Marketing Push

On my Wannabepublished blog, I often answer reader's questions. This one comes on the heels of a great post by David Gregory, the author of Dinner with a Perfect Stranger.

Reader Katy McKenna asks: Great interview, Mary and David (Gregory)!! A very non-spiritual question arises in my mind as a result of reading this. David says Waterbrook chose to give a big marketing push to "Dinner." At what point in the publishing process does the author become aware that the publisher has planned this? Is it something that doesn't begin (with a new author) until initial sales figures start to roll in? Or do sales happen because a pre-emptive decision to push the book was made? And what does "a big push" actually look like? Those coveted displays in the front of the store? Magazine ad space? Is there ANYTHING an author can do (besides hope and pray) that might encourage her publisher to made a big push? Furthermore, if a big push on the publisher's part resulted in correspondingly big sales, why wouldn't publishers use this tactic more often?I am clueless about how such things happen in the real world.Perhaps this is a subject for another post? Enquiring authors want to know!! :)

This is a great question, Katy. One with plentiful answers.

One of my pet peeves about the business is that a lot of marketing dollars are reserved for big names who have already created such a big following, that running a one page ad in USA Today wouldn't really matter. My frustration is that there are few risk takers out there, willing to throw dollars out there for a no-name. And how will a no-name become a big producer if he/she is not promoted? But, in David's case, he bucked the system. Why? Because he wrote a surprising, sellable, creative book. The publisher saw its potential and backed it up with good promotion.

How do you know if your book will get this treatment? You don't. And if they choose to, they'll let you know. One of my books got a bigger push last summer, which I was very thankful for. The publisher let me know the additional things they were going to do as the book was releasing. And of course, I did my part too.

The best way to sell books is still word of mouth. The best thing you can do is figure out how to generate that. (Read books like The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell). What kind of need does your book fill? How can you get it into the hands of people who have that need? Marketing dollars sometimes do come after a book has been released, but that's usually only after it surprised everyone by selling a ton. I get a lot of mileage by the story of Blue Like Jazz, that didn't sell well its first year. I can't remember the actual number, (Can anyone help me?), but I think it was around 5000 books. Then Campus Crusade for Christ decided to offer the book in its campus pack giveaways. College kids ate it up, told their friends and families, and suddenly BLJ exploded. And then marketing dollars happened.

The thing is, this is a very weird and unpredictable and exciting industry. All you can do is choose to do the most you can on your end, pray, and accept any publicity and marketing your publisher does as gold. Be thankful. Write thank you notes to your marketing, publicity and sales teams. Be accessible. Think through ways you can sell your book.

And on that note, here's something I've seen in new writers. They are very gung ho about learning the craft and improving. (Hooray!) But they neglect to grow in their knowledge of the industry. Katy is making big strides in understanding the industry by asking questions like this. My advice: set a few hours a week aside to get to know and understand the publishing industry. Sign up for PW Daily. You can do that here. Meet a professional for lunch. Browse a bookstore. Join The Writers View 1 0r 2. It's vitally important that you learn this industry. Two things will show your naivete when you pitch a project: poor writing, and poor knowledge of the industry and the way things work.

www.marydemuth.com, www.relevantblog.blogspot.com, www.wannabepublished.blogspot.com

Comments

[Marci]

Great tips, Mary. Thanks!
Marci