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YOUR BOOK
PROMOTION FOUNDATION by Dan Poynter
Because many smaller and newer book publishers
are short of time and money, they must concentrate their resources in the most
productive promotion areas. The mission is to tell the maximum number of
opinion molders and potential buyers about your book at the least possible cost
while expending the least possible amount of time. For most nonfiction books,
publishers should follow a five-step plan. The first four steps will assure all
the basic areas are covered and the fifth is where book marketing becomes
creative and fun.
Whether you sell out to a publisher or publish
yourself, the author must do the promotion. Publishers do not promote books.
So, this advice is important to you whether you have a publisher or have
self-published.
Customer/Reader. First, sell directly to the
user by promoting the book with book reviews, news releases, articles and by
alerting your friends, relatives and associates with email. Book reviews are
the least expensive and most effective promotion you can do for your book. If
you are not sending out 300–500 review copies, you are not exploiting this
form of free publicity. News releases and articles are a way to keep your
issue, name and book before the public after the book is out. If you are not
sending out a news releases to all the magazines in your book's subject every
month, you are missing out on a lot of free publicity. Naturally, book reviews
and news releases will generate interest from wholesalers, bookstores,
libraries and book clubs too. See
http://www.pma-online.org/coopcats_bfr.cfm and
http://parapub.com/getpage.cfm?file=/bookprom.html
Spend your money on your book's cover and your creative energy on review
copies, news releases and articles.
Tell the ultimate buyers of your
new book with a pre-publication mailing offering them a copy hot off the press
and tell them you will pay the shipping if they order now. Later, make periodic
offers to small, highly targeted lists.
Bookstores. Second. Get
a distributor. Distributors have sales reps to visit the stores and get the
orders, See
http://parapub.com/getpage.cfm?file=resource/promote.html and
http://www.pma-online.org/benefits/tradedistribution.cfm
Bookstores are best contacted through cooperative bookstore mailings,
targeted mailings to specialized bookstores, through special editions of
appropriate magazines and the American Booksellers Association's Single Title
Order Plan (STOP). See
http://www.pma-online.org/programs.cfm
Libraries.
Third. Since libraries are good pay but only order one book each,
publishers cannot afford to spend a great deal of time and money pursuing them.
It is best to use this seven-step library plan and move on to other areas of
promotion.
Offer your book to Quality Books prior to printing. They
will often take 200 copies or more directly from your printer. Other library
wholesalers will order in dribs and drabs while Quality will give you a large
early order. The secret is to let Quality know about your new book early
enough. Fill out their New Book Information form and send it with a brochure,
description, manuscript or galley well before you go to press. Become a stock
publisher with Baker & Taylor and get your book listed on their database.
Notify all the library wholesalers about your book.
Pursue reviews in
the library review magazines such as Library Journal and ALA Booklist.
Acquisition librarians read and believe reviews. Take part in the Publishers
Marketing Association mailing to libraries. Make highly targeted mailings to
appropriate special libraries and libraries with special collections. Finally,
take part in special editions of appropriate book-trade magazines.
http://www.pma-online.org/library.cfm
Subsidiary
rights. The fourth area of book promotion is subsidiary rights. Most rights
contacts can be handled via email and most should be pursued before the book
goes to press. Some subsidiary rights are: periodical rights, condensation
rights, anthology rights, book club rights, performing rights, translation
rights, mass market reprint rights, and merchandising rights.
Nontraditional markets. Fifth. Now that the basics are covered, you
may (almost) forget about bookstores, libraries and subsidiary rights and
concentrate your time, money and resources on the more lucrative nontraditional
areas. Some of these non-book trade outlets are: specialty shops, local shops,
catalogs, premiums, fund raisers, associations, the export market, and selling
to the U.S. Government/military.
The nice things about specialty shops
are that most buy in large quantities, pay in 30 days, feel a 40% discount is
very generous and have never heard of returns. For example, Para Publishing's
books on parachutes and skydiving are sold to parachute lofts (stores),
skydiving schools, parachute catalog houses and to the U.S. Parachute
Association for resale to its members.
Bookstores are not the only
place to sell books—They aren't even a good place to sell books—In
fact, bookstores are a lousy place to sell books. Sales to catalogs, for fund
raising and to premiums buyers can take more time but the orders are much
larger. They are worth the effort.
Don't miss marketing
opportunities. Many newer and smaller publishers come into this unique
marketing arena with years of experience in other fields. While they are
initially mystified by some of the book promotion basics that are required,
they offer refreshing marketing creativity to the field. If you are new, cover
the basics first, step-by-step, before you get creative.
With a
pre-publication mailing to readers, some wholesaler orders, an order from
Quality Books and some subsidiary rights (book club?) interest, you should sell
enough books to exceed your print bill. Certainly, this is a nice target to aim
for.
Publishing and promoting books is creative, invigorating and fun
particularly when you are organized and have a plan to follow.
Dan
Poynter does not want you to die with a book still inside you. You have the
ingredients and he has your recipe. Dan has written more than 100 books since
1969 including Writing Nonfiction and The Self- Publishing Manual. For more
help on book writing, see http://ParaPub.com. © 2003
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