You’ve waited patiently for your box of author copies. You counted the days and imagined yourself recording your euphoric reaction when you finally get them in your hands. But once they arrive, you’re glad you forgot to set your phone up because the only thing the camera would’ve captured is a look of horror.
The books are unsellable.
Maybe there are printing errors, binding issues, uneven pages, or issues with the cover (like the old cover getting slapped on that you know you replaced). Whatever the reason, your request for a refund is denied, and now you’re stuck with a box full of books that you don’t feel good selling.
Don’t panic! No need to toss them all or shove them into the back of a closet. There are plenty of things you can do with your books besides sell them.
Suggestion #1: Gift them to your readers.
Quick disclaimer: this suggestion is best taken if the only thing wrong with the books is an incorrect cover. You don’t want to give readers books that are unreadable!
There are several routes you could go with this suggestion. If you have a storefront on your website, you could gift a book with purchase if the buyer expresses interest. If you don’t, you could simply set up a Google Form and process requests on a first-come, first-served basis. If I were you, however, I’d also consider donating a copy to a Little Free Library near you.
Know other authors in a similar situation? Do they write in your same subgenre? Take this idea a step further: bundle your books into a “boxset” and organize a giveaway on social media!
Speaking of socials …
Suggestion #2: Use them as props in your social media posts.
There are a million ways to do this, but we’ll list a few to get your wheels turning:
- Annotate a few of your favorite pages, calling attention to quotations you’re particularly proud of.
- Use a ripped-out page to create blackout poetry and ask your audience to guess which book of yours it is.
- Ripping out pages might also make for a good visual punchline in your next vertical video.
- If your pages are (at least mostly) presentable, make a page-flip vertical video like in this tutorial.
- Use the pages to create origami (or, if all else fails, confetti) to add visual interest to a flat lay post.
And speaking of arts and crafts …
Suggestion #3: Get crafty!
It may be #3, but this is actually my favorite suggestion! There’s no shortage of book page craft tutorials online, so you’re sure to find a DIY to spruce up your table at your next book signing, decorate your writing space, or gift to very special readers. Think book page gift bags, book page garlands, and yes, book page bookmarks!
What inspired this blog post was actually my own delivery of books with the wrong cover on them. This was right before my first book signing, and I was already very stressed for a number of reasons, but not too stressed to think of a DIY project to make my table prettier! I made paper roses out of the unsellable books’ pages and glued them on some stems from Dollar Tree plastic roses. They were a hit! And I hear the idea is catching on!
Suggestion #4: Proofread your work one more time.
Have you ever heard that it’s a good idea to change fonts when it comes time to read over your draft because you’ll catch mistakes you’d otherwise skim over? This is the same basic principle, except you’re using your actual book! If you already know you have to edit your PDF or ebook files for some reason, you might as well be thorough and give yourself one more chance to eliminate typos.
