Being published is tremendous, talking with one’s readers even more so. I count myself fortunate to have been able to correspond with so many readers since 2008 owing to this amazing technological world we inhabit. But one of the most exciting developments in my writing life has been establishing the informal partnership with Pat Sweet.
For quite a long while readers have asked about the fantasy world of Eirie, and finally, after prompting from my digital publisher MWiDP, I am creating a page and sub-pages to illustrate the world as I know it. I hope it will help any reader who may want to get to know the world more.
Rachelle Gardner posted an interesting topic on her blog today and I’m afraid I just couldn’t help myself. I had to go through all that she said publishers did for one and tick off what I actually do for myself. To see if I represent ‘the soul of selling’ as much or as more as a grandiose marketing team might. I should point out that I live in Australia, my print publisher is based in the UK and all e-pubs are carried out through Amazon and Smashwords, based in the USA.
Have ‘look see’ and if you’re a writer, do tell me what you do for yourself and your books off that list.
Prepare promotional materials
▪ produce and print ARCs (advance reader copies) which are far more expensive on a per-book basis to produce than the actual book Done by self.
▪ write flap copy, back cover copy, all catalog and marketing copy Done by self.
▪ create a press kit for soliciting reviews and author interviews Done by self.
▪ provide printed material to assist author’s own promotion: postcards, bookmarks, flyers, etc. Done by self.
▪ Book signing/event support (posters, press releases, bag stuffers)
Trade advertising – print & retail
▪ placement in publisher’s print catalog Done by my POD publisher.
▪ product placement in retailers’ catalogs & fliers
▪ print advertising in trade magazines
▪ in-store product placement (special tables or endcaps)
▪ print & web ads with distributors (Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Spring Arbor, etc.) Done by my POD publisher.
▪ shelf talkers for retail outlets
Internet marketing
▪ a page on publisher website
▪ working with Amazon & large online booksellers for placement Done by publisher and self.
▪ assist author in developing their Facebook, Twitter & blog presence Done by self.
▪ email blasts to publisher’s list which can include hundreds of thousands of names, including consumers, librarians and retailers
▪ organize online contests Done by self.
▪ set up blog tours Done by self.
▪ may help with creating a video book trailer Done by self.
Internet Advertising
▪ advertise in online magazines and newsletters appropriate to the book
▪ Facebook advertising
▪ banner ads on appropriate websites
Specialized promotions (specific to type of book)
▪ work with author to capitalize on author’s own areas of influence, which could include organizations they’re a member of, alumni associations, professional associations, local historical societies, etc. Done by self.
▪ promotion to book clubs and reading groups (email blasts or even a mailing of the book)
▪ pitch to large national reading groups
▪ submit books to major contests
Trade publicity
▪ trade shows
▪ pitch to trade magazines for review
Consumer publicity
▪ organize book tours & book signings
▪ press releases, especially locally or regionally where the author has influence Done by self.
▪ sending press kits to all appropriate media outlets: radio, TV, newpapers & magazines. Done by self.
▪ following up on requests for books, sending out review copies Done by self.
▪ booking print, broadcast, and online interviews Done by self.
▪ included in targeted publisher newsletters to consumers
▪ send out influencer copies”
Rachelle continues: “Most publishers have a sales team (or rep group) who proactively sells titles to retailers. They service the approx. 10,000 bookstores still left in the U.S., chains and indies combined, plus Walmart, Target, Costco, etc. In addition, the sales department interacts with book clubs (Book-of-the-Month, Literary Guild, etc), international accounts, rack jobbers (for grocery stores and gift shops), nonprofit organizations, and special accounts. This is a “sales” function (not technically marketing) but it’s something publishers do that you, the author, are unlikely to be able to do yourself. And it’s another way your book gets “out there.”
I am my sales team. Granted my sales are a drop in the ocean to what they might be if I had a Big Six team behind me. BUT, if I can do a good proportion of the above, plus help run a farming business, look after acres of garden and write other books, I wonder if that raises issues about the efficiency and efficacy of what a publisher’s sales team actually does.
NB: One thing that is not included in the above list and which I should like to mention is how important the fellowship of readers and writers is in advertising and on-selling. No matter how good a sales team might be, in the end it’s word of mouth between the members of the marketplace (ie one’s readers) that will let a book sink or swim and I have to say right here and now, that I have been truly fortunate with my readers and also fellow authors who have chosen to support me. The worth is incalculable.
Was Shakespeare right? That a rose by any other name would smell as sweet? What if a rose was called Pigswilliam or Foxscent or Pricklius Garderobei? If one could get past the connotations of the name and smell the flower itself, of course it would smell divine, but its getting past those images that might be the difficult part.
When Mark Williams, one half of the team who wrote the brilliantly selling Sugar and Spice, created the introduction to my guesting on his blog, he probably had no idea that he would be raising the dead, quite literally, when he mentioned my infamous one star review for The Stumpwork Robe. I had successfully pushed it to that darkest depth of my consciousness that I call my oubliette. According to Wiki: ‘An oubliette is a form of dungeon which was accessible only from a hatch in a high ceiling.’ Well Mark had successfully opened the hatch and hauled that review out!
Have a look at this! Such a wonderful intro. Mark, be my agent!!!!!!
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a guest on MWi gets a hard time of it before I finally let them have their say.
Now here’s the thing. Overnight, The Stumpwork Robe finally achieved Premium Catalogue status with Smashwords which means it can be sold to be read on all the e-apps available. This has prompted me to want to try and finish the formatting of its sequel The Last Stitch and secure its placement on the catalogue ASAP.
Seeing as I’m about to start putting up the novel, A Thousand Glass Flowers on Mesmered, I thought readers might like to know how the story came about.
I’m always inspired by small things. In fact I think my writing has its very own god… The God of Small Things. The Stumpwork Robe and The Last Stitch were inspired by beautiful embroidery that has its roots in the seventeenth century. Another work-in-progress, The Shifu Cloth has its genesis in the fascinating fabric created in Japan through the centuries and which is in fact called ‘shifu’ cloth. And of course, A Thousand Glass Flowers was conceived from a paperweight. In each case a novel grew from small things. In every case the small things guarded dangerous secrets.
