interviews
Do you read the reviews that are left for your
books and how do you deal with the good, the
bad, and the ugly?
What’s the most important thing a bookstore
can do for an author, in your opinion and
experience, to promote self and obviously
everybody cannot be front and center so what
would your advice be to bookstores?
I think a lot of bookstores are doing
exactly what they are there for is to read
the books. There’s nothing worse than a
clerk who you ask if they carry somebody
and their a bestselling author and they go
I’m not sure. You think to yourself this
person is clueless, they should be selling
tires or t-shirts or something like that.
They should know their stuff. Really good
independent book stores and the die
hards, like Barnes and Noble and other
chain stores, who really read the books
they sell and are there for the love of it.
They’re worth their wait in gold to an
author because they will recommend.
I met a young women not too long ago at
www.TopShelfMagazine.net
To help budding authors, how much time and
money do you, a successful New York Times best
selling author, spend marketing your book?
Spend your time writing your book. This
advice came to me from my editor. Even
back in the caveman days of my career, I
would worry––this author is having
bookmarks printed up and taking them to
the people who drive the trucks loaded
with books to the airport. I didn’t think I
was doing enough of that, you know
getting out there, and I was really
concerned about it. So, I’d ask questions,
like, how much money should I devote, and
she said if you get the worlds attention you
better have something good to say.
She’d say write a good book and then
you can worry about promoting. Don’t
put the cart before the horse. To this
day, when I’m sitting here doing
Twitter and Facebook and everything I
think …
how much
thought
have I
given a
manuscript
today
balanced
against how
much
thought
and
creativity
have I put
into this?
Which is
more
important? The
book has to
take priority
because no
matter how
much you
promote
something if
it’s crap,
you’ve only
promoted crap.
The best thing
I can do for
myself and my
fans is to write
the best book I
can write. So if
that means not doing so many signings, if
that means not doing so many speeches,
that’s still the best thing I can do for my
readers––is to focus on the book.
No. I don’t put myself through that
because I would remember only the bad
ones and not the good ones. I don’t need
my paranoia fed anymore than it already
is on my own. Everyone once in a while
we’ll check out some and someone says
something really crushing and I’ll go OH
GOSH you know. It’s always going to be
that way. If they’re really nasty then I
don’t give them much credence. If I
applied everything that everybody said,
I’d be a basket case. I mean it would be
impossible, I say you have to write what’s
in your heart and I think if anybody knew
how hard it was to write anything––to
write a thank you note, to write an office
memo––and for someone to say
something really mean, is just mean. I
don’t think they appreciate how hard it
was. It might not be my best novel but I
gave it my all at the time. Its like if they
knew how hard it was maybe the would
appreciate it even if it wasn’t great. I don’t
dwell on it and I don’t seek them out.
a Barnes and Noble signing and she said I
have recommended your books for so many
years to so many readers.
The best thing that a bookseller can do
for an author is to read the book and
recommend it one on one word of mouth,
you can do
Twitter, you
can pay a
fortune in
advertising
and still a
good book, a
really good
book, is
going to be
found by
word of
mouth. My
sister and
niece were
over the
house this
morning and
over coffee
that’s all we
did. We
talked about
books. What
we had read
and what we
wanted to
read. We
were all
writing down
suggestions.
The best
way a good
book is going
to be found
is through readers.
the people, who are there beside them, are
also risking their lives and so I thought that
would be an interesting perspective. An
interesting light to shed on someone who
suffers the same anxieties and nightmares
that the military personnel do.
INTERVIEWS
How might an independent bookstore or library
participate in one of your book tours or have you
come to speak or host one of your seminars?
They can contact Grand Central the
publicity department or they can go to
Hatchet Book Group and look for the
speakers bureau there.
Read more of our interview with Sandra Brown at:
www.TopShelfMagazine.net
TOPShelf magazine
OCTOBER2017 21