, bookstores, or even coffee shops(anywhere that will house an author desperate to make her name known), and set up dates and times to do a book signing, or even just a little 'talk' about writing or my novel. Then I will have my friends and family bring every friggin' person they know who has at least read one book in their life, and well, there you have it.
One person essentially equals ten. If I learned anything working in retail, it was that. Don't forget the power of word of mouth.
And thank you Jodi for talking to me. When I'm a big time author like you, I will gladly pass along my knowledge to those who need it, just as you did for me today. Just goes to show, we writers are in this together!

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