Book Marketing 101 (and How Publicity Fits Into the Picture)

This article appeared in the May 2013 issue of Author Magazine: http://www.authormagazine.org/articles/2013_05_margulies.html

When it comes time to market a book, many authors believe that certain aspects of promotion are more important than others. Some feel that Internet marketing is the answer to sagging sales, while others think that simply hiring a publicist will address their sales problems. Some focus mainly on items like book videos or blog tours, while others rely on repeated pleas to their social networking followers in the hopes of encouraging them to buy.

But savvy authors know that it takes an integrated marketing approach to succeed in today’s crowded book market. And, although many authors don’t want to hear it, the traditional rules of marketing apply to selling books, just as they do for other products.

So, what are the rules of marketing? Authors who have studied the subject (most likely in college) will recall that a marketing mix is made up of two components: a target audience and a marketing strategy.

Defining an author’s target audience is not too complicated. Authors can look at the books they’ve written and ask themselves: who would read this? Women? Men? Young adults? Children? Authors can also break down those broad audience categories by genre (mystery readers, fantasy readers, fiction readers, nonfiction readers etc.) and demographics/psychographics, including age, sex, religious and political preferences, economic status, etc., to help identify more precisely the different audiences to whom their books might appeal.

The marketing strategy, however, is the more involved part of the marketing mix. Those who’ve studied traditional marketing will remember that a marketing strategy is made up of what we call the Four P’s: Product, Promotion, Price, and Place. Let’s take a look at each of them in terms that are helpful to authors.

Product – In traditional marketing, we define a product as either a physical object or a service that one person might sell to another person. In the realm of writing, an author’s primary product is the book itself.

But that’s not all an author is selling; in addition to the book, the author is going to be selling himself (his expertise, background, character, etc.). This is what we call the author’s platform, and it’s something that publicists and other marketing professionals consider part of the product package, along with the book.

In addition to the book itself and the author’s platform, the author can also sell or promote what I refer to as add-ons. These include events, appearances, signings, written articles, Internet and blog posts, and other items that the author creates to promote his book. These events or written items can be used as promotional collateral to pitch to media or other agencies that are looking for content for their websites, publication, and media programs.

As a publicist, I can’t emphasize how important having a good product is to the marketing effort. The book itself, and its ability to engage its audience, is the number-one factor in the entire marketing plan. Without a good book, there is no hope of success – a book must be well-written and professionally edited and designed in order for it to sell. The author must also have a platform; without it, the publicist (or the author herself) is left with only the book to sell. If an author is willing to writing articles and make public appearances, then that completes the product picture that she and/or her publicist will have to sell or promote to media.

Promotion – The traditional definition of promotion encompasses a number of techniques that help an author’s audience become aware of the book and motivate that audience to purchase it. These techniques include (but are not limited to) advertising, publicity, social media and Internet marketing (including the creation of websites and blogs, blog tours, book videos, podcasts, etc.), personal selling, direct marketing (via postcards, flyers, etc.), giveaways and tie-ins, etc.

The important thing for authors to note about promotion is that publicity is just one part of the promotional mix. I often get messages from authors insisting that they can’t hire me because they are going to hire a social media expert instead. I agree that authors should hire social media experts, especially if they feel they need help with setting up blogs and Facebook and Twitter pages, tweeting, blogging, etc. But that doesn’t mean that they also can’t hire a publicist (who, by the way, may use some of those social media tools to publicize the author’s work). The two are not mutually exclusive.

Publicity is just one part of an author’s promotional plan. Its purpose is to create awareness about the book and the author among the book’s target readers. A publicity plan usually includes creating a media kit (which contains items like the author’s photo, the book cover art, a press release, an author bio, and other items that describe the book and the author to the media), putting press releases on the newswires and relevant social media sites, setting up book tours and author appearances, scheduling online, print, radio, and television interviews, setting up blog tours, and creating other exposure opportunities for an author and his book.

Publicity is different from paid advertising in that it cannot be commissioned for a fee – a publicist can call and ask the media for an interview, but unless the author and the book are somehow newsworthy, there is no guarantee that an editor or producer will say yes. With a paid ad, an author is guaranteed that the ad will run in whatever publication or media it is placed. A feature that is obtained through publicity efforts, however, is not paid (aside from what the author might pay a publicist to pitch the idea to a media producer). Instead, a publicity feature in a newspaper, online news site, blog, or radio or television program is one that the editor or producer has chosen to produce because she feels the topic is of interest to her audience.

Price – Much has been written about the importance of correct pricing for books, especially now that the ebook market has changed the game for how readers buy. For hardback and paperback books, price is an important consideration in terms of the current economy and what an author’s target audience can afford (or is willing to spend) on a paper version of a book. Those booksellers that are still around generally advise authors to take care with the pricing of paperback books – if the price points are too high (generally over $16), booksellers will often refuse to shelve them in their stores.

Similar trends have developed in the ebook market, where the growing numbers of self-published authors have pushed the amount of offerings to a staggering collection of over three million titles. Competition to sell ebooks is now so fierce that authors and ebook-selling entities like Amazon, are offering them for free (with the hopes that the free books will help build awareness about the author by encouraging readers to promote via reviews or word-of-mouth).

The ebook market appears to be an elastic one (meaning that when the price is lowered, sales volume increases), making the .99 – 2.99 range the general rule-of-thumb for most self-published ebooks.

Place – Before the ebook explosion, distribution was a key element to making a book available to booksellers. Because booksellers prefer to do their ordering from one wholesale source, making a book available via distribution entities like Ingram and Baker & Taylor was an important consideration for publishers and authors. The traditional publishing houses with multiple titles would set up relationships with distributors for all the books they printed, and booksellers would then buy books from a number of publishers by going through one or two distribution companies.

Now that many authors are self-publishing their books, distribution has become a tricky issue. Because self-published authors typically only have a few books to sell, they’ve found that they have to locate distributors willing to work with individuals. There are companies out there that will do distribution for individual authors and help them place their books with those booksellers who still exist, but many authors have not thought about placement and distribution, and thus are often surprised that they have to address this aspect of marketing.

The advent of print-on-demand publishing (POD) has also changed distribution. Before POD publishing, traditional publishers printed large runs of books (called offset printing) and stored them in warehouses. These offset runs made ordering easier for wholesalers, who could immediately fulfill booksellers’ orders via a publisher’s warehoused stock.

With the advent of POD, especially among self-published authors, books are no longer warehoused; instead, they are printed in specified quantities as the books are ordered. For booksellers who prefer to buy from distributors, POD books present a problem – they are not always immediately available, and therefore (in the minds of booksellers), cannot be easily ordered through the sellers’ preferred distributors. Self-published authors will often find that booksellers turn down their requests to stock their books simply because the books are POD and/or unavailable through the sellers’ preferred distribution channels.

This situation can make self-published books less available to readers, especially those who have not yet purchased an ereader or who to prefer to read paper books. While the ebook market is growing exponentially, it still represents a small percentage (approximately 20-30%) of the reading market. This means that if self-published authors don’t have distribution for their books, they can be relegated to selling mainly via the Internet, and thus must compete for fewer readers in a channel that has a huge number of titles available. Competition and availability are key components of the Place element in the author’s promotional plan, and therefore, it’s not one to ignore or take lightly.

The bottom-line here is that authors, and especially self-published authors, must take all of this – audience, product, promotion, price, and place – into careful consideration when they’re ready to market a book. Some fight it, and/or deny that certain of these elements aren’t important (or worth addressing) But those who do pay attention to each aspect of the marketing mix are the most likely to achieve success.

Profile of a Rising Star: Texas Author Pamela Fagan Hutchins

I’m often asked by bloggers and prospective clients to talk about some of my clients’ success stories. Here’s one I’m happy to share: Pamela Fagan Hutchins, a Houston attorney who has written a number of nonfiction books, is experiencing great success with her first novel, a romantic thriller called Saving Grace. Pamela and her husband, Eric, who was once a bookstore owner, have sold over 5,000 copies of Saving Grace since its launch in November of 2012. They delivered an additional 33,018 copies of the book in a free download on Amazon that pushed Saving Grace to three weeks on the bestseller lists and netted Pamela’s novel nearly 100 reviews.

Pamela has been featured in numerous print, radio, and television interviews and has given over 30 blog interviews. She has appeared at bookstores throughout Texas and will be touring nationwide with Saving Grace this summer.

I decided it might be better to let Pamela describe the reasons for her success in her own words. My interview with her is listed below. -PM

What have you done in the way of promotion to help sell Saving Grace?
A LOT! Of course we did the big giveaway with Amazon’s KDP Select, but we’ve also given away about 100 hard copies of the book to reviewers and in contests. I’ve done 14 book signings so far, with another 60 scheduled for this summer. I’ve done Q&As for book clubs, and a speech that dovetailed with the profession of my protagonist for a writers group, as well as several other speeches on general writing topics for writers groups. You mentioned the media (thank you for that, Paula!), and we even did some advertising in print media to promote some of the book signings. I also blog weekly (about 3000 views per month), and I actively engage in social media, mostly through Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. I entered Saving Grace in several contests, and was lucky enough to score some wins.

What would you say are the overriding reasons for your success with this novel?
I believe in my heart that Saving Grace is an enjoyable read, but my success comes mostly from the promotional efforts made by many, many other people to get some attention for this book. It’s easy to remain just a needle in a haystack with over half a million books published in 2012. I indie published, which makes my book an even smaller needle, but we -- my husband and I are partnering on this indie publishing adventure -- decided to really go for it with my debut novel, including pitching the book for chain distribution with Hastings Entertainment and Barnes and Noble, as well as booking me for roughly 80 events. In the end, it comes down to good, old-fashioned hard work.

Many pundits are dismissive of authors who sell books at bookstores. Do you agree? Why or why not?
I don’t agree! I’ve found that having a presence in book stores is important for a number of reasons. First, when I hold a book event, like a signing, I reach new readers who prefer to shop brick and mortar stores. Yes, there are still millions of diehards who refuse to give this antiquated practice up! Second, a print book placed in someone’s hand has a life beyond electrons. You’re making a tangible connection with a reader, who in turn can carry that book around with them where other people see it, lend it to others, or even give it as a gift. Third, placement in book stores stimulates ebook sales. I’ve found that most people need to see the cover of Saving Grace and/or my name several times before it tips them to the buying point. Seeing my book on the shelves in a store counts as one of those times, a highly-legitimizing time. My ebook sales always surge in the wake of book events.

How has the publicity work we’ve done together helped you? Would you recommend that other authors hire a publicist?
Paula, you’ve been such an important part of our marketing and promotion. You were absolutely key to achieving our goals for Saving Grace in its first six months. For us, this first novel is all about gaining readers for my future books. You’ve booked me in print, radio, and TV, gotten me events in great stores, and helped us net fantastic reviews with Kirkus and Midwest Book Review. You’ve placed timely and effective releases on the wires, too. Because of these things, my events exceeded our expectations, helped us gain distribution with chain stores and made this 60-city tour feasible. We’ve learned so much from you, too. I highly recommend working with a publicist for other authors. I didn’t have the time to do what Paula did for me, nor the expertise and contacts to do it as well as her, even if I had the time.

What do you consider to be the most important advice for authors who are just starting out?
Patience, Grasshopper. Write, write, and re-write. The writing is the most important thing, and the publishing side is a sloooowwww process. Even when you get published, you need patience, because then you will have to do things outside your comfort zone to promote your book, at the same time as you keep writing. It’s hard work and definitely not a get rich quick scheme, but it’s so rewarding. I wouldn’t trade it for any other work.

If you had to do it all over again, is there anything you would change?
Yes!! As an indie author with a debut novel, Amazon is a tremendously important venue for me. I did KDP Select Free Days very successfully. However, two weeks later, Amazon removed Saving Grace from KDP Select because Apple’s iBookstore had not pulled the title down as I had requested through Smashwords. However, one week later I had the chance to put it back in KDP Select once Apple finally complied with the removal order, and we chose instead to experiment with ebook distribution through every available channel. My instincts told me then we were making the wrong call, and boy did it ever turn out to be a bad choice. I lost a lot of traction, sales, and rankings as a result, and we never got it back. The book has continued to do well, but it was doing amazingly well until then.

How would you describe your lifestyle since promoting this book? Do you have lots of time, or have you had to make some sacrifices to sell your book successfully?
I spend all my spare time working on book promotion and writing. I still have a day job, a husband, five kids, and four dogs, and manage to exercise, but that’s about it. We no longer have any social life outside book events. The planned tour itself, while exciting, will take me away from my husband for most of the summer, which for us is a huge sacrifice (we really like each other ;-)). However, I will have one of the dogs and a revolving cast of my young adult children with me, and I treasure the thought of all the one-on-one time I will have with each of them on the road.

What are your future plans for Saving Grace, and do you have any other books in the works?
Saving Grace is the first novel in the Katie & Annalise series. The second novel in the series, Leaving Annalise, comes out in August 2013. The third novel is called Missing Harmony, and we will release it in February 2014. I plan to continue promoting Saving Grace¸ but in conjunction with the other two. Each will get its turn in the spotlight. And, of course, there are more books -- fiction and nonfiction -- on the horizon as well! I’ll release What Kind of Loser Indie Publishes, and How Can I Be One Too? in August 2013, as well.

If you’d like more info about Pamela or Saving Grace, visit www.pamelahutchins.com or www.amazon.com.

Interview in Hippocampus Magazine

From Hippocampus Magazine (http://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/2013/03/interview-paula-margulies/)

Interview by Lori M. Myers, Interviews Editor
with Paula Margulies, owner of Paula Margulies Communications

Several months ago I took part in a writers’ panel and was asked about my greatest challenge. I didn’t hesitate. “Knowing when to create and knowing when to market.”

Experts like San Diego-based Paula Margulies, owner of Paula Margulies Communications know how crucial it is for authors to reach their audience… and she helps them do just that.

Lori: It used to be that traditional publishers did all or most of the work when it came to marketing a book. What is the reality today?

Paula: Here’s the reality: whether they’ve decided to self-publish, or have signed contracts with traditional publishers, most authors will have to spend some time marketing their books. For many authors, this can be a stumbling block; they understand and enjoy the process of creating a book, but when it comes time to market it, an entirely different set of skills comes into play. For those authors who have no experience at all with marketing a product, there can be a steep learning curve. And many authors are unprepared for the amount of money and time involved in successfully promoting a book.

What are the most effective ways for authors to get the word out about their book AND sell?

There are a number of different ways an author can market a book. Having a good sense of the book’s audience (who are the typical readers, and where can they be found?) is the first step. Once an author has identified his reading audience, he should try to ascertain where his readers go for information about books, and then make sure that his book is mentioned in those places.

Generally, most authors will use a number of marketing methods to reach their individual audiences – they can place paid advertisements, hire a publicist to garner media features, appear at speaking engagements, professional meetings, book fairs, and other venues, do book signings (although bookstores are disappearing, there are some indies and chain stores still out there), write articles for journals, newspapers (print and online), and magazines, hold blog tours, give online interviews, gather book reviews and post them on their web and social media sites, reach out to readers on social networking sites, enter contests, etc. The list is endless and much of it will be dictated by the author’s platform and the book’s genre and audience.

Also important is the continuity that authors offer readers. Because of the extraordinary number of books released each year, readers are overwhelmed with information about what’s available to them. When readers find authors they like, they tend to stick with them and want to see more. Authors who have done the hard work of creating a fan base will need to hold on to it, and the best way to do that is to keep writing the books that their readers are eager to buy.

How effective is social networking (Facebook, Twitter, blogging, etc.) when it comes to a book’s sale?

Social networking is crucial to marketing books, but it’s also just one piece in the marketing mix. Many authors spend a lot of time trying to promote themselves on social networking sites, often because it’s inexpensive and something they can do themselves. But if they neglect the other aspects of marketing (advertising, publicity, appearances, etc.), they may be missing opportunities that can give them more reach with their individual audiences. It’s important for authors to make sure their marketing plans are complete and balanced – spending too much time and/or energy on only one marketing channel will give them some audience reach, but they’ll want to explore as many avenues for reaching readers as they can if they want to achieve good sales numbers. (Note: There may be some authors who are successful marketing their books solely via social media; again, the correct marketing techniques will depend on each individual author’s platform and the book’s genre and audience).

How do you help authors as a book publicist?

I offer authors a chance to get their names and stories out in the media. I create media kits, write press releases and place them on the newswires, book speaking and signing events, pitch feature interviews to print, online, radio, and television editors and producers, provide information and assistance with gathering reviews and entering contests, and handle media relations.

But a publicist can be much more than a megaphone for an author’s work. In addition to creating press kits and pitching the media, I play a number of other important roles for my authors, including acting as an information resource, a sounding board for ideas, a cheerleader when the going gets stressful, a devil’s advocate when sorting through different promotional options, a reference for writing jobs, artist residencies, and contests, a reality check, and a source of inspiration and ideas. I’ve written more about this topic on my blog in a post called More Than Just Marketing.

How much I do for a client depends on what an author is looking for when s/he hires me. Some want only media exposure, while others want help booking speaking tours; some prefer not to make appearances and want help promoting themselves via blog tours or social media, while others are looking for help with reviews and contests, or need assistance with creating press releases, advertisements, or media kits. Each client is different, and his or her particular needs, platform, and budget dictate how I can help.

Are there certain genres of books that are easier to promote right now than others? What about creative nonfiction/memoir?

Yes, certain genres have large audiences and tend to be easier to promote, especially mystery, romance, and science fiction/fantasy. For example, many booksellers have mystery and romance book groups who meet regularly at their stores and are interested in signings with authors. These genres also have a number of professional groups, some nationwide, who hold meetings and conferences in states across the country. Some genres, like science fiction and fantasy, have huge followings and hold large conventions where fans gather (think Comic Con). Many genres have online groups and bloggers who discuss the books their readers like (historical fiction, romance, mystery, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, political nonfiction, LGBT fiction, and Christian fiction, for example).

Creative nonfiction and memoir are popular categories with authors; I’m approached every year by a huge number of memoir writers, who would like to generate publicity for their books. But in order to have a successful memoir, authors have to be sure that their personal stories are compelling to readers. This means that the book should have a traditional storyline structure, with a beginning, middle, and end. It also should have unusual characters or individuals who face high-stake circumstances that force them to change in some significant way. And, generally, in order to break out, memoirs have to be unique in some way – either the author is a celebrity, whose life story holds some interest for its audience, or the story is so different and compelling that it stands out from the readers’ own personal experiences. I’ve written in more detail about this in a post called What Makes a Good Memoir.

What challenges do self-published books bring when it comes to marketing? How about ebooks?

The biggest challenge for self-published books is the sheer number of them out there. Because there are so many books released each year (something like 3,000,000 of them in 2011; I haven’t seen data yet for 2012), the number of authors trying to get their readers’ attention has grown, and standing out in a crowd that large can be daunting.

Also challenging for ebook authors is the lack of printed copies of the book to send to reviewers (many still require them) or to sell in-person at fairs or after speaking and signing appearances.

And even though ebook numbers have increased by an exponential rate each year, there is still a significant number of readers (70 percent or so right now, although I believe that number will continue to shrink), who still prefer to read physical books, rather than ebooks. So, authors who choose to only sell in ebook format might be missing out on a significant portion of their reading audience if the majority of those readers still tend to buy printed books.

You are an author as well as a book publicist. Does that give you more of an understanding of what an author goes through to garner sales?

Yes, being an author myself definitely helps to understand both the writing process and what’s required to market a book. I had an agent for my first novel, Coyote Heart, which ended up being published by a small press. This happened a few years ago, just before the self-publishing market took off; if I had to do it over again, I would probably choose to self-publish. I like the idea of authors being able to control their marketing and sales efforts; perhaps this is why I’ve chosen to focus primarily on authors in my publicity business.

Is there a success story or two that you can share with us concerning authors you’ve promoted?

I have so many clients who have been successful with their books, that it would be hard to pick just one or two! Some of my clients choose to do national tours, and have had great success selling their books at signings and appearances across the country (like Amy Snyder, for example, with her nonfiction account about the Race Across America, Hell on Two Wheels); some with successful ebooks have had their publishers offer to create print versions (like HarperCollins/Authonomy author, Mary Vensel White, whose ebook, The Qualities of Wood will be coming out in print in April); many, like Kim Petersen, author of Charting the Unknown, have won awards, while others have created a successful series with a strong following of readers (U.S. Olympic sailor, Carol Newman Cronin, for example, with her nautical YA series, Oliver’s Surprise and Cape Cod Surprise, and Caroline Taylor, author of the P.J. Smythe mystery What Are Friends For?, whose publisher, Gale-Cengage, is issuing book two in the series, Jewelry from a Grave, this April).

So…can you tell a book by its cover? How important is that cover in promotion?

Having a professionally designed cover is crucial to a book’s success. The book’s cover is a part of its packaging and must not only represent the contents of the book itself, but must resonate with potential readers enough to motivate them to look at it and buy. I’ve seen many covers created by authors who have no experience with graphic design, and they inevitably experience poor sales. Self-published authors should be sure to have their book covers designed by an experienced professional; this is as important as making sure that the book’s contents have been edited by a professional editor before the book is released.

There’s no doubt you love writing and authors. But what are your favorite things to do when you’re apart from the written word?

I do love both writing and working with my clients. I also teach part-time at two of our local community colleges here in San Diego. I hold single-subject and community college teaching credentials, and even though I didn’t go into teaching as a full-time profession, I’ve always taught a course or two each semester (I guess you could say it’s a hobby of mine!). I enjoy the mental exercise of preparing for classes and exchanging ideas with students, and I especially enjoy teaching adults – it’s challenging and hugely rewarding at the same time.

When I’m not doing client work or teaching, I write, read, practice meditation and yoga, try to get my orchids to bloom, and take care of our animals (we currently have two rabbits and a parakeet – all rescues, and all with us for a number of years). My husband and I are now empty-nesters, and both of our kids go to out-of-state colleges – our son attends the University of Oregon, and our daughter plays softball at Ball State University in Indiana. Even though they’re far away, there’s still a lot that we do with them (including traveling around the country to watch our daughter’s games), so they continue to keep us pretty busy.

What Makes a Good Memoir?

(Note: This is a piece I wrote awhile ago, but I've received so many inquiries lately by authors who are writing memoirs, that I thought it might be time to post it again. Enjoy. -P.M.)

As a publicist, I’m sent books of all genres by authors interested in my services, but lately I seem to be on the receiving end of a lot of memoirs. I’ve also spoken to a higher-than-usual number of memoir writers, who either telephone or approach me with questions at writer’s conferences. The bulk of these conversations have to do with why their memoirs aren’t selling and what the authors can do to make them better.

My first suggestion for all memoir writers is to take a look at their market and identify the different types of people who would want to read their book. This is tricky, for while many memoir writers have done a good job of detailing certain aspects of their personal history, a number of them have not thought about who might be interested in reading what they’ve written.

A lot of memoirs I’ve seen recently are nothing more than personal recountings of an individual’s experiences – some of which are, indeed, memorable. But I’ve found that a great number of memoirs contain information that might only be interesting to the author. In this category, I include stories about having a child out of wedlock, rescue missions by health care workers, struggles with family members over an elderly relative’s care, vacations or trips abroad that the author found life-changing, collections of stories that the author told his/her children while they were growing up, or collections of a family member’s letters from World War II. Although engaging and, occasionally, entertaining, books with these topics typically focus on material and/or experiences that a number of us have already encountered in our own lives. And, thus, because we readers are familiar with the situations ourselves, stories like these don’t always make interesting reading.

So, what makes a compelling memoir? I believe that in order to become a bestseller, a memoir must have a strong storyline. That means that there is a beginning, middle, and end to the events that are recounted in the book. Examples of breakout memoirs with clear timelines are Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa, where the author, Danish baroness, Karin von Blitzen-Finecke, describes the political and emotional barriers she faced while trying to build a coffee farm in Kenya, and Before Night Falls, by Reinaldo Arenas, the rebellious and flamboyant Cuban poet and playwright, who describes both his early years as a homosexual artist under the Castro regime, including his imprisonments and escapes, and his last days as an exile in the United States.

Successful memoirs also have compelling or distinct characters in them. Just like fiction, a good memoir will introduce the reader to individuals who are memorable and, sometimes, highly unusual. Examples include Augusten Burrough’s mother, Deidre, and her unorthodox psychiatrist, Dr. Finch, in Running with Scissors, or the sadistic mother in A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer.

Oftentimes, as in fiction, the individuals in a memoir will be sympathetic, so that readers strongly identify with them. This is particularly true of Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, who begins her book by depicting herself in a heap on the bathroom floor, devastated by a recent divorce, or Joan Didion in The Year of Magical Thinking, who lost her husband to a sudden heart attack and shares the aftermath with the reader in a way that is heart-wrenchingly honest.

Another reason for the success of these two memoirs is the fact that they both tell love stories. In Eat, Pray, Love, Gilbert begins the memoir with the loss of love (after a failed marriage) and then ends it with the start of a new relationship with the man who will become her next husband. Likewise, Didion recounts the significant moments of her marriage to her husband, John Gregory Dunne, as she describes her attempts to grapple with her grief at his passing. These two books are skillfully written, with clear, strong voices and brave directness, and both authors draw painful moments with great tenderness.

People in successful memoirs often face situations with high stakes consequences and experience an emotional trajectory, or arc, whereby the individuals are changed somehow at the end of the book. Many memoirs have to do with the author or a parental figure teetering on the brink of alcoholism (Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller), destitution (Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt), poverty and spousal abuse (All Over but the Shoutin’, by Rick Bragg), drug addiction (A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey), cultural adversity (Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver-Relin), and life-threatening adventure (Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer). What makes these books stand out above the others is that in all of these stories, the authors and/or their loved ones faced extreme circumstances – incarceration, kidnapping, starvation, emotional abandonment, and, sometimes, immanent death – and somehow survived.

In addition to the victim/survival type memoir, there are celebrity memoirs, where the author recounts his own story as a celebrity or his experiences living or working with one (examples include Here’s the Story by The Brady Bunch star, Maureen McCormick, or Everything about Me is Fake and I’m Perfect by supermodel Janice Dickenson). There are also tell-all or insider memoirs, where the individual describes events in an environment that most of us would never have a chance to experience. Many of these are political in tone, such as John Dean’s Blind Ambition, the anti-Nixon tome published in 1976, or George Stephanopoulos’s All Too Human, which described intimate details about the first family during the Clinton administration.

The message here is that unless your memoir is something like the ones I’ve mentioned in this post, you might have a tough time selling it. That doesn’t mean that authors shouldn’t write memoirs – on the contrary, writing a memoir can be a wonderfully revealing and cathartic experience for the author and of great significance to family members and friends. But to reach further audiences, memoirs that don’t involve a celebrity connection or insider information must have a definable storyline, remarkable characters, high stakes, and a great love story – or some combination, thereof – in order to experience breakout success.

More than Just Marketing: The Many Ways a Book Publicist Can Help You Achieve Your Goals

Hiring the right book publicist is one of the most important steps an author can take when it comes time to promote his work. A good publicist can help craft the author’s brand, identify his target audience, and promote the author’s book to the world of readers hungry for the next good story.

But a publicist can be much more than a megaphone for an author’s work. In addition to creating press kits and pitching the media, publicists play a number of other important roles for their authors. Here are a few of them:

1. Information Resource
An experienced publicist with good industry knowledge is an invaluable resource for all types of information an author might need. In addition to crafting press releases and booking speaking and media gigs, a publicist can help authors connect with professional cover designers and editors, identify the right blog tour companies, provide lists of top and mid-tier reviewers, pinpoint the right contests to enter, suggest options for distribution, and define and locate the author’s target market. A good publicist can also provide tips on different aspects of the overall process, including suggestions on how authors can best represent themselves at promotional events and media interviews and the right timing for various aspects of the marketing campaign.

2. Sounding Board
One of the benefits of hiring a publicist is that she can help be a sounding board for ideas you might have about marketing your book. As a new author, you may want to try certain techniques you’ve discovered or consider advice you’ve received from others authors. Your publicist should be willing to discuss the available options and share her experience with different marketing strategies and methods.

3. Cheerleader
Many authors find the marketing process to be time-consuming and stressful, especially if their publicists have been successful at setting up a number of events and interviews. At some time during the process, those who are exhausted from the rigors of traveling, speaking, and promoting can lose focus and may reach a point where they want to give up altogether. Your publicist is there to listen to your concerns and help you reconnect with the joy of having created a published work. She can buck you up when you’re down and help you to regain your focus and energy by providing encouragement and support when you’re feeling overwhelmed.

4. Devil’s Advocate
Your publicist can also provide feedback on your efforts and help you to ferret out what’s working and what isn’t as you go through the promotion process. She can encourage you to consider other options, ask the “what if” questions, and help you think outside the box when you’re feeling less creative or have run out of ideas.

5. Reference
Oftentimes authors need references to help with obtaining speaking spots, applying for artist residencies or writing jobs, or networking with important connections. Your publicist can support you by sending out letters, answering inquiries, and acting as a character reference on your behalf.

6. Reality Check
For some authors, the sky’s the limit as far as where they hope to go with their publicity campaigns and how much time and effort they’re willing to spend. A good publicist will help you define parameters and manage expectations, so that you focus on obtainable goals and don’t waste time chasing opportunities that might be unattainable or not in your best interest.

7. Source of Inspiration and Ideas
Your publicist is your resource for anything related to the marketing and promotion of your book. Use her to evaluate ideas, explore resources, and identify sources of inspiration. A good publicist will support you, cheer you on, and work hard to help you obtain your goals.

When evaluating potential publicists, check their references and make sure the one you’re considering best fits your personal style and understands your goals. Choose wisely, and your publicist can help you – in many different ways – to make the most of your book marketing efforts.

Book Publicity Questions from the Twitter Zone

Many authors who use Twitter have sent me questions about book publicity and marketing. Listed below are some of the questions I receive most often, along with my responses.

1. What can I do to make my book more marketable?

The best way to make a book more marketable is to produce a quality product. I’m surprised at how many times I receive books from prospective clients with covers that aren’t professionally designed and copy that hasn’t been professionally edited. I also receive a good number of manuscripts from authors who have clearly never taken a writing class, or have written books that have never been workshopped; these books often have storylines that suffer from basic writing problems, such as too much back-story or clumsy dialogue. Add in the fact that the author has no platform, and you pretty much have a book that will not sell.

Authors who have chosen to self-publish should be sure that their books are able to compete with the number of quality books already out there by first taking writing classes and workshopping their manuscripts.

Once a book has been workshopped and judiciously revised, the next step is to have it professionally edited. A lot of authors skip this step because of cost, but it’s the most important thing they can do to insure that their books appear professionally written and error-free.

It’s also crucial that authors hire professionals to develop the cover art for their books. Homemade covers by those with no experience in book cover design won’t cut it in today’s competitive book market.

And authors must be willing to establish some kind of platform for themselves if they want their books to sell.

2. What are the biggest mistakes new authors make, and what suggestions do you have for fixing them?

There are a couple of mistakes I see quite often. The first is not having a book that’s been professionally edited. A lot of authors write to me and say that they don’t have the money to hire an editor. But if they plan to self-publish and skimp on editing, they risk not having the book sell because of low quality. So, the investment in a good editor is worth it.

For those who are really strapped for cash, I suggest at least having the front end of the book (the first three chapters, for example) edited. If money is truly an issue, authors should try to do as much with what they have and plan to spend whatever they can afford on professional editing (the same is true for cover design).

The other mistake a lot of new authors make is the attempt to build a platform by marketing to other writers. Authors need to appeal to readers, not just other writers. But many new authors waste a lot of time writing blog posts about being an author, including topics like how to be a good member of a writing group, how to write reviews, how to sell books, etc. While these are worthy topics, unless the book is about writing or the author’s an established industry expert, they’re are not going to help position an unknown author as an expert in his field or genre.

New authors who want to build their platforms (and readership) should focus on readers who buy the kind of books they write. For example, a new mystery author will want to focus on forums and blog sites that mystery and crime readers visit; the author should post there and on her own site about mystery and crime, review books on mystery and crime, and discuss topics that interest mystery readers. She should find a niche in her market and do what she can to establish herself as an expert in it (write articles, teach classes, give presentations, post on her own and others’ blog sites, etc.).

Likewise, if an author is trying to break into the YA or fantasy market, the focus should be on topics that appeal to readers of those genres. There are a number of topics related to young readers (thematic issues, life issues, favorite books and characters, etc.) that YA authors can talk about in their blog posts and articles. The same is true for fantasy – there are myriad aspects of the fantasy genre that should offer rich ground for generating compelling posts that will appeal to readers of those kinds of books.

To help reach readers, authors will want to concentrate on sites where readers go, including Goodreads and targeted forums, blogs, and review sites. They should be sure to friend and/or follow readers (not other authors) on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and other social media sites and aim to create informational articles and posts, make promotional offers, and develop relationships with as many readers as they can before their books launch and after they’re available.

3. I’ve decided to publish in ebook format only. What are the challenges/benefits of doing so from a publicity standpoint?

A lot of authors have contacted me recently about promoting a book that is only available in ebook format and, while it’s doable, it does present some challenges. The biggest challenge is that these authors don’t have printed copies that they can bring with them to sell after public appearances. And they’re not able to send hard copies to reviewers or bloggers who request them, or submit to those contests that require hard copies.

That said, there are still lots of opportunities where ebook-only authors can find exposure for their work. There are a number of web and blog sites that focus on ebooks and offer discounted versions to readers. And ebook authors can still make public appearances; when they do, they should plan to give their audience printed information about where to go online to buy the book. For some authors, this hasn’t been a problem – many readers bring their Kindles and Nooks with them to author appearances and, as the ebook market continues to grow, I think we’ll see more of this in the future.

Some of my clients with ebooks have opted to have a number of copies printed, so they can send them to reviewers and bloggers and sell them after public appearances. Others opt to only approach reviewers who are willing to read e-versions. As always, the most important considerations for selling any book, whether printed or in e-format, are to make sure it’s well-written and professionally designed and edited and to target readers when it comes time to promote.

4. As a publicist, what trends are you seeing for promoting books?

One trend I’m seeing is that while booksellers are now more open to accepting self-published books in their stores, they’re also focusing more on celebrity clients and big-name authors for signings. Many of them are willing to allow self-published authors to bring in books on consignment, both for signings and for sale in the stores, but as fewer stores remain viable, the competition for spots in those stores has risen. There are still independent and chain bookstores that will allow authors to hold signings, so I urge authors to take advantage of what’s out there now, since the future for brick-and-mortar bookstores looks pretty uncertain. But authors must build their platforms if they want to appear in these stores.

Another trend is that author appearances still remain a good way to sell books, especially at targeted venues (professional organizations, speaking engagements, conventions, fairs, etc.), where the author can connect with the audience and then sell books afterward. Many of my clients have found that these kinds of events bring the highest sales in their marketing efforts.

For those who don’t have a content area that allows for speaking engagements, blog tours are a good method of promoting books and getting the word out to readers. I’ve found these to be especially effective for my clients with specific non-fiction topics that have a large number of blogs dedicated to them (for example, those that focus on specific health issues, like ADD, MS, cancer, etc.). Also, those who write genre fiction (romance, for example) will find a number of blogsites dedicated to readers and can work those sites for exposure to their target audience.

Finally, the increase in the number of readers willing to read books on devices like Kindles and Nooks is changing the way we market books. In addition to author appearances, blog tours, and marketing via social media, authors are learning that they must develop ways to help promote ebooks to readers. These methods can include offering discounts, bundling books in a series, offering books at no cost for limited periods, etc. The continued growth of ebooks as a major section of the book market share is forcing authors to think about how they’ll reach those who read ebooks, as well as readers who still buy printed books.

5. What advice do you have for new authors who are just starting out with their promotional efforts?

First, if you’re planning to self-publish, you must be committed to putting out a professional product. So, authors should make sure they become educated about writing, workshop their manuscripts, and include professional cover design and editing in their budgets for creating their books.

Second, authors should think about their platforms. When it comes time to market the book, the author’s background and expertise is going to be as important as the book itself, especially when pitching the media.

Third, authors should have a game plan before they start writing, which includes taking the time to answer the following questions: Why am I writing this book? Who is likely to want to read it? What is the size of my target audience and how will I reach them? Am I willing to take writing classes and workshop my manuscript, so it’s marketable to today’s savvy readers? Am I committed to hiring professionals to help with cover design and editing? How much time and resources (including money) am I willing to spend to promote the book once it’s written? And what are my long-term goals as an author – will I be a one-hit wonder, write more books like the one I’ve written, or move on to a different genre?

There are no right answers to any of these questions, and the answers will be different for every author out there. But it’s important that authors consider purpose, audience, budget, and future goals in order to be prepared once their books are ready to market.

Finally, many authors see the success of those who are managing to make a living from self-publishing and assume that once they self-publish a book, they will be able to do the same. This is far from true; in fact, very few self-published authors with only one book are able to generate enough sales to support themselves and their families full-time, especially if they are unknown. So, managing expectations is a huge part of self-publishing a book.

Authors should remember that those who are making a living from self-publishing have done so after many years of writing. Many of those successful authors were once traditionally published, as well as self-published, and have spent years developing audiences that are familiar with them and willing to buy their books. New authors will have to build their own audiences, step by step, by focusing on readers and reaching out to them in as many ways as possible. And it may take some time before substantial results occur. Being patient (and realistic) and doing the hard work of getting out there and building relationships with readers is necessary if new authors hope to realize success in today’s competitive self-publishing market.

Writing with Intention: How Understanding Why You Write Can Help You Sell

I spoke on the telephone recently with a potential client who has written a nonfiction guide to help parents recognize the signs of late speech development in their children. Besides being articulate and able to clearly describe the book’s contents and its audience, this author was particularly succinct about what she was looking for in the way of publicity. “I want to reach as many parents, teachers, and pediatric health professionals as I can about how to recognize the signs of speech and language development issues in children,” she said. “I also would like to cast as wide a net as possible via the media, so that parents and pediatric associations know about the information in my book and how it can help them.”

This particular client’s clarity about her goals is similar to having a corporate mission statement, which many companies use to provide vision and direction to their employees. When a company has a clearly written statement, employees can use it to tune in to upper management’s expectations and determine how they fit with the corporate mission. They can more easily grasp the company’s purpose and who its customers are, as well as develop a better sense of how to serve those customers.

Likewise, having a clear sense of the purpose your book serves and what you’d like to do with it can be very helpful to you (and the marketing professionals you might hire) when it’s time to promote your work.

In New Age circles, pundits call this sense of clarity and direction working with intention. When we work with intention, i.e., when we’re clear about why we’ve written something and understand its value to others, not only does the work flow more easily, but we are much more likely to be able to correctly describe and promote it.

The intention behind a written work can take many forms. Some authors intend to write books that are instructive or informational. Others write to entertain.

Some write because they feel compelled to do so, or because a certain storyline keeps playing over and over in their heads and they want to capture it in written form.

Some write to heal, as is often the case with memoir. Those who keep diaries or journals may do so as a means of knowing themselves better.

Many authors write because they love language or because they like playing with ideas. Others use writing as a way to develop a community connection, through meetings with other writers and the readers of their work.

Some write to document family history for future generations, while others do it purely for pleasure, as a way to pass blocks of time.

But no matter what the reason, it helps to know why you’re writing, so that when the writing is done – be it a novel, a short story, a nonfiction guidebook, a memoir, or a collection of poems – you’ll better understand it’s purpose and intended audience. This understanding makes it much easier to pinpoint what you need to do to explain that purpose and reach your audience which, in turn, will help you make decisions about how you’re going to promote your work.

So, before beginning your marketing efforts, ask yourself, “Why did I create this piece? What is its purpose? Who is my book written for, and how will it help those who read it?” Write down your answers; they’ll help you understand your original intention and determine what you need to do now to sell it.