Basic question (probably a stupid one) about marketing

I think writers are expected to carry some of the burden now. There was an article in the newspaper a while back about an author who had to fund his book tour himself.

Manuel Royal said:

So, basic question: is this assertion true? Don't the large publishers, at least, still have marketing and promotion departments?

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They'll do stuff like send your book out for review and get it into bookshops. That's a big part of promotion that's difficult for the self-published.

What they're less likely to do is organise book signings / tours, get you guest posts on blogs or that sort of stuff. That's not to say it never happens, but most authors won't be having things like that organised for them.

Yeah i believe publishers these days focus on book reviews, awards, traditional PR etc. They may even create a book tour for you and set up some traditional advertising like posters in train stations etc

But online activity, interviews, actually promoting your book and signings etc will most likely fall on you. At least that's the impression i've gotten from the industry and reading what people have blogged about

Matt (Turndog Millionaire)

I've been told time and again that a web presence is essential. I have a Twitter page and a blog -- that's it. I will never join Facebook in a million years.

I've also been told that the best way to sell your backlist is to maintain your frontlist, which is the kind of advice that appeals to me. It means I get to write, which is what I got into this game for.

There's no harm in maintaining that web presence if you want to, but for the love of all that is holy, don't go overboard. There are far too many writers who flood your tweetstream, whore their wares on Facebook (so I'm told by irritated friends who have to put up with it on that website) and drop their book into every conversation, or post on AW. "I experienced this when writing my last book..." or "My next book deals with that very subject..."

The trick is to engage with people, to see them as human beings. Not just numbers, potential readers, or minions.

scarletpeaches said:

I've been told time and again that a web presence is essential. I have a Twitter page and a blog -- that's it. I will never join Facebook in a million years.

I've also been told that the best way to sell your backlist is to maintain your frontlist, which is the kind of advice that appeals to me. It means I get to write, which is what I got into this game for.

There's no harm in maintaining that web presence if you want to, but for the love of all that is holy, don't go overboard. There are far too many writers who flood your tweetstream, whore their wares on Facebook (so I'm told by irritated friends who have to put up with it on that website) and drop their book into every conversation, or post on AW. "I experienced this when writing my last book..." or "My next book deals with that very subject..."

The trick is to engage with people, to see them as human beings. Not just numbers, potential readers, or minions.

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I agree completely. You're a lot more likely to attain an audience when you actively listen and engage than you are when you just talk about yourself.

Manuel Royal said:

Agreed.

Also, I don't want my own hostile, immature personality to turn people off my fiction. Sometimes I learn too much about a writer, and it affects my enjoyment of their work.

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I get the impression from one or two writers that they don't see readers as real people. They're just potential sales. Writers with dollar signs ringing up in their eyes bug me. You can always tell when someone's more concerned with sales and royalties than actually writing a damn good book and improving with each novel.

The trick is to be genuine. Don't suck up to other professionals whom you think could help you out in your career. That's just using people. But if you click with someone and get along with them, great.

Make friends, not contacts.

This isn't directly addressed to you, Manuel Royal; it's just something I've noticed occurring time and again in the publishing world, particularly with regard to erotic romance epublishers, the only part of that world I'm currently involved with.

Writers are told to whore their books (or promote them, if you want me to use a more professional word) and many turn into robots, with books on conveyor belts.

Engage with people and always be genuine. Even if the genuine you -- shock horror -- has his own opinion! Too many writers today make clumsy attempt to be politically correct, or smarm up to folks they secretly dislike and slag off, or glom on those who are on their way up, thinking such an alliance could be to their advantage.

Stepford writers, you could say. "Why. Thank. You. For. Your. Compliment. I. Appreciate. It." [Insert rictus grin here.] "I. Promise. Never. To. Express. An. Opinion. In. case. I. Offend. Someone. And. Lose. A. Sale."

We need colour and flavour in the publishing world -- authors who are human. Not anodyne androids who are the living, breathing equivalent of processed, frozen foods.

/rant off

Ellison has an article in the current issue of "Funny Times," specifically about promoting his books. It was pretty funny, if a bit curmudgeonly, but he's old enough to be entitled.

Maryn, who read the whole issue last night while pretending to watch the news

There's more than one way to have an online presence. A static site is fine, and good for those who don't want to update as often as they would blogging. A bit about you and your bibliography are a minimum. Once you have books, you'll want a page for each book.

Twitter is also a good one if you're willing to do some social networking. It's more having a chat with people, rather than needing to write fully formed blog posts, so it's easier for many people.

You don't need to hide the fact you're a real person. Most people will expect you to have a personality.

Although it may sound funny, I have a serious question concerning web presence and networking that I know affects at least some writers:

What if you don't like people all that much, in general? What if you're anti-social and seriously, whole-heartedly just do not give a flying fig newton about someone's drama?

Also, has anyone seen my medicine?

I don't do a lot of promotion and marketing. I write a blog entry a few times a month and update Facebook at least three times a week. That's it. Amounts to about 20 minutes a week. I spend most of my time writing.

Polenth said:

You don't need to hide the fact you're a real person. Most people will expect you to have a personality.

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Truer words were never spoken, especially when it comes to places like Twitter. I was very formal when I started out with the little blue bird... and consequently felt like I was talking to myself most of the time. Then, I was having an especially stressful morning one day and tweeted something like, 'well great. cat just yacked on the couch.'

That one tweet, sent out because I didn't care about appearing perfect at the time, actually got responses and laughs. From that moment on, I was more concerned with being real than appearing flawless. Twitter is a cool place to be now

spentastico said:

Although it may sound funny, I have a serious question concerning web presence and networking that I know affects at least some writers:

What if you don't like people all that much, in general? What if you're anti-social and seriously, whole-heartedly just do not give a flying fig newton about someone's drama?

Also, has anyone seen my medicine?

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Ha! That could be me.

No, seriously. I just don't like people that much, even though I write about them in my books. (Duh.) I have to people-watch and make myself a student of the human condition...but I'm possessive of my time and territory and there are very few people I actually enjoy mixing with. Even then, they're better in small doses.

There's nothing wrong with being an introvert. Company energises extroverts and drains introverts. I'm one of the latter.

However, as the previous poster perfectly illustrates, once you stop caring so much about what people think of you, that frees you up to say, "Oh sod it, I'll tweet what I like," and people actually warm to that. They sense how genuine you're being.

So while few people set out to be deliberately malicious, there's nothing wrong with just saying whatever the hell you want from time to time.

I'm grumpy as hell quite a lot, and when I express this in real life, other people fall about laughing at my deadpan sense of humour. I expect this happens a lot on Twitter as well. I say something grumpy, it makes someone out there laugh. And that's cool. It shows we're both human.

Now when the grumpy gets too much to handle, I stay away from Twitter and my blog. When it's a real depression, I keep that private. I seek advice from friends, and medical help from my G.P.

Some things don't belong online. At least, that's how I reason on it.

Speaking from personal experience with Big Six publishers, I can tell you that the marketing/promotion departments still do a lot.

They'll send out ARCs to newspapers, booksellers, review sites/blogs. They'll arrange a certain number of giveaways. They organize local book signings. They're indispensable for getting books in stores - including the big box stores like Costco and Target. They'll organize a certain number of interviews and Q&As. They get books in important hands.

Once your name gets out there, bloggers will approach you to do interviews and guest posts. So there's not that much pushing you have to do - if you chose not to. Still, publicists love to hear: What can I do to help?

It's not nearly the workload of the self-pubbing or small press, though, so your friend is kinda, sorta, mostly wrong.

I'm self publishing so ALL of the burden is on me, haha. I think Twitter is important as it gives you a place to communicate with readers and potential readers. It's also a great place to get information and learn from others that have been through it before. You just need to balance conversations with promoting the book.

I've tried to converse more in forums like this one and have been working on updating my blog more often especially as the book is now released.

http://www.elenaandrews.blogspot.com/

It is a lot of work but it's also for the greater good, so to speak.