2.  Visit local bookstores and ask if you can place a few copies of your book in their poetry section.  If they agree, this will most likely be on a consignment basis.  If you can schedule a reading at the store, even better.  Schedule it for a time of day or evening when the most people will be in the store.  Have a stack of your books ready for sale.

 

3.  Compose an announcement about your book on your computer, then post it wherever you can.  Use a simple, legible font and try to include a photo of the cover.  List the book's title, your name, and any other pertinent information including the publisher, their web address, and how the book can be ordered (publisher's Bookstore button on the website).  Remember, the easier you make the purchase of your book, the more likely you will be to sell a copy.  Sales may be better if books can be ordered from you because you live locally and response time will be much shorter.  Give a copy of the announcement to every member of any group to which you belong.  Give a copy of the announcement to all of your friends and family. 

 

4.  Create a page for yourself on Facebook and My Space.  Add everyone you know.  Add new friends.  These people may want to purchase a copy of your book, so be sure to have your book announcement on these sites as well as any other sites you might have.  List your book's publisher and add a link to their site.

 

5.  Contact local radio stations and newspapers.  They might want to announce the publication of your book or even feature an interview with you in their arts-watch section.

 

6.  See if you can place sale copies of your book in local art centers or museum stores.  As in bookstores, this will probably be on a consignment basis.  And again, a reading at these venues would be good.

 

7.  Set up a booth at art festivals, or share a booth with another author.  Sometimes these spaces are free, but be careful - sales of your book may not offset a rental fee, if there is one.

 

8.  Finally, be creative.  Come up with your own ways to market your book.  It's all about getting the word out.  And this leads us to the following statements:

 

You are the single best tool we have for selling copies of your book.  You are the single best tool you have for selling copies of your book.  Small presses market titles via their websites, print ads, word-of-mouth, and various other means, but resources are limited.  We cannot go to your hometown/city and approach the places mentioned above.  We cannot give readings of your work.  These things must be done by you.

 

You can think of it this way:  how many people in your area are familiar with this press or any small press for that matter?  How many subscribe to poetry trade magazines?  But how many visit the local library, art center, museum?  How many listen to local radio and read the local newspaper?  How many visit art festivals? 

 

You have the power and the resources to bring attention to your book as well as to yourself as a poet.  Your work deserves to be read and you can help achieve this goal.