So what should the author do in preparation for the new book? I have no idea. I don't know that there is a "should" in this case. I've said before that my own promotional efforts have never caused a visible spike in sales. The only thing that has given me a sales bump was the release of the next book. I've also done a few rants about over-the-top or annoying author promotions. Honestly, there's a part of me that would like to ignore the whole promotional side completely.
I obviously don't do that. For the release of this book, I've worked on:
- Getting more ARCs printed, and getting those ARCs to more bloggers
- Setting up about seven booksignings in January/February, with at least one more to come (I hope)
- Touching base with some independent bookstores and sending them bookmarks/bookplates if they're interested
- Getting bookmarks to folks to set out at conventions (Thank you!)
- The joint contest with Joshua, Elizabeth, and Di
- Giving copies of the book out to bookstores
- Any number of interviews (mostly online, but at least one newspaper interview is in the works)
- Stepsister Scheme LJ icons (please help yourself!)
- Pre-release contests to win the remaining ARCs
- A book launch event at ConFusion next month
There's more I could be doing. I want to put a press release together for the local media, but I never seem to get around to that. I'd love to drive around to every bookstore in mid-Michigan, but I don't know if that's feasible. I also have to balance out all of this promotion with the fact that I like my family, and it's nice getting to see them on occasion.
So why do the promotional stuff at all? Booksignings rarely pay off -- I sold 25 books at the last one. At my royalties rate, that's about $12.50 before my agent takes his 15%. And I stayed there for about 5+ hours. So call it $2.00 an hour, give or take? (Before taxes, of course.)
After thinking about this stuff way too much for the past 4-5 years, here's my reasoning:
1. I'm a control freak. If I'm out there doing promotion, I feel like I have some control over the fate of my book. That feeling is 98% illusion, but I don't care. I'll cling to my delusions, because they help me stay sane.
2. The publisher appreciates it. I believe it was a sales catalog for DAW that was giving the sales points on Stepsister Scheme and included something like "Author has been active with promotion both online and in person at conventions and bookstores." Whether or not my efforts have a significant impact, the publisher notices those efforts.
3. No significant impact isn't the same as no impact at all. I think of promotion as a long-term, cumulative game. Maybe I sell 10 books at a signing, but now that bookstore knows my name and might be more likely to order my next books. And those 10 people have met the author in person -- if they like the books, they might share them with friends and pick up the next.
4. I trust myself to set limits. I could pack up the car and my new GPS, take two weeks off work, and do a blitz tour of every bookstore in 300 miles. A part of me would love to do just that, but I won't. Not fair to my family, and not fair to me. I do get pretty stressed around book release time, but I generally know when I'm pushing too hard or starting to neglect my family.
5. It's fun. I like meeting readers and booksellers. I enjoy blogging and putting together fun contests. The photos you all came up with for the last contest were awesome! I have a blast going to conventions and hanging out with fellow authors and fans.
Everyone's different. Some authors do a lot more than I do. Others do nothing at all, aside from writing the next book. There's no right answer, but it's something I think about. And what good is a blog if I can't share my long-winded pondering with the world? As always, I'm curious to hear other folks' thoughts on the whole promotional beast.
I'll leave you with this beautiful photo
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
exapno took in her local Borders:
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Comments
Good luck holding onto those jumpy nerves until Book Day. :)
I found your novels via your blog. First, I read one of your posts on SF novelists. I followed the link to your own blog and cracked up at the LOL books. (You had me at LOL.) You happened to be doing a signing in my area, so I scooped up all the goblin novels at once and I recommend them to others. Those 25 books you sold at your last signing? It's probably many times that when you count the ripple effect.
In some ways, the blog is is probably the best promotional took I've got, even though I don't usually think of it that way. But I'll admit that when I did the LOL books, one reason was to see if it would draw new readers to the blog. Sounds like they worked pretty well for that ;-)
I'm just worried that I'm going to screw up. The biggest fear of the past few days has been that I'll give away some major spoiler for a future book. I love talking about my stories (and a lot of authors do too, I've noticed) and there's this part of me that just cannot understand how that sort of thing never happens. Or does it happen and I just haven't heard about it? I also have horrible handwriting, so if I ever am lucky enough to have book signings then there'll be some intense handwriting practice sessions.
I just wish we got more of the authors I actually read down here. We get some of the major fantasy authors, but as far as I know there's no specialty sffh bookstore in the area. Most of the book signings around here tend to be for political books, memoirs, etc. But I think that kind of comes with the territory when you live in the DC area, since we've got such a large concentration of politicians and people who work in the political arena. ;)
But yeah. If I ever do get a publishing contract, then I will be doing some self-promotion. Nowhere near as much as you do because I couldn't handle it (seriously, I'm in awe of how much self-promotion you do) but some.
I believe it was a sales catalog for DAW that was giving the sales points on Stepsister Scheme and included something like "Author has been active with promotion both online and in person at conventions and bookstores." Whether or not my efforts have a significant impact, the publisher notices those efforts.
Absolutely.
It's interesting that you would tell the distributors as well. I'm pretty ignorant about that piece of the process, and how much power the distributors have to push sales and stuff. One more thing on my list of stuff to learn...
And it doesn't hurt to have kazdreamer pimpin' your book, either.
You've got a good point about YA. It's huge right now, but I'll be curious to see how long that continues. Either it's going to slow down, or else the bookstores are just going to become YA stores with a little specialty closet some where for everything else...
Conventions have the nice advantage that everyone there is presumably a SF/F fan, whereas with bookstore events maybe 90% of the people passing through will immediately run in fear when they see a dragon or a spaceship on the book cover.
Now, once I actually read and enjoyed Quest, I bought the other books when they came out, and Stepsister Scheme is already pre-ordered from Amazon.
I'm glad to have met you 'cause you're a nice guy and fun to chat with. But if I looked at it purely from a mercenary standpoint, meeting you in person sold not one but four of my books, even though most of those sales weren't evident at the time.
(Also, thanks! I hope you enjoy Stepsister!)
I'm hoping to put up a post in a few weeks for spoilery discussions of the book. Mostly just 'cause *I* want to finally be able to talk about _________ and ________ and how ________ secretly wants to _________.
I have (several) blogs. I have a circle of friends that can reach out to their circles of friends (RL/Intrawebz) and hopefully reach out that way.
However, the thought of sitting, in a bookstore, for an hour fills me with enough dread that I need to go have a hot shower, and a week hiding behind my door just to stop the panic attack.
I admire you for doing that. I really do. And I have to agree with
I am very, very glad I did.
Blogs and word-of-mouth are powerful tools all by themselves. Don't force yourself to do something that won't work for you, especially if it knocks you out for a week.
Also, thank you. That's always nice to hear :-)
Think of it this way... it's like tossing a pebble down a rocky mountain side. It may start out slow, but most likely another rock will get hit and start rolling down with it til it escalades to an avalanche. Now, we all can't be JK Rowling (though wouldn't that be nice?) but you're still collecting a pretty steady following. :)
From the different authors I've talked to, promoting is important. It not also gets the word of your book out there, but it makes you look like a nice guy. I mean, if you didn't do any promotions, you'd look stuck-up!! But I don't any of them who think of promotions as anything more than a necessary cost.
"Think of it this way... it's like tossing a pebble down a rocky mountain side. It may start out slow, but most likely another rock will get hit and start rolling down with it til it escalades to an avalanche. Now, we all can't be JK Rowling..."
Hm. What if I throw the pebble at JK Rowling? :-)
...
Okay, now I want a poster!
Thanks for the heads-up!
Greg W.
I'm still in the processing of editing stuff to send to agents, nowhere near the point I need to worry about promotion (see how I assume I'll find an agent and get published, hutspa that is, or obsession, whichever). I do have a blog specifically related to writing (coffeequill.blogspot.com), but that's more in the hopes of already having somes ort of online presence when I do get published. For the life of me I can't remember how I stumbled upon your blog, or whether I found that first or saw Goblin Quest in the store first. Either way, both events happened around the same time, while I was at the store with a friend. We both got hooked. (We're bad influences on each other, reading something great and lending it to one another so we'll want our own copy after.)
So when are you coming to Oahu for a book signing?
Oh, man. I spent a week in Hawaii, mostly in Oahu, almost a decade ago. I would love to be able to take my wife there someday, and a book tour sounds like a perfect excuse :-)
Now if I could just convince my publisher to chip in for this business expense...
"see how I assume I'll find an agent and get published, hutspa that is, or obsession, whichever"
Whatever it is, hold on to it. I know I've said this a lot, but stubbornness/determination/obsession is in many ways more important than anything else in this business.
1. They've read, and enjoyed, something else by that author.
(1.5. The reader knows the author, either personally, or "from around" on the internet.)*
2. A friend insists they will like it.
3. The cover attracts their eye, and the back cover copy/first chapter/whatever makes it sound enjoyable.
4. They keep seeing it around, and figure it's probably popular and therefore might be good (or whatever the effect of repeated memery. I have been on the receiving end enough to know it does work sometimes).
5. A review describes it well enough that the reader thinks it sounds like something he will like.
Beyond that, I don't think the numbers are high enough to matter significantly. Publishers cannot create situations 1 and 2. They tend to concentrate on #3 and #4, and sometimes #5.
The trick for a new writer is getting the "seed crystals": the first readers to pick up the book so they can go on to push it on their friends (#2), and buy future books (#1). Following my hierarchy, the author should do the things closest to the top that he can, since they have the largest potential effect.
The author can only make #1 happen by writing a good book, which presumably is what he is always trying to do. Also, interacting nicely with the fans may tilt them toward choosing one's book over another's. (Readers don't have infinite time and money, natch.)
The author can make #1.5 happen. This is all about the author and his charm and gregariousness.
#2 isn't something the author can control, except by working #1 and #1.5 well.
#3 is almost always utterly beyond the author's control. Oh well.
The author can contribute to #4 by making author appearances, attending conventions, cross-promoting with other authors, etc. If the author is wealthy enough, he could also take out ads, but that's only useful as part of a larger campaign (which the publisher may already be doing).
The author can help with #5, by suggesting to their publisher places they ought to send an ARC. (#5 also works as another ping for #4.)
So...an author who wants to contribute to long-term sales (those driven by category #1 readers), needs to create initial readers. This happens mostly by writing a cracking good book, but getting a critical mass of readers to try the book in the first place is a good idea. Many terrific books have fallen off the planet for want of anyone knowing they even existed.
*I put this as 1.5 because I'm not sure exactly where it falls on the list, but I'm pretty sure it would be either second or third.
x-posted to my blog
This allows you to see what people are saying about your book, but more importantly, if someone posts "Gee, I loved that last Jim Hines book; wish he'd get around to writing another one," you can quick pop in a folksy form-letter post that says "Hey, I DID write a new one!" Of course, you take a minute to personalize to what they wrote about, but it's pretty quick, builds interaction, drives people to your blog if you tip them off to it, and so forth. Totally worth the minimal effort, and it's fun to talk with your audience.
Some good advice can be found here:
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/promoting-you
And here's a guy who clearly doesn't mind doing the real-world interactive part. My wife is a librarian who does the booking at her library, and she had him there last February, so there's definitely a method to his madness:
http://www.philly.com/philly/living/2008
So I hope some of this helps. For what it's worth, my book is a non-fiction book about the history and future of fan films (those homemade movies about Star Wars, LOTR, Batman, etc. that you find on the net); it's called "Homemade Hollywood: Fans Behind The Camera" and it JUST came out this week in bookstores. If you don't know much about these cool little flicks, try my daily fan film news blog, fancinematoday.com. Good luck with the new book, Jim!
Clive
Good luck and -- congratulations, Jim!
I had never heard of you or your books before, but I bought the first two books in the "Goblin" series for my sweetheart for Christmas (since they seemed like a series he would enjoy), and I have placed _The Stepsister Scheme_ on my Amazon.com wishlist (will buy it if no one else gets it for me). So it seems to me that your promotion efforts have worked, at least with me.
~E Thomas
(Love the icon, by the way.)
I suppose I could maintain my LJ blog for "thoughts and meanderings" and keep my website all content, but that's one more click and jump by which you can lose people.
Suggestions, Jim? I'm seriously pondering how best to push my own material I'm generating over the work-for-hire I've done with WotC and others, so it's a new struggle for me.
At the least, I'm taking a page from your book and making bookmarks of the three anthologies in which I've got short stories. As they're all in the same "universe," it's a way to build branding and recognition for me.
And I'm still working on the idea of that massive multi-author signing for Gamer Fantastic. Must conspire with Kerrie to get author contacts to push this (and perhaps get some coverage by the GR Press).
Steven
http://www.steveneschend.com
I do know what you mean about the disconnect between blog and web site. I'm still hoping to merge the two into a Wordpress blog or something one of these days. I'd keep the LiveJournal because I've got such a nice community here, but I also want something that integrates better into the rest of my site info.
Do you do many of the non-gaming conventions? They're a heck of a lot smaller than GenCon, but I think that can also mean more downtime to meet and chat with fans and other professionals, which is sometimes helpful.
Oh, and I'm definitely up for the GF signing!