Book Marketing Tips For Selfpublished Authors
Veteran publisher Carl Lennerz discusses the difference between book marketing and advertising and what self-published authors should spend their money on on the BlueInk Review blog.
Throughout his adult life, Carl worked in the book and publishing industry. College in bookstores and then a secretary at Random House. He worked at Random House for 16 years, mainly as director of marketing for Knopf, Vintage and Pantheon. Lehnerz was associate publisher at Little, Brown and Company and vice president of retail marketing at HarperCollins.
Lehnerz was the director of Book Sense for four years and most recently was the executive director of World Book Night USA, a nonprofit program for those in need. Over the years of her publishing career, she has worked with James Patterson, Anne Rice, Ann Patchett, and Michael Connelly, and has self-published a book with Harmony, a division of Random House.
What is the difference between marketing and advertising?
In my opinion, advertising works hand in hand with marketing, but marketing determines the message and the budget. When a marketing manager meets with a PR director and discusses book strategy with a colleague, the PR manager says: radio, TV, etc." Then the marketer might say, "Great, we're saving for a plane ticket to New York for a morning conference," or "We're saving for maybe a satellite tour..."
The marketing representative must then coordinate the agenda with the sales department and deliver the books to the stores. The marketing team allocates money for advertising, display and placement on websites, and in return, the advertisement receives free media coverage. Marketing and public relations have similar goals but use different processes but in parallel.
How do you define the message of your marketing campaign?
The short answer I start from day one is to stick to the content of the book. Describe it honestly. Make appropriate comparisons. Hot skip titles, subtitles and books, but copy the book correctly. Very little or nothing at all, go organic. All good marketing comes from the words of the author. But yes, in publishing, spreadsheets rule the roost.
If you're a self-publisher and on a tight budget, what's the most important thing to spend your money on?
If you can't afford a lot, use social media. Facebook is free. And think local people. I'm always amazed at the number of self-publishers who don't even visit their local bookstore. This is amazing to me. My first tip is to visit your local bookstore. Independent bookstores sell self-published books of local importance. Do you organize events? A few months ago I spoke with a New York bookseller who sells dozens of self-published local history books.
I'm also amazed at how many independent publishers only list Amazon as a book seller. List all the sites where your book can be found. Amazon, BN.com, Indie Bound, local bookstores, etc. An independent bookstore can sell hundreds of books by a self-published author if the author understands the bookstore's business model. A bookstore will not accept this self-published author if the author lists only Amazon [as a place to purchase the book].
For some writers, marketing is magic and expensive, but getting your book published in the local paper is also marketing. People in traditional publishing also spend time emailing the media, calling bookstores and newspapers, and writing press releases. It is not this machine that makes things happen, but things magically happen. It goes from book to book, message to message.
How should a self-publisher approach a bookstore? What is this relationship?
Join and become a customer. Stop and ask to put the book on the shelf, but it sure helps (the author) to shop at the store at the same time. you accept them; they accept you If a book has a very concentrated regional appeal, I can't imagine how difficult it will be to get your book into a local bookstore. By the way, the best way to get the attention of your local newspaper is to host an event by reading or signing up at your local store. You can get free inches of coverage for staying in the calendar section. Any writer can do this if they build relationships with businesses.
Who exactly are you talking to?
with whom you start a conversation. You can ask the manager or the owner, but (if he's the owner) you know he'll probably be busier. But go to the pawn shop and see what happens. In the high-tech world, people think everything should be automatic and impersonal, but it's still very personal. to be friends
What do you think is more important - the quality of the book or the quality of the marketing?
The quality of the book. A good book that is not advertised will not sell, and a bad book that is advertised will sell at least a few copies, but a bad book can only be sold once. People will not return. There was a famous case in the late 80's with a new I think South Korean car that had a huge advertising campaign and the car sold very well for a year, but the car crashed and now the company is gone, it has gone to a… home. five years The advertising campaign was great, but the car performed poorly.
What do you think about ratings as a marketing tool?
Any objective third-party review is helpful for the book. But think about your target market. I once pitched a novel to the nonfiction editor of the Washington Post. I was in a hurry. I don't think so. Of course, this has never been tested.
I work with an author who writes astrological puzzles, and he got 38 reviews for his first book because he and his publisher realized they weren't going to mess with the New York Times or the Washington Post, but they approached anyone about the book. mystic blogger and astrologer. it existed, all these 38 people were talking about it. One had (only) 500 followers and the other had 1,500 followers but was noticed and sold. The second book had 38 editions.
If you are writing a book about hunting, you should go to hunting magazines. I don't want to sound condescending, but sometimes it amazes me how surprised authors are when they send their book "somewhere" and get nothing.
I work with a small publishing house, and whenever one of our books gets a review somewhere, in Ann Arbor, Boulder, etc., we get three or four emails from other reviewers the following week. They read reviews because there are so many books. A reviewer has a stack of books in front of him and wants to know which books he should spend his time reading. You make decisions based on the cover and the back cover.
By the way, the most important thing in book marketing is the fold or cover. This is the message of the book. And the number one mistake I see is that it takes too long to copy the valve or back. Authors are rewriting their book. Focus on your market. Don't be everything to everyone.
What to do if the feedback is negative?
It would be better for the author to shut up and move on. This writer I work with is very sensitive, two of the 32 reviews he got were negative and he said, "I have to write and edit them." You have misunderstood the book. I said. "Nothing good will come of it. You will answer them and thank them for their honest and sincere feedback and definitely consider them for the next book.” Sometimes you get bad reviews. If the criticism is valid, the author should include it in his next work. There is nothing else to do.
Any final thoughts?
There's never been a better time to self-publish. There are several sites for book production. The POD (print on demand) books look great. Twice in the past year, I've picked up a book at a bookstore and then an Ingram POD and put them side by side. Honestly, I couldn't tell the difference. This was a problem 10-20 years ago. Self-published books looked (surprisingly). Now they look good.
There's also a term I don't use enough, even though I should use it more often: niche marketing. There is a blog and magazine for everything. If your book falls into this category, you want to be there.
Go to the bookstore. Look at books that are similar to the book you are writing and decide if you want to be like them or different from them. Anyway, you know what they are and what they look like.
Every book has a reader, and it's all about finding that reader. It's important to adjust your expectations. You won't become an instant bestseller. I see that all authors, traditionally published and self-published, are impatient. I guess some people look at the bestseller list and wonder how that person got on the list. Well, this is either his 15th book or his 10th. In one famous example, James Patterson received 38 rejection letters. It took Anne Tyler until her fifth book became a bestseller. You look at all these names and realize that time is needed.
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