Demonstrating a Marketing Plan

[akaa1a]

Hi Nomad...

Many publishing houses ask for an author to provide thoughts about potential marketing ideas when a query is submitted.

Is the uniqueness of the plan important in securing a contract?
Do publishing houses typically implement an author's ideas?
Would an existing and very successful link with a charitable organization for book sales be considered a marketing angle or just "pie in the sky"?

As always...thank you for your insight!

[Lauri B]

Hi aka,
We, too, ask for marketing ideas from our authors, primarily because as a nonfiction publisher, we often get authors who are experts in their fields and affiliated with organizations, markets, or communities that we didn't know about already-and to which we can potentially market the book. Jenna is a great case in point. She submitted Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer to us and included information about Absolute Write and her newsletters, etc. We didn't realize there was a huge, very social network of freelance writers out there to which we could promote the book.

So the uniqueness of the plan isn't nearly as important as the writer's expertise and, quite frankly, connections in the field. We get a lot of proposals from people who say stuff like, "This book should be in toy stores and parenting catalogs, and even in a center display in WalMart." Well, believe me, we'd LOVE to have that happen but that's not a marketing plan, that's a wish list. If an author has an affiliation, strong connections, or an established audience (as Jenna does), we are much more likely to consider a book than we would if the author is new and doesn't have experience to help market and promote. And while every author says they'd be willing to do an author tour, for us it's not cost effective to do so: the return on the investment of time and money to send an unknown writer, however great the book, just doesn't make it a smart thing for a small publisher like us to do.

I think if you have an established and successful link with a (well-known) charitable organization (especially if the link allows the publisher to potentially use the name in press materials or market to the organization's members directly) you are much more appealing than someone who doesn't have that link. If you don't really have an established connection to the organization but think your book would appeal to that organization, that isn't nearly as enticing to a publisher since it means we need to try to tap into it.

So, while we always ask and expect our authors to contribute marketing ideas when they submit a proposal, we don't always implement them if they aren't realistic, or do-able, or too darn expensive. But at our company, we do expect our authors to help promote their book as it moves into backlist, and we work really hard to continue to promote them over the years.

[akaa1a]

YEA!:Clap:

There IS hope! I have had successful booksignings for the National Assistance League's(r) Operation Schoolbell(r) program and have more scheduled for this spring! Best part is...the kids benefit!
...the (r) is the trademark sign that my computer can't make in this forum...


As always...thank you for the response!
Have a great weekend!