My Dad's 4th Principle of Book-Selling

And I have a deal for you.

Not many people know this. My father alone pre-sold 200 copies of my first book, when all he had was the publisher’s catalog, and he alone sold 1,000 copies the first year.

He was ordering them straight from the publisher, getting the indie bookstore discount (40%) and later getting the Amazon discount (50%). One day he and I sat down and added up all the invoices. That’s how I know how many he sold.

Years ago someone gave me Og Mandino’s classic, The Greatest Salesman in the World. A poor camel boy, Hafid, becomes prosperous by using the wisdom found on ten ancient scrolls.

Because my dad quit school, and because he ran a junkyard, he wasn’t likely, I believed, to have a selling strategy.

But how did he sell so many books? Like hotcakes. How did he sell everything so well?

I called him up. “Daddy. Do you have a philosophy of selling?”

“Of course.”

“Would you lay it out for me?”

“Be glad to.”

We arranged an interview. That was the day my dad outlined his seven beautiful principles of book-selling. I want to talk about the 4th principle, but let me briefly list the first three.

1. Believe in your product. In this case, your book.

2. Create a market. Create interest. Create curiosity.

3. Offer supporting products.

My father's fourth principal of selling is the most important.

Any book sold can turn into a “silver bullet,” striking the heart of someone unusually important to a book’s success. That someone might be Oprah, or an editor of The New York Times Review of Books, or Reese Witherspoon, or a judge for a writers’ award.

You never know which book might suddenly morph into a silver bullet.

So you treat every customer as if she is Oprah. No matter how poorly dressed, no matter how slow-talking, no matter how shy—a person might, unbeknownst, open a door. Somebody from Podunk might have an aunt who lives next door to somebody who works at the The New Yorker or who teaches at Harvard or who’s reading for the National Book Awards.

Or somebody might be that someone herself.

This principal harkens to the Biblical admonition, Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

So don’t be ungracious, unkind, dismissive, assumptive, or ungrateful in your interactions with folks.

And there isn’t one silver bullet. There are many.

So you have to treat each and every book as if might strike the heart of someone who opens a big door. A very big door. A wide and tall door.

And treat every potential customer as if they are an angel.

There he is, the man himself, greatest bookseller in the world, my dad. Franklin Ray (1937-2019)

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Are You Ready to Talk Business?

So am I.

As a writer I accepted penury until I didn’t. For years I thought the trope of the starving artist was reality if you wanted to be devoted to the craft and the process and the mystery and the holiness.

Except for John Grisham and Stephen King. They could be rich.

Everybody else had to be something else all day and a writer on weekends.

Or be poor. Really poor. No-health-insurance poor. No-vacations poor. No-days-off poor.

That was me.

Then something happened and my thinking changed permanently.

Since you are a writer or editor or publicist or publisher or reader—or you want to become one—or you are smitten with books—you should be thinking about the business end of writing. Even if you don’t call yourself a professional, if you’re a dabbler, it’s time to consider money.

Money. There it is, the word nobody wants to say out loud. So let me shout it, MONEY MONEY MONEY. Stuff you need to live. Stuff that makes your life better. Stuff that you can use to make other people’s lives better.

Therefore.

Start Here

I will be offering an online lecture series during 2024 via this newsletter, THE RHIZOSPHERE, a mycelial network for writers, in which I will be delivering one talk per month on some aspect of how writers deal with money.

How writers can think about things that put more money in their pockets.

The first lecture happens on

• Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024

• at 7 pm Eastern US/Canada Time

• via Zoom, with a Q&A to follow.

The subject is, To Substack or Not.

A few writers in my courses in the past week or two have asked me to talk about this subject. So, voilå!

Substack is the rage. If you've been thinking of starting your own, or if you need inspiration to continue one, or you have questions about how to make it work for you, or you need ideas, or you’re just curious to see how it’s working for others--then this is a webinar for you.

I’ll be talking about how Substack changed my life. I tell it straight about how the medium can work or not work at this point in this ever-changing game, and I’ll open up my back door to show you the numbers.

I’ll invite a couple of guest panelists on to talk about their Substacktion. (I just made up a word, yahoo!) Stay tuned for that announcement.

Okay, how do you get invited to these lectures?

You have to be a paying subscriber to this Substack at any level. That’s the only way to get a seat.

Each lecture is scheduled for the first Tuesday of each month at 7 pm Eastern US/Canada Time. Occasionally there will be a guest speaker.

2024 Lectures

• Writing a Book Proposal

• Self-Publishing Vs. Traditional Publishing

• About That Social Media Presence

• Craft a Marketing Plan

• Market Your Book Skyward

• What I Mean By Hand to Hand Marketing

• How to Organize a Reading

• A Press Release is Your Bestie

• and the others I’m keeping secret for now.

In addition to a complimentary seat at the monthly lecture on some aspect of writing in a capitalist’s world, you’ll receive a take-home. This may be a handout or summary of notes or ebook or sample. Something.

That’s it. That’s the offer.

THE RHIZOSPHERE will still go out to everyone free of charge as a weekly square of dark chocolate with yummy goodness about writing. Usually it’s a how-to or a piece of craft or some advice from the trenches. Sometimes tacked on are cool offers & opportunities & prompts I make or find. All that is still coming at you.

But to get into the lectures, you have to subscribe.

The place to do that?

A Writing Prompt for You

The thing about money is…