Buzz, Balls & Hype
One of the most complicated discussions I have with authors – including myself – is about whether or not to hire an outside PR firm.
The reason it’s confusing is because nothing is guaranteed with PR. You’re buying effort and contacts.
It’s not like advertising where you buy an ad, it shows up. PR is a gamble. No publicist worth her salt will guarantee you placement. She can’t. A publicist’s job is to craft a pitch and get it to the right media outlets. But close the deal? That’s just not in her hands. The New York Times doesn’t listen to her when it comes to what to review. O Magazine will read the publicist’s pitch but she’s not invited to the editorial meeting to help them decide what books they are going to feature.
But knowing all that isn’t enough. I know it and yet it never seems to sink in.
And I’ve been trying to figure out why.
I think it’s because novelists are creative, imaginative people. Whisper glossy magazines to us and we can picture them. Mention an appearance on a TV morning show and we can’t stop visualizing sitting there and being interviewed. All the way down to the new Manolas you’re wearing.
In order to be an author we have to be optimists. How else could we spend a year, two or more of our time writing a book? Believing that we have a story worthy of telling? That people will want to read?
So presented with the potential of a PR campaign that will catapult our book onto the bestseller lists, it’s in our nature to start to drool and believe it’s all possible. Even probable. After all didn’t the book sell?
I’m not against hiring a PR firm. Quite the opposite. I think it’s a great idea. But you have to do it with your eyes open. You have to be a realist about it. And you need to make sure you have insurance.
Insurance
Read MoreRecently one of my AuthorBuzz clients was telling me about how powerless she felt – her hardcover/ebook didn’t do well and her publisher decided not to bring out a trade paperback re-release of her book.
It’s a sad fact that in the last several years getting a re-release in paper has become less of a guarantee if a hardcover book doesn’t do well.
What we did was brainstorm how to take her proverbial lemons and make lemonade.
The good news is once a book is published in e it stays on sale and can continue to be discovered and pushed indefinitely.
We have the power to keep readers finding our books in new ways.
Just because a publisher loses interest in a title doesn’t mean you have to. No book dies anymore and readers don’t look at pub dates – so a book is new to everyone who hears about it for the first time
We’ve never been more empowered than we are now to take control of our careers if we are proactive and productive–if we see publishers as partners and see ourselves as adults not kids. Publishers are not our parents making all the rules anymore. Or we can completely take control and self publish. Or we can do both.
Whichever way – it’s in our power to do creative things to revitalize and energize our books and careers.
Here’s what I just did.
Read MoreTherese here to introduce M.J. Rose’s first post with Writer Unboxed as a monthly contributor. M.J.–founder of AuthorBuzz.com–will be bringing us Buzz, Balls & Hype originals about the world of marketing. Enjoy!
I think what I get asked the most is does book publicity and marketing really work, how much money should be devoted to a campaign, and whether, at the end of the day, the book won’t just really sell itself.
In my columns here I’ll address answers to those questions and more. If you have specific topics you want me to cover, feel free to put them in the comments section or write me at AuthorBuzzCo@gmail.com.
I think we’ll cover some broad strokes in this first post.
The Rules: Part 1.
1. No one will buy a book that they do not know exists. People won’t go looking for it on line or in the store if they have never heard of it. That is the goal of marketing and pr. To expose the book, the cover, your name to as many people as possible when the book comes out.
2. No matter how old a book is – it’s new to someone who has never heard of it before.
3. No book ever dies anymore. Because of the Internet – every book has a forever shelf-life. You can promote any title no matter how old it is for as long as you want. And you should.
4. You should be buzzing your books and your name – that’s how you build a brand and if you want to have a long-term career you want a brand. You want to stand for something and be known for something.
Lee Child is synonymous with Jack Reacher.
That’s really specific.
Other writers have brands that are broader.
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