Amy Collins on How to Find an Audience — The Writing Coach 095

July 14, 2019

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #95 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with author and book marketing expert Amy Collins.

Amy is the President of New Shelves Books, one of the largest book sales and marketing content providers in the US. She is a USA TODAY and WALL STREET JOURNAL bestselling author and as a former Book Buyer for a chain of bookstores in New York and Sales Director for a large publishing company, she has spent her career working with Barnes & Noble, Target, Costco, Books-A-Million, Wal-Mart, and is a trusted expert, speaker, and recommended sales consultant for some of the largest book and library retailers and wholesalers in the publishing industry.

In the last 20 years, Amy and her team have sold over 40 Million books into the bookstore, library, and Chain store market for small and midsized publishers. She is on the national advisory board for IngramSpark, is a board member of Author U, a featured columnist for THEBOOKDESIGNER, BookWorks, IBPA, and a trusted teacher in the world of small press publishers.

She has taught and spoken at many of the publishing industry’s top festivals and conferences including Publisher’s Weekly’s BookCon, Oklahoma Writer’s Conference, Author U, AAPS, Dublin Writers Conference, BAIPA, PALA, St. Louis Writer’s Conference, Writers Digest indieLAB, Henderson Writers Conference, and many others.

When not in the office, her focus is on the working poor and poverty elimination, and she spends a great deal of time personally and professionally working with and training women from disadvantaged backgrounds. A member of several charitable and political organizations, she donates not only her time, but a portion of her company’s profits to grant-based charities that work to alleviate the cycle of poverty.

During our discussion, Amy describes:

Why there are so many talented authors, but only a handful of successful authors
How getting a job at a book store led to her 30-year career in publishing
The role book buyers play at brick and mortar book stores
Why not every idea needs to become a book
The one thing she does every day to build her audience
Her top tips for what authors need to do to find their audience
And much more!

Click below to listen now: