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The following interview appeared in the December 2003 edition of SPAWN Market Update at the SPAWN website. (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network).
www.spawn.org
Featured Writer
Francine Silverman writes the "Book Promotion Newsletter" for authors. I think you’ll enjoy my interview with her:
Q: Tell us a little about your writing world. What do you write—what do you wish you could write if you didn’t have to pay the bills? How did you get involved in the writing world?
A: I’m author of two guidebooks, Catskills Alive (second edition) and Long Island
Alive, both published in 2003 by Hunter Publishing. These days I spend so much time on the Internet, I’m thinking of writing a book called,
My Life On-Line!!
Q: You write the "Book Promotion Newsletter." Please describe the newsletter and tell us what motivated you to launch it.
A: The bi-weekly newsletter is designed for authors of all genres and expertise. Subscribers range from authors with one book to those with more than 100.
After my first guidebook was published, I discovered that most of the promotion was up to me. (In the Q & A’s I send to new subscribers, everyone writes the same thing—promoting their books is their responsibility since the publisher does next to nothing. This appears to be true regardless of the size or prominence of the publisher—unless of course, you’re Stephen King or John Grisham.) I was motivated to start the newsletter for two reasons. I found that I really enjoyed the promotional process and that there was no free ezine on book promotion. Most newsletters on marketing focus on product marketing or business strategies.
Q: What do you hope to accomplish through your newsletter?
A: I’d like to attract more advertisers in order to keep the newsletter free to subscribers. I’d also like to attract as many subscribers as possible, including authors from all genres.
Q: I just subscribed to your newsletter and received a welcome note along with a questionnaire asking about my book promotion experiences. What do you do with this information?
A: The newsletter is interactive and readers are encouraged to share their book marketing experiences. I use the Q&A to cull novel ideas to share with readers. When I use an author’s idea, I include the name of his or her book(s) and Web site. The Q&A also personalizes the writer and often creates a correspondence between us. This flow of information ultimately benefits everyone.
Q: What is the most unusual book promotion idea that you’ve seen expressed?
A: I would call my subscribers’ ideas clever rather than unusual. For example, business author Kenneth McGee used a clever tactic for promoting his book,
Eleven leadership Tips for Supervisors. He created his own "Recommended Reading/Web Site List", placing his own book at the top under the heading "Leadership/Career." Below were other headings such as "Relationships" and "Personal Finance." Even if the recipient of his list is not interested in his book, that person will pass it along to others who might be interested in one of the titles—thereby increasing overall exposure.
Q: What is the best book promotion idea that has come to your attention, lately?
A: The question relates to the one before. I love the story by western novelist Bobby R. Woodall about his author signings. He approaches vendors with an offer to provide the table, flyers and books. "People come into a bookstore to buy a book, so why not yours?" he figures. "The way I approach this kind of situation is to sit at the table and smile. Remember to smile. It only takes 12 muscles to smile, whereas it takes 32 to frown. When people approach I ask if I may recommend a book to them--mine! You can have a book signing anywhere. I’ve had signings at bookstores, restaurants, Holiday Inns and book fairs. Once, while my wife was shopping at a supermarket, I went outside to sit on a bench to smoke my pipe. While sitting there, I was able to sell my novel to an employee taking a break!"
http://www.bobbyrobert.com
Q: Do you have a sense about trends in publishing? What direction do you see the publishing industry heading?
A: If the proliferation of book fairs and paperbacks are any indication of a healthy market, then the American book industry is bouncing back from a slump in 2001 and 2002. I was astounded to read that romances were the leading type of fiction in 2002, with sales of about $2.76 billion out of a total market value of $35 billion. This may be due to promotion. In my search for authors on the Internet, I have found that nearly every romance author has a Web site and that many send newsletters and use the site to hold contests. Except for marketing professionals who write books, this is far less true of nonfiction authors, even though the sales of nonfiction books greatly outnumber fiction.
Q: What is your best advice for someone who is contemplating publishing his/her first novel?
A: Subscribe to my newsletter. The newly published can learn from accomplished authors and avoid some of their mistakes. Writing and promoting are two separate functions and many new authors are not prepared for the grueling road ahead.
Q: Please add anything you would like to share.
A: I cannot stress enough the role of attitude and persistence in promoting books. Some subscribers come on like gangbusters right from the get-go, emailing me every last review and returning the questionnaire completely filled out. Others sign up and remain silent. Admittedly, we are not all outgoing, but there is nothing sadder than writing a book and keeping it a secret.
Contact Francine Silverman at franalive@optonline.net
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Francine Silverman is editor/publisher of Book Promotion Newsletter, a bi-weekly ezine for authors of all genres, and author of Book Marketing from A-Z (Infinity Publishing 2005), a compilation of the best marketing strategies of 325 authors from all over the English-speaking world. Visit Book Promotion Newsletter
http://www.bookpromotionnewsletter.com
and click “Ask The
Experts” for answers to your book marketing questions.
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