A conversation with author Alan Korwin: self publishing and book promotion

Author Alan Korwin

Book publicity is a talent that a lot of authors don’t possess.  However you feel about the controversial topic of gun laws, (and I’m squarely in the middle), you have to admire someone like Alan Korwin.   Through hard work and a natural promotional ability, he has taken his Arizona Gun Owner’s Guide through 24 successful self-published editions.  

1).   How did you first get the idea for your book, The Arizona Gun Owner’s Guide?

Moved here from NYC, where guns in the hands of the public are virtually unknown, and found Arizonans sold guns and ammo in supermarkets. When I asked,  ”What are the rules?”, the guy at the counter asked me what I meant by rules. I figured there was room in the market for a book on it. I certainly wanted to know. People started making me offers for copies before I had it written.

2).   You self-published your book.   How did you promote it in the beginning?

I secured a book contract with what I thought would be the best publisher in the state, but I could see they had no idea how to handle this project, and even if they did, I wasn’t going to make any money on the deal. So I took my wife out for a walk and told her I was going to do this. Now we’re both in it up to our necks.

How did I do it in the beginning? Just like now. Insane amounts of effort, energy, venturing where I had no idea what I was doing, and learned quickly. Met people, made friends, helped others, zeroed in on the movers and shakers, networked nonstop. Traveled the entire state and went into every gun store I could find. Not bad for a kid from the Bronx who had never been in a gun store. I figured that’s where the customers were. Used copy machines like a demon. This was before the web, 1989. Now I just push buttons, like I’m doing for you Linda. How many people will this reach?

3).  What edition is the book in now?

24th. We put out three editions in one year once, to meet demand (the Brady Law changed the whole landscape, and then the concealed-carry permit did the same again).

4).  Can you summarize all the developments since that first edition two decades ago?

My little firm Bloomfield Press, from that inauspicious beginning of one skinny book (it’s grown 100 pages thicker), is now the largest publisher and distributor of gun-law books in the nation, eight of which I’ve written (and more than 220 products so far — DVDs, buttons, stickers, related topics). I was an invited guest at the U.S. Supreme Court for the benchmark Heller case last year, and joined an amicus brief (my first) in the Chicago gun-ban case coming up in March 2010. Get one of my full-color catalogs, it’s free, request it online.

5) What’s your theory about book publicity?

 If it works, it counts.  If you’re smart, you follow your industry.  If you’re really smart, your industry follows you. You know you’ve written a good news release when they run it verbatim.  If you want to know what I think of reporters, see my newsmedia watchblog, Page Nine http://www.gunlaws.com/PageNineIndex.htm.  Or even better, their record on accuracy and objectivity http://www.gunlaws.com/NewsAccuracy.htm. That’s press relations.

 6) What are some of the PR mistakes you see first-time book authors doing?

• Getting an interview and saying “my book” five times, instead of saying “The Arizona Gun Owner’s Guide” five times.
• Being on camera without your book in your hand, or worse, holding it at waist level or not holding it dead still. It’s got to be right next to your face to get in the shot.  Feels awkward at first. Then it’s second nature.
• Failure to put copies of your books on a table in camera range prevents the camera guy from zooming in for closeups they crave.
• If your cover is bright and colorful (an asset newbies often overlook) camera people love what it does to a TV set when it airs.
• Letting the interviewer control the dialogue, instead of knowing what you want to get across ahead of time and always working toward that. For example, ”So Mr. Korwin, what do you think about gun control?” “Well, that term has become a euphemism for disarming the public, and so it faces stiff resistance. But the public has guns and they’ll be have them tomorrow, so don’t you think it would be good if they knew the rules? That’s why I wrote The Arizona Gun Owner’s Guide. So people could get a copy of the rules — in plain English! It doesn’t make sense to own a gun and not know the rules, wouldn’t you agree?”

 7) What advice do you have for someone who wants to promote their book?

First, recognize that this is show business.  Second, read read John Kremer’s “1,001 Ways To Market your Book.”