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Originally Posted by Moejoe
Offer a free t-shirt, or pay for the t-shirt and get the download. And you can sign a t-shirt too. That's what I'm going to do, sometime, maybe, in the future 
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Excellent idea!
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Originally Posted by plumboz
Moejoe,
The t-shirt idea is spot-on. Like going to a concert or play, if you want a physical souvenir of the experience, you buy a t-shirt. I guess another option would be a "program" featuring a short essay by the author on the subject of the book. How it came to be written, how many people he/she knows will be irritated at seeing themselves as unflattering characters, the number of cups of coffee that were spilt on the keyboard during the production of the thing, something like that.
Souvenirs, that's what's wanted!
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I seem to have a collection of those T-shirt souvenirs.
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Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
Book signings aren't too fair or practical when your "fans" are quite literally all over the map (as mine are). And a signature doesn't increase a book's worth... it only signifies that you came within speaking-distance of the author. For about ten seconds.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
OTOH, being able to connect with fans directly, online, can give everyone a more direct and enjoyable experience. Fans can actually engage in individual and group dialogs online, and really interact with an author, not just push a sheet of paper at them, then get pushed aside once it is signed.
I'd like to see something like that replace book-signings, an online "e-book opening," with some other offering to replace the signed whatever... possibly a personalized digital file sent to each person who signs into the online space.
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Oooooh, this sound like a great idea.
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Originally Posted by Lord Raiden
Well, as I said, I'm not opposed to the new way of doing things, or any new way for that matter, however, I don't want to abandon an old way until it's tapped out. Being in tech for 15+ years, I've grown tired of forced obsolescence, and just dropping an old way of doing things just because there's a shiny new way frustrates me to no end, as I'm sure it does for an incredible number of others. And if I hate getting left behind, imagine how they feel.
Plus, book signings have a special magic to them you either don't see, or have forgotten. The magic of having your 30 seconds in front of an author and having them sign your book is not only hugely exciting for some people, but it's also a great way to connect with fans and increase your chances (by as much as ten times!!) that they will in turn share that excitement with others, which will automatically increase your sales with little more effort on your part than a few simple pen strokes.
Now, if you had the chance to no less than triple you sales merely by doing a few book signings for those "poor out of date people who are behind the times and/or locked in the literary stone age", could you honestly say no? Dude, it's simple economics. Heck, if standing on your head for an hour a day clucking like a chicken could increase sales, I'd do it. Never dismiss a potential sales avenue just because it's "out of date". Sometimes those "out of date" people are loaded and have friends who are too!  |
Sad to say, I do have friends in this category and they do get excited about those few seconds in front of a "celebrity".