Tag: launching a book

Writing is not the same as publishing.

That may seem obvious to most. However, imagine a new writer, a hopeful author, with a lot to say – this person writes and writes, day after day. The diligent writer amasses 283,472 words exactly. This person then believes that everyone will want to read her story. Why not? The story is sent off to a literary agent – maybe two. Okay, the manuscript is sent off to five dozen literary agencies with query letters and synopsis. Our dear writer is no sloth; she has done her due diligence!

And then the wait commences. Six weeks, three months, six months, a year later… no replies. No responses. Nothing – not even a generic letter or automated email response. Not unreasonable—really— when one considers more than two million new works are created each year in the English language. We can tell you this: The slush pile takes no prisoners. Only the best of the best will be noticed.

Our author is crushed, heartbroken. Vows to never write again….

THERE IS  A BETTER WAY! Below is a Quick Guide that outlines the crucial steps involved in successful publishing (read book sales). These mimic, for the most part, the tried and true methods of traditional publishing houses that work for Indie and Small Press authors—especially when the advantages of today’s new world of publishing are added into the mix.

Let’s back up a minute and examine what our aspiring author could have done to have a better chance at succeeding in today’s publishing market: 

1. Manuscript Overview. You’ve spent many hours writing your manuscript – It’s time to invest in a Manuscript Overview (MOV). What’s that? It’s a process whereby you send your work off to a trusted, experienced editor. This editor will read your work and give you professional, genre-specific feedback: tell you what’s good, what needs work, if your manuscript is ready to publish. If you have a literary agent or work with an acquisitions editor at a publishing house, you would send if off to them for feedback. If you don’t have one of these (yes, it is like trying to get a loan from a bank, the bank will loan you the money if you don’t need it…), then you may want to consider our manuscript evaluation service. It can be painful, but every author who has used it says that it is the only way to go. Most of our authors consider it like taking graduate courses in storytelling. A MOV really helps to hone a work.
2. Build Your Online Digital Presence. At the same time as the Manuscript Overview is going on, begin strengthening your on-line presence through interactive social media. These days, even Fiction authors need a platform. Facebook is still a good way to do this, as is Instagram. If your book is science fiction, maybe you should try Reddit. Whatever you do, invite your targeted readership community into a relationship on the platform where they can be found. The thing to understand is publishers are looking for authors who already have a following who can be motivated to purchase books.
3. Line Edit. After you’ve incorporated the suggestions from your Manuscript Overview into your work, and have had several trusted brutally truthful beta readers to thumbs up the story line and characters, it’s time to send it off to a Line Editor. What? Yes, you heard me. Your work will require a LINE EDIT that insures that each and every sentence makes the story move forward. Line Editing is defined as a thorough and focused reading of the manuscript on a line-by-line basis with suggestions, comments, and remarks noted for the author to consider. Take the extra time and send your work off to a professional, experienced editor who will examine your work to make sure you’ve hit all of the plot points, your characters are believable, your story is solid, that it doesn’t sag anywhere, and that the opening is a grabber. Take the time. Do this step.
4. What’s next? While your work is with the Line Editor, we hope that you are developing  the next work in your series or researching your next story idea. Every agent, every publisher will want to know what you are working on next. Series sell.
5. Cover Concept. Begin developing cover concepts for your work in progress (WIP) by selecting key elements of it. Your cover should convey time period, location, genre, targeted audience, and story elements. These cover elements should be reflected in your marketing collateral (biz cards, website background, social media elements, etc.).
6. Fresh Eyes. After incorporating the LINE EDITS that were suggested, we advise that you have another set of fresh eyes read the work. Perhaps, a second independent manuscript overview. This can also fall under the responsibility of your literary agent or publishing house’s acquisitions editor. If you don’t have either of these, then use an independent consultant. See Item 1 above. Professional Fresh Eyes are the Traditional Publishing Houses secret weapon.
7. Copy Edit. Now that the story is solid, it is time for a COPY EDIT. Copyediting is a very technical read of a work for flaws in grammar, punctuation, syntax, consistency in spelling, numerals, hyphenation, etc.; flagging any inconsistencies that have made it past the Copy Edit such as eye color, name spelling, location, timing from point A to point B. Copy editing also tracks any internal inconsistencies in the story (conflicting abilities or inabilities, location inconsistencies), etc. This is where the story is held accountable to the publisher’s style guide and to the story’s individual world building construct.
8. Cover Design. If you are indie-publishing or even hybrid publishing, you will need to seriously consider investing in your cover design. Your book has less than 3 seconds – that’s THREE seconds to attract a potential buyer. If you have the chops to do this yourself, that’s awesome. But most authors don’t. Think about it. You have an awesome book. You’ve spent time and money making certain of it. Why wouldn’t you want to put as much time and attention into a cover that will work for you instead of against you? A good cover doesn’t have to cost thousands of dollars, but you do need to hire a professional cover designer who understands your genre. The cover will sell your first book. Your content will sell the second the book.
9. Author Brand. Create your bio’s. You will need a 100-word, a 200-word, and a 500-word biography to send to agents and publishers, to slap on your sell sheets, to place on the back of your book. The three bio’s will work for different applications. Have these ready to go. You will need professional head shots that reflect your author brand. Get it done.
10. Proofing. Proofreading is the final step of the writing process. It looks for purely grammatical errors, typos, and spelling errors only.
11. ISBN Designation. BISAC CODES. Meta Data. The “alphabet soup’ part is extremely important in getting your books into the hands of booksellers and into libraries — more on this in a later post.
12. Professional Formatting. This is a mystical process that takes your manuscript and transforms it into a book, digital and print. Lack of professional formatting is the reason booksellers can spot a self-published book (besides the cover). They can spot it at a hundred paces. It is best left to professionals—in our not-so-humble-opinion.
13. ARCs. Advanced Reader Copies for Publishing Industry Professionals and for your Beta Readers. These are needed for launch reviews and for regional independent bookseller trade shows (SIBA, PNBA, NCBA, MPIPA, GLIBA, —more alphabet soup). Use your ARCs to start lining up book-signings, author events, promotional tours, and to create book buzz.
14. Advance Reviews – make sure that you have professional publishing industry reviews ready to go for the launch (press releases, industry news, etc.) and for the cover blurbs (front and back!).
    Before you hit the publish button, send your work off for a professional, unbiased review. Traditional publishing houses know that advance professional reviews set the tone for consumer reviews. Reviews are considered to be the cornerstone of any book’s marketing strategy.
15. Trade Shows & Distribution – Do you want your book to be available to independent book stores across the nation? Then it must be available in traditional distribution channels and on display at the regional independent bookseller tradeshows.  This cannot wait until the last minute. Shelf space is hard to come by and shows are not inexpensive.
16. Proof and Edit again! Formatting issues discovered in the ARCs taken care of?
17. Publish and Launch- Digital and Print! Do you have your promotional events on the calendar? Your social media postings calendar ready to go? See item 13.  How is that website looking? That is the first place any publishing professional (read literary agents, acquisition editors, etc.) will check if you garner their interest. What will they find when they google your name and the title of the book? Will they find a flurry of posts or will your info be on the eighth page down on a Google search?

Imagine the polish that following these tried and true methods of traditional publishing will bring to your published work!

Honestly, there are even more things an author can do to ensure that her book has the best chances for publishing success. Enter a writing contest, go to book events for other authors, arrange a signing at some place other than a bookstore, talk to people, take workshops, participate. It may feel overwhelming when you start, but when the connections and preparations start compounding and spreading, it can be life—and career—changing! You will be thankful that you took the extra effort. And your work will be ready for whatever may come its way!

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Chanticleer Editorial Services (CES) is proud to have some of the best line editors, copy editors, proof readers, world construct editors, indexers, book formatting professionals, and others in the publishing business on our team. We have secured some of the best from the Big 5. All CES editorial work must start with a manuscript overview. It is the only way that our professional editors will proceed to edit a manuscript (that is how important they believe manuscript overviews are to a work’s commercial and literary success).

Sharon E. Anderson is an award-winning author and Chief Reviews Editor for Chanticleer Reviews and International Book Awards. Creating and editing content – as well as editing/writing reviews – and outreach are just a few skills she brings to the table. She writes dark comedy, horror, short stories, articles, and essays whenever she gets the chance. She lives in Skagit Valley with her husband, two children, two dogs, a couple of cats, and a sketchy Guinea pig. We are so fortunate to have someone with her talent and experience on the Chanticleer Team! Contact: editor@chantireviews.com

Kiffer Brown, founder of Chanticleer Reviews, is also founding partner in SillanPaceBrown Publishing + Production + Agency, LLC. SPB uses these tried and true traditional publishing methods to prepare intellectual properties to become fully actualized in the extremely competitive entertainment industry.

Have some fun with

Did you know that Pinterest is the world’s catalog of ideas and images? Millions of people are looking for books to read by imagery. Pinterest allows authors to connect with these potential readers.

Add this powerful social media tool to your author platform!

 It’s hard not to immediately think about recipes, hair tutorials, or DIY projects when someone mentions the word “Pinterest,” and it can seem like there is no room for anything else when your own boards are filled with these exact objects. But as an author, you can take advantage of Pinterest—and most importantly, have fun with it.

 

 

Does your main character that has a love of dresses and cute shoes? You can create a Pinterest board full of the exact clothing that she wears. Was there a specific playlist of songs that you listened to over and over again while you were writing your latest novel?

It’s USER FRIENDLY

You can make a board solely based on the songs and artists you listed to. Do you have a blog that you post to weekly? You can upload them onto a board based on your blog.

Are there a number of quotes from your book that can be added to a graphic? Post them up on a colorful background. Are you participating in the Gilmore Girls/Rory Gilmore books challenge? Add a pin of each book you’ve read so far. (And good luck. That’s quite the goal!)

There’s so much more that you can do with Pinterest, and the best part about it is that you aren’t just limited to one thing (140 characters, a photo, a status). You can make as many boards as you want, full of as many pins as you want.

Another great aspect of Pinterest that makes it different from other social media is that it is a passive and harmless: it’s highly unlikely that you’ll come across a critical or a negative comment, and you don’t have to consistently keep others happy with tweeting, retweeting, liking, commenting, etc.

Don’t Forget to PIN IT

Make sure that you are maximizing Pinterest by adding a follow button to your website. If you have a blog, you can add a “pin it” button to your website. This allows someone who likes your blog posts to add them to one of their own boards, and it’s one more way that you can market your blog and website.

One last warning, however: You might want to put a timer on though for how long you can spend on Pinterest each day, because Pinterest is an addiction like no other!

A note from Kiffer Brown of Chanticleer Reviews:
This blog post comes to us from Claire McKinney  Public Relations LLC, Communications Strategies for the 21st Century. 

I met Claire McKinney at Shari Stauch’s  PubSense Summit that was held in Charleston, S.C. several years ago. We were both on the faculty of presenters and were able to get to know each other and have since stayed in contact.

Her company specializes in campaigns for books, authors, educational programs, websites, art, film, and other intellectual properties. They work carefully with clients to create messaging; branding concepts; and marketing and media strategies that integrate both traditional and new media opportunities.

Chanticleer Reviews & Media contracts with  Claire McKinney Public Relations LLC for our company’s and client’s publicity and p/r needs.

 

 

While Chanticleer Reviews was exhibiting books vetted by our reviewers and writing competitions at several Independent Bookseller Association Trade Shows this September, I was able to observe (a marketing habit of mine) professional book buyers in action. Their traits  were consistent with what they were seeking to fill their shelves. Also, I was able to ask the book buyers what they were looking for in particular to make their buying decisions.

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Book buyers  “walk the show” rather quickly as they scan for covers that pique their interest enough to stop and inquire. Book covers had, maybe, two or three seconds to catch a book buyers attention.

They do this because this is how most readers (aka customers) shop for books in their bookstores. Most independent book stores carry approximately seven thousand books. Inventory must be refreshed constantly to keep the core clientele coming back and to attract new clients.

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TOP TEN OBSERVATIONS of the Independent Booksellers Association Trade Shows (so far)

1. The book store buyers were there to discover “new finds” for their patrons—not just the New York Times bestselling books. Many said their patrons shop with them to discover new authors.
2. They want to know what the author is doing to push sales on all fronts (websites, p-o-s, social media, etc.)
3. Book buyers want to know if the author is reaching out specifically to her targeted audience.
4. Are authors promoting their books in social media platforms that are targeted for their genres?
5. Do authors supply point-of-sale promotions (shelf-talkers, shiny award stickers)?
6. Is the book an award winner? Are there shiny stickers to attract the eyes of the readers? (Yes, I am repeating the bit about shiny stickers.)
7. Does the cover list review blurbs and endorsements?
8. Stores are becoming more event oriented. Is the author willing to do an event at book stores (not just a reading)? Events add value to a title and author brand.
9. Booksellers LOVE series! They love series and the promise of works to come.
10. Booksellers can tell the quality of a printed book in a heartbeat and at thirty paces.
    • It is an unspoken tenet that Booksellers do NOT want books printed by CreateSpace/Amazon — primarily because they are not available through the usual distribution channels.
    • Booksellers do NOT want books from certain vanity presses and/or  author services known to be disreputable because of terrible past experiences. Everyone in the business of book selling knows about this unspoken list of disreputable publishing houses.

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The NITTY GRITTY

• Booksellers do not care if a book is traditionally published, Indie published, or small press published. They care if the book will sell itself as it sits on the shelf–will the cover reach out to the targeted audience and pique interest? Booksellers want to know what the author/publisher is doing and will do to create book buzz.
• Booksellers do want to offer independently published books that have been vetted, but unless the authors are  local community members, they want the books to come through the typical distribution channels.

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However, they do care about:

• Covers — covers must be compelling, perfect, targeted, and sell the book by itself while sitting on a shelf. The cover must convey:  Genre, Sub-genre, time period, mood (humorous, scary, romantic, light reading, intense, etc.), age appropriateness, targeted audience, tone, and the TITLE! The cover must convey ALL of this information in seconds.
• Professional Reviews (Editorial Reviews)
• Professional Editing
• Professional Formatting, Typography, and Graphic Design and Layout
• Availablility through traditional distribution channels (Baker Taylor, Ingram Spark, etc.)
• Conventional credit terms that are available through the distributor.
• Are the books returnable to the distributor?
• A minimum of 40 percent discount off retail price
• Ease and reliability of re-ordering from a stable supplier/distributor/publisher in to restock a bestselling book quickly

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What Independent Booksellers do care about is meeting their sales goals so that they can continue as a going-concern (staying open and in business). To do this, they must keep their clientele coming back by offering unique books and great “discoveries,” hosting events, and providing excellent service. 

GOOD NEWS!

At each show, I met NEW INDIE bookstore owners who have just opened their stores in the past six months or were opening in November for the upcoming holiday season. All the bookstore  owners told me that they were bringing in approximately $75,000 to $100,000 (in wholesale dollars) of books to initially stock their shelves.

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Independent Booksellers do care about the quality of the books (content, cover, editing, formatting, and design) that they stock because the books reflect the quality of the bookstore.

AND, one more time, booksellers care the most about the cover (front, back, spine, dust jacket) which sells the book by attracting the targeted audience, acting as a point-of-sale promotion, and getting the book in the reader’s hands.

NEVER underestimate the power of the cover–especially for first time authors. The cover of the first book will sell it, and then is the content that will sell the second book.

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Kiffer’s TOP OBSERVATIONS

• Either the cover attracted the bookseller to pick it up and check it out, OR the book did not exist — books with less than stellar covers seemed as if they were invisible or just did not exist.
• The cover must convey the genre, sub-genre, tone, mood, and be compelling to its targeted market in a glance.
• There must not be any question from the cover as to whether or not the book is  a mystery, sci-fi, thriller, romance, etc. If there is any question as to its targeted readership—it is a pass to the book buyer.

In Closing

I am proud to say that the booksellers were impressed that the Chanticleer Reviews team members staffing the booth knew so much about the books that we were exhibiting and the authors.  They found the author sheets given to them to take back to their offices very professional for Indie authors. They also were pleased to know that the titles were available in our printed and online catalogs, and that each and every book we were representing was vetted by us—Chanticleer Reviews—either with a top Chanticleer review that they could read and/or that the books were award winners in the Chanticleer International Writing  Competitions.

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Only books that received a four or five star Chanticleer Review and/or have been awarded a First in Category Award in the Chanticleer Reviews Writing Competitions are eligible for exhibition at the Chanticleer Reviews trade show booths for Booksellers and Librarians.  If your book has received a coveted four or five star review from Chanticleer or was Short-Listed in the Chanticleer International  Book Awards, it will be eligible to participate in Chanticleer’s exclusive trade show representation service.

Here is a comment from the owner of Village Books (one of the top five independent bookstores in the U.S.), Paul Hanson:

“Kiffer, your Bookseller Confidential article is SPOT ON. Thank you for spreading good and accurate information!”  Best, Paul Hanson, Village Books

Thank you, Paul!

 

 

 

Another Note from Kiffer Brown: a tip of the hat to one of my favorite authors:  Anthony Bourdain and his best-selling book, Kitchen Confidential. 

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“The End” is the first step

There’s that moment when you write the words “The End” that every writer achieves. It feels good, right? Then comes the next thought that edges almost immediately into our consciousness: “Now what?” It’s an eating type of thought that chews away at our sense of accomplishment with finishing a writing project. “The End” is actually the very first step of a much longer process that truly results in our eventual success.

 

For all writers, both traditionally represented and those who choose to self-publish, there is an expectation and need to market ourselves, our books, and build our author platforms. We are given overarching tools that require us to build, from nothing, a following – on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and beyond. For many of us, those tools feel like another place we need to shout into the abyss and hope that a group of people starts to take notice. For me, some days I feel like I tweet for no one but myself – it’s yet one more place that I’m trying to garner a reaction in an already crowded atmosphere, much like pitching a big-time agent.

P/R – It’s not just for social media posts

I’m not saying that these marketing tools (for that is really how we are using these social media platforms) are unnecessary. It’s the only way we can reach bigger and newer audiences these days, and they’re certainly a big part of our society and should be maintained. Still, it takes more than a handful of online posts to get good press, and it’s press that can offer more to authors, and get more people in our corner both as our allies and as our readers.

When I talk about using public relations (PR) to further an author’s reach, I’m talking about far more than asking the local library to host you as a local author touting your latest book, or even asking the local newspaper to write up a story about your upcoming novel. These outreaches are, of course, a great way to start getting started, especially if you’re not used to pitching stories, and you will get a consistently loyal fan base from the people who live in your area and want to support someone who is their neighbor.

“The Scoop” is a powerful tool

But PR is a vastly powerful tool that can be used, with some constant re-phrasing and concise pinpointing, to get your book into bookstores across the country, in unique locations, and ideally in other publications.

PR means thinking a bit outside of the box. It’s not writing up a press release and sending it to 100 media outlets (though that’s always nice to do to have the information out there and available – and sometimes that garners additional stories as reporters pick up the info if it’s pertinent to their story). PR means pinpointing other writers out there who write for the mainstream or for a blog or a larger audience and giving them a unique story angle (the scoop) that no one else would have, and showing them how it would relate to their own readership.

PR means reaching out to locales that are covered in your book. Perhaps you live in California, but your book is set in the American South – call local bookstores in Mississippi or Alabama, or wherever your book is specifically set and ask for their buyer, explaining that while you are not a local writer, your book is set in their own backyard – something many local places like to tout on their shelves.

Cross Promotion

PR means hunting down local events, museum exhibits, charities, and gift stores that touch on your book’s contents. For instance, if you are writing about a historical character – let’s pick Abraham Lincoln, since he’s the most celebrated and written character in American literature – and your local museum is bringing in the traveling exhibit of his wife’s dresses. Ask the curator about putting your book in their gift shop while the exhibit is in town. Then you can cross-promote your book and their exhibit. This works even if the event/exhibit/museum isn’t even in your town. The movement to support small, individual writers, businesses and the like is huge – cash in on that current philosophy.

Engaging Others

PR is about going to as many book conferences as you can afford and networking. It’s not necessarily about immediately sitting down and talking about your book to whomever you meet. It’s about asking questions – who are you? What do you do? What’s your day job? You may meet people who are far more entrenched in the publishing and writer’s world who may not read your genre, but may become a friend who you can lean on or use as a sounding board, or who may have further connections that they can offer you, if you’re lucky.

Become an Expert

Using PR can be about hiring or volunteering yourself out as an expert. For those of you who write non-fiction, especially if it’s either biographical or about a particular topic in science, this is huge. Search for speaking opportunities that may not be about books or writing, but about your well-researched expertise. Likely you’ll be able to dovetail your book into a bio, your presentation, your meet & greet. I once went to a conference for event planners. A big-time DJ gave a great one hour presentation that was aimed at giving real-time advice to all wedding professionals, but in the end he was able to tout the book he’d written that was melded into his speech. You wouldn’t believe the line of florists, event planners and cocktail table linen buyers that were lined up to buy this man’s book in the end. His presentation was a great PR moment for him, and a huge windfall in sales.

HAR-WHO?  HARO

Offer yourself to local and regional news producers and reporters as someone who is knowledgeable in a certain field. A unique resource, called HARO (an acronym for Help A Reporter Out) sends daily emails several times per day asking for experts – sometimes these reporters want writers, or specialists – and will certainly respond in a quick (deadline-approaching!) fashion about using you as a source. It’s yet another way to garner additional press, name mentions, and authenticate yourself as a writer and as someone who is professionally tied to certain subjects.

PR is more than marketing – it’s bigger, broader and has very few parameters. Your options can be as far-reaching as you’d like to be – and the worst that can happen is nothing can happen, which leaves you where you started but with more experience in marketing under your belt. If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed about making initial outreaches yourself, you could always enlist the help of a local PR guru. Some are simply independent contractors and can be paid hourly, or by placement, meaning you don’t owe them anything unless they land you a spot or an article or additional press and exposure.

Regardless of how you work to get additional recognition as an author, or whatever you do to build your platform, anything, no matter how small, is a success, starting with writing those two little words: “The End”!

 

Note from the Editor:

Sara Dahmen is the Chanticleer Book Review’s 2015 Grand Prize Laramie Award winner for her book, Doctor Kinney’s Housekeeper. She has a background in public relations, television and radio production where she has worked with large-scale clients such as CITGO and Mastercraft Boats. She has recently presented for the TEDx talks. Since 2006, she has run an event planning and coordinating company, with a national award for Best Charity Event in the United States and has worked on red carpet events in conjunction with Universal Studios. She currently works on her new project, American-made kitchen and cookware lines: Housekeeper Crockery and House Copper, which were inspired by Doctor Kinney’s Housekeeper.

[Editor's note: Chanticleer no longer offers these services]

It’s Showtime!

Get your books in the SPOTLIGHT!

The deadline to reserve your place in our Chanticleer Collection, get discovered, and get exposure at trade shows is August 5th, 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This deadline will allow us enough time to create our on-line catalog for these fall shows:

• Pacific Northwest Bookseller Association Trade Show – Oct. 8 – 10, 2017
• Mountains & Plains Independent Bookseller Association Trade Show – Oct. 12 -14, 2017
• Northern California Independant Bookseller Association Trade Show – Oct. 18 – 20, 2017
• Southern Independent Bookseller Association Trade Show – SIBA Sept. 15 – 17, 2017

Please click the links above to reserve your spot on our table at each.

What is the big deal about a bookseller trade show?

Booksellers, librarians, book distributors, Indie and small presses, along with the big-five publishers participate in regional trade shows  to make their book purchasing and business decisions.  These shows are for the trade–not open to the general public. They are an amazing opportunity for books to vastly increase distribution and to gain visibility and book buzz.

Why go with Chanticleer? Why not buy your own table?

Lone authors sometimes pay the exhibitor fees for a booth at these shows, but there are two problems with that. First, the fees can be very high. Second, they are obvious self-promoters. Book buyers often avoid or skim past single author booths. It doesn’t matter if the book is fantastic, all they can see is that someone is paying a lot of money to bring their book to the trade show…and the implication is that the book could not be there otherwise.

Avoid this stigma by reserving a place for your book on the Chanticleer Reviews Table at regional trade shows. Let someone else tell these buyers that your books are worth reading. This is the power of referral. Also, it is known that Chanticleer Reviews only allows books that have been vetted through our editorial book reviews and/or writing competitions. Chanticleer’s reputation as a professional editorial reviewer  is at stake, so only the best books that meet our requirements are allowed to be on the table. This means we are a trusted source!

Hand-selling Books is Alive and Well at Bookseller Trade Shows

Make sure that your books do not end up on a shelf with hundreds of other books without any sort of old fashion salesmanship going on. We have seen many a book displayed as promised on shelf without the benefit of a human anywhere in sight to connect with or ask questions about the offerings. These sections are usually separated off unto themselves in some low-traffic area of the tradeshow. Books are neatly displayed without regard to genre or interest. Sale sheets are kept in a separate area in a notebook.

Kiffer Brown and Diane Sillan Isaacs will be hand-selling the Chanticleer Collection right along side of Sillan Pace Brown Publishing + Production books at each tradeshow. They are also collaborating with other publishers to group together for a bigger footprint in the tradeshows.

Sell Sheets will be displayed beside of the related book for easy pick-up by interested parties instead of being off to the side in a notebook.

Also, we are happy to work with authors of the Chanticleer Community to set-up and collaborate on specific promotional opportunities with each trade show as a liason. Just make a note in the comment field on the registration form.

What are the requirements to have a book represented by Chanticleer Reviews Collection? 

Only titles that have been vetted through Chanticleer Editorial Reviews or through the Chanticleer Writing competitions are eligible for Trade Show Representation. 

Books must have been awarded a four or five starred review and/or placed as a First-in-Category position in the hanticleer International Writing genre competitions.

It is recommended you have a distribution channel that bookstore buyers use commonly available for orders (such as Ingram Spark, etc.)

Each title must have its own Sell Sheet.

Sell Sheets must be 8 1/2 by 11 inches with the following information:

• Complete title, author name
• Genre and sub-genres
• Publication Date
• ISBN designation
• Number of pages for  print versions
• Cover photo
• Retail Price
• Brief synopsis
• Author brief bio and author photo
• Marketing blurbs & Editorial Review excerpts
• Concise awards information
• Description of available formats
• Distributor
• Author website or contact information
• All on one sheet, so be concise

See a Sample Sell Sheet. This is what bookstore buyers will be taking with them to place their order from when they are back in their store. Chanticleer does not take orders for books.

If you want us to design and print your customized Sell Sheet for an extra charge, please ask.

Distribution channels and offset printing services for the Chanticleer Collections are available. Please contact us at Distribution@Chantipub.com for more information.

Learn more about Chanticleer Trade Show Representation.