Improve Your Presentations — and Sell More Books!

Many (if not most) authors are introverts: we sit in a room and we write, and we like it that way. That works well for the creative process — but not so much for your marketing efforts, because one important component of selling your books involves going against those introvert instincts and getting out in the world, doing readings and speaking engagements.

Some authors approach these engagements with terror. Others learn by doing and feel reasonably comfortable in front of an audience. Some few lucky souls actually enjoy it.

But everyone can improve. And better presentations will sell more books. Whether you’re in a room with five audience members or on a Zoom event with hundreds of them, there are a few considerations that will help you be more engaging — and encourage listeners to want to go out and buy your books immediately!

Prepare ahead of time

Preparation is most successful when you center it around your audience. You may be speaking to a book club, for a library event, at a café, on a panel; each opportunity will have a different group of listeners. The audience matters; you need to research who will be attending (not in terms of specific individuals but rather in terms of group interests) so you can make your presentation meaningful and enlightening — or even…