Physical forms of publicity and marketing - such as book tours, festivals, conferences, author signings and readings in bookshops - are possibly not going to return for a very long time, even years (and people could remain scared of close contact and gathering with strangers for longer).
I am still months away from submitting but I wonder if there is, generally, any ideas floating around about how a need to substitute the above for different forms of promotion might affect the process from querying through submission to distribution and sales?Specifically, how might such future differences affect submissions that need to address marketing, such as non-fiction proposals?
Back to basics: word of mouth.
Have a robust mailing list.
Have a significant social media presence.
Now, as before, most books are purchased after hearing about it from a friend.
Make sure you have a lot of friends.
Bookstores are doing a lot of virtual events, that certainly will help, but nothing takes the place of a 3000 name mailing list.
21 comments:
Excellent advice -- and I'm taking every word since I'm in the middle of bringing out my debut! I'd just add that with the robust social media presence, you need to find your community. Different genres and sub-genres have their own groups, and it's a good idea to become part of that if you can -- I wish I'd done more earlier. If you're part of a community, people feel invested in your success and want to help you and your book...like we do here at the Reef.
I was wondering about this. I think there will be lots of lingering effects of this pandemic throughout the economy. I have pulled my book out of the query trenches and am revising AGAIN. So it may be a long time before I am worrying about marketing but still, we will have to readjust how we market and distribute.
KMK I am enjoying your book very much.
EM -- thank you!!! (They are going to take away my exclamation points someday!)
A 3000 name mailing list sounds great. How exactly does one get 3000 names? Granted, I'm not actively marketing or anything and pretty much unknown outside of here, but I have a whopping 8 people on mine.
KMK, I clicked on your blogger link to find out more about your book and there is nothing on your blogger page.
Hard words for a curmudgeonly hardcore introvert to hear: "Make a lot of friends."
Becoming GDPR compliant wiped out half my mailing list, so I'm in a rebuilding stage, which has been frustratingly slow. I would urge everyone to make sure you're compliant. Even if you live in the US, I expect you at least want to have an international list. The laws differ even between the US and Canada, so do your research!
Sharyn, that's a new one on me -- I didn't know I needed a Blogger page. I have a website: kathleenmarplekalb.com -- and I'm on the major social media sites...what did I miss?
I second Steve Forti, how exactly DO you build an email list? If you're a debut author and your book is a year away from debuting, sure you can offer a free short story, but who other than your immediate family would sign up with that as a reward? I am utterly stumped with this and I need to start building my list. What other incentives can an author offer to get people to sign up? I don't have a blog, but I do have a website and social media presence, and since I don't have a list I haven't started a newsletter yet.
KMK have you heard of Dawn Barclay's new group? She's interviewing authors who have books coming out in order to spread the word. Check out the FB page: https://www.facebook.com/authorgroupie/
What Steve said.
For me, this post hits home. My debut launched Feb 27. Weeks later, all my school visits and book store events were cancelled. I've tried to stay positive by focusing on writing my sequel, but with things opening up again I want to refocus on marketing The Rescuer and just feel stuck.
The mailing list tip keeps popping up as a great idea, but I don't know how to convince people to sign up. Each month I let my SM followers know about my upcoming newsletter and drop my links to subscribe, but that doesn't garner much interest at all.
I'm in the same boat. I only have a handful of readers on my list. Granted I haven't worked hard at it and don't have a button to subscribe. I should work on that....
You can't do it alone. The way I've gotten my list is through networking, networking, networking. You really need to use everyone you know: family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances.
For example, every class my husband taught in Paris, they all inevitably wanted to know what his wife does. He told them I was writing a novel and someone would always ask what was it about. He'd say, about a homeless man in Paris and there was always interest. So he would tell them if they wanted they could leave their email address and he would contact them when the book was going to be published.
My aunt has taken art classes for years. The subject of art always leads to Europe and whenever my aunt mentions her niece who lives in Paris...again the result is the same as above.
My sister's book club also garners a list, not just her group, but through their friends and their acquaintances it adds on more names.
I have to admit when your subject matter is quite popular, it makes it a lot easier. In my case there are many Francophiles around the world and many people dream of going to Paris one day. It doesn't hurt to have a large family and lots of friends either. Still, it's a slow process that's taken years to get over 4000 names.
I do wonder how I'm going to contact all these people when the time comes. I've categorized the lists (aunt, friend, husband, sibling, etc.) so when it does come time each person can make the initial contact. Or am I wrong about that? I don't want to be kicked out as spam.
Bottom line - networking. I couldn't have done it on my own.
I've done online book tours with giveaways that encourage people to sign up for my mailing list, Amazon page, Goodreads, etc. and slowly built my list to around 1200, but each time I send a newsletter a few unsubscribe. When I send out a newsletter on release day, I always get a few sales. I haven't seen much sales response to the book tours, but my hope is that people remember the book and buy it next time they're looking.
3000! I thought I was doing well at 75. All relatives, of course.
KMK - click on your highlighted name at the top of you comment. That links to your blogger profile. Edit your profile so that you at least display your website. That way, anyone at the reef can easily click through to info on your book. Congratulations on your debut, can't wait to find out more about it.
The email list - ugh! This is something I've been meaning to work on for years but still haven't come up with any ideas of what to put in a newsletter.
LynRodz - thanks for all the tips on getting subscribers. Sounds like you've done an awesome job. When the time comes to announce your debut, I reckon you could send out an initial email newsletter announcing your news and reminding them they signed up to receive your publishing news. Then you could alert them to the unsubscribe button.
OP here. Thanks for the advice and comments. I don't want difficulties for others but it is nice to know I'm not the only one who has been wondering about this!
Re mailing lists: I don't know how it would work with fiction, but with nonfiction it is possible to have as a contact an organization which has their own mailing list. These can greatly increase the total number of people who both will become aware of the publication and have an interest in the content.
And what Janet said -back to basics- makes me think too, of looking back in history to what they did in days of Agatha Christie and the bigger names of the late 20th century.
MA Hudson -- thank you so much! Profile updated! And OP, so glad you asked the question! We really are all in this together!
I didn't like the terms for a short story I wrote a few years ago. Instead of collecting a pittance and signing away the story for longer than I will live, I sent it to some friends and asked that it be passed on if they enjoyed it.
I have over eight thousand e-mails from people who read it, and sent a thanx. That might be turned into a mailing list.
First, I have to find the agent who likes what I do enough to ask that question. Maybe tomorrow.
I have been procrastinating about the whole newsletter thing because it scares me. I know once I get it worked out I'll be fine - it's just the tech side of setting it up. When this book is ready to query I will make myself do it before I let myself start a new novel...the perfect motivation!
Thanks for this post and the interesting comments. Reading them reminded me that I wanted to update my blogger profile, which I've done, including a different email address. So this post is also a bit of a test to see if I can still post using the previous email address.
Maybe it's time to work up the courage to set up a newsletter and mailing list. I hate them, but I'm beginning to see their use.
I'm up to 7000 subscribers now. Here's how...
Besides asking everyone I encounter at Book Events, book clubs, etc if they would like to read some of my free short stories and get special offers, I go found AuthorsXP.com mail list builder very helpful builing my list.
Oh, and you can sign up for my newsletter at CharlesLevin.com - see I'm asking:) Good luck!
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