2. Hire a local or regional publicist.
A local publicist might charge $300 to $400 dollars a month and are good at getting you into local radio stations and newspapers. Also most regional publicists book you into bookstores and coordinate the necessary publicity and announcements. A local or regional publicist works best if you live or work near a large ‘literate’ metropolitan area. In the trade there are certain cities that for the most part can be designated ‘illiterate’. Simply put their citizens do not read let alone buy books!
Both national and regional publicists charge for their services. Expenses, such as, postage, long distance calls etc. will be passed on to the author.
With either a national or local publicist, get their references. Talk to bookstores about them. And ask for a flat rate on the publicity campaign they plan to initiate. Ask for a detailed work plan or publicity campaign proposal that includes which media outlets they will pitch and the services they will provide.
3. Depend on your publisher’s publicist.
Your publisher’s publicist will typically have over 200 books per year to promote. Your book will be listed on your publisher’s seasonal list. The top of a publisher’s seasonal list is mostly populated by the so-called “A-List “ authors and the books your publisher has the greatest sales expectations. The further down the list a book resides the less attention it will receive. Some bookstores will automatically order a publisher’s top five or top ten books. It is up to the sales representative to convince the booksellers to buy more books.
FYI: If you can get a sales rep on your side you will have a white knight to help you.
Depending on advance sales, your publisher’s view of the importance of your book and any national publicity you have managed to generate they will have your book somewhere on their list. Few first time authors will displace a Norma Roberts or an Edmund Morris. Not that they won’t work on you book. They want your book to succeed. But they also know the odds.
Trying to reach your publisher’s publicist might be difficult. You’ll know almost immediately. Chances are you will only get their secretary or their voice mail Be persistent but not a pest. And of course if you constantly call and are seen as bothersome you might not get to them at all. All publishers, agents, and publicists have had their share of authors from hell. Don’t be one. Be agreeable. As my father always said (don’t you love these) you attract more flies with sugar than vinegar.
I will say one thing in defense of my publisher publicist. He did a good job and educated me in many of the aspects of publicity especially as it relates to publishers. I was lucky. I could get on the telephone and call my publicist and he would answer the phone. Few of the bigger houses will respond the same way.
By the way, when I say him, it’s an anomaly. I think I had the only publishing house in the business run by men. Gentlemen, the publishing world is gender controlled, and it’s not us. Most agents, editors, publicists and publishes are women.
The fact is simple. Women read more books than men. I read that 80% of all fiction books are purchased by women over the age of fifty.
The bottom line is that no matter what your publisher does, you are the CEO of your publicity and promotional campaign.
FYI: Your agent, your publisher, and your publicists are all busy people. Don’t abuse your access. Ask questions but don’t bother them except for important issues.
4. Promote your book yourself.
Take control. Design and execute your own promotion campaign. Educate yourself, read. Promoting your book yourself is the gist of this manual. It is not easy. It’s time consuming and can be frustrating. After you are finished with self-promotion you will realize a publicist is worth every penny.
So, you must ask, why did I self-promote my own book? It came down to the bottom line. I couldn’t afford a publicist.
Don’t expect your agent to promote your book. Contrary to many new author’s expectations that is not a literary agent’s job. You can ask your agent for ideas and tips but do not expect any in-depth promotional help from your agent.
Peppered throughout this manual are Don’t s -- on what not to do. They are quick posts for you to learn from other authors’ experiences and mistakes.
Get ready, take off your author’s cap and put on your promotion helmet.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
CHAPTER 1, Post # 5
PUBLICITY vs ADVERTISING
CHAPTER I
What is the difference between advertising and publicity? You pay for advertising. Publicity is free. Except in topic specific books, where a specific audience can be targeted, for the most part advertising is a poor return on your investment. Say for example an author wants to advertise their book in a magazine like Hydroelectric Dam Engineering or Sumatran Tropical Bird Diseases. Our in-house engineer would get more milage writing a magazine article for his specific audience on “Hydroelectric Dams” which would be read by all the magazine readers. An advertisement tucked away in the back pages is more likely to be passed over unread. Also, an article establishes your credentials gives you credibility and you will be paid for it. We’ll cover magazines and other print media later.
The time to begin your promotion is when you have a signed book contract.
The publication date might be nine months or a year away. You still have long months of editing, reediting, copy editing, line editing and galley printings before that happens and the last thing you have time to think about is promoting you book. If you wait you’ll be too late.
So how do you get your book out in front of the public?
You have four choices:
1. Hire a national publicist.
A full time publicist (full time for you and a dozen other clients) can charge $5,000.00 a month and they are worth every penny. Most are hired for an average of three months, the general life span of a book. They will organize a full national book tour for you; contact the media, arrange travel plans, book you into hotels and supply you with literary escorts.
Others will charge you by city. Usually guaranteeing you two radio and two TV interviews plus ink -- coverage in newspapers. They charge anywhere from $2,000 to $3,500 per city or area which might include two or three cities in one urban area, like Dallas-Fort Worth or the North Carolina Tri-city area.
Even if you have the funds to hire a national she might not take your book. After an initial conversation or meeting she might realize there is nothing she can do that will help you increase sales. Not all books and authors, are promotable, in the sense of an equitable return on your investment.
There is a useful list of book publicists in the Literary Market Place.
CHAPTER I
What is the difference between advertising and publicity? You pay for advertising. Publicity is free. Except in topic specific books, where a specific audience can be targeted, for the most part advertising is a poor return on your investment. Say for example an author wants to advertise their book in a magazine like Hydroelectric Dam Engineering or Sumatran Tropical Bird Diseases. Our in-house engineer would get more milage writing a magazine article for his specific audience on “Hydroelectric Dams” which would be read by all the magazine readers. An advertisement tucked away in the back pages is more likely to be passed over unread. Also, an article establishes your credentials gives you credibility and you will be paid for it. We’ll cover magazines and other print media later.
The time to begin your promotion is when you have a signed book contract.
The publication date might be nine months or a year away. You still have long months of editing, reediting, copy editing, line editing and galley printings before that happens and the last thing you have time to think about is promoting you book. If you wait you’ll be too late.
So how do you get your book out in front of the public?
You have four choices:
1. Hire a national publicist.
A full time publicist (full time for you and a dozen other clients) can charge $5,000.00 a month and they are worth every penny. Most are hired for an average of three months, the general life span of a book. They will organize a full national book tour for you; contact the media, arrange travel plans, book you into hotels and supply you with literary escorts.
Others will charge you by city. Usually guaranteeing you two radio and two TV interviews plus ink -- coverage in newspapers. They charge anywhere from $2,000 to $3,500 per city or area which might include two or three cities in one urban area, like Dallas-Fort Worth or the North Carolina Tri-city area.
Even if you have the funds to hire a national she might not take your book. After an initial conversation or meeting she might realize there is nothing she can do that will help you increase sales. Not all books and authors, are promotable, in the sense of an equitable return on your investment.
There is a useful list of book publicists in the Literary Market Place.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Proloque Post # 4
NULLE DIES SINE LINEA
While outside of the scope of this book this is one of the most useful terms I know. NO DAY WITHOUT A LINE. A Latin Renaissance term for artists, it is as useful to today’s writers as it was for Benvenuto Cellini and Miguelangelo Bunnarotti. Write every day. Graham Green wrote 500 words then stopped. Steven King writes 2,000 a day no matter what. One author said it simply, “write a page a day and you’ll have a book at the end of a year.” Hemingway counseled count your daily word progress. I aim for a thousand words a day. What ever you decide set a goal and keep to it. You’ll be amazed at your progress.
FYI: People want to read your book. They just don’t know about it yet.
Most important try and have fun. Remember it is only a book. With luck this book will be followed by many other books. You only have one life and one family. Don not ignore either. Stay healthy and stay happy.
Now the question is how to get your book into the hands of the public. The answer is you have to tell them about it, either through advertising or publicity.
While outside of the scope of this book this is one of the most useful terms I know. NO DAY WITHOUT A LINE. A Latin Renaissance term for artists, it is as useful to today’s writers as it was for Benvenuto Cellini and Miguelangelo Bunnarotti. Write every day. Graham Green wrote 500 words then stopped. Steven King writes 2,000 a day no matter what. One author said it simply, “write a page a day and you’ll have a book at the end of a year.” Hemingway counseled count your daily word progress. I aim for a thousand words a day. What ever you decide set a goal and keep to it. You’ll be amazed at your progress.
FYI: People want to read your book. They just don’t know about it yet.
Most important try and have fun. Remember it is only a book. With luck this book will be followed by many other books. You only have one life and one family. Don not ignore either. Stay healthy and stay happy.
Now the question is how to get your book into the hands of the public. The answer is you have to tell them about it, either through advertising or publicity.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
PROLOGUE Post # 3
NOTHING SELLS ITSELF.
This old mantra is true if not more so in the publishing world. Type up in bold large letters -- NOTHING SELLS ITSELF -- and tape it to your wall in front of your desk, kitchen table or where ever you work. Promotion equates to sales in any business. However, as I have said, unless you are very lucky, you as a first time author will receive little help from your publisher. Experience has shown them for the most part overinvesting in a new author is a waste of money. Why do they even publish new authors? The hope is out there lurks a new Steven King, John Gresham or Jackie Suzanne waiting to break into that 15% level. The chance of a wildcat well striking oil is better than the possibility of finding a new best selling author. One glance at the New York Times Bestsellers list show the same authors making it year after year. They are sure bets. New authors are not. Still if you push and promote wisely and sell enough books to get noticed attitudes will change. If your book suddenly shows promise then the publisher will take notice. They will jump on your band wagon and help. Otherwise for the most part, you are on your own. Think of a publisher as a fisherman on a lake with scores of fishing lines in the water waiting for the big hit. When it does they reel it in and take the appropriate credit. For the other books, they are just drowning worms.
“Publishing houses will take ten books by new authors and throw them against the wall hoping three will stick,” political satire author D.V. Date said at a recent Writing Conference.
One bright light is that even with the plethora of tried and true repeat authors that rule the best seller lists, a surprising number of first time novelist did make the top 15 Publisher Weekly’s best sellers list. Sometimes all it does take is good writing, a good story and good luck along with promotion.
For the rest of us without a rabbit’s foot in our pockets if we want our books to succeed we have to do most of the publicity. Remember no one knows your book like you do. So push it yourself.
This is a good time to remind you of the most important word in the writers’ echelon:
PERSEVERANCE
PERSEVERANCE
PERSEVERANCE
Another reminder sign for your walls.
You have already done it. You have persevered. You have written your book. Now redirect that perseverance into promotion. Be optimistic, enthusiastic. Believe in your book. Promote as if your book is on the New York Times Bestsellers list and you want to keep it there for 12 weeks. To get on the New York Times list you’ll probably have to sell more books in a week than your publisher has printed. But don’t let that stop you. Think second massive printing.
The first printing is based on advance sales. This is the only point during the publishing schedule that you have a chance to exert any influence, except of course, your second (and more) editions. So start to promote early and persevere. To influence advance sales we’ll talk about the all importance ‘sell-in’ which we’ll get into later.
No matter what you decide to do remember persevere. Like the Nike man says, “Just Do It.”
This old mantra is true if not more so in the publishing world. Type up in bold large letters -- NOTHING SELLS ITSELF -- and tape it to your wall in front of your desk, kitchen table or where ever you work. Promotion equates to sales in any business. However, as I have said, unless you are very lucky, you as a first time author will receive little help from your publisher. Experience has shown them for the most part overinvesting in a new author is a waste of money. Why do they even publish new authors? The hope is out there lurks a new Steven King, John Gresham or Jackie Suzanne waiting to break into that 15% level. The chance of a wildcat well striking oil is better than the possibility of finding a new best selling author. One glance at the New York Times Bestsellers list show the same authors making it year after year. They are sure bets. New authors are not. Still if you push and promote wisely and sell enough books to get noticed attitudes will change. If your book suddenly shows promise then the publisher will take notice. They will jump on your band wagon and help. Otherwise for the most part, you are on your own. Think of a publisher as a fisherman on a lake with scores of fishing lines in the water waiting for the big hit. When it does they reel it in and take the appropriate credit. For the other books, they are just drowning worms.
“Publishing houses will take ten books by new authors and throw them against the wall hoping three will stick,” political satire author D.V. Date said at a recent Writing Conference.
One bright light is that even with the plethora of tried and true repeat authors that rule the best seller lists, a surprising number of first time novelist did make the top 15 Publisher Weekly’s best sellers list. Sometimes all it does take is good writing, a good story and good luck along with promotion.
For the rest of us without a rabbit’s foot in our pockets if we want our books to succeed we have to do most of the publicity. Remember no one knows your book like you do. So push it yourself.
This is a good time to remind you of the most important word in the writers’ echelon:
PERSEVERANCE
PERSEVERANCE
PERSEVERANCE
Another reminder sign for your walls.
You have already done it. You have persevered. You have written your book. Now redirect that perseverance into promotion. Be optimistic, enthusiastic. Believe in your book. Promote as if your book is on the New York Times Bestsellers list and you want to keep it there for 12 weeks. To get on the New York Times list you’ll probably have to sell more books in a week than your publisher has printed. But don’t let that stop you. Think second massive printing.
The first printing is based on advance sales. This is the only point during the publishing schedule that you have a chance to exert any influence, except of course, your second (and more) editions. So start to promote early and persevere. To influence advance sales we’ll talk about the all importance ‘sell-in’ which we’ll get into later.
No matter what you decide to do remember persevere. Like the Nike man says, “Just Do It.”
Monday, December 21, 2009
PROLOGUE Post # 2
Why do we authors have to promote? Aren’t there publicists?
Yes there are publicists. There are big-time publicists for the Chers and Tom Cruises, there are freelance publicists, regional publicists and your publisher has one or more publicists. Once you finish your promotion campaign you’ll realize they earn every penny of their fees.
I think most of us can eliminate the first group. The second tier or freelancers charge anywhere from $5,000.00 to $300 per month plus expenses. A wide range. Even $300 a month will run you well over $1,200 over a four month span.
The third are the publishers’ publicist. They will help if they can. But most of them have hundreds of books to promote and the basic realities of the publishing world today is that publishers do not have the funds or staff to sufficiently promote individual authors or their books, especially first time authors.
According to Publishers Weekly, 150,000 books were printed last year. Think about it. Your book is to compete with 150,000 other newly printed books. It is not easy to compete with so many books and the publishers understand this. They cannot spend money on the publicity each book deserves. Another reality of the publishing business is that only the top 15% of books make money. The revenue generated by the top 15% of the authors in the publishing business subsidizes the rest–a very sobering fact. Where do you think they are going to spend their money and publicity efforts?
One publisher I know printed 5,000 hardcover copies, a modest run, of a book they had high hopes would have a second printing within a couple of months. At year’s end the book had sold only 600 copies. They took a bath. And why? Because the author did not do her part in the unwritten contract. She flopped at promotion. Will she get to publish a second book? What do you think?
National publicist Lucinda Dyer quotes a Hyperion associate publisher as saying “The writers who have been able to break out of the crowd ...... have all been self-promoters.”1
As a first time author, you might feel like a pariah trying to communicate your ideas or plans with your publishing house. You’re not. Your publisher wants to see your book succeed. After all it is expending quite a bit of money and a lot of time on your book.
There are steps you can begin to take today that will help your book become successful and attract the attention of your publisher. Your publisher will pay attention to book sales. What you want to do is surprise them. Better still shock them!
Yes there are publicists. There are big-time publicists for the Chers and Tom Cruises, there are freelance publicists, regional publicists and your publisher has one or more publicists. Once you finish your promotion campaign you’ll realize they earn every penny of their fees.
I think most of us can eliminate the first group. The second tier or freelancers charge anywhere from $5,000.00 to $300 per month plus expenses. A wide range. Even $300 a month will run you well over $1,200 over a four month span.
The third are the publishers’ publicist. They will help if they can. But most of them have hundreds of books to promote and the basic realities of the publishing world today is that publishers do not have the funds or staff to sufficiently promote individual authors or their books, especially first time authors.
According to Publishers Weekly, 150,000 books were printed last year. Think about it. Your book is to compete with 150,000 other newly printed books. It is not easy to compete with so many books and the publishers understand this. They cannot spend money on the publicity each book deserves. Another reality of the publishing business is that only the top 15% of books make money. The revenue generated by the top 15% of the authors in the publishing business subsidizes the rest–a very sobering fact. Where do you think they are going to spend their money and publicity efforts?
One publisher I know printed 5,000 hardcover copies, a modest run, of a book they had high hopes would have a second printing within a couple of months. At year’s end the book had sold only 600 copies. They took a bath. And why? Because the author did not do her part in the unwritten contract. She flopped at promotion. Will she get to publish a second book? What do you think?
National publicist Lucinda Dyer quotes a Hyperion associate publisher as saying “The writers who have been able to break out of the crowd ...... have all been self-promoters.”1
As a first time author, you might feel like a pariah trying to communicate your ideas or plans with your publishing house. You’re not. Your publisher wants to see your book succeed. After all it is expending quite a bit of money and a lot of time on your book.
There are steps you can begin to take today that will help your book become successful and attract the attention of your publisher. Your publisher will pay attention to book sales. What you want to do is surprise them. Better still shock them!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
AUTHOR SELF-PROMOTION MANUAL -- Prologue Post # 1
UNDERSTANDING PROMOTION
Introduction
Congratulations. You have finished your book. You have a signed contract from your publisher and can finally imagine attaining your life long dream. Picture that book in your hand, whether it is a hard cover, a trade or mass market paperback, picture it in you hand. Now picture it in the hands of thousands perhaps tens of thousands of expectant readers. That is your real goal. If you write a book and no one reads it you have to ask, why did I write this book? As a published author you have an obligation to your publisher, to book sellers, to yourself and to your readers to get that book out of the warehouses, into the bookstores and off the shelves.
When I finally had a contract from my publisher I thought I was home free, soon to be a published author. Visions of book tours and adoring crowds, TV appearances and intellectual conversations on National Public Radio danced in my head. I had been forewarned by other authors that the publisher would not be help much in the promotion. I only half believed them. So over the next several months between the arduous processes of editing, copying editing and line editing my book, I began to educate myself. I was shocked! Even though my publication date was a good five months away I discovered that I was late. Almost too late to begin a successful publicity campaign. Too late! I hadn’t even seen the bounded galleys! Thus began the long and at times painful learning curve I had to overcome to make my book successful. I collected ideas from books, magazines articles and other authors. I watched BookTV and Booknotes on C-Span. Through trial and error I found out what worked for me and my book and what would work for any author who has the time and drive to successfully self-promote their own book
In promoting my book I have used all or part of the ideas below in my publicity campaign. Every author has different needs and wants. They have their own lives, jobs, and of course families. Each author has different abilities, drive, time and funds. Not all the suggestions will work for each and every author and not all fit what you want or can do. And more than a few are budget breakers. The ideas and suggestions that follow are culled from personal experiences during my startup and sell-in, through my fourteen state book tour to the continual sell-through.
I had three clear goals. The first, obviously, was to sell as many books as possible, specifically I wanted to sell-out the first edition and get a second printing. The second goal, which is an on going effort, is not to have my book discontinued, to keep my book backlisted. Both objectives help in my final goal, selling enough books to interest a publisher in a second book. And I should add without having to go through another 97 rejection letters.
How to reach those goals? Or for that matter any goal an author might have? It’s going to take promotion. Most authors will tell you that the only thing more difficult than writing their book is promoting it. Believe them it’s true. Promotion can be difficult, time consuming, and costly. Guess who has to do most of the promotion and bear the expense? The author.
Aside from time and money why is promoting so difficult for many authors?
Writers are loners. For months even years we lock ourselves up in our caves isolated with our ideas, our characters and our dreams and pound away at our wordprocessors searching for the unimaginable, a readable story. Once finished over night we have to transform ourselves from lone wolves into publicity hounds. It’s a schizophrenic business.
Introduction
Congratulations. You have finished your book. You have a signed contract from your publisher and can finally imagine attaining your life long dream. Picture that book in your hand, whether it is a hard cover, a trade or mass market paperback, picture it in you hand. Now picture it in the hands of thousands perhaps tens of thousands of expectant readers. That is your real goal. If you write a book and no one reads it you have to ask, why did I write this book? As a published author you have an obligation to your publisher, to book sellers, to yourself and to your readers to get that book out of the warehouses, into the bookstores and off the shelves.
When I finally had a contract from my publisher I thought I was home free, soon to be a published author. Visions of book tours and adoring crowds, TV appearances and intellectual conversations on National Public Radio danced in my head. I had been forewarned by other authors that the publisher would not be help much in the promotion. I only half believed them. So over the next several months between the arduous processes of editing, copying editing and line editing my book, I began to educate myself. I was shocked! Even though my publication date was a good five months away I discovered that I was late. Almost too late to begin a successful publicity campaign. Too late! I hadn’t even seen the bounded galleys! Thus began the long and at times painful learning curve I had to overcome to make my book successful. I collected ideas from books, magazines articles and other authors. I watched BookTV and Booknotes on C-Span. Through trial and error I found out what worked for me and my book and what would work for any author who has the time and drive to successfully self-promote their own book
In promoting my book I have used all or part of the ideas below in my publicity campaign. Every author has different needs and wants. They have their own lives, jobs, and of course families. Each author has different abilities, drive, time and funds. Not all the suggestions will work for each and every author and not all fit what you want or can do. And more than a few are budget breakers. The ideas and suggestions that follow are culled from personal experiences during my startup and sell-in, through my fourteen state book tour to the continual sell-through.
I had three clear goals. The first, obviously, was to sell as many books as possible, specifically I wanted to sell-out the first edition and get a second printing. The second goal, which is an on going effort, is not to have my book discontinued, to keep my book backlisted. Both objectives help in my final goal, selling enough books to interest a publisher in a second book. And I should add without having to go through another 97 rejection letters.
How to reach those goals? Or for that matter any goal an author might have? It’s going to take promotion. Most authors will tell you that the only thing more difficult than writing their book is promoting it. Believe them it’s true. Promotion can be difficult, time consuming, and costly. Guess who has to do most of the promotion and bear the expense? The author.
Aside from time and money why is promoting so difficult for many authors?
Writers are loners. For months even years we lock ourselves up in our caves isolated with our ideas, our characters and our dreams and pound away at our wordprocessors searching for the unimaginable, a readable story. Once finished over night we have to transform ourselves from lone wolves into publicity hounds. It’s a schizophrenic business.
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