This morning an excited tweet came across my Twitter stream from a friend who is preparing for her first trip to Ireland. Some people buy maps and plan events for their big trip. She's buying accessories. She wants to be the most fashionable tourist in all the pubs.
She tweeted the link for me to go check out her purchase on Etsy. Intrigued by the boutique name, ShrunkenCatHeads (yes, dear readers, I'm intrigued by such things) I was poking around the jewelry for sale on the site and lo and behold, there amongst the Mexican tile earrings and rings, was a book for sale.
I've seen many things for sale on Etsy, a free-for-all boutique site that is like a virtual flea market online, but this was the first time I'd come across an author who was hocking their written wares along with their crafts.
A quick search through the Etsy catalog turned up pages and pages of books for sale that authors, on their own and looking for a place to sell, had begun touting on the site I had normally considered a place to buy cool posters, cheap art prints, and uncommon objects of wonder.
Wheatmark, as part of our basic services that we offer, makes sure your book is distributed to online retailers such as barnesandnoble.com and Amazon. Etsy, being a little more on the fringe of book selling, is further than our fingers reach.
Admittedly, for many authors Etsy wouldn't be a viable marketing option. The site isn't generally a draw for people who are shopping for books. However, Etsy could be a great option for some.
For example, if you have written a book, but you also enjoy making letterpress cards, knitting, quilting, painting, or any other type of activity that results in a consumer good, starting your own Etsy boutique might be a fun way to not only sell your crafts and collectibles, but to also put your books up for sale.
Etsy won't ship the book out for you, you have to do that yourself, but if you are one of our many authors that has bought copies of your book with our awesome author discount, it becomes one more place to market your book.
Etsy would be a great place for the following types of books when coupled with supporting goods like posters, T-shirts, and other things you might like to sell there:
Etsy is not great for:
The idea is to have a boutique that offers you up as a creative package and shows that, by the way, you have written a book. There are lots of ways to personalize your site, your profile, and to help drive traffic to your author website and blog!
The other nice thing about Etsy is that it is a community with seller support. You can join in virtual tutorials on being an Etsy seller that include tips and techniques you translate well for use on your blog, website, and Facebook accounts. The virtual labs are full of helpful people joining together to make a community of successful virtual boutique owners.
This is just one more way to gain notice on the Internet, one site at a time!
She tweeted the link for me to go check out her purchase on Etsy. Intrigued by the boutique name, ShrunkenCatHeads (yes, dear readers, I'm intrigued by such things) I was poking around the jewelry for sale on the site and lo and behold, there amongst the Mexican tile earrings and rings, was a book for sale.
I've seen many things for sale on Etsy, a free-for-all boutique site that is like a virtual flea market online, but this was the first time I'd come across an author who was hocking their written wares along with their crafts.
A quick search through the Etsy catalog turned up pages and pages of books for sale that authors, on their own and looking for a place to sell, had begun touting on the site I had normally considered a place to buy cool posters, cheap art prints, and uncommon objects of wonder.
Wheatmark, as part of our basic services that we offer, makes sure your book is distributed to online retailers such as barnesandnoble.com and Amazon. Etsy, being a little more on the fringe of book selling, is further than our fingers reach.
Admittedly, for many authors Etsy wouldn't be a viable marketing option. The site isn't generally a draw for people who are shopping for books. However, Etsy could be a great option for some.
For example, if you have written a book, but you also enjoy making letterpress cards, knitting, quilting, painting, or any other type of activity that results in a consumer good, starting your own Etsy boutique might be a fun way to not only sell your crafts and collectibles, but to also put your books up for sale.
Etsy won't ship the book out for you, you have to do that yourself, but if you are one of our many authors that has bought copies of your book with our awesome author discount, it becomes one more place to market your book.
Etsy would be a great place for the following types of books when coupled with supporting goods like posters, T-shirts, and other things you might like to sell there:
- Children's books -- particularly books with characters you've turned into sock puppets for sale so parents can use them along with the narrative
- Memoirs
- Science books
- YA books
- How-to Books (particularly if it is a how to on something you make that you also sell on your site!)
Etsy is not great for:
- authors with nothing else to sell
The idea is to have a boutique that offers you up as a creative package and shows that, by the way, you have written a book. There are lots of ways to personalize your site, your profile, and to help drive traffic to your author website and blog!
The other nice thing about Etsy is that it is a community with seller support. You can join in virtual tutorials on being an Etsy seller that include tips and techniques you translate well for use on your blog, website, and Facebook accounts. The virtual labs are full of helpful people joining together to make a community of successful virtual boutique owners.
This is just one more way to gain notice on the Internet, one site at a time!
Labels: author support, book marketing, book sales, Etsy
posted by KatG on 5/20/2009
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