Colleges and Universities including Junior Colleges are often overlooked by authors as a potential buyer of their books. Although this is probably a more viable option for non-fiction authors, there may be some special opportunities for those who can think out of the box or creatively. I will address that later in this article so read to the bottom if you are a fiction or a children’s book author.
You also want to have a presentation prepared and be willing to SPEAK on your topic because that usually is how you get a contract with this kind of institution. They have a line item in their budget for SPEAKERS. Then you have add ons which could be: the book (ebook, paperback or hardback), workbook, t-shirt, poster, journal, or other merchandise all of which can be considered as SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS.
They do not buy these items outright unless it is through the college bookstore but that is in limited numbers. We are talking about possibly 100, 500, 1,000 unit sales or more depending on the number attendees.
So you must speak their language. When you call or email the Vice President of Student Development or someone on their team. You say, “I am a Speaker who talks about (Topic) and I have Supplemental Education Materials (Book, Workbook, T-Shirt with slogan, etc.) to support and reinforce the message or extend the learning. I would love to discuss the opportunity to share with your students my Three Steps, Keys, Strategies or whatever on this Topic. Would that be of interest to you?” If you get a Yes, great continue the conversation about timeframes and budgets. If you get a No, then ask, “Do you know of someone who might be interested in this subject?”
Try to find out how many students might attend an event. If they ask for your fee, you can always say, “What is your budget?” If they don’t have a budget say, “Well my minimum price usually is $5,000-$10,000 but I am open to discussing how we can make this work,” especially if they seem to have a lot of enthusiasm for the topic. Budgets vary but you must be prepared to offer a number if asked or have a minimum number you are willing to accept (usually a good rule is an amount based on number of attendees, it can be $25, $50 or $100 per attendee or a flat fee).
You must also have a One Sheet (which I will discuss in more detail in another article) with a photo of you, your book cover, short bio and short description of your topic and how to contact you. They will almost always say, “Can you send or email me some additional information.” Sometimes they can make the decision and sometimes they have to share that information with others to get approval.
The wonderful thing about these institutions is a percentage of every student admission credit hour payment goes into a special fund to support Student Development – and these funds roll in every semester fall, spring and summer.
Student Development can encompass any number of topics:
life skills,
safety,
study habits,
communication,
financial literacy,
health, fitness or nutrition,
career advice,
dating,
and much more.
So think about how your topic relates to young adults or whether you can modify it to provide some knowledge or skill to this audience.
They also may have opportunities for adult education for administrators, faculty and staff but that probably comes through Human Resources. Which you can easily find out with a phone call or when you contact Student Development ask if there is also opportunity to speak to faculty. This might be another way to share expenses if they don’t have the budget needed.
SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES
As to the special opportunities discussed above … if the college or university has a child development degree, teaching degree or library sciences degree. They may be open to a presentation by a children’s book or fiction author.
Actually Departments or Divisions might also bring in speakers to talk to students or faculty. Their budgets might not be as big as Student Development but sometimes you can offer a shared travel and lodging expense if they know of another organization close by who might also be interested in your topic. You just have to do a little research and some creative brainstorming.
As always if you have questions, please put them in the comments or email authoradventure@gmail.com.
Here’s to conquering this distribution market!
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