I
belong to three different writers’ groups. I’m a bit of a workshop/conference
junkie, though I’m cutting back on that for a while. And without exception,
there is one question that is always asked at every workshop, group meeting, or
conference:
Do authors have to do their
own marketing and promotions?
I can answer that, I want to shout out!
YES!
The answer is YES!! I REALLY know that
answer at the moment because my alter-ego is busy promoting a new release.
Here
are the sub-questions that inevitably follow:
1. Do you need to do marketing and
promotions if you self-publish?
ANSWER: YES. Of course. Your book, no
matter how wonderful, enlightening, or ground-breaking it is, will be one of
MILLIONS that are out there. How will readers find it if you don’t let them
know, in many different ways, that your amazing book exists?
2. Do you need to do marketing and
promotions if you are published by a small press/publisher?
ANSWER: YES. The traditional small
presses, which seem to me to often be connected to universities, do not have
the budgets to do extensive marketing for their authors. And since the advent
of the e-book, there have been many new small publishers to come on the scene.
Some are literally here today and gone tomorrow. Others are here for a while,
but don’t last. But there are some that have staying power and are publishing
excellent books that are well edited and have beautiful, effective covers. BUT,
very few, (think of a very, very small number now) offer marketing as part of
their contract. So, just like for the self-published, all marketing and
promotions are up to you.
3. Do you need to do marketing and
promotions if you are published by a Big Five publisher?
ANSWER: YES. However, the Big Five and
their legions of imprints DO have marketing/publicity departments that work for
and with you. They have the budgets to get the news of your new book out there.
Now gather closer children as I talk about the olden days. Once upon a time,
those BIG publishers did ALL of the marketing for a book and its author. Yes,
the author may have been expected to do some book tours, but beyond that there
was little that was expected of them other than to write the next book. That
has changed. Today, all authors regardless of the size of their publishing
house are expected to have some kind of online presence. They should be on
Twitter and/or Facebook and/or Tumblr and/or have a blog etc. etc., and
certainly they must have a web page of their own. All of these venues are for
the purpose of connecting the authors to their readers.
Bottom
line is that no author is immune to doing at least a part of her/his own
marketing and promotions.
Let
me share with you an example of what one NYTimes best selling YA author does.
This author is published by one of the biggest YA publishers in the industry.
She also happens to be multi-talented, and uses all of her talents to help
promote her writing. As a fine artist, she might draw gorgeous pictures related
to her current release to have made into book covers to use as giveaways at
tour stops. She’s been known to decorate electric guitars with intricate
designs to raffle off during tours. This author even painted a design on her
car to reflect something from the book that was being released at the time. As
a composer she writes and performs the music that accompanies the audiobook
versions. On top of all this she is an über tweeter, posts regularly and
frequently on Tumblr and on a blog, and has a presence on Facebook as well.
It’s impressive, daunting, and makes me tired to think about because on top of
all of this SHE IS ALWAYS WRITING THE NEXT BESTSELLER! [Note: She also happens
to be one of my VERY FAVORITE authors!]
The
next question that is invariably asked is When and how should I start my
marketing/promotions/social media?
The
answer to that question, next week!
(See
how I did that? I fixed it so you have to come back to this blog again if you
want to find out the answer to that intriguing question! Promotion. Wink Wink.)
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