Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Back to the normal routine

Well it's been a long few weeks. First I was sick, then I had a long two week business trip to Florida and Arizona...but now all that is over and I'm back to the normal grind.
The meeting I was in Arizona was an eventful one. Met many new folks, re-connected with some old friends and sold some books. I'm finding that if you sit in the lobby of any hotel and talk with someone about your book, more are soon to follow...
I was signing a book for an old friend and as we were talking a young lady about 30 sat down next to us and "eavesdropped" until she felt comfortable enough to join in. After buying a book, she asked how long I would be around. I said I'd be in the hotel for three more days and asked why. She said she was going to read the book by the pool and if she liked it would like to meet again for more conversation. So, I gave her my cell number and forgot about her.
The next night I was eating at our company dinner and my phone went off. It was "Cindy." She wanted to meet me in the lobby...so I excused myself and went to see what may come of this chance meeting.
Cindy said that she was very intrigued by my story. As she asked me more and more questions, I felt like I was on an interview or something. After about 20 minutes of questions and answers, Cindy came to her point--she was a buyer for a chain of gift shops, many in hospitals. She asked if she could buy some books for her shops. I am always open to selling my books, as all authors are, so I asked how many she needed. I was stunned when she said 1000. After getting my breath back, we finalized the deal...I thought that was the end of our meeting, but was surprised again as Cindy gave me a list of other buyers that she does business with and suggested I e-mail them all using her as a reference.
This is the second time this has happened to me...the first was back when "Sensitivity 101 for the Heterosexual Male" first came out and a man on a plane ride to Las Vegas bought the same amount from me for his family owned gift shops after seeing the lady next to us start crying as she read my book. I gave it to her as a bribe so I could get some sleep on the plane.
You know I have a few sayings in life that I live buy--but this one is my favorite. "Sometimes it's better to be lucky than smart." All I do is talk about my book, and carry one everywhere, and good things happen.
To those authors out there--how do you market your books? Any good stories like mine floating around? Please share!

Until next week!

Phil

1 comment:

  1. I stumbled across your blog while searching for random acts of kindness. After reading this post I thought I'd share what I've been up to. Since February, I've been randomly placing toys in public places for strangers to find. I document the gifts in my blog which can be viewed by clicking my name. Hope you appreciate it!

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