Locking Up Book Sales with Policeman Bobby

by Steve van der Merwe

I should start by saying that I am in no way an accomplished writer. I had an idea for a character that I believed would be popular with children everywhere. I noticed that although there was a fireman, a builder and even a postman for children to relate to, there was no policeman. Policeman Bobby was born!

As I was a first time author I needed a publishing company that would assist me with the whole process. I found that company to be AuthorHouse. Their Web site was clear and user friendly.

I contacted AuthorHouse and was guided by a representative as to my publishing options. Financial restrictions prevented me from having more illustrations. This was perfect because there wouldn`t be any surprise bills after the publishing process. I was in no way pressured by AuthorHouse and felt comfortable making my own decisions.

I am a very poor artist…stick men being an indication of my ability! I am very grateful to the illustrator of my book, Susan Anderson. Susan turned my stickmen drawings into life. She is very talented. After I rejected the first illustration for being too much like a super hero, she created the perfect Policeman Bobby.

I enjoyed this part of the publishing process the most. I was happy that I had input into how I wanted the illustrations. I was very happy with the cover and illustrations.

The format and completion of the book cover was handled quickly and professionally. AuthorHouse understood that as a first time author I required a lot of support. For that, I’m grateful.

I was provided with a free website and was able to purchase a domain name, www.policemanbobby.com through them. This is a huge help with the marketing of my book.

I will definitely use Authorhouse to publish the next Policeman Bobby book.

Due to financial constraints and because marketing costs money, I have had to concentrate on selling my book over the internet. Having a free Web site helps! I purchased Yahoo Search to drive interested customers to my website.

I had leaflets printed and had them included in a local newspaper, The Southport Visiter. The newspaper did an article on my book and me. They included the article on their website. AuthorHouse put a link to this article on their website under Authors in the News. More free publicity!

I`ve had T-shirts printed with Policeman Bobby and my Web site address. Also calendars, pens, fridge magnets, etc. for marketing Policeman Bobby.

I gave away a Policeman Bobby t-shirt and the man wore it over his Manchester United football shirt to a game. There were 75,000 spectators at the ground.

At my cricket club`s prize giving, we had a book review for the first time to add some culture. Guess which book was reviewed? That`s right! Policeman Bobby!

I don`t know how successful my marketing has been. I am still learning and the marketing strategy goes on. Without it, I wouldn`t sell a single book. Hopefully, I`ve sold more than one.

Now if everyone reading this, who has a child or knows a child, goes to www.policemanbobby.com and buys a book then…