Could You Sell A Book Going Door-To-Door?

 

A few generations ago, there were traveling salesmen who literally went door-to-door to peddle something, from encyclopedias and vacuum cleaners to church membership or to solicit donations for a non-profit. The closest thing to rival that now would be during the political campaign season, where people solicit you to put a candidate on a ballot or to be educated on an upcoming ballot initiative. Is it time to bring this strategy back to sell books?

Let’s have a look, shall we?

Selling a book can challenge authors because they feel invisible and voiceless. They feel they wrote a good, maybe a great book, but no one is discovering it. Most potential readers are not rejecting an offer to buy your book. They simply do not know it exists.

Your options to get exposure mostly come down to a few key areas:

* Social media
* Traditional media
* Book awards
* Advertising
* Speaking engagements
* Web site
* Targeted email blasts
* Newsletter
* Networking and list-building
* Give-aways
* Heavy discounting

They take time, money, effort, and mindshare to execute properly, but they are all viable avenues that deserve some measure of exploration. So, can a door-to-door approach pay off for an author trying to peddle a book?

First, ask yourself some questions: It really depends on your book: Is it really, really good? Be honest. What is the genre and how big of a pool is your target market? What kind of density landscape do you live in (urban, sub-urban, rural)? How mobile are you? What are the weather conditions by you?

These are obvious factors to weigh when looking to take a guerrilla marketing approach to your book.

You can go door-to-door to:

* Businesses
* Homes
* Schools
* Churches
* Government Agencies

Is your strategy to find more re-sale venues and go to retailers beyond bookstores, looking to find new places to sell your book?

Is it to make direct sales to an organization or individual?

Is it to give the book away to gain more readers and get good word-of-mouth?

Will you hand out fliers under doors, onto cars, or outside to people entering or exiting an event or shopping area?

The more digital society becomes, the more an in-person human-to-human approach sticks out. Same with the use of physical tools like a paper flier instead of QR codes.

Another factor is this: What is a reader or book sale worth to you? Your efforts may differ if you make 10 bucks on a book sale vs. 75 cents. Further, if the marketing of one book opens ip sales possibilities for other things vs being a one-off, that is a big factor.  

For instance, if your book is the fifth in a series, then by pushing one book, you may end up selling the four others. Or, if your book is non-fiction and it is  calling card for your business, services, or other products, then your ROI will be much higher than the single novel approach. 

In certain cases, where you have a great book that people need or want, and you can get around, live in a city, and it isn’t snowing outside, the conditions are ripe to try going door-to-door.  Be ready for in-your-face rejection by the busload, but also be ready to enjoy seeing the faces of your readers and finding a way to your readership. 

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum