Category Archives: marketing/publicity

September 22, 2011   Jessica   marketing/publicity, reviews, trends, writing  
7

Hurry up?

New York Times book reviewer Dwight Garner is generally a pleasure to read, but this week’s “riff” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/magazine/dear-novelists-be-less-moses-and-more-cosell.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&ref=books struck me as pretty fatuous. In it, Garner argues that writers need to publish more than one book every ten years lest we, their reading public, learn to “live without them.”  Of these parsimonious producers he opines:

“Suddenly our important writers seem less like color commentators, sifting through the emotional, sexual and intellectual detritus of how we live today, and more like a mountaintop Moses, handing down the granite tablets every decade or so to a bemused and stooped populace.”

Really? Sure there are slow writers—in his essay he singles out Jeffrey Eugenides, Jonathan Franzen and Donna Tartt and contrasts them unfavorably with the prolific John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates and Saul Bellow—but given the pressure any published writer is under to deliver and publish on a set schedule in order to build an audience, I’m skeptical that we’re in the midst of a diabolical slow-book movement.

Garner continues: “Surely they’re in flight from the shackling apparatus of modern publishing: the long press tours (“Hello, Cleveland!”), the much-hated publicity stops.”

In this era of bare bones publicity budgets, the press tours to which he refers are hardly the norm (indeed, the “tedium” of cities like Cleveland seem like some fond, golden age memory, when book tours had not been supplanted by “twitter campaigns” or “targeted mailings”). Most authors are keen for more promotion, not less.

Garner also seems to imply that the time between books is a willful act of withholding, or worse yet, some dark means of artificially controlling the market, like DeBeers with diamonds. Perhaps Franzen and Tartt follow some strict writers’ diet, where by sheer force of will, they stop after a paragraph when they’d rather churn out pages, but I doubt it. The speed at which different people write seems to me as individual as their styles. What do you think?

Do you think that novelists have a responsibility to their readers to write more quickly? If they are slow, do they, as Garner says, forfeit their place in the cultural conversation? Or alternately, do you, like this Guardian blogger, think that these “Moses” style writers are unfairly accorded prestige because of the time in which it takes them to hand down their stone tablets http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/sep/19/literary-productivity?

June 03, 2011   Lauren   Lauren, marketing/publicity, opinion, social networking  
1

A different kind of pitch

A few weeks back, John blogged about a New York Times essay on author brand-building.  Inspired by the same piece, The Awl—one of the greatest things the internet has done for humanity—found some amazing YouTube videos of authors hawking others’ wares.  These days I feel like I hear (and, let’s be honest, talk) more about brands as extensions of individuals than about the term’s traditional product- and corporate-oriented definition.  In some ways that makes me sad for us all, to be sure.  The intrusion of marketing psychology and corporate speak into the realm of the individual has always felt a touch Orwellian for my liking.

On the other hand, I’d love to see authors finding new revenue streams, since they should get to be just as disgustingly, appallingly wealthy as musicians, actors, athletes, and the other people who provide us entertainment.  That said, actually, Mickey Spillane pushing Miller Lite kind of makes author Twitter accounts seem more…honest.  Do I think Mickey Spillane cared if I drank Miller Lite or that Kurt Vonnegut believes sincerely in the value of a Discovery card?  Not at all.  No more than I think that Britney Spears or David Beckham wants me to drink Pepsi.  (It occurs to me that I really have managed not to watch commercials for quite some time—thanks, technology!—since the reference I just pulled out is presumably a touch outdated.  Unless they both still shill for Pepsi, in which case, let’s just ignore this parenthetical and pretend that I’m totally with the times.)

But you know what I do believe?  I believe that authors want me to read their books.  They really, really, really want it.  And not just so they’ll get paid.  They want me to read because they’re passionate about what they do for a living.  And because they just want me to read in general, because they care about the written word and storytelling and narratives.  So, you know what?  I’m going to brush aside that last vestige of cynicism that lingered about as I talked to authors about the importance of authenticity and connection in social networking.  Trusted “authorities” have always been used to shill—and authors are traditionally undercompensated for the good they do for us all—but it’s not really shilling if you genuinely believe in what you’re selling.

May 11, 2011   Stacey   advice, blog-to-book, contest, cookbooks and food writing, marketing/publicity, Stacey  
1

Blogging advice continued (and a prize!)

Last week I wrote about food blogs. I’m following it up this week with a fun timeline of food blogs published by Saveur. If you are interested in this category, this piece offers a great sort of who’s who, and a bit of information about the blogs and bloggers, along with some of their first posts. It’s amazing to see how fast this world has grown, and how some of the bigger names got their start. And I’m happy to see we have a couple of authors on this list.

For those of you looking for specific advice in the area of blogging, whatever your topic of choice, I found this blog post, shared with me by an editor friend, incredibly helpful. It’s really detailed, and my favorite part is that it offers the approximate time it will take you to successfully complete each of the suggested tasks. The advice is broken down in such a way that it avoids feeling overwhelming or too nebulous, and I think if you read it carefully and implement some or all of the suggestions (if you are already blogging, there will be things you can pass over, but I think there are good reminders here too), you will see results. Who’s ready to give it a try? If any of our readers take the time to follow the 21 steps listed here, let us know one month after completion if there is a noticeable increase in your blog traffic. When you send me the stats, I will send you a copy of one of my books. It’s a win-win — increased blog traffic and productivity for you, and a shiny new book to go with it!

May 03, 2011   John   fun, John, marketing/publicity  
3

Get yourself out there—REALLY, really out there!

The author as performer—some love it, most dread it. Yet as you’ve no doubt been reminded countless times, it’s not enough simply to write a book these days and have the publisher sell it. Websites, Facebook, Twitter, blogging, mailing lists, events, all of these things are part and parcel of being a published author. In fact, one of the first things we do when we sign up a client is send them a media guide to make them aware of how much extra-book self-promotion they’ll need to do right from the start.

But hey—at least we’re not living in the 19th Century! I loved this essay from the Times Book Review this past Sunday (yep, I’m back on the love side of loving/hating the Times) on all the crazy ways authors have promoted their books over the centuries, starting with Herodotus in Ancient Greece and running through Hemingway and Steinbeck “shilling” for Ballantine Ale in the 1950s. But it sounds like 1800s France was really the place to be for rabid self-promotion—and note that virtually all the stunts like hot air balloons and sandwich boards were paid for by the authors, not publishers…

So be of good cheer, ye naturally reclusive authors—it could be a lot worse. At least modern promotion relies mostly on remote transmissions for which you don’t even have to leave the house. And if you do love the spotlight, then be proud to follow in a grand literary tradition!

April 28, 2011   Michael   fun, hand-selling, marketing/publicity, Michael  
3

He’s no jack of all trades

Sometimes, you just want one thing done right.  You go to Crumbs or Sprinkles for cupcakes, DiFara for pizza, Umami for a burger.  You know they only do one thing and do it well.  What about books?  Sure, you could go to Mysterious Galaxy for mystery (ok, and other types) books, or head over to O’Reilly for your technology tomes.  That’s what vertical is all about!  But what about a store that sells just one book?  Now you have it! Andrew Kessler is selling his book, Martian Summer, out of a storefront in New York’s West Village.  It certainly is great advertising, even if I can’t quite figure out the economics of it all.  The again, the article ends with the charming Mr. Kessler explaining, “I’m not a very good businessperson.”  Indeed.  But the free advertising he just got in the New York Times might well be worth it!

April 25, 2011   Jim   advice, feuds, Jim, marketing/publicity  
9

Don’t be a moron.

These are dangerous times to be a writer. The internet makes spreading information waaaaay too easy sometimes. Not when you want to, of course. Try to make your book trailer go viral, and you start to feel like Sisyphus. But say something mean about someone, and you can step back and watch the wildfire grow.

I know for a fact that authors love to witness the public meltdowns of other authors (I have the emails to prove it!). And I totally understand. There’s something really comforting about being able to stand back and look at someone’s breakdown over bad reviews, losing an award, not getting enough money, etc., and just think, “Thank God it isn’t me.” It’s not pure schadenfreude. I suspect that each of us possesses the ability to turn into a shrieking harpy on the internet, so each time we see someone else do it instead, there’s a degree of real comfort.

One piece of advice I share (too often) is simple: Don’t be an asshole. It’s advice I need to remind myself of sometimes when someone gets mean and all I can think is, “I can take care of this with a delicate combination of cutting wit and pure rage.” It’s just a bad idea. You always end up looking worse.

The easiest way to prevent yourself from looking like a tool on the interwebs is just to have someone trustworthy who you can run responses by. Someone who will be able to respond to your saying, “Really, I just think I have some perfectly rational explanations for why this reviewer is a toad, and I’d like to share them,” by telling you, “Shut up, or you’ll look like a moron.” I’m happy to report that there are several people in DGLM’s employ who are happy to tell me when I’m being an idiot. All. Too. Happy. Everyone needs one of these people that they can trust. A yes-man is lovely, but an honest opinion is vastly more useful.

The point is: publishing is a teeny tiny world and connections matter. People will forget that you got a bad review on your debut novel. They are much more likely to remember that you threw a hissy fit and threatened to TP the reviewer’s home.

March 31, 2011   Jessica   Jessica, marketing/publicity, self-publishing  
16

Awkward Author/Introverts Unite!

Laura Miller’s latest essay in Salon takes up what many perceive as an unpleasant new reality in publishing.

“It has become a mantra that today’s author — whether self- or conventionally published — must learn to promote his or her books. Some, like Eisler and Hocking, happen to be good at it, but many aren’t. People often become writers because they’re introverted or awkward in personal encounters and have poured everything they want to say to the world into their work. What usually gets lost in the perpetual refrain about authors becoming their own marketers is that there’s no particular connection between writing talent and a gift for self-promotion.”

I agree with Miller, that the shared set between self-promoters and good writers is small and exclusionary, but I’m not sure her post accomplishes much beyond the usual hand-wringing. Moreover, I don’t think we’ve arrived at the point where publishing houses demand a marketing plan with a novel submission. Overwhelmingly, agents and editors still take on fiction because of what’s on the page.

Once the book is under contract, however, the harangue begins. Both editor and agent may exhort the author to “get out there” and somehow, cultivate a following. Maddening as it certainly must be for all but the most motivated and gregarious of souls, it’s still not bad advice. Finding an audience for a book is no easy task, and publishers fail more frequently than they succeed, so leaving this to the experts is not as fruitful as most aspiring writers might imagine. Much as agents, authors and publishers may agree that it is part of the role of the publisher to market and promote, the reality is that houses’ commitment is finite and fickle. Houses plough resources back into the books that appear to be “working,” but the books that don’t “find their way” are often quietly abandoned.

For any novelist who wishes to write another day, thinking about ways to marshal sales is a worthwhile enterprise, and the idea that authors, whose job it is to create, should leave the nasty business of selling to others strikes me as quaint and outmoded (in a bad, squeamish and Victorian sort of way. ) There is nothing unsavory or crass in wanting to see–and trying to help– your own work succeed. This might involve hiring a publicist or on-line marketer, becoming self-taught in the ways of social media, or creating a collective of introverted writers in which members agree to buy, or even market, each others’ books. I realize that unions are on the wane, but organizing writers’ groups to tackle on-line publicity and promo might well be viable. Perhaps there are groups doing this already.

What do you think? Is my marketing collective notion ridiculous? But what should the introverted/awkward author do besides tack Millers article to their garret wall and fume?

March 16, 2011   Miriam   advice, controversy, marketing/publicity, Miriam, opinion, social networking  
8

It’s not always good to share

We DGLMers have spent the better part of the last two years hammering the idea of how important it is to build an internet platform into our clients’ heads.  We even went so far as to create a social media guide that we share with new clients when their agreements are signed.  Obviously, having a successful blog, lots of Facebook friends, Twitter followers and downloads of your videos on YouTube are the name of the game in today’s competitive publishing market. It’s not enough to write a great book, you have to be able to subtly, humorously, and persistently get all your friends, followers, and online stalkers to buy it and, better yet, talk about it.

But, as with all things, there’s a dark side to this platform building; when in our zeal to “share” our innermost thoughts, beliefs, and philosophy with our vast audience we get ourselves in trouble by writing or saying things that are better kept between the pages of our paper journals, you know, the ones with locks on them.  The recent firestorm caused by a prominent mommy blogger who confessed in a post that she preferred her son to her daughter is a case in point.   As the back and forth between the blogger and her readers became more irate and meanspirited, I wondered whether the blogging format with its insatiable need for content is in part to blame for this kind of injudicious oversharing.

Then, I think of certain writers who have no problem writing in a public space about their contempt for the publishing business in general and agents and editors in particular while assiduously courting us to represent or publish their work.  Are these people forgetting that everyone can see their posts…including the people they’re dissing?  Or are they just giddy with the thought of the thousands who will read their rants, if not their books?  I can’t speak for all my colleagues but I don’t think I’m alone in feeling that however brilliant an author’s work is if s/he is given to vilifying our industry while trying to get their foot in the publishing door and keep it there I don’t want to work with him or her.

So, yes, you need to blog and friend and be followed but be smart about what you say and how you say it.  And, really, before hitting “post” on that nasty or ill-advised commentary, put it aside and wait a while.  If you still want it out there after thinking it through, well, that’s what makes for internet s***storms.

Have you guys come across any particularly egregious examples of what I’m talking about?

March 02, 2011   Stacey   advice, hand-selling, marketing/publicity, Stacey  
2

Handselling tips

While I was researching last week’s blog post, I came across this not-so-recent piece from Writer’s Digest that I thought was worth sharing for those of you published authors out there, and those of you who aspire to be published and want to read some basic, but valuable, advice from an author not entirely comfortable in the sales side of writing books. I just started selling Girl Scout cookies with my kindergartener, so I love her anecdote about those memories. I’m glad we have a big family and were able to sell 28 boxes without any handselling at all!

I heard from some people when I posted about tips on blogging who didn’t feel great about putting themselves out there in that way. It sort of goes against the grain of what many writers enjoy about writing—it’s a solitary pursuit. I totally get that, and it’s part of the reason I left acting so many years ago and became a book agent, so I could be behind the scenes! But in this market, it’s still about having the right combination of elements, not only to get published, but to be published successfully. Things like being personable, outgoing, creative, and willing to engage with your audience can and will make a difference, no matter what stage of the publishing game you are at. So I hope there’s some advice here that you’ll find worthwhile, and if you have any other tricks of the trade to share on this topic, please pass them on.

February 25, 2011   Lauren   advice, fun, Lauren, marketing/publicity, technology  
20

Fun with QR

When I stumbled on the delightful Books2Barcodes site at Wonder Tonic, it renewed my interest in QR code.  I’ve been seeing it around, but didn’t totally understand the purpose and, having only a sad old flip phone, I’d never tried it out.  My awareness grew when a Lupe Fiasco QR code projected on a building I can see from my desk caused a bit of a stir here in Union Square, and now that there are books involved (for the first time I’ve noticed, anyway), it’s time to learn.

So I reached out to digital strategist (and friend of DGLM) Dan Scholz for some help understanding, since I’ve been hearing him talk about it for a while now.  Here’s what he told me:  QR (quick response) code is a two-dimensional barcode that’s primarily useful for dynamic and interactive event and promotions marketing.  Essentially, QR code, invented in Japan several years ago, is a specialized barcode that camera-equipped smartphones can read using barcode reader apps.  You see the code—on the side of a building, in a magazine, on the Books2Barcodes website, on a waffle—and then scan the code using your phone.  That code links to something, often a website with some kind of pre-order or sales information.  According to Dan, the audience for this has been very tech heavy for a while now, but started to reach a tipping point last fall.  The market penetration has gotten much bigger, and 2011 should be a very big year for QR code marketing.

Not having a smartphone myself, I borrowed Stacey’s yesterday to try out Books2Barcodes.  I didn’t have the greatest luck scanning off my computer, I think due to the glare on the screen, but I finally managed to scan the barcode in the page header—and lo and behold, text popped up:  “Call me Ishmael.”  I can’t imagine reading a book in 800-character fragments (which is apparently what the barcodes I couldn’t manage to scan would’ve provided), but I love the ingenuity, and the gimmick draws attention to a fun new opportunity for publishing.

So how can authors and publishers use it?  The internet is full of free QR code generators, so I googled, picked one at random, and used QuikQR to create this one:

You know you wanna scan it.

Smartphone users, why don’t you give it a shot?  (And hey, while you’re there, why not click that little like button?)  If you don’t already have a barcode scanner on your phone, there are a number of free ones to download, including RedLaser, the one I used to scan Moby Dick on Stacey’s.

So what do we think?  Passing fad or technology of the future?  Fun gimmick or serious marketing opportunity?  Have you seen publishers and authors using QR codes?  Any code generators or barcode scanners to recommend?  And what do you see as the possibilities for book promotion here?  Certainly there are some straightforward options, like directing people to Facebook, websites, pre-order links, and giveaways.  But what about something more exciting?  Dan mentioned that one of the greatest things about QR code marketing is that you can generate it for YouTube videos—when scanned, the smartphone’s YouTube app opens right up to the video in full screen with no extra clicks.  I’m not totally sold on book trailers, but I can imagine it working in this context—it’d be a really fun way to expose people to them!

« Older posts
Newer posts »