Sutter Communications

We’re wild about words!

Only one way to write a book: Write!

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laptopI’ve been getting a lot of solicitations about online courses and webinars to teach people how to write a book.

These courses offer lots of tips and ideas such as software packages that will make it easier for you to write and organize your material, and tips about staying hydrated and eating the right foods for energy.

All of that is well and good, but really, the only way to write a book is to sit down and write it.

Here are some of my tips to get you into the mindset to write the book.

Schedule your writing time and stick to it unless there’s a true emergency.

If you’re writing at home, make sure you’re in a secluded place with the door shut and tell your family to leave you alone.

Shut off your email and your phone.

When you find yourself reaching for the phone, stop and get back to work.

Unclutter your desk or the area where you sit to write.

The first newspaper publisher for whom I worked was named Stu Awbrey. Stu was small in stature but a fabulous writer. He would walk around the newsroom of The Hawk Eye in Burlington, Iowa, and “tsk, tsk” at the state of some of our desks. He used to say, “A cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind.” To which I once heard a classified ad rep reply: “An empty desk is the sign of an empty mind.” I agree with Stu; all that stuff can be a distraction.

Don’t use “writer’s block” as an excuse not to write a book.

That comes from my years spent in journalism with constant deadlines where you had no choice but to crank out the story. Write something, anything, and then go back and revise later.

Keep a notepad handy.

Jot down any thoughts that interfere, like “remember to call the babysitter” or whatever.

Prepare for solitude.

Prior to sitting down to write, use the facilities and get a glass of water so you won’t be jumping up after 10 minutes.

Set a deadline and a reward.

Example: “I’m going to sit here for 90 minutes and only write. When that’s up, then I can take five minutes to do whatever I want. Then I have to start writing again.” Resist the temptation to check email in that five minutes because you will end up spending time on it. This of course only applies to days when you can set aside a large chunk of time to write.

Here’s the bottomline:

The world won’t end while you’re glued to your chair and writing. After a few successful writing sessions, I bet you’ll look forward to the solitude and escapism of writing your book.

What tactics work for you when you are writing?

Must-read for writers on how to self-publish

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typewriter_bookWriting and self-publishing a book has never been easier. I often get asked for advice from people writing a book or who aspire to do so.

Here’s a book on how to self-publish that I recommend: What Kind of Loser Indie Publishes? And How Can I Be One, Too? by Pamela Fagan Hutchins.

After I left my job as an editor at The Democrat and Chronicle to “rewire” (read about it here), I knew I wanted to write and publish a memoir about my family owning pharmacies for 90 years in Iowa. But although I’d written many articles, columns and editorials over my 33-year career, I didn’t know much about writing a book and self-publishing. So I read a slew of articles, blogs and books. This book by Hutchins was the most helpful. Here are five reasons why:

  1. Hutchins writes with humor and pathos. She takes you along her personal journey, having written and self published nine books at the time she wrote this one. As she says in the introduction: “I’m not a hybrid author who moves back and forth between the indi- and traditional-publishing worlds. I’m ground zero to 50,000 feet. If I can do this, and share what I’ve learned, maybe you really can do it, too. Don’t you think.”
  2. There’s no b.s. in this book. Her first chapter is titled: “Earn (no) money all by yourself (on the financial implications of traditional versus indie publishing.” This chapter is a great overview of what’s going on in the worlds of traditional publishing world and self publishing, with questions to ask yourself in deciding which route to go.  The bottom line is that it’s hard to make significant amounts of  money as an author so you better have other reasons for wanting to write a book.
  3.  Hutchins shares the aggravations she’s encountered, so you can anticipate and learn. In the section on “How to put yourself on the market,” she goes into great detail about the pros and cons of various e-book publishers. For example, she’s blunt about the challenges of working with Apple. It’s a lot easier to read her summaries before you go to each site to check out their terms.
  4. Throughout the book, she offers web links for everything she writes about. So if you read her book digitally, you can just click on the link and voila! you go to the site. The first time I read her book, I got a copy from the library. I liked it so well, I downloaded the Kindle version so I’d always have it as a reference.
  5. How you market your book will be just as important as producing a quality book. Hutchins’ advice about a marketing plan, giveaways, social media and more really helped me have a book signing event that was over-the-top in success. (Read about it here.) She provides a sample marketing plan, press release, etc. in the appendix.

If you’ve written a book, what advice do you have to share?

 

8 tactics for sellout book signing

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Sutter_front_cover_final (2)

After all the work of writing a book, the best reward is a book sellout!

In 2015, I wrote and published Sutter’s Sodas Satisfy: A Memoir of 90 Years of Sutter Drug Co., about my family’s business, which existed from 1903-1993.

I had a book signing at Burlington By The Book, in my hometown of Burlington, Iowa. It was an amazing success. I sold 99 books, every one that I had on hand, and the book store owner took orders for two dozen more that day. Here’s my to-do list of book sellout tactics that contributed to my success:

Writing a marketing plan.

Putting a plan on paper forced me to focus on public relations in advance, in addition to developing ideas for the event itself. I modeled my plan after ones I’d seen in books and on the Internet. Ultimately I didn’t do everything on the list, but I did much of it.

Book store owner Chris Murphy and Jane Sutter.
Book store owner Chris Murphy and Jane Sutter.

Develop a partnership.

Chris Murphy, the owner of Burlington By The Book, took the initiative to approach the Arts Center of Burlington, which resides next to his store downtown, and tell the assistant director, Hillaurie Fritz-Bonar, about the signing, about two months before it was scheduled. His enthusiasm was contagious, and Hillaurie came up with the idea to schedule a coordinating event involving “Pop Art” exhibits to draw people downtown to meet up-and-coming artists.

Build excitement in advance on Facebook.

Of course, we had a Facebook invitation page and I created a Sutter’s Sodas Satisfy Facebook page. But a key for my success was a page called “Pictures of Burlington, Iowa,” to which anyone can contribute photos (new and old). While I was writing the book and before the book event, I would post a vintage photo every few weeks. Some of these generated more than 300 likes and more than 100 comments. So when the book signing came around, people’s appetites had already been whetted.

Share part of the book in a blog.

My book signing was in May, and in March I launched a Sutter’s Sodas Satisfy blog using WordPress. Just like on Facebook, I shared interesting photos with a few paragraphs of information. On the right side of the blog’s homepage was information on the book signing. I promoted the blog via Facebook and Twitter.

Plan the book signing as an event.

I called it “Sutter Drug Store Homecoming and Book Signing” in press releases and on social media. I invited former employees and patrons to come meet other Sutter family members and reminisce. My mother, sister, and cousin were all there to greet people. And yes, many who attended were former employees and patrons who wanted to share their memories with me.

Be diligent about contacting local media well in advance.

I mailed press releases with copies of the book about a month prior to the event. The local newspaper did a large article with photos on the Sunday prior to the event (and covered it the day of). In the interest of full disclosure, I was a reporter at that newspaper in the early 1980s but almost none of that staff remain. The local talk radio station did a live interview with me on the Monday prior to the event.

Make the event participatory.

I asked people to share their memories on a poster board.
I asked people to share their memories on a poster board.

I had a poster board on an easel and colored markers and asked attendees to write memories using colored markers. Many did. It’s a treasured memento now, which I’ve shared on Facebook. I asked every person whose book I signed if I could have my photo taken with them. Most said yes, and my family took turns shooting photos with their iPhones. (You can see photos here on Facebook.) Another prop was a poster of a headshot of my great-grandfather.

Have promotional materials to give at the event.

My budget was limited, so I opted for business-size cards that simply stated the name of the book, my name and phone number, and the URL for the blog. I put a card in each book after I signed it.

 

I have two regrets from the day:

  • I didn’t have enough books with me, so when I returned to Rochester, N.Y., I mailed enough for the additional orders and then ordered more from my printer.
  • I needed a guest book that people could sign and include their email or mailing addresses.
  • I also would have had my family who took photos record the names of each person they photographed.

My homecoming and book signing event was memorable in so many ways, and I’ll apply what I learned to future book signings.