Publicity
As self or indie publishing grows and grows, more and more of us compete for a buyer’s attention on the Internet on both retail and industry websites.
Nowadays authors are calling on CreateSpace, Lulu, and other places to design their own book covers. Others do it on their own, utilizing stock images and free fonts—I do a workshop for writers’ conferences on how to design a book cover for $50, and that includes sophisticated graphics software. Other indie writer/publishers utilize the services of independent designers such as me.
Cover design creative goals
I’m going to show you screen captures from how books are presented on the search pages of major online vendors but, before we get there, I want to give you some goals with which to judge the effectiveness of these covers.
Warning: Hacks for Hacks tips may have harmful side effects on your writing career, and should not be used by minors, adults, writers, poets, scribes, scriveners, journalists, or anybody.
Well, well, WELL, look who’s got a book coming out? What started out as some chickenscratch on a napkin has culminated in a published book with a cover and paragraphs and everything. This calls for a celebration. A book launch is your chance to inflate your ego, generate some buzz, and to show your doubting parents that those rent-free months in their basement weren’t for nothing. If you’re going to throw a shindig, though, don’t just set out some Cool Ranch Doritos and two-liter bottles of pop. You owe it to your career to make this the social event of the season. I’m going to show you how.
Planning
Set a Budget: Precisely calculate costs for food, alcohol, decorations, pens for signing books, and giveaway bookmarks. Once you’ve got that total, tack on 40% or so since you know you’ll go over budget anyway.
Theme: Choose a theme that relates to your book. Is it historical fiction? Period-inspired clothing is all the rage. Literary fiction? Set up tables where attendees can smoke cigarettes and contemplate the constant daily dehumanization inflicted by modern life. Military science fiction? Have some guys with guns burst into the room without warning. Ha ha, what fun!
Invitations: Like any good party, you can’t have just ANYBODY showing up. Limit invitations to whoever happens to be on your Facebook friends list. Don’t bother with real-life invitations–you’ve burned out all your real-life friendships by asking them to beta-read your novel.
Reserve a Space: Bookstores are great because they sell books. You also sell books. This is not rocket science. Still, you’ll want to be sure you get your preferred date and time, so book the venue, at minimum, an hour or two before the party.
[pullquote]Precisely calculate costs for food, alcohol, decorations, pens for signing books, and giveaway bookmarks. Once you’ve got that total, tack on 40% or so since you know you’ll go over budget anyway.[/pullquote]
Refreshments:
A number of people have asked me to talk about what an author should do to raise awareness for their book for WU’s Inside Publishing month. This was asked in the context of “…if there are not a lot of marketing dollars in house to support said book,” but I think the answer to what you should do to support your book is the same for authors with huge marketing plans and those with modest ones.
Honestly, there is rarely the kind of money or manpower that you want/expect/desire in any publication so it’s always good to be prepared to do some heavy lifting. In fact, many of my authors, upon their second book’s publication, have said to me that they wished they’d had a better sense of the playing field the first time around as they would have done more, but that they also had to go through it to get to that kind of understanding. So, I am going to try to outline what you can do to be your best advocate in the hope that it sheds some light.
Be a squeaky wheel. I am a big believer that it never hurts to ask. You may have been turned down for certain marketing dollars, but those budgets are decided many months out. Closer to publication, it’s worth going back and asking for other things like online advertising, a blog tour or a flight to a well-attended conference or seminar. Hopefully you will be working closely with an agent who can help you decide what makes sense to push for. While you may not get everything you ask for, you are not going to get anything if you never try, right? So squeak away!
Make your editor your ally. I can not stress this one enough nor tell you that this is the first thing all editors say to me off the record when I ask them what they wish they could tell authors. Your editor is your in-house champion and your lifeline to all the major players within the publishing house (marketing, publicity, publisher, sales) and if you sabotage that relationship, you are really hurting your chances as he or she will be less likely to go to bat for you.
If your fiction has a non-fiction hook, publish as many op-eds as you can.
Read MoreI love you.
Really.
I know, you must be thinking the holiday season has gone to my head, pumping me with Hallmark joy and wrapping-paper cheer. Or that I’m promiscuous — a floozy who hops too easily from one love interest to the next: The job publicizing businesses, the job publicizing authors and books. The kids, the family, the stolen time writing fiction here and there and the regular hook-ups with voice lessons, ballet and yoga classes. When you look at it that way, I guess it does sound kind of shady.
But truth be told, it’s my work with authors that holds it all together, giving purpose and meaning to the rest. Staying faithful to only business PR would be like coming home from the office each evening only to slip into a suit and a tie. Singing, dancing and downward-dogging are nice treats, but at my age, well, they tend not to go very far. As for family life, don’t we all need a little something on the side? And when it comes to fiction, this once-obsession has evolved into a healthier partnership in which prose and story ideas inform and inspire everything I do but no longer define or possess me night and day.
Still don’t believe me? Maybe that’s because in good writerly style you fear that nobody will love you, not even me. Or maybe you’re so wrapped up in your characters’ lives and ways that you don’t notice some of the most endearing aspects of your own. So let me tell you a bit about why working with you is such a joy:
TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³
Today’s guest post is from Janie Chang. Her first novel, THREE SOULS (HarperCollins Canada), is the story of Leiyin,whose punishment for disobedience leads to exile from her family, an unwanted marriage, and ultimately a lover’s betrayal—followed by her untimely death. Now a ghost, Leiyin must make amends to earn entry to the afterlife. But when her young daughter faces a dangerous future, Leiyin has to make a heart-wrenching choice: Should she save her only child or forever relinquish her own afterlife?
Publisher’s Weekly says
Her novel bristles with freshness and heart.
Born in Taiwan, Janie has lived in the Philippines, Iran, Thailand, and New Zealand. She now lives in beautiful Vancouver, Canada, with her husband and Mischa, a rescue cat who thinks the staff could be doing a better job.
Janie draws upon family history for her writing. She grew up listening to stories about ancestors who encountered dragons, ghosts, and immortals, and about family life in a small Chinese town in the years before the Second World War. She is a graduate of The Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University. When asked about book clubs, she said, “Book clubs are an opportunity for writers and their readers to meet, and there’s a bit of trepidation from both sides. Setting the right expectations (for both sides) can go a long ways toward a positive event.”
Follow Janie on Facebook, Twitter, on her blog, and check out her book trailer.
Getting Ready for Book Clubs
Every author I’ve met loves visiting with book clubs. In general, these events are overwhelmingly positive experiences for both parties. It’s wonderful for authors to meet people who have actually bought and read your book and want to know more, while book clubs enjoy finding out about the story behind the story and getting insights beyond what they can get from reader discussions alone. Plus, meetings seem to involve cupcakes.
But I am a teensy bit nervous because (a) I worry a lot at the best of times and (b) I’ve heard stories from friends who are in book clubs about members who misbehave, authors who misbehave, poor planning, and cupcake shortages. So I’m figuring out how to organize things to create a worthwhile event for both author and book club. This is as far as I’ve gotten:
Find out about the club. This is just good preparation for the author. How long have they been together? How many regular members? How often do they meet and where? What’s the usual discussion format? How do they make book selections? Have they had other author visits?
Book clubs who have hosted other authors will be at ease; newer clubs that haven’t “gelled” yet may be nervous and need more guidance about topics, format, and cupcake options.
Ask whether everyone has read the book. Suggest strongly they all do in order to get maximum value from time with the author. It never occurred to me that clubs might invite an author without everyone first reading the book, but apparently this happens. It can’t be fun for the people who haven’t, when the conversation gets into topics they can’t follow.
Arrange to arrive after book club members have had […]
Read MoreToday’s guest post is by Jessica Bennett. She and Leslie Ramey created Compulsion Reads, a website that seeks to shine the spotlight on quality indie books by endorsing those books that meet CR’s strict quality standards.
From Jessica:
At Compulsion Reads, we always seek to help educate and inform writers. I believe that my personal experience of reading and evaluating a large amount of self-published books over the last year could lend some important insights to authors. This is something I would have liked to read when I was first getting started out on my own road to self-publishing.
Find CompulsionReads on Twitter and Facebook, and check out the CompulsionReads blog.
Ten Things I’ve Learned from Evaluating Self-Published Books for a Year
Before I self-published my first novel in 2011, I didn’t read many self-published books. That all changed in a big way when my critique partner, Leslie Ramey, and I created a company called Compulsion Reads after growing frustrated with how challenging it was to market our self-published works. Compulsion Reads is a company that offers something we felt was desperately missing from the indie and self-published book market: a quality endorsement.
In July Compulsion Reads celebrated its first year in business, and boy has it been an incredible ride. We’ve hit many bumps along the way, but the majority of it has been an absolute pleasure. And the books, oh the books! We’ve endorsed just over 100 books in our first year, and since this shindig got started, I’ve read an average of two self-published novels a week, every week.
With experience comes what I hope is a bit of knowledge. Below are the top ten takeaways from my year of reading indie and self-published books (listed in no particular order). Please note that these are merely my personal observations and opinion.
1. There are many amazing self-published books on the market
Yeah, I know this one should be obvious to anyone who has read a lot of self-published books, but I had to start the list with this just to set the record straight. Self-published work is often perceived as low quality, and self-published authors are sometimes assumed to be too lazy or not talented enough to get a contract with a traditional publisher.
Not true. Sooooooo not true. I have read fabulous self-published and indie books this past year that could compete with anything that the big guys put out.
2. Many Self-Publishers Publish Too Early
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Kristina McMorris is the recipient of more than twenty national literary awards. A host of weekly TV shows since age nine, including an Emmy® Award-winning program, she penned her debut novel, Letters from Home (Kensington Books, Avon/HarperCollins UK), based on inspiration from her grandparents’ wartime courtship. Her second novel, Bridge of Scarlet Leaves, was named a 2013 nominee for the prestigious RITA® Award and is frequently an official reading selection among book clubs, universities, and libraries throughout the country. Most recently, her novella, The Christmas Collector, appeared in the New York Times and USA Today bestselling anthology A Winter Wonderland.
Kristina’s latest work is a beautiful novel called The Pieces We Keep. What’s the book about?
Two years have done little to ease veterinarian Audra Hughes’s grief over her husband’s untimely death. Eager for a fresh start, Audra plans to leave Portland for a new job in Philadelphia. Her seven-year-old son, Jack, seems apprehensive about flying–but it’s just the beginning of an anxiety that grows to consume him.
As Jack’s fears continue to surface in recurring and violent nightmares, Audra hardly recognizes the introverted boy he has become. Desperate, she traces snippets of information unearthed in Jack’s dreams, leading her to Sean Malloy, a struggling US Army veteran wounded in Afghanistan. Together they unravel a mystery dating back to World War II, and uncover old family secrets that still have the strength to wound–and perhaps, at last, to heal.
Today Kristina shares the benefits—professional and personal—that can come from authors working as a team. Follow Kristina on Twitter @KrisMcmorris and on Facebook. See a book trailer for The Pieces We Keep here.
Power in Numbers: Authors promoting as a team
Writing, they often say, is a lonely business. But does it have to be?
Not at all, I’ve discovered. In fact, it seems to me—thanks largely to accessibility through social media—authors have never been more open or creative when it comes to boosting each other’s spirits, as well as careers. Perhaps the most evident forms of these are found in blog posts, tweets, and Facebook shout-outs about a fellow author’s new release. Between Yahoo Groups and Facebook, it isn’t difficult to find an online writers’ group that offers support in various ways. And for those who don’t mind traveling, writers’ retreats can be as rejuvenating and inspirational as they are productive.
Many writers also combine forces by speaking on panels together at literary conferences, museums, libraries, and readers’ festivals—but keep in mind, you can always take those opportunities a step further. Last year, for example, Diana Gabaldon, Jenna Blum, Sarah McCoy, Ruta Sepetys, and I were scheduled to speak at the Tucson Festival of Books. Since we had all penned novels that are frequently read by book clubs and share a WWII setting, we decided to organize a group giveaway. The winning book club won a box full of our novels, loads of 1940s goodies, and a Skype party with us while we were together in Tucson.
Read MoreSo you are having that first marketing meeting with your publisher for your book… or that first phone call. Is there anything you should be asking in particular? Should you push for anything specifically?
If this is the first call? You want to hear their plans. Then you and your agent should go over what they said and translate it – there can be code in their answers. Ask them what they are planning on doing and listen and take notes. When they say something like – We’re doing Goodreads- ask them to be specific and write down what they say.
Chances are the first call/meeting will be more than several months pre-pub. So lots of info won’t be available yet. They wait to decide some things till they get a sense of orders. But you still want to find out as much as you can. Just remember it is only the first call/meeting. There should be another before the ARCs are sent out. At that point they’ll know more. And then there should be yet one more once they have a sense of how those orders are looking.
At every stage there’s more you can find out and more you need to know. And at every stage you and your agent should be working on and refining a wish list of marketing and PR opportunities/efforts. To do that you’ll want to get a lot of questions answered so you can see if there are any holes and figure out if you need to bring in any outside services or if everything looks good.
Also all this knowledge helps you manage your expectations and that’s half the battle when it comes to having a good publishing experience. If you know going in that they are happy to be publishing you but aren’t giving your book the “it” treatment, you’ll be happy when you go back to press for a second printing. But if you have no idea how they see your book and are anticipating it getting “Gone Girl” PR, marketing and co-op treatment, you’ll be devastated when you don’t see stacks of books in B&N.
Here’s a checklist of what you want to find out to help you figure out what they are doing, what they aren’t, where your book ranks in terms in terms of effort and juice, and what you should be thinking about doing yourself.
Read MoreLast week I heard a snippet of Terry Gross’ Fresh Air interview with Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert. Gilbert has a new book out and was on the show to talk about it.
A bit earlier in the same week, an author client had asked if I’d pitched her to NPR shows, including Fresh Air. My answer was, “Yes, of course.” It always is, because I always pitch the authors I represent to NPR — and to all the other dream-caliber, A-list outlets. But does that mean I expect interviews to pan out there for them?
Sadly, no. Not at all.
It’s an uncomfortable dilemma. Authors want to know their publicist is reaching out to A-list, dream outlets like Fresh Air, The New York Times, Oprah and The Today Show. Isn’t that one reason they’ve hired a publicist in the first place? And it wouldn’t make sense to simply leave those outlets off the list of places I reach out to even though the chances for the overwhelming majority of authors are virtually zero. For one thing, there’s the crucial dream factor for authors. As I’ve said before here on WU, I’m all for dreaming big! I also feel that as a matter of principle those outlets should continue hearing from all authors who’d like a fighting chance at recognition. They should be made aware again and again of these authors’ utterly staggering numbers, the variety of stories they’re writing about, their talent, their accomplishments.
But people like Terry Gross aren’t just looking for a good read to talk about: they’re looking for news. News, by definition, is something that’s not only new and timely, but is some combination of the following:
Of course, many of these words are subjective, so each news outlet defines them
Read MoreIf you’re a writer focused on not just getting published or selling a book, but actually ensuring those books get read, we’re here to introduce a conference that promises to do exactly that. Get Read: Marketing Strategies for Writers takes place completely online on November 13th and 14th. We’re thrilled that Dan Blank, master of ceremonies, is here with us today to tell us more about the event.
Q: Let’s say we meet up in an elevator–me, the writer with Discovery issues. Can you share your one-sentence pitch for this conference?
DB: In terms of finding readers, most writers focus on the wrong things; we look past the easy stuff that doesn’t work, to show you practical real strategies to understand who your ideal readers are.
Q: What will “Get Read” offer that other conferences do not? Will the information truly be fresh? (Truly?)
DB: Most conferences are multi-track, allowing attendees to pick and choose what they FEEL they need. What gets lost here is a truly cohesive framework – that the topics we cover are topics that ALL writers need to pay attention to, not just those that you are comfortable with. The range of presenters is incredibly varied, from librarians, booksellers, authors, marketers, agents, and publishing experts – these are people who are in the trenches in every aspect of publishing.
I work with writers every day, this is the event I KNOW writers need. It is a complete resource from all sides of publishing, focused intently on those who engage with readers every day.
And quite frankly, I made a concerted effect to line up speakers who I know to be the most practical, down-to-earth, no B.S. folks working in publishing. These folks won’t be presented quick fixes that don’t work, they strip bare our assumptions about what works, and what doesn’t. This is a conference with attitude.
Q: Does the fact that the conference is online in any way affect my ability, as a participant, from interacting with presenters? How will this work?
DB: Quite frankly, I think it encourages greater interaction. I have been too A LOT of conferences, and notice that most attendees – at best – ask a single question of a speaker, don’t follow up, and don’t go out of their way to socialize with others at the event. They instead use even a moment of downtime to check email, or Twitter, or otherwise avoid social situations, almost as if it were the first day at a new school.
The live text-based chat during the event will be moderated by our staff, and ensure that people are encouraged to participate, without any awkward social “risk.” I know, we pretend that adults don’t fear this stuff, but most of us do.
Likewise, we are planning pre and post event ways to engage attendees, to get them familiar with and connected to each other and speakers.
Q: What made you realize that “Get Read” was something you wanted to pursue?
Read More“I published three novels at big houses to good reviews. Now I’m my own publisher, and the media wants no part of me.”
So begins an article that ran last month in Salon.com. Called, The Future is No Fun: Self-Publishing is the Worst, the piece is actually about the PR side of self-publishing rather than the overall experience.
While promoting any book is hard, it’s true that for self-published authors, it’s infinitely more challenging. But does that really translate into the media wanting no part of you if you’ve self-published? To the point where you might feel like “self publishing is the worst?”
Short answer: Absolutely not. That is, not if you’ve produced a book of professional quality, know what to expect and plan accordingly. So here are a few dos and don’ts to help self-published authors starting out on a promotion journey set expectations and have a positive, satisfying experience:
DO: Accept that you will in all likelihood not land any traditional book reviews.
By traditional, I mean reviews in places like The New York Times, Harpers and other conventional newspapers or magazines, both big and small.
DO: Take advantage, on the other hand, of the indie review programs now offered by Publisher’s Weekly Select, Kirkus Indie Reviews and Clarion.
Over the past few years, these programs have emerged in response to the exploding demand for self-published reviews. Through them, indie authors now have access to professional, publishing industry-vetted reviews for a couple of hundred dollars a pop. Whether the cost is fair or not is another topic altogether, but in the past, only the excruciatingly rare self-published book had even a dim chance of a PW or Kirkus review. Now, a close alternative is available to all.
DO: Plan ahead. Ideally, promotion efforts will begin about 4 months in advance of your publication date, at which point you should have a final, professionally copy-edited Word file of your book in hand. Cover and interior design, as well as the construction of your personal web site, should be underway.
DO: Be prepared to write, write and write. Guest blog posts and bylined articles on
Read MoreIt (finally) appears the stigmas once associated with self and indie-publishing are disappearing, or at least waning – though in some cases there are new ones arising and there will always be naysayers. Let me clarify that while I think there are pros and cons to traditional publishing, self publishing and Indie publishing alike, I have always been a supporter of each and never agreed with those stigmas. As a PR and marketing professional having helped launch several successful self and Indie published books, I knew there were high quality stories out there by talented authors that needed to be told that didn’t have a publisher for various reasons. It’s been great to see some of the national media open up and begin writing about these books and authors more. For me, it’s been great to see these authors and books find readers and success – sometimes as much so, or even more so, than books I’ve worked on that have a big publisher.
More authors, agents, and readers are embracing Indie of self-publishing. It’s even becoming a viable option for several of my very successful traditionally published authors who are seeing that success and now considering making the leap.
But thus far the media has covered the breakout stories of self-publishing that are not the norm – often leading to unrealistic expectations. The purpose of this post is to share well thought-out tips from several self-published authors who have been successful on many different levels and in their own right – not just those that have sold millions of copies. (Note: most of these authors are clients of mine. Through years of innovation and creativity working on Indie and self-published books on a case by case basis – along with our traditionally published clients – we’ve helped these authors become award-winning, bestselling – or both – and many have gone on to sign with agents, publishers and even sell film rights. Or they have continued to successfully self-publish). But hiring professional PR and marketing is only one piece of it – they have each done their own things to make their success unique. I tapped them to share the tips direct from their experiences and mouths.
Read MoreThe highway to publication overflows with cars: luxury behemoths; sensible hybrids; nondescript, windowless vans with strange dents that protrude from the inside. Each bears the logo of the mechanic who brought it to life. You’ve built a car, too, with good mileage and a cherry spoiler. [Author’s note: The cars are a metaphor for your books.]
But when you get your baby on the highway, you can’t ignore that a metallic paint job and tilt steering is all that differentiates your vehicle from every other car in its class, no matter what shiny-metal totem adorns its hood. How does your creation stand out? You don’t need a better insignia. You don’t even need the car metaphor. You need to remake yourself. You must become the deer sprinting headlong across the road. When your book crumples someone’s hood and cracks their windshield, rest assured you’ve got their attention. And that’s pretty much the Tab-A and Slot-B of branding.
[pullquote]You need to remake yourself. You must become the deer sprinting headlong across the road. When your book crumples someone’s hood and cracks their windshield, rest assured you’ve got their attention[/pullquote]
As a twenty-first-century author, the fulcrum of your success is your personal brand. Think Hemingway’s manliness. Neil Gaiman’s leather jacket. Harlan Ellison’s sociopathy. A lot of folks are confused about what exactly branding is. Folks like me, for example. After extensive research in the furthest corners of the internet–at great risk to my personal safety and sanity, you’re welcome–I’ve determined that branding means pretty much whatever you say it means (and since I’m the big shot with the column, when I say “you” I mean “me”). So here’s how to get started building your personal author brand:
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