Rogenna Brewer, former owner of Booklovers Reader's Service, presented a jam-packed program at the March meeting, providing practical information about boosting your career and establishing yourself as a professional.
Rogenna stressed the best publicity move a published author can make is to write another book as soon as possible and get it out to the readers. The publishing industry is built on name recognition, and the more you can get your name and your writing out, the better. Look to writers like Judith McNaught and Nora Roberts who have become household names by writing books regularly. Before spending all your time and money on advertising and publicity, concentrate on writing. It's the core of establishing your career.
What about the other facets of publicity? Where should you start? First, let's understand the three main types of marketing. Direct marketing, target marketing, and image marketing.
Direct Marketing
Direct marketing involves mailing advertisements and publicity straight to the readers. This isn't the best way to use your promotional dollars, as the response rate to direct marketing is a scant one to three percent. You can increase your response by narrowing the group to which you advertise, however. For example, if you select 100 names randomly for a promotional mailing, one to three of them would buy your book. If you pick 100 women, you'd double your response to between two and six. Take 100 women who read romance, and four to twelve of them would bite. Romance in your genre? Eight to twenty-four would respond, and so on. Although it's possible to generate larger returns, there are simply better ways for an author to publicize.
Target Marketing
With target marketing, you focus your energy on those people and businesses linked in some way with your book: booksellers and buyers, readers, book distributors, your editor, and your publisher. One thing to remember, bookselling is ahead of its time. Contact booksellers three to four months prior to your release date with any promotional materials you might have. Keep in mind, the initial order from booksellers/buyers affects your print run. Make follow-up contacts when your book is released and when it goes into second printing.
What is meant by "promotional materials?" Rogenna suggested compiling a media kit. Include a photograph, your bio, a review quote sheet, bookmarks, your book cover or Iris proof (available from your publisher for a nominal fee), and a letter to the bookseller/buyer. Be sure to include what kind of advertising and self-promotion you will be doing for the book in your letter, and whether you'll be available for book signings at their store. (Until you become an established author, it is your emotional responsibility to promote your book. Publishers' dollars are usually concentrated on the house's bestselling authors.)
If you don't have a quote sheet, start sending your book to reviewers. When you receive the feedback, pull tag lines from the write-ups and compile them into an attractive review quote sheet for your media kit. Look not only for mentions of the specific work reviewed, but also general statements about you as an author. And remember, common courtesy to the reviewer can mean the difference between a good and bad reading. Send everything the reviewer requests, and abide by her deadlines! Think about it. A reviewer is only human. If she has to wait for your book, or make several requests for necessary items, she'll have a bad taste in her mouth about your writing before she reads the first page. It never hurts to get a reputation for being easy to work with. If you expect to be treated as a professional, you must act the part in every interaction related to your career.
When contacting independent booksellers, mail the media kit to the owner or manager. With a chain store, find out who the regional or district buyer is, and deliver the packet to him or her. Make sure you get your media kit out in time to affect the store's order. Also, don't forget Anderson Book Distributors, the company that stocks Denver-area grocery stores, when sending out your media kits.
Another way to reach booksellers is advertising in Advance or Advance Paperback--wholesale book catalogs put out by Ingrams Book Company. The catch? Your publisher has to place the ads in these magazines--they don't accept advertising directly from authors. An Ingrams ad is something to strive for in your book contracts. Incidentally, don't be afraid to present your publisher with a promotion "dream sheet." It never hurts to ask for the support you'd like.
A well-rounded publicity campaign must include the readers. No matter how large your print run, readers have to purchase your book if you are to achieve good sell-through. One way to reach readers is advertising in publications like Romantic Times. There are a few details to consider when deciding whether to run print ads. First, should your ad be black-and-white or color? Color is pricier, but four times more effective than black-and- white. Also, a person has to see your name, your book cover, or the title of your book at least six times for it to stick in her mind. Because of this, one fabulous, half-page, color ad in RT is less effective than a smaller piece placed in as many forums as you can afford.
Remember: Name Recognition is the goal.
Of course, it's also imperative to establish yourself with the editors and publishers that will be buying your work, and that takes us to image marketing.
Image Marketing
When planning a marketing strategy for a certain book, realize that you are promoting more than simply that book. You are selling your image--who you are as a writer--and that's something you want to perpetuate long after the book is off the shelves.
Even a pre-published writer can begin to build a professional image for herself by designing letterhead, business cards, and envelopes that are distinctive enough to catch a busy editor's attention. Find a unique theme or logo, and weave it through all your correspondence and marketing pieces like the common thread that ties you, your writing, and your image together in one neat package. Michigan author Shelley Thacker was Rogenna's example of one writer building a distinctive image. Shelley uses a unique "S" emblem on every piece of stationery, and Rogenna told us she knew immediately when a letter or inquiry had come from Shelley when she saw that "S". You want to establish such an image for an editor to attach to your name. And you want a mental picture of you--the professional writer--to pop into that editor's head every time he or she sees a query or letter from you.
As Rogenna shared with us, self-promotion is about more than selling books. It's about establishing a career that will carry you through numerous books. Image marketing, target marketing, and in a limited way, direct marketing strategies should be intertwined and balanced to get you maximum exposure to the readers, editors, and booksellers. Writing, selling, and name recognition are the building blocks to your successful career, and publicity and self-promotion are the tools to help you build it.
Originally printed in Romance In The Rockies, '95/96 issue.
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