By
Gary Scott
Hushed whispers of silence fall
like autumn leaves. Barely a rustle on the faded light and muted walls. Cool air
fights in wet ringlets against the tropical heat.
Books-A-Million, just before
six. A hush has descended in the mega-book store and the atmosphere feels like
a quiet library save that there is no stern librarian hushing in the background.
The silence is broken by the frothy hiss of a cappuccino machine instead.
This was a hot, humid summer's
day in Naples, but I was cool sitting in front of my table near the Joe Muggs
coffee shop and waiting for my first book signing to begin.
The weather was steamy. The air
conditioning chugged away so where I sat was cold. Had it not been for my publishing
experience, I would have been even more chilled. Book signings can be scary!
This lesson looks at how an ethical
business grows and the fine art of how to get creamed trying to market fiction
through retail bookstores. We could sum this lesson on how an ethical business
grows by just agreeing, "Do not do this". Or we could title this lesson "Temporary
Madness." At first glance this advice would seem sound. Careful study though will
show that it is not. There is a profoundly important message about success guidelines
for business.
Let me digress. This lesson may
seem odd and not about how ethical business grows as it weaves ideas about creating
fiction with thoughts on demographics. One idea (fiction) seems so ephemeral,
the other (demographics) so cut and dried.
Yet there are qualities in the
fiction I wrote that were affected by a huge demographic wave. The fiction and
the demographics affected how an ethical business grows and as my fiction publishing
event began to unfold I saw that this novel was so shaped and propelled by this
shift that it would be accurate to say I was not the writer/publisher.
Ethical Business Grows Key
The fiction wrote me. Please
remember these words. They are a key! "As a publisher, there may be times when
a business or a book or report writes you!" At such times you may feel alone,
bewildered, lost or doing something that makes no sense at all. Sometimes this
is how an ethical business grows. At such times you have to continue! Just because
you have to do it. Then you may need these words to know that what is happening
is the way that an ethical business grows and this is simply part of the creative
process and is okay.
When an ethical business grows
it is often born and takes a life of its own. You just have to follow!
This was my case as the demographic
shifts we are about to study had a profound impact on our publishing business.
Rather I should say life had a profound impact on me (as it did 50 million others).
I became part of a new subculture. This also had a profound impact on my publishing
business.
Ethical Business Grows Lesson
These shifts were so entangled
in my novel that looking at why, as well as how I wrote it could help you in business.
Stick with me through what may seem a weird lesson.
During the period as my ethical
business was born and grew I was totally out of focus with my readers. That was
okay. In the end the shift was worthwhile. Seeing why may help you avoid some
of the doubts, the self-searching and bewilderment I had.
Back to Books A Million and the
book signing. I arrived early. Do this if you ever write a book or have a book
signing at a bookstore. Assume that no one will know what is going on, not your
publisher, not your publicity agent and certainly not the staff at the store.
Fortunately I had visited the
manager just a few days earlier so I had names and knew that my books were packed
away somewhere in the store. The manager was not on the premises (she did arrive
later) and no one knew a thing. Yet the clock continued to tick. I wanted to get
ready, but the staff did not care. They were used to hurry up and wait at book
signings. Why rush to set up a table that no one would visit anyway?
I knew something the staff did
not, so I dropped the manager's name a few times, assured them that my books were
there, and that I was having a book signing (see the sign on your window-guys—that's
me). I asked where they kept their tables and Merri and I set it up ourselves.
Acting as if we knew what was happening, we managed to get everything assembled
in time for me to grab a Latte before the crowd arrived.
And a crowd did arrive. I knew
they would. I knew because I was a publisher (i.e. salesman). I knew because I
had a list of readers in the Naples zip. I knew because I had been offering these
readers books, reports and seminars for years. I knew because I had offered these
readers a FREE workshop if they visited with me at Books A Million, 6 to 8 PM
on a Friday night. I knew because I had sent thousands of these letters or more.
Hey I was prepared!
We sold nearly 100 books. Ka-Ching,
about $2,000 in the store's cash register. The manager of the store was impressed.
I'll explain in a moment why I never made a penny from this. I lost about $300
for the effort.
Sometimes an author never sells
a book at a signing. Yet during the launch of my novel I did dozens and was never
skunked. In Canada we only had five people show up at one small store, but that
was the worst on a week day afternoon. Watch out for the burbs during the week!
Bad time, bad place.
Yet there were several memorables.
We packed the house there in Naples and did even better in downtown Portland (Barnes
& Noble), Vancouver B.C. (Chapters) and Orlando (Borders).
What is important about these
signings is the way we got the readers to the signing, how each cost me an arm
and a leg, but how every penny has been worth it and how I also recouped the loss.
Lots of leaning here.
To begin we need to understand
how this novel came about and why.
Merri and I were in Naples and
we had earned a small fortune, for us at least, more than we ever expected. Millions.
We had been busy doing this for years (instead of spending) and we did it from
our home (few overheads) without staff (even fewer overheads), so a lot of the
money that floated by, stuck. After a certain point, each extra dollar became
more and more like the sixth cup of coffee in the morning. Not too exciting.
You either understand this or
you don't. A lot of that has to do with demographics. (I'll explain in a moment.)
So Merri and I started to itch.
Something had to be scratched, but we did not know where. The itch grew yet remained
hidden. This resulted in a process many of our friends called "temporary
insanity".
At that time we had the perfect
life. We owned a wonderful seven bedroom house in Old Naples, one of the most
modern, perfect cities in the world. We had our comfortable mountain cabin in
North Carolina that sat deep in the forest on a rushing creek. This was one of
the most traditional areas to get away and recharge.
Plus to really get away there
was a condo on a crescent beach in the Dominican Republic, where everything was
different and worked outside the Western box of normalcy. We could have been called
creative.
We traveled globally, getting
to London several times a year. Other cities regularly visited were Paris, the
Prague, Copenhagen, two or three Caribbean stops, all in the name of business,
tax deductible trips. Everything was paid for and profitable. No mortgage, no
losses, no debt. Our children were happy, healthy and all but one had finished
their higher education. We had everything we had imagined and more… until
it started… that itch.
I thought it began inside me,
but see now that it really was an outside force moving both Merri and me along.
We were like light bulbs thinking the light was ours.
This was first noted at the Victoria,
Canada airport. We had taken nearly a month off for a deep purification-meditation
session with an Indian healer at his remote home on Salt Springs Island. While
there this vague itch began to focus itself. There was no big picture yet (this
would take over a decade to resolve), just one tiny first step. I realized we
needed to sell our house in Naples and move on. I say this was a tiny first step,
but actually this was huge! Merri and I loved this house. Second, our kids had
scattered to the four winds. Fran was in Costa Rica, Cinda in Portland, Ele in
London and Cheri and Jake with us in Naples. When one is continually on the move
and the family scattered, the grounding of home is important! Our seven bedrooms
now were perfectly located in the middle of Portland, London and Costa Rica. Seven
bedrooms had worked just right, one for Merri and me, one for granny and one for
each of the kids.
Then there was the third problem.
We had nowhere to go. What would we do? Live in a tent? I should have asked this
question before I scratched my itch in Victoria at the airport. I'll explain why
in a moment, because it has a lot too do with the novel.
First the demographics. I explain
them and introduce the book the "Cultural Creatives" in the next lesson. Use the
arrow below to proceed.
Gary
P.S. For details on our courses
about how to succeed in business that we conduct at our farm go to GaryScott.com
Gary & Merri Scott have
green investments in their North Carolina Farm (Merrily Farms) and Ecuador Plantation
(Rosaspamba) shown below:
"Merrily
Farms in the Fall"
"Rosaspamba's
Virgin Rain Forest" |
