Samples, Signings, and Sales by Andy Scheer

Next month I plan to drive three hours to a book signing. I'll take two friends. At the event, we'll each buy a new hardcover.

All three of us will likely tell others. First about our plans to attend, then about our experience with the signing.

Later we'll volunteer or be asked how we liked the book. We might even give our impressions of meeting the author.

All this started with a sample.

While scanning Amazon's free Kindle top 100 listings, I found a short story by an author I recognized.

I clicked and discovered it introduced a new series co-written with another author friend. A couple more clicks and my Kindle had a short story that occupied me at lunch for two days.

I liked it. I checked the co-author's website. I learned the novel's release date – and the fact of a signing next month.

I decided to attend. I asked a friend, then another. As we drive there and back, we'll likely talk about books. Maybe discover new titles or authors we should read.

When you give away a sample, who knows what will happen.

How the Word Spreads by Andy Scheer

If you're writing in the action/adventure genre, you should know my friend Wayne. He's not only a writer, he's also a key influencer.

Over the past three decades, Wayne assembled one of the world's top collections dedicated to the books of one best-selling author and his co-writers. He co-founded a worldwide collector's society and has organized annual conventions that enable big-time fans to meet those authors.

In the process he's befriended many of the top names in the genre. They sometimes use Wayne as a sounding board, and to spread the word on upcoming releases.

A few weeks ago I suggested that Wayne might volunteer to moderate the forum on one co-writer's website. Wayne emailed back that he'd gotten a green light to moderate the forum, and also learned some big news.

The main author had picked a new co-writer for a spinoff series. That writer's name was new to me, so I searched for his website.

His site was most informative—giving me the covers and promotional descriptions for his half-dozen published novels—plus interesting biographical information, FAQs, and some articles. This writer meant business.

Better yet, I'd timed my visit to his website perfectly. Besides an excerpt from his latest novel, he was offering for the next two days a free download of the complete book.

I downloaded it, started reading, and had to force myself to stop. As a regular participant in the collector society chat group, I knew dozens of others who'd also want to experience this author's work. So I sent an email alerting them to this opportunity.

And so the word spreads.