Advice on selling your poetry

As of today I have sold $45,528 worth of my books of poetry. (And that's with bookstores taking 50% of the sale price of the books). In light of the fact that I started writing poetry six years ago at the age of 62, that's not bad. When I published my first book, owners of bookstores told me that ""poetry doesn't sell." And I think that is true if a poet is content to let his/her books sit on shelves in bookstores tucked snugly between myriad other self-published books of poetry. They won't sell. But there are other venues out there where they will sell and things you can do that could boost your sales..

Because I suspect that there are a lot of undiscovered poets on the Poetry Circle who would like to sell their books and get their poetry out into the world (and maybe put $45,000 in the bank at the same time), I am going to offer a list of things that I did that resulted in that pretty successful record of sales.

1) I found a terrific book rep who is a dynamo. I learned that a book rep does not have to be a professional. And s/he doesn't even have to have any training in how to be a book rep. My book rep, Holly, is not a professional salesperson. Her main job is raising three kids in the small town in which we both live, but she moonlights as my book rep. In that role she sets up readings for me, contacts bookstore and gift shop owners promoting my books, checks periodically with those stores to be sure they have enough of my books on the shelves. l pay Holly $25 for every new venue she finds for me, (either a store that will carry my books or a place that wants to host a reading) and then I pay her $1 for every book that is sold in that venue. So the more venues she gets me or my books into, the more money she will make.
This is a purely informal arrangement. I don't have a payroll of any kind. At the end of every month, Holly simply tallies up what she has accomplished and what she had to spend (long distance phone calls) lets me know, and I write her a check. I give her a Christmas bonus of $100, but that is about the only benefit or frill I can offer her.

I found it very difficult to go into bookstores with my books and hawk my own stuff. But Holly doesn't have anything to lose and money to gain if she pushes my books, so I let her do it.

2) I found a local person whom I can hire as a consultant, and then utilized as a many of that person's publishing know-how and skills as I could. What I'm talking about here is someone who has had experience in the publishing and printing process. who can format your manuscript, give you advice on paper colors, textures and quality, give you advice on fonts, and, If this person is computer savvy with lay-outs and stuff like that, s/he can format your book and give it a touch of class. (I designed the covers front an back, determined the order of the poems in the book, whether or not I was going to have chapters, whether or not I was going to have pictures, but I didn't know how to get this stuff organized on a computer screen. Scott my local editor did all that for me. It cost me between $300 and $500, depending on which book I'm talking about, and it was worth every penny. My books look like they were put together by a professional, and they were because I hired this guy.

3) I established a marketable theme for my books. I live in the state of Maine. Many of my poems are about the woods and waters and coast of Maine. So, in the titles of three of my four books, I got "Maine" in there. And even though my poems for the most part could be placed anywhere, as far as the public is concerned, they are "poems from Maine." People from other states perceive Maine to be a quaint little place where people talk funny and moose roam the streets, and so when they see "Maine" in the titles, they are more prone to buy it. I got a fan letter from a woman in England who summered in Maine and who picked up one of my books of poetry, I would guess because she loved Maine and there was "Maine" in the title She ended up loving the poems, but I think it was the "Maine" idea that caught her interest in the first place and lead to her discovering my poetry. ( She told me that my book now sits on a bookshelf in her house in Cheshire next to Robert Frost. What a delight to hear that.)

4) I focused on a specific market for my poetry. Because I'm in my late 60s and most of my poems are about experiences I have had or am having as a 67-year-old, many other people in their late 60s, 70s, and 80s, seem to identify with a lot of my stuff. Consequently I do most of my readings at retirement communities in Maine. Granted I get between six and 30 people attending my readings, but I haven't yet had a reading in which I did not sell a single book
(And the nice thing about readings is that you get 100% of the value of the books (as opposed to only 50% when you share it with the bookstore owner.) If you have a lot of poems appropriate for little kids, You or your book ,rep should talk to the principals of local schools, They can l et their teachers know of your availability.

5) At readings I make sure that every participant has at least one of my books in his/her hands. At the beginning of the reading as people come in, I ask them if they would like to read along with me. Many say they would and take a book. Some say they just want to listen, but I put one down next to their chair and tell them they can check out the pictures. When they hold the brand new book in their hands and read along with you, or simply hold it in their hands and listen to you, if they identify with the poetry they will connect with that book in their hands. I'm not saying that every person there buys the book because he or she had a book in her hands during the reading, I am saying that by having the book in their hands, they are more prone to ask if they can buy the book at the end of the reading. (And I need to tell you that using brand new books to hand out at readings does not in any way make the books less attractive to future buyers. I find that people take very good care of the books while they are on loan, and when I pack the books into the box, they regain their rigidity and their marketability is in no way compromised.)

6) I have had business cards made up for me to carry with me to readings. I have often had people tell me that they wanted to buy one or some of my books but they didn't have any money with them, and they didn't have their checkbooks I give them one of my business cards (that have my mailing address on them, ,give them the book they want and tell them to mail me a check. I have found that even people in assisted living facilities developing memory problems are still very conscientious about getting me the check in the mail.

7) I have copies of my books in most of the doctor and dentist offices in town. I check first with the receptionist. If she isn't in charge of the waiting area, she can tell you with whom you should speak. Some offices have policies that prohibit private promotional material being left in the waiting room. But, even when I encountered such policies, the office personnel rationalized that my books were books of poetry that enhanced the quality of the reading material in the waiting room and let me leave my books. I was surprised by the number of people who told me that they first became acquainted with my poetry at the doctor or dentist's office.

8) Lastly, I have to say that you could do all of these things, but if your poetry doesn't particularly interest most people, you still aren't going to sell many books. I'm lucky that my poetry appeals to many people, and I have learned that if I can only get them to start reading some of it, the poetry usually sells itself.

That's how I made over $45,000 dollars in the five years that I wrote and sold my poetry.

I hope this long-winded missive is helpful to somebody.

Good luck, if you try it.

Ken Nye

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