Firstly, a very sincere thank you to all of the readers of this blog who have bought either the e book or paperback version of my book “Real Madrid and all that” which was published on 30 September.
When it came out, I had two figures in mind which represented extreme ends of the sales scale – the lowest (or under it) would be in the very disappointing category and the highest was in the well exceeded expectations range.
Yesterday, I carried out my first check to see how well the book was selling and found that it was as close to halfway towards the upper target as makes no difference.
Considering that when the book came out, I had in mind that there could be three peaks when it came to sales in initial take up, the Christmas market and then the fiftieth anniversary of the Real Madrid matches in March, I’m very pleased with how things have gone so far.
In fact, I’d like to think that there is now some chance of me reaching that well exceeds expectations figure, but, for that to happen, I believe that I’m now at a stage where more people will need to be aware of the book’s existence for sales to continue to grow.
While I occasionally receive pleasing confirmation that this blog has a readership which is more than I imagined it was, I know that, realistically, only a very small percentage of City’s fanbase reads it – in fact I’m fairly sure the large majority of our support have never heard of it!
Therefore, one of the reasons for me being so pleased with the sale figures so far is that the book has, to all intents and purposes, only been available up to now to Mauve and Yellow Army readers, those that follow the blog on Twitter and a few Amazon users who were not aware of it already.
So, now I’m at a stage where I would be grateful for advice as to how I could expand the range of those who are aware of Real Madrid and all that. I’ve contacted local library bodies and the take up has been good with four Councils having purchased copies and I’ve donated books as prizes on a couple of occasions, but have now hit a bit of a wall when it comes to other areas I could try – any ideas?
Have you tried selling them on E Bay, I I think it would be much easier to sell them as payment and postage would reach I much bigger audience, I know you have to pay E Bay fees and the buyer pays the postage,but you will have more sales
For a more commercial angle, Facebook advertising could be of interest. Specifically targeting people who have liked the Cardiff City FC Facebook page. It will cost to get in front of them but the audience is there – 519,000 at the point of typing this.
Hello there Paul,
I purchased a hard copy as a present for Peter K in Spain and I believe he is avidly reading it now. I will buy an E copy for myself at Christmas. If I were you I would just go for it and contact the local TV channel and ask them if they are intrested in interviewing you about the book and the story behind it all. Furthermore contact the local newspaper and get them to interview you about the book. These days local news journalists are more than happy to get articles published and it may stirr up further interest in the book.
Hi Paul,
1: National
– Publicise by sending complimentary copies to national football commentators etc on Sky Sports, BBC tv/radio, ITV tv with a view to interviews about the book on their channels
– Similar interviews with national newspaper football journalists
– Facebook page publicising the book that you can then link to other clubs, other fans etc
2: Local
– Newspaper, tv & radio interviews top publicise the book
– Personal contact via Christmas fairs / outdoor markets stalls etc eg Cardiff City centre, the Hayes
– Is it possible to sell in the Cardiff City FC Store?
Hope that helps. Best wishes.
Just a quick note to say thank you very much to everyone who has responded to yesterday’s message on here and through other channels, I’ve got a great deal of suggestions to sift through and will be doing so through the upcoming week – I’ll certainly be acting on many of them.
How can I get a printed copy? I was speaking to Nigel Rees (who crossed the ball for Clark to score) this week.
I would like to buy two printed copies – one for us both – please email me.
Hello Paul,
Wondering what the best place to buy the book from is in terms of you getting the biggest cut? Keen to pick up a copy!
Thanks, Dan
Thanks for that Dan – if you have a Kindle, you can buy an e book for £7.50 and I get just over a fiver from that, whereas a paperback costs £9.99 and I get £2.50.
Thanks Paul. It’ll be a paperback. Sorry if I can find this info elsewhere but is there a link where I can buy it? Appreciate it and good luck with it.
Dan
If you go to most of the stories I’ve posted recently Dan, there’s a picture of the book which includes a link to where you can buy it, but here’s the Amazon link where you can buy a copy;-
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Real-Madrid-all-that-twentieth-ebook/dp/B08KGGTP1M/ref=sr_1_1?crid=35TNOTT9A58KF&dchild=1&keywords=real+madrid+and+all+that&qid=1607170276&s=digital-text&sprefix=real+madrid+a%2Cdigital-text%2C165&sr=1-1