The Power of Book Talks

Writing Life: 4

This post may have more relevance for writers, but I hope it might be interesting to others, too.

Last summer I received an email from a reader who, for some reason, took the time to count all of my speaking gigs, year-by-year, on the Appearances pages of my website. He wrote to tell me that I had recently surpassed 1,000 book talks since my writing life began in 2008. I had no idea I’d addressed that many book clubs, festivals, schools, community service clubs, seniors’ homes, conferences, universities, churches, writing groups, fundraisers, and other gatherings. But it highlighted for me just how critical I’ve come to believe speaking gigs have been in whatever modest success my writing life has conferred.

Just a smattering of shots from speaking gigs. Probably more photos of me than you ever wanted to see. (Just trying to break up the text a bit!)

Why?

I’ve always believed that to be a writer who publishes more than one novel, there are really three mountains to scale. First, you have to write the novel. (No small feat.) Second, you have to find a publisher willing to invest in you by printing and distributing your novel. (Often just as difficult and frustrating as writing the novel.) And third, you have to promote the novel so that, no matter how good the book is, people find it, buy it, and read it in sufficient numbers to let you write another. (The oft-forgotten part of the publishing equation.)

If you simply rely on the usually marginal marketing efforts of your publisher (big or small) to promote your book, you’re throwing the dice and hoping for the best. This approach often leaves you with what I call “spine marketing” as your primary, sometimes only, vehicle for building awareness.

Spine marketing? You know, when the only way readers discover your book is if they stroll by the fiction shelves in their local bookstores and just by chance, the 1” x 8” spine of your book on the shelf happens to jump out at them. That's a lot of pressure to put on the spine of your book. (And in my experience, there aren’t too many truly compelling and arresting book spines out there.)

Spine marketing alone doesn’t sell many books.

Except in very rare circumstances (e.g. Margaret Atwood, Louise Penny, etc.), writers need to play a heavy role in promoting their own books if they hope to sell enough copies to earn a subsequent publishing deal. I can tell you without reservation that there are countless novels out there that are simply better books than my humble offerings, but that slipped into obscurity all too soon because their authors did not roll up their sleeves, overcome their anxieties—or sometimes pride—and promote their own work.

Often, writers are not comfortable putting themselves out there, standing at the front of the room with a microphone, engaging with audiences, and giving talks and readings. Public speaking is one of our primal fears as human beings. Many writers are introverts, while success on the promotional trail feels like a job for extroverts. To a certain extent this is true, but I consider myself to be an introvert who, at talks and readings and festival appearances, masquerades as an extrovert. It can be done.

I’m convinced that without the many book talks I give each year, my novels would never crack the bestseller lists. I think my appearances, such as they are, are essential in persuading readers to buy and read my novels. I like to think I’m able to make at least some kind of connection with small groups of readers that pays dividends down the road. Remember, word of mouth remains one of the most powerful forces in the marketing arsenal. It’s hard to overstate the benefits of creating small pockets of support in various parts of your region, province, and country. If you learn to be comfortable on your feet, engage in a friendly and open way with the audience, carefully choose a representative section of your book and read it well, hang around after signing books and talk with the stragglers, your readers are much more likely to enjoy your book, or at least give you the benefit of the doubt if they don’t love it. They will remember meeting you and will likely speak well of you to others. Again, word of mouth.

I get it. It’s hard for some writers to do this. But trust me, it’s well worth trying to get better at it.

How?

When my first novel came out, I remember emailing the head of communications at the Toronto Public Library and offering to visit branches to talk about, and read from, my new book. Did you know that there are 100 branches of the Toronto Public Library? That one email generated quite a few invitations from branches across the city. After my first few library talks where I managed to stay upright and make it through my slides without anyone leaving, more invitations came in. Word of mouth. I tried to bring a local bookseller (often the good folks at Book City) to sell books after my talk. Usually, there were only a handful of people in the audience and almost none of them had ever heard of me. But I hope they remembered my talk.

For each novel, I prepare a very visual PowerPoint—yes, a PowerPoint—to help guide my talk and keep the audience from having to look at me the whole time.

The cover slides for four of my eight novels. Well, I’m consistent!

There are very few words on the slides, but plenty of photos and other visuals that connect with the sentences coming out of my mouth. I hope my novels are funny. So I try to make my talks funny, too. There is certainly a performance aspect to giving a good book talk. I use no notes, and try not to be marooned at a lectern, though that’s not always possible. I use a remote to advance my slides so it all happens seamlessly. Each time I give the prepared talk on a novel, I get a little better at delivering it so that it eventually feels almost casual and conversational—that’s one benefit of preparation. I refine the timing of certain lines, when to pause, when to pick up the pace. It means reading the room and adjusting accordingly. The more book talks you give, the better you’ll become. And you’ll grow more comfortable doing something that isn’t usually comfortable.

Below you’ll find a talk I gave back in 2014 at the Madoc Public Library. If you happened to watch some of it, the camera operator pans to the audience now and then. It’s not a large crowd but still, I drove two and a half hours to Madoc, did my talk and reading, signed books, chatted up the audience, and then drove two and half hours back to Toronto afterwards. You’re wondering if it was worth it. I wondered, too. But I know that I now have a few readers in that Eastern Ontario community who at least know one of my novels and who seemed to enjoy themselves that night. That tips the balance in favour of the trek being worthwhile. (Then, rinse and repeat.) The audio isn’t great, but this is the kind of talk I give a hundred or so times a year. You’ll see at least some of my slides, too and hear my reading. I can tell it’s an early talk about my fourth novel, No Relation. I’m clearly still working on some of my lines and timing.

What’s a Probus Club?

You may not have heard of Probus Clubs, but there are thousands of them in Canada. Pro(fessional)Bus(ness) clubs tend to comprise retired business people and their spouses. There are mens, women, and mixed Probus Clubs. They meet monthly, usually on a weekday morning, and have a speaker at every meeting. There’s a limit of 150 members. If more are interested in joining, a second club in the community is formed. Collingwood alone has nine Probus Clubs (not counting the one in Thornbury next door), and I think I’ve somehow spoken to all of them, separately(!), over the years. I suspect I’ve addressed about 150 Probus Clubs in the last decade or so. If you give a good talk, word spreads and the invitations will start to come in. They will usually pay you a modest fee for speaking and allow you to bring books to sell (or bring a local bookseller with you, which is what I usually do).

It’s Worth it

So for writers who aren’t yet quite established, it means reaching out to libraries, festivals, Probus clubs, book clubs, and offering yourself up. I know it’s not easy and takes some work, but there is a pay-off. If you can generate a couple of speaking opportunities each month—and you perform well—you’ll see those numbers grow in future years just through word of mouth alone. If you’re already established and have won a few awards or have some profile, it’s more likely that invitations to speak will simply come to you, which makes it well worth the effort. I almost never decline an opportunity. This is a situation where the phrase “every little bit helps” applies. So when an invitation comes, just say yes, if at all possible.

I’ve been very, very fortunate in building a bit of a profile. Being lucky enough to have won a few awards over the years has certainly helped. As noted in an earlier post, winning CBC Canada Reads gave me a very welcome and fortuitous boost, for which I’ll be eternally grateful. Since, I’d say, about 2011 (no coincidence it’s the year The Best Laid Plans won Canada Reads), I’ve been able to do at least a hundred speaking gigs a year. By looking back at my Appearances page on my website, I see that 2014 was my high watermark when I gave 142 talks. Needless to say, it was a busy, busy year, but it really helped when my fourth novel, No Relation was published in the spring of 2015.

Speaking Gigs in 2014

You won’t be able to read these, but it gives a sense of the number of gigs I squeezed into 2014. They ranged from small bookclubs to large festivals.

Every once in a while you get invited to speak somewhere quite special. I thought I’d close with a shot from a talk I was invited to give on the floor of the Ontario Legislature in 2009, where I’d worked more than 20 years before. I spoke to an association of parliamentarians from various provincial legislatures meeting in Toronto for their annual conference. They kindly gave me this photograph afterwards.

A memorable talk I gave in the Ontario Legislature to a group of parliamentarians from across Canada for their annual conference.

So if you’re a writer with a book out, or coming soon, I strongly encourage you to put as much effort into promoting your book as you committed to writing it. That will give you the best shot at selling enough books to land a publishing deal for your next one. And then you do it all over again.

Thanks for joining me for this ride and stay tuned for more in a week’s time.