Marketing?

SnowOwl

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I'm working on my non-fiction proposal, and I have a quick question for you lovely ladies and gents.

What do you like to see in the marketing section? Do you have high or low expections? What should every wannabe-successful writer include?

For instance, I've heard it's a good idea to offer to pay for 50% of the costs for a book tour. However, at this point I don't have any idea what my advance might be like. Let's be honest -- when I'm not writing, I work in a restaurant. I live from one day's tips to the next. I really have no idea whether I'd have the means to shell out 50% of the costs for a book tour (I don't even know how much that might cost).

Any and all advice is much appreciated!
 

mreddin

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I came across similar advice SnowOwl, and as I prepare for the query process myself, that subject is weighing on my mind.

My concern is that making such a commitement may do little more than demonstrate my lack of knowledge in the field of publishing. I am coming at this problem from the perspective of first investigating self publishing. I was aware of pre-publication reviews, galley and ARC copies, catalogues and the like. As a typical author with a real imprint, you would never be expected to bare those expenses nor would you need to do them for yourself. We also know from statistics placed on the "Neverending Thread" that print and radio ads and even post-publication reviews garner little attention to the bookreading public. So offering to take out ads will not impress an agent or editor either.

Here is a link to Jim's response to my question about how he participates in the marketing of his books.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=215064&highlight=marketing#post215064

Perhaps the thing to impress upon a prospective relationship is your willingness to work with the house publicist and to follow their advice or requests when offered. If your savvy online, keeping a Blog and being active in forums could be a very inexpensive way of gathering attention and building potential readership that the larger imprints perhaps are not capitalizing upon just yet. Again though, I'm only just undertaking the journey so an established author really needs to comment on your question.

Mike
 
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Cathy C

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Well, non-fiction is a bit different than fiction, so your marketing plan will necessarily be different too. What you'll need to consider first is what YOU consider your market to be. It might be quite different than how your publisher's publicity and marketing departments think about it.

First, for the record - publicity and marketing are NOT the same thing, either by definition or application.

Publicity is what is known as "passive" selling. You mention the name of the thing you're selling, such as on a television commercial and, if your message was well received, sales will increase. The publicity department at your publisher is concerned with the image of the book overall and how to "talk it up" to the distributors, etc.

Marketing is "active" selling. It's the equivalent of an appearance by a political candidate in a town versus flooding the television with paid advertising. They both may say the same thing, but the message from the in-person event stays with the listener (buyer) better because it's attached to a tactile memory. The marketing department is concerned with how the cover will look on the shelf to the end buyer, placement of advertisements in magazines and the like.

When you're considering making a marketing plan to submit to a publisher (even if it's in the initial proposal), you need to have a clear image in your head of what market the book will reach. It's best to be able to speak in "marketing lingo". For example, let's say you are writing a book about modern-day ranching. You know enough about your subject matter to know that you're primarily going to sell to men from 25-50 where there's land available to ranch.

You need to say that "I am targeting the 25-50 male demographic in the western United States, Canada and possibly Australia." Why? Well, because marketing understands demographics. Teens from 12-18, women from 60-70, etc. You need to sell the book where there's LAND to ranch. You need to sell it to the most likely people who would be considering ranching as a career. Yes, there are women who ranch (I'm one of them!) but they aren't the MAJORITY. So, if your publisher is looking to market the book, where would you recommend it be advertised? Western Horseman? Sure. Mother Earth News? Absolutely. Popular Mechanics? Hmm, maybe not.

But you MIGHT propose additional marketing in Canada, Australia, and South Africa and other places where your new and exciting techniques might be able to help wanna-be ranchers succeed. THAT'S the sort of thing that the marketing department is hoping for -- great ideas that will increase your ability to sell the book! You can tell them that you're the president of your local ranching association, and have contacts all over the world in the cattle, or goat or sheep industry. You have PRESENCE in the community you hope to sell to.

Does that sort of answer your question, or would you like to see a sample of a marketing plan that I prepared for my fiction novel? It might not help much for non-fiction, but you might get a few ideas...
 
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Lauri B

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SnowOwl said:
I'm working on my non-fiction proposal, and I have a quick question for you lovely ladies and gents.

What do you like to see in the marketing section? Do you have high or low expections? What should every wannabe-successful writer include?

For instance, I've heard it's a good idea to offer to pay for 50% of the costs for a book tour. However, at this point I don't have any idea what my advance might be like. Let's be honest -- when I'm not writing, I work in a restaurant. I live from one day's tips to the next. I really have no idea whether I'd have the means to shell out 50% of the costs for a book tour (I don't even know how much that might cost).

Any and all advice is much appreciated!

Hi SnowOwl!
What I like to see in the marketing section of a proposal is the author's understanding of his or her market (similar to what Cathy is saying), but in general terms--if you're writing a nonfiction book about ranching (Cathy, how did that come up?) and I were looking seriously at the proposal, I'd like to know your credentials so our publicists could come up with some good ways to pitch you as a ranching expert to radio and magazines, I'd want to know what people who ranch read and listen to, I'd want to know where the big trade shows for ranchers are and how many people come--all this would indicate that you know the market you're writing to.
Then I'd like to see your ideas for how to reach them--realistic ideas, not pie-in-the-sky stuff: having your book in every Ranches R Us big box store isn't likely to happen, even if it's a good idea. Rather, do you have ranching organizations you belong to or a ranching ezine or blog, or a giant database of ranching nuts who subscribe to your newsletter? All of these things are really important for a publisher to know. The more connected you are to the people in your market and subject area, the better for everyone.

As far as offering 50% of the cost of an author tour, don't put that in your proposal. Most of the time an author tour isn't going to happen unless your topic is very timely and there is already media interest in it, you are a well-known expert on the subject, and there are venues that are ideal for talks or discussions--or you're really famous, in which case you wouldn't be offering to foot the bill for any marketing at all. Wait on the offer to split costs, and if the publisher and you agree that you both think a tour is a good idea you could potentially figure out some arrangement, although honestly if the publisher really thinks an author tour is a good idea, they should pay for it. It's not going to make a publisher decide whether or not to take and publish the manuscript, regardless.

Good luck!
Lauri
 

maestrowork

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On a related note, what should the writer be aware of/responsible for as far as marketing is concerned?
 

brinkett

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Cathy C said:
Does that sort of answer your question, or would you like to see a sample of a marketing plan that I prepared for my fiction novel? It might not help much for non-fiction, but you might get a few ideas...
I'd like to see your marketing plan, if you're willing to share. Some small presses do ask for one so it would be nice to see an example.
 

Lauri B

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maestrowork said:
On a related note, what should the writer be aware of/responsible for as far as marketing is concerned?
I think that's going to depend on the book and the publisher. In our case, we hope (and expect) that our authors are out there pitching article ideas to relevant publications, accepting offers to speak, networking with their contacts, coming up with ideas for us to consider and pursue, and doing as much as they can on their end. We do a lot of press publicity, find new angles for marketing and promotion, and really try to work our backlist so that the book doesn't drop out of sight after the first few months are over. I really love hearing new ideas from our authors (even when we can't necessarily implement them) and try to work really closely with them so we're both doing all we can to keep the book selling.

What drives me nuts is the notion that once an author has submitted the book, it's the publisher's job to do all the marketing and promotion. It just can't happen that way, and it doesn't benefit anyone if that's the way the relationship goes.
 

maestrowork

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The reason I ask is, I have a lot of ideas (coming from a consulting background), but I am not sure if I'm stepping on someone's toes for suggesting things like, "hey, maybe we can do this. Or what do you think if I do that..." I don't want to give off the vibes that I don't trust the publicity/marketing department for doing their jobs, or that I am one of those "control-freak" authors.
 

Lauri B

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maestrowork said:
The reason I ask is, I have a lot of ideas (coming from a consulting background), but I am not sure if I'm stepping on someone's toes for suggesting things like, "hey, maybe we can do this. Or what do you think if I do that..." I don't want to give off the vibes that I don't trust the publicity/marketing department for doing their jobs, or that I am one of those "control-freak" authors.

Hi Ray,
Well, I guess it would depend on your relationship with the publisher, but I LOVE it when my authors come up with ideas for promoting and I would never feel like they are stepping on my toes. it's like any other kind of brainstorming--some of the ideas are great but unworkable, some of the ideas are not so great and while they might work aren't going to do much to help the book, and some are great and will work. You have to get them out there to see. So I say, go for it--it'll only help. I don't know of that many publishers (especially small ones) who aren't grateful and excited about any kind of author initiative.
Good luck!
Lauri
 

Cathy C

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if you're writing a nonfiction book about ranching (Cathy, how did that come up?)

:ROFL: I had just sat back down after getting a baby goat's head out of the fence. They're really good at getting it THROUGH, but those little nubby horns just won't come back OUT! It was the first thing that occurred to me!

Anyway, I agree with what Nomad said about the publisher's expectation. Now, for our fiction novel -- again, which is TOTALLY different, we (I write with a co-author) decided that there was an overlooked market that the publisher probably wouldn't reach with their anticipated marketing program. The book is marketed as romance. The book IS romantic. But it's a romance like The Sopranos on HBO is a romance! Technically, that's where it's shelved. But the readers who were going to LOVE the book were those who like dark fantasy, the Hitman video game, D&D RPGs, etc. We absolutely knew that. But marketing was reaching romance readers, and that's fine too. So, what we did was an "Additional Marketing Plan" to reach the readers who might not ever see the promotion the publisher was doing, and might NEVER venture into that section of the bookstore -- i.e., the 19-28 male demographic! As Nomad said, it's VERY important that you not only tell the publisher WHAT you intend to do, but WHY you believe it's important.

So, here's the marketing blitz we proposed. As a note, we DID reach the market we intended to, and our book is now featured on a number of video gamers sites, alongside walk-through manuals and the like! We have men all over various boards who brag that they "braved" the romance aisle because all their guys friends said what a kick-*ss book it was. After five months on the shelf, we've sold through our first print run of 70K, and the publisher just informed us yesterday that they will probably be printing a second edition when the sequel hits the shelf in August.

Let me know if you have any other questions! Cathy

******************


PROPOSED MARKETING PLAN FOR
HUNTER’S MOON
By C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp

Tor Romance

December, 2004


Summary

The authors of HUNTER’S MOON hope to be active partners with the Tor Romance marketing team to assure exceptional advertising coverage of this paranormal romance in under-represented demographic groups. HUNTER’S MOON is a dark fantasy romance which the authors believe can sell well to both traditional romance readers, as well as male dark fantasy and horror readers.



In order to accomplish sales to the male 19-28 year old demographic, certain target markets must be reached by both advertising and subsequent word-of-mouth. The current success of HBO’s cable series, The Sopranos, past network series, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, as well as the large male reader base of Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake - Vampire Hunter series will assist with this marketing venture.



In furtherance of this, the authors would propose to assist the marketing department by implementing the following additional marketing programs:



A. Print Advertising



1. Contact the publishers of dark fantasy/horror magazines, such as Weird Tales, Dreams of Decadence, and Analog Science Fiction to run print ads for HUNTER’S MOON which would include favorable review quotes from other science fiction and horror writers (See Nontraditional Reviews below). Depending on out of pocket expense by the authors, a four color ad in half-page or larger would highlight the exceptional cover graphics. The authors have available Adobe PageMaker 7.0 and ad design experience to lessen overall cost but still ensure the quality required of a Tor Books publication. Ads should be run in the November/December issues of these magazines to heighten interest just before release. The design and content of the ad will require approval by the marketing department by the end of July to allow for publication lead time to place in a winter edition. Upon approval by the marketing department/publicist for additional print advertising, the authors will submit proposed designs for the ads. If Tor would prefer to design such advertisements and include fantasy magazines in the marketing budget for this novel, that would be acceptable, as well.



2. The authors have been offered the opportunity to publish an article about HUNTER’S MOON in the Laurell K. Hamilton Fan Club Winter Newsletter for 2004, which will feature teasers and ordering information for the book. This will be produced and published by the LKH Fan Club in approximately November. The text for the article has already been edited and approved by the Tor editor.



B. E-mail campaign



Conversations between the authors and owners of game shops which sell fantasy role-playing cards and board games indicate that "gamers" are highly interested in new dark fantasy novels. In addition, video game players recently celebrated the release of Hitman: Contracts, the third in a series of roleplaying video games which allows the player to become "47", a skillful hitman. Most game shops have a small section of recommended novels near the check-out counter. Targeting game shop owners with a bulk e-mail written by the authors can accomplish two goals. One — owners are, at a minimum, familiar with the name when the book is released; and Two — ordering information is available in the ad so if quotes by well-known authors whose books are currently carried by the shop catch the eye of the owner, the book can be ordered and be available to the buying public. The Tor Romance marketing team is welcome to review and approve any such e-mail to ensure it meets the standards of the publisher. Internet mail lists are easily obtained and the e-mail can be prepared so that shop owners can advance purchase through the publisher or one of its distributors in time for Christmas.

C. Internet webrings


One of the authors, Cathy Clamp, will be attending the Romance Writers of America 2004 conference in Dallas, TX in July, 2004. Over 2,000 romance authors will be attending the event. The author intends to contact other authors of paranormal romance and determine whether a "webring" can be established or added to which will allow the existing website of the authors, featuring HUNTER’S MOON, to reach a wider romance audience by "riding the coattails" of other well-established paranormal authors. In addition, the authors are members of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association of America, where additional webrings are available for the asking.



D. Marketing Goodies



The authors presume that Tor Romance will be making available standard "goodie" give-away items which feature a cover image of HUNTER’S MOON, back cover blurbs, review quotes and ordering information to be given to the public. Cathy Clamp intends to review the variety of goodies which other romance authors have created at the RWA convention, and suggest a list of appropriate items which might appeal to a male 19-28 demographic. If Tor Romance is unable to add such goodies to their present line, the authors will consider expending personal funds to create the goodies in order to attract a larger market.



E. Nontraditional Reviews



1. In additional to traditional romance and paranormal reviewers, e-zine and on-line reviewers are available. Several, such as Blood Moon Rising are geared specifically to shapeshifter-type novels and short stories. The subscribers of this internet site might not otherwise see HUNTER’S MOON, as it will likely be shelved in the romance section of bookstores.



2. The authors will seek review quotes by authors who are known fantasy or dark horror writers, which will increase exposure.



3. One game shop owner in San Angelo, TX frequently writes national reviews of new video and role-playing games for gamer magazines, and has offered to mention the book in his next review of a tie-in (horror/dark fantasy) product.



4. We have a list of over thirty different paranormal website reviewers, and will provide PDF or HTML versions of the copyedited book so that multiple reviews show up around the time of release.



F. "Ask the Author" Live Chats



Because of the authors’ location in Central Texas, on-line live chats may be more feasible to reach audiences than a book signing tour. These live chats have proved very successful for authors such as Laurell K. Hamilton and Mercedes Lackey and have increased sales dramatically (according to reports on their websites).



G. Book signings



1. Again, because of location, book signings outside Texas are not presently feasible because of the authors’ work schedule. However, because RWA is headquartered in Texas, there are a number of Texas romance writers who have indicated interest in mass signings in malls and large book chains in major metropolitan areas.



2. The authors have contacts in the western writing field due to the publication of a previous novel in the historical/western genre. The western genre is heavily male dominated. The authors have been invited to join a signing with western writers Ken Hodgson and Elmer Kelton when HUNTER’S MOON is released, the date of which coincides with release of a new novel from each of them. The anticipated date and time have yet to be determined.



H. Book competitions



Always an excellent marketing technique, the authors propose to submit HUNTER’S MOON to the Romance Writers of America RITA Award and ARTemis Cover Art competitions for 2005, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers NEBULA Award for 2005, as well as others in the paranormal, fantasy and romance genres. Presently, we have a list of approximately twelve competitions for which the book would qualify. Many readers and librarians keenly track the winners, as well as the nominees, of these competitions to see what books to purchase for their collections. In addition, there are numerous small book competitions that HUNTER would qualify for. The RWA Chapter which the authors belong to have just set up a section of their website to announce regional and national romance book competitions, which the authors will take full advantage of.



I. Donation Auction.



The Laurell K. Hamilton Fan Club has requested that, in addition to the print article to run in their Winter newsletter, the authors donate an autographed ARC of HUNTER’S MOON to be auctioned on EBay. The proceeds of the auction will benefit Ms. Hamilton’s favorite charity, the Granite City Animal Shelter. The auction will be sponsored, advertised and managed by the Fan Club employees.



J. RWA - Have We Got a Story For You!



This new program of Romance Writers of America is intended to increase the visibility of the romance genre by dispelling the notion that romances are only for women. They intend to partner with movie theaters to feature specific books in the on-screen advertisements before movies in major cities, such as New York, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles, as well as surrounding cities. While the details of the project are still under development, HUNTER’S MOON (as well as the rest of the Tor Romance line) would be prime candidates for participation.



K. Press Releases



We plan to prepare web-based press releases on an on-going basis until close to the time of publication to increase interest in the book. By tying the release to an existing event, or existing author, we hope to generate "buzz" on the internet. If the Marketing Team would like to review or approve these Press Releases prior to submission, please advise.



L. Conferences and conventions.



We plan to prepare bookmarks and postcards which we will send via acquaintances to various conferences around the world. Presently slated are RWA’s annual convention in Dallas; Dragon*Con in Atlanta; Armadillo.con in San Marcos, TX; FenCon in Dallas, TX; World Fantasy Convention in Phoenix, AZ; World Horror Convention in Dublin, Ireland. In addition, we will send postcards out to all of the members of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, who might be willing to cross the romance genre for a Tor Books offering.



M. Additional Focus on Achievements

The authors have just recently won an EVVY Award (3rd Place) in the 2004 Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) competition for their first novel, ROAD TO RICHES: THE GREAT RAILROAD RACE TO ASPEN. While this novel placed in the historic fiction category, the book did contain a romance thread which several reviewers found added to the plot. It would be beneficial to sales to promote us (as relative unknowns) as "Award Winning Authors."



Additional quotes could be placed in the promotional materials, without naming the genre but still promoting the skill of the authors, such as:



Praise for the authors’ previous works:



The collaboration of Cathy L. Clamp and C.T. Adams has created an enthralling, original and deftly woven book . . . it is exceptionally well crafted and highly recommended reading! Midwest Book Review



Absorbing . . .fast paced . . .the authors breathe life into names from history books. Rocky Mountain News

***************
That's it! Hope it helps! :D
Cathy
 

Lauri B

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Cathy C said:
:ROFL: After five months on the shelf, we've sold through our first print run of 70K, and the publisher just informed us yesterday that they will probably be printing a second edition when the sequel hits the shelf in August.

Your publisher did a first print run of 70,000 copies? And they sold in 5 months? WOW! Listen to anything this woman says. Way to go, Cathy!
 

Cathy C

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Awww... thanks! :thankyou: I would also note that returns were also lower than expected for a paperback. To date, we've only had returns of around 29%, which is quite a bit less than normal for mass paperback (35%-45% of those shipped.) Until last week, the returns were only 3% and we were dancing in the streets (but then Walmart and Sam's Club reported... sigh!)


Still, a good first effort. I'm especially pleased that our initial marketing resulted in doubling the print run from what was original anticipated. Being a new author, with a publisher beginning a new line, we were very conscious of our need to "get the buzz going" on the streets. Reviews were critical (we sent out and received back 37 reviews!) and so were contest entries (we finaled in nine contests, and won five of them!)

A little imagination and a lot of sweat -- it will bring back great things! :D
 

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Cathy, thank you for posting your plan. :)
 

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Wow, thanks for the input, guys!

And Cathy, your sample put professionalism back into my proposal! I felt like I was tripping over my own feet, but your format made it easy for me to list some of the ideas I've had and even brainstorm a few others. :Hail: