November 24, 2010 
DG&B 
I know we’re all getting ready to eat lots of turkey, and that means we are also ready for a few days off. While this link to a clever marketing campaign created by Quirk Books has nothing to do with the holidays, I thought it was a good example of what publishers (and authors) are trying to do to come up with new ways to market their books. To me, it’s a bit of a stretch to have fictional characters talking about whatever, but these books are already popular, so Quirk is likely thinking this will be a way to keep them selling through the holidays. According to Bookscan, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has sold well over half a million copies already, so the audience is definitely out there to be marketed to. Enjoy, and have a great Thanksgiving. We’ll try to come up with some helpful and thoughtful content for you to sink your teeth into after the break (and before the next one)!!
Category Archives: Twitter
Two for the price of one!
I’ll admit, I was having a tough time coming up with something for the blog this week. After a busy Comic Con (wrap up here) and a hectic SCBWI National Conference (great conference blog led by my good friend Alice Pope here), my brain had shifted into neutral. I think this was a precaution to keep it from overheating. Coincidentally, I also made a return to Twitter, where one’s brain need never be engaged—just kidding! Seriously, I’d taken a break during a very busy time, and I just hadn’t gotten back into the habit. But I recommitted myself to tweet last night, so I turned to my friends to see what they’d like to find out. And, since I got two good suggestions, I’m taking them both!
First, my wonderful author Nova Ren Suma pointed me to this blog post by up-and-coming novelist Scott Tracey. It addresses the idea of “overpromotion.” In this day and age, when agents, editors and publishers all harp on authors that they need to be out promoting themselves, things can get out of hand. Scott gives an example of authors who focus on acquiring friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter. The purpose? To bombard these folks with reminders about of an upcoming book—a book, Scott humorously points out, that may be a year away from publication! More than overpromotion, this is a case of improperly using social networking. Networking, both in real life and online, is about building relationships and creating a give-and-take. You wouldn’t show up to a party and start screaming that you have a book coming out in a year (at least, I hope no one does that), so you shouldn’t be doing that on social networks, either. It’s about building relationships with other authors, industry professionals, and your audience. You want to mix direct marketing with actual interaction. You want to help promote other authors and the business generally. And if you can do it all with a sense of humor, well then, everyone will appreciate it all the more. So before you go sending out tweets about your DEBUT NOVEL!!! COMES OUT MAY 2102!!! WILL SEND TWEET REMINDER EVERY DAY UNTIL THEN!!!, remember that networking is a two-way street.
The other great question I got was from the talented Joanne Levy. She said, “I keep hearing that editors would rather publish a debut than an already pubbed author—can you elaborate?” I’ve actually been asked about this a few times, and it’s confusing to people as it seems counterintuitive. If you’ve already sold a book, aren’t you immediately more valuable to a publisher? Haven’t you proven yourself to be reliable (well, we hope that’s what you’ve done) and talented? But, that’s not necessarily the case. Yes, you’ve show you can deliver and write, but the question is, can you sell? If your first book doesn’t sell well, it’s tougher for a publisher to take on your second book. Why’s that? Because B&N, Borders and Amazon are not likely to line up to buy copies of a book by an author with a bad track record. And if the publisher can’t get those guys to take books, they have no effective way of selling them in large numbers. And if they can’t sell a book in large numbers, they won’t acquire it. This is a simplification, of course, and many other factors come into play. A well-written, high-concept book will often overcome the challenge of a bad track record. Also, the children’s side of the market (and the author who asked writes children’s books) is a little more forgiving than the adult side. Though as with everything in children’s publishing, that’s switching to more of an adult model, too, for better or worse.
So despite being stumped earlier, I hope I’ve been helpful. Let me know in the comments if you need clarification.
Twitter and twits…
For some reason (don’t judge) I find Twitter humor irresistible. Maybe it’s because the idea of winnowing human communication to 140 characters at a time seems at once so efficient (in a Dr. Evil sort of way) and so ludicrous, but I can pretty predictably crack myself up trying to imagine those palaverous Victorian authors tweeting about their work.
This fun piece in the Huff Post about historical presidential tweets made me wonder how our bygone literary stars would’ve told their followers about their work in progress. Publishing people have been poking fun at their Hollywood counterparts for their high concept pitches (“When Harry Met Sally meets Jaws”) forever but, as Twitter shows us, there’s an art to boiling down and dumbing down.
RT@MCervantes Almost done with novel about crazy old man and his fat sidekick who like to attack windmills. Feeling good about this one.
RT@LTolstoy This war saga is turning out a little longer than expected. Hope my publisher doesn’t mind that I’m a little over word count.
RT@Faulkner My mother is a fish. That’s a whole chapter in my new book. Twitter has been a great influence.
What would your favorite authors be tweeting?
All together now!
Back in 1998, super-librarian Nancy Pearl launched “If All of Seattle Read the Same Book,” the first city-wide book club. The success of that program led cities all across the country to get together and read collectively. (Our own Lorene Cary’s The Price of a Child was selected as the inaugural One Book, One Philadelphia pick in 2003.) The NEA has their own version of the program, called The Big Read, which has a list of books that communities can choose from, each with related guides and ancillary materials.
Now comes One Book, One Twitter from Wired writer Jeff Howe, in which Twitter users help select a title by April 27, then will read and discuss the book via Twitter. I’m curious to see how this experiment turns out. With the One City programs, there were ways for small groups of people to get together to discuss the book. I wonder how much listening will actually be done in this case. But there’s only one way to find out!
The only book on the list I haven’t read is American Gods, so I’ve voted for that. Anyone else care to join?
If Margaret Atwood can do it…
One of the more frustrating things about our work these days is trying to convince certain authors of the need for establishing a presence on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Some of them claim that they can’t possibly do this, as it would prevent them from meeting their deadlines. Some tell us they’re too old to learn new tricks and they’d rather leave that newfangled stuff to the kids…who don’t read anyway. Others get on a very high horse and lecture us about the death of culture these sites represent and chasten us for asking them to prostitute themselves.
Then, there are those adventurous souls who are game to try anything that will broaden their readership, allow them to connect to their fans, and sell books! So, it was with great delight that I read this piece by Margaret Atwood–whose literary bona fides are hard to challenge and who could comfortably rest on her mountain of laurels at this stage of her career–about the pleasures of tweeting.
What it boils down to is “communication,” isn’t it?
Tweeting sentences
I’m one of those readers who underlines everything in my books. I can’t help it. I see a great sentence and I have to make a note of it. So, I was happy to find this Vulture post by Sam Anderson which explains his new project of tweeting his favorite lines from books. Also, I’m a library member, and not being able to underline favorite sentences in books is starting to drive me mad, so perhaps putting down that highlighter and finding a new place to log all my favorite sentences is the way to go.
Just out of curiosity–because I love finding or hearing about unique and interesting sentences in books–do you have a favorite sentence from a book you’ve read?
The big picture
Pondering blog ideas while observing the blizzard of 2010 outside my window, I thought it would be a good idea to talk a little bit about authors and their commitment to social networking, and in particular building and maintaining a loyal audience that continues to grow long before and after a book’s publication date.
For nonfiction and fiction authors alike, the importance of connecting with your audience is crucial at every stage of an author’s career. At the beginning, it’s about finding your readers — identifying who they are and where they hang out online; then it’s about building and growing that fan base, but also about maintaining fans’ interest and keeping them coming back for more. It’s not helpful to put up a website or blog, or start a Facebook page or Twitter account, and only keep them active right before and right after publication. It’s about building a long term relationship, and it has to become a part of your daily routine. Seriously, none of this is new information, but it bears repeating because the results are clear and in many cases quantifiable. A recent example worth noting is my client, Shreve Stockton, whose book the Daily Coyote stems from her popular blog. An author who is intimately connected to her fans has the ability to stay close to his or her audience, and as a fringe benefit can even sometimes generate national publicity (and not necessarily directly book related, but that’s the point) months after a book’s publication.
There are a lot of resources available for anyone’s use on the web, and a long term commitment to building your name, creating ongoing content that is fresh and engaging, and creatively thinking of new ways to connect with readers are some of the ways to ensure a successful career that has longevity. Books have become only a part of the bigger picture of an author’s platform, and staying focused on these efforts will pay off in the long run in expected and sometimes unexpected ways. If you have any stories that illustrate this point, please share.
Twitter haiku
The Guardian is pushing a new trend: delivering bad news via haiku on Twitter. It was only a matter of time before this limited syllable form of poetry and word limited form of social media converged, no? The haikus may be bleak, but the comments are delightful! Most posted in proper syllabic form, of course.
Chasya’s Questions Corner: On platform building
Q:
Agents have insisted on their blogs that the best way for an
unpublished author to build a platform is by beginning a blog. Yet, no
one seems to discuss what to do with a blog of say three hundred plus
followers after you’ve accomplished this. Can you mention or link to
it in a query letter to agents? Is it foolish or wise? Why?
A:
Thanks for your question. First let me clarify that there are many misconceptions out there about how to build a platform and authors are often instructed to blindly get cracking on a blog, as well as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter accounts. Keep in mind that not all online platforms will suit all writers. If you’re not frequently updating your content and dedicated to the task of blogging and networking, you’re not going to garner the following you need to attract attention from publishing folk. You wouldn’t necessarily want to link to your blog unless you have a substantial number of followers. This number would be in the thousands, though it’s hard to be too specific here, as what is considered significant depends on the book you’re writing, the topic, etc…
-Chasya
Send your questions to news@dystel.com!
Moody Tweets
There’s an excellent post up on the Vroman’s blog today about the failed Rick Moody story-tweeting experiment. The piece makes very good points about the insularity of publishing, which is something I’ve given much thought to, especially as I’ve headed out West. If the same group of people has the same conversations in the same spaces over and over again, what good is it really doing us? How do we reach new readers? How do we hear what book-buyers really want?
For me, this isn’t about the failure of Twitter to promote books (as some who have picked up on the story have been highlighting), but rather about publishing never looking outside itself for ideas, both about how to promote books and what kinds of books people want to read. It definitely got me thinking this morning. What do you think? Is Twitter just a bad way to promote books, or is there something more to be learned here?