First check ever from Organic Books in Albuquerque

We began our in-person efforts as novice book marketers this week. Many authors have told us that marketing a book is even harder than writing it. That hasn’t been true so far, but neither have we seen much in tangible results. We have promises, but we’re not counting our chickens before they’re hatched.

Writing a press release took an unbelievable amount of time. I finally resorted to ordering Sandra Beckwith’s book on Kindle, which arrived in minutes and proved very helpful in an easy-to-follow-straightford way. (Get Your Book in the News). I’d looked at several online sources and found them contradictory.

One hurdle was getting the book-cover image to show up in an email copied from a Word document without making it an attachment or a PDF, two things we’d been warned not to do. How hard could that be? Very hard, it turns out, but I think I’ve finally got it.

Next: what to do with the press release and how to get it to whom? We’re still taking baby steps on that. We were thrilled when veteran Albuquerque Journal writer David Steinberg agreed to take a look at the book. So, on a hot Tuesday afternoon, we found our way to his house. He had given us precise directions, and we should have found it easily, but I had transposed two numbers in the address and ended up running around in a confusing 3-way intersection on foot, seeking a house that Google Maps placed on an empty lot. Fortunately, I checked my email and found the correct address and David himself.

The next stop was Organic Books, a lovely small bookstore new to me. I had sent them a press release a day or two before but had no reply. When I later checked, I found the message marked “undeliverable.” I’d mistyped the address. That’s happened more than once! Reminder: take my time and double-check those addresses!

Kelly Brewer, the bookstore owner, welcomed us and asked Kent, “What’s your book about?” I left him to talk while I ran to the hot parking lot to get another copy. She said she’d take two and wrote a check on the spot. Our first in-person sale! She told Kent, “You need a little practice describing your book.” We’re now practicing and picking out passages to read for book talks.

On Wednesday, we gathered a stack of books with press releases tucked inside and headed to Santa Fe for our regular night at the opera. Our first stop was Bookworks in Albuquerque, our longtime favorite neighborhood bookstore. We offered to leave the book with a young person at the counter, who accepted it with indifference. But another fellow behind the counter observed the interaction and grabbed the book. “This looks great!” he said, apparently judging the book by its title and cover. It turned out he’s a sailor — and he’s promised to read it!

Our second stop was the Travel Bug on Paseo de Peralta in Santa Fe. I remembered being impressed with its great selection of travel books and supplies. Again, we were warmly welcomed, but this shop did not want a printed press release or a copy of the book but wanted us to send it electronically. We enjoyed looking around the store and chatting with a friendly customer who knew someone who built boats in Norway. She was drinking a yummy-looking cold drink — a mocha smoothie –, and before we left, Kent and I shared a large one, purchased a book, and got walking directions to Collected Works Bookstore.

Collected Works also declined to take a copy of the book or press release and handed us directions to email the store owner and the event coordinator. We’ve since been invited to give them two books they will sell on a commission basis. We haven’t pursued scheduling an event yet, but we are scheduled for a presentation at the Travel Bug on Saturday, August 26, a5 5 pm. We’ll let our Santa Fe friends know! We also have an event scheduled for Treasure House Books in Albuquerque’s Old Town on Sunday, September 10, 1:30-3:30 pm.

The next dilemma is the mailing list. You may receive an email from Jacanapress@gmail.com shortly, asking if you’d like to continue to get emails from us — we may end up in your spam box. Someone has told us they “strongly discourage” using a “free email” that ends in Google.com, but hey, at the moment, we’re just trying to get the word out about ONE book and hope we’ll find some readers who will find it worth reading and pass the word on to friends, local bookstores, and libraries.

A final story: Kent’s nephew, who is a much more famous Kent Kedl, was flying back to his home in Shanghai from a visit with family and wrote to Kent:

Unc Kent,

I was in the US for a few weeks and spent time in Minneapolis … where I was handed a copy of your book. I read it on the flight back to China … and it’s REALLY good! I had really only heard of your adventures secondhand from Mom and Dad, but reading about it directly from you and Pam was amazing. I’d always loved talking with Pam because she was so well-read, articulate, and acerbically funny, but I never knew what a great writer she was. It’s so good that you could retrieve those letters.

Thanks again for a great read!

(the other) Kent

In a second email, he said, “A flight attendant asked what I was reading, and I told her the background. She thought it was interesting and took a picture of the cover to order it!”

So, the book is gradually making its way into the world. Subscribe to our blog to receive notices when we update our adventures in book marketing and share other news relating to We Ran Away to Sea.