Can anyone give me book promotion advice?

Call the local newspaper and also any local radio stations. An interview in print or on the air will go a long way to promote anything of local interest.

Walker is right. Local newspapers like to do book reviews for local authors, and often they'll also do stories.

Do I just cold call and say "I wrote a book, want an interview?"

Will they actually do that for me?

When I lived in TX, one of our local authors did book signings at some strange places. It's often hard to get your self-published book into big book stores, so he went about getting it into small gift stores in the area. That's where he did his book signings, and the gift stores loved the foot traffic.

I might have to look into that. We have a couple of used bookstores down where I live, but no small ones - just a B&N and Booksamillion.

Don't forget, most supermarkets also have bookshelves. Find out from the manager of one who does their book distribution (chains don't handle their own books) and arrange something with them.

Good idea, Walker.

And I was talking about regular gift stores and card stores. They always have some books. And they love helping local artists.

I've also heard to get in with local libraries, too. I didn't think about supermarkets. Thanks!

Libraries are kind of funny. Unless your book has a Library of Congress Cataloging in Process number (which you have the devil's own time getting for a self-published book), a library will not buy or stock your book (they're really lazy these days creating the card catalog). You can talk to your local head librarian, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

I was going to chuckle when you said only B&N and Booksamillion. The bigger the better, but have your ducks all in a row. Be ready to give a nice presentation to both of them and have the book there of course for them to see.

If the book is not yet self-published, and you are going for pre-sales, Good Luck! Are you a member of online writer's groups who have seen and admire your work? Are you connected with any local library writer's groups who might help in the critiquing department and may also want to get the book when it is available?

Have you checked out a great source to have your book published through, and have you read all of the fine print. I hesitate to name a source as there are so many. There are also a ton of scammers out there, so I caution you to be careful where you place your material. Do some research on the folks and find out if they are legitimate. Some folks want there book out there for others to read so bad that they will sacrifice the book's quality on the alter of poor choice.

These are ideas only. Pick and choose what work for you. Cheers, Don

Will a B&N or Booksamillion let a local author sell in their store? I would have to get ISBN number, I suppose.

You definitely need an ISBN, otherwise even stores can't order your book through Ingrams.

I am going to get the book printed via Lulu. I will most likely sell from my own site, but may also enable sales from Lulu. They take a big cut, but the book might get more attention on there versus my own site.

Lulu will take much less of a cut than Amazon, B&N, Chapters or Books-a-million. Standard discount for brick and mortar stores is 40%. Lulu only takes printing cost ($4.95 + .02/page).

If you want it in Barnes and Noble, I would try looking into their packages as well. They are a bookstore chain and they go by www.iuniverse.com If I self-publish in the future, I will seriously consider them. They have a few packages you could look over. That's if you haven't already signed on the dotted line, they take care of the isbn issue for you, I understand. Don

The last time I looked, their prices seemed very very high. I'll check again, though. I've used Lulu in the past and have been very satisfied with their products.

I just compared Lulu.com and iUniverse.com's cheapest packages and it still looks like Lulu has the best deal for the money.

I agree with you, and the ISBN is only $39 the last I looked and they take care of the barcode on the cover for you.

Who are you referring to? I paid a whole lot more through Bowkers, the official ISBN company.

If I use Lulu for my book and published under "published by you" plan, what does Lulu do the earn that 20% commission? I am in the process of having Lulu format my book but am not sure I'll use them for the print. Their website, etc. is too confusing. Have any of you printed through Lightning Source? They offer a good distribution plan with Ingram and all the others.

I plan on doing my own distribution - packing envelopes and all that. Mine is a little different because it'll be mostly local sales, so I am not really worried about international shipping or any of that stuff.

I haven't self-published, but we're a traditional publisher so I can give you some marketing tips. Someone mentioned Library Thing. That can be a good way to connect with local readers and you can offer copies of your book in exchange for reviews (there's an Early Reviewers program for publishers and a separate program for individuals giving away books). Also make use of local groups on facebook. I also recommend looking for local bloggers that have a solid following.

Regarding local media, find out who might have an interest in your book or writes the reviews. Get to know them through their writing and craft a pitch that will appeal to them. Don't just contact the editor of the publication, as your pitch can easily get buried.

You haven't said what your book is about, but you can perhaps approach local groups that might be interested in your topic to be a guest at one of their meetings. Libraries and bookstores often have book groups that meet in them but are independent from the store/library. If any of them have a history of featuring local authors, approach them to see if they're interested. Historical and genealogy societies are great (if your topic is relevant to them), etc.

Folks have mentioned bookstores and gift shops, but don't forget local cafes! You might be able to set up a reading or get in on an open mic event.

Anyway, those are just some thoughts off the top of my head. Hope they're helpful!

Thanks! I actually know the associate editor of a well-known local magazine, so I have a connection there. I want to do a two-month total media coverage where I live - hitting newspapers, magazines, ads. The idea is that for two solid months, my book will be everywhere.

By the way, the book is about Hurricane Katrina. I live on the MS Gulf Coast. It's NOT about New Orleans. =)