Enterprising Writers - Buzz Your Books to Success by Lydia Teh

This is part of my series on Enterprising Writers, where self-published or other entrepreneurial writers can share their stories and tips.   

Lydia Teh is Malaysia’s bestselling author whose latest book Honk! If You’re Malaysian hit the top ten book charts, largely due to her dynamic marketing campaign. She is published by Malaysian publishers but although she is not a self-published author, I think a lot of her tips can benefit a whole range of writers looking to create a buzz around their book.

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Lydia writes:

Like a first baby, first books are special. I cherished high hopes for Congratulations! You have won. When my publisher asked me how many copies I hope to sell, I quoted an astronomical number. So far it has sold only a fraction of that figure. Castles built in the air vanished like soap bubbles.

When my second book, Life’s Like That - Scenes from Malaysian Life was published, my aspiration was tethered closer to the ground. I waited with bated breath for more than a year before my publisher could tell me how many copies were sold. Fortunately it chalked up a respectable four-digit figure which was considered a best seller (in the local context, anything above 1,000 copies is best-selling.) Personally I felt that the book’s performance was less than stellar, and it never made the top ten charts in our bookstores.

In Malaysia there is no national best seller list like the New York Times’. Here bookstore chains compile their own lists. Within the same chain itself, different outlets chart their own top ten.

Having played the role of a starving author for two titles, I was eager for my third book to jump from the warehouse into the best seller lists. And it did. From the week after its release up to now, seven months later, Honk! If You’re Malaysian has hit the top ten lists of most of the bookstores in Malaysia including MPH, Popular, Borders and Kinokuniya. Initially, it only aced the local chart but later it gave the foreign titles a run for their money too. To-date 9,000 copies of Honk! are in print.

Obviously I have done some things right this time which included these PR strategies :

1. Blog Buzz

After submitting my manuscript to the publisher, I ran a contest on my blog to search for a book title. I’m not good with coining spiffy titles and I figured that the contest would create a buzz for the upcoming book. Within a week, 241 titles were suggested by bloggers. One of it was the catchy Honk! If You’re Malaysian which described my book succinctly. It was love at first sight.

When the book was released, I organized another contest for bloggers to write a review of Honk! or provide a link back to their blogs. My aim was to spread the word about the book in the blogosphere.

A blog is truly a godsend for stingy or poor authors. It enables us to establish a web presence without having to fork out huge amounts for the design and maintenance of a website. It is also an effective and interactive tool for communicating with readers. I use it to post announcements on book signings and media appearances.

2. Press Buzz

If you want to sell lots of books, courting the media is part of the deal. If nobody knows about your book, nobody will buy it. You’ve got to shout to the world, “Hey! My book is out. Buy it!” And nothing spreads the word faster than extensive media coverage.

My stint as an encyclopaedia sales rep has thickened my hide a little. Since becoming an author, my skin has tripled in thickness (but it still has room for expansion.) I made cold calls to the media, asking them to interview me and write about my book. An author can’t afford to be bashful if she wants her book to sell like hot buns.

Since the publication of Honk!, I have been interviewed and featured more than two dozen times on radio, TV, the print media and the internet. Honk! has also appeared in the Singapore press and the World Journal published in USA.

3. Store Buzz

Publishers and book stores organize book talks as part of their marketing support for authors. Usually I’m apprehensive about conducting such events as I believe that only foreign authors, celebrities or well known public figures can draw a good crowd.

Still, an author has to do what she’s got to do to promote her books. I didn’t like to badger friends and family to attend my talks, but I did rope in my children, nephews and nieces to help out as ‘honkers.’

Armed with home-made sandwich boards and roti (bread) horns, the type used by hawkers to summon customers to their mobile stall, the kids traipsed through the mall to announce the book talks. Only one mall allowed us to do that, the others turned us down as they didn’t want their customers to suffer undue disturbances. The bookstores did let us blow the horn inside the store though.

Despite this innovative technique, attendance at my talks was poor. Some friends, writing buddies and bloggers turned up but I couldn’t always depend on them for support. I must get Joe Public to come. Two of the book talks were held close to Chinese New Year. On each occasion, I bought a box of mandarin oranges as prizes to award members of the audience who responded to my question of “name a Malaysian trait.” At another event held during a Bookfest on a weekday afternoon, the crowd was sparse. Fortunately I had bought some postal stamps to give away as tokens for a quiz I had prepared. That helped to pull in a decent crowd.

Though I didn’t sell lots of books during the talk itself, I would still do the rounds for the sake of store publicity. Bookstores promote the event on their flyers and website, they put up posters in the shops, they order a larger quantity of books and most importantly, they give the books a prominent display. Good visibility at the store helps to increase sales, and for that I must thank my publisher, MPH Publishing, for making five standees to attract customers’ attention.

So if you have a book to sell, go on and buzz your book to success.

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Photo: of Lydia’s team of “honkers”, thanks to Lydia Teh.

You can check out Lydia’s blog at http://lydiateh.wordpress.com/. Her media gallery showcases all her media and press activities and she has also blogged about her personal appearances and book event. Following the great success of her marketing campaign, Lydia is currently taking a breather from blogging to concentrate on other matters.