Another way to start book selling is to visit local bookstores and set up a book-reading or signing where your publication can be stocked on shelves and displays.

To begin, first introduce a copy for the owner to read and let them know why readers are going to have to have your book. Local bookstores love local authors—there’s a good chance they’d love to feature your work especially if you are there in person.

The next step after scheduling the event at a bookstore, is to coordinate giving out flyers and bookmarks for the event at the bookstore and in nearby coffee shops and businesses. Inquiring about being featured in the bookstore’s webpage or mailer is also a helpful way to boost exposure. Then it’s all about making sure you book signing is a huge success. If it is, they will invite you back and word of mouth can spread to other bookstores that would like to engage with you as well.

If you are uncertain how to make your book signing a big success, then do your homework and visit book signings to see what works and what doesn’t work. See how many copies they sold versus had available? Or if refreshments caused other patrons to stop and look? What kind of passage was read? Connect with another author you know or respect and see if they can give you any tips or better yet, have them co-headline a signing event with you. This can bring additional publicity and can also expose a new audience to your book.