News Not sure what to make of this.

[Jake E]

Have you guys seen this?

https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/jun/07/book-promotion-publishing-marketing-demand

 

[Pamela Jo]

Have you guys seen this?

https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/jun/07/book-promotion-publishing-marketing-demand

It pretty much echoes what Pete has said. If you are a middle lister, ie not someone who stirs up big auctions, you are going to have to promote the same as if you self-published.

 

[BrianY]

Yes, but ... it's one thing to promote your book and another to "cut your own check" and pay a third party to promote it. You have to talk to podcasts and radio stations, and you have to go to conferences (which you should be doing anyway) and events, but you don't need to pay somebody else to do additional legwork.

In my experience, the things that count don't cost any more than the trip.

 

[Nikky Lee]

This is one of the reasons why I'm moving more towards the self publishing sphere. If I'm doing the lion's share of the marketing, I want my share of the profits to reflect that.

 

[BrianY]

Nikky, did this really happen to you? Have you been asked for money by commercial publishers?

 

[Nikky Lee]

Nikky, did this really happen to you? Have you been asked for money by commercial publishers?

I've never been asked for money. There's no way I'd agree to any publishing contract that stipulates I have to pay the publisher to publish my work.

However, my reality is that I spend a large amount of time and energy (and less so money, but still some money) marketing myself and my books. Sometimes it breaks even with the royalties that come out of it after the publisher has taken their share. Sometimes not.

That said, I didn't go in completely unaware. I knew when I signed that I was going to have do a good chunk of marketing myself (though, I would say I underestimated exactly how much). Nearly all the marketing I do is free—such as my newsletter and newsletter swaps, interviews, social posts, blogs/guest blogs, workshops, and community engagement on Facebook groups and Discord. Unfortunately, these cost in other ways. Occasionally, when the book has a sale, I might book a paid promo on an email list of SFF readers to give it a boost. The publisher doesn't ask me to do this, I do it because I want to and because I want readers to read my book. The cost is also fairly minimal, which helps.

The biggest thing I pay for is a table at my local SFF convention and the printing of my own author copies to sell directly at events. However, there's no royalty split in these situations for me (contract thing), so I don't mind doing these as I pocket all the proceeds.

 

[BrianY]

I used to say that all I paid for was conferences, and the transportation and accommodations that brought me to them, and then I did the math and realized that it added up to three or four thousand dollars a year. If you're only there for one or two books, that's a pretty poor investment. What I don't see is how self-publishing would help. Nobody - not even celebrity authors - sell hundreds of copies at conferences I attend. It all has to be about books being part of some larger business.

I attend food writing events with a lot to sell; books, articles, and photography and sometimes I can make some good deals. Conferences can also be in places I like, but rarely visit like Denver or Charleston - so maybe worth it for that.

 

[Ed Simnett]

Ian Fleming covered half the cost of marketing for his first couple of books personally (and got no advance)- which makes James Bond half way to self-published...

 

[Jake E]

One of the main reasons I wanted to go Trad was I lack any money. When I found out most authors had to do *some* marketing anyway, any incentive to go trad completely disappeared.
If I'm going to be spending money and time I may as well take 70% instead of 15%

 

[Nikky Lee]

I used to say that all I paid for was conferences, and the transportation and accommodations that brought me to them, and then I did the math and realized that it added up to three or four thousand dollars a year. If you're only there for one or two books, that's a pretty poor investment. What I don't see is how self-publishing would help. Nobody - not even celebrity authors - sell hundreds of copies at conferences I attend. It all has to be about books being part of some larger business.

I attend food writing events with a lot to sell; books, articles, and photography and sometimes I can make some good deals. Conferences can also be in places I like, but rarely visit like Denver or Charleston - so maybe worth it for that.

Interesting. I sell at my local sff convention (basically NZ's version of ComicCon) and I've broken well over even both times (albeit I don't have to pay for accommodation as I only need to drive 20 mins from home to get there). I do wonder if part of it is because books are flipping expensive in NZ and because I'm not selling through a bookstore, I can sell copies slightly cheaper as I have no middleperson to account for. There was an interesting article about the recent Auckland Writers Festival and the bookshop that handled the stock at the festival had it's biggest year ever, and yet NZ bookshops are dropping like flies due to economic conditions. I'll see if I can find it again and reshare it here.

 

[Nikky Lee]

Ahha! Here it is: Why are book festivals thriving while the publishing industry is struggling?

 

[Pamela Jo]

Ahha! Here it is: Why are book festivals thriving while the publishing industry is struggling?

Very interesting. The recent Dublin festival I went to had a book stall and it was booming-even at full price. I think future innovations are going to make it easier for writers and readers to connect. Also my SF vision is a kindle that looks in every way like a book except the pages are a material that can erase the print. So you finish one book, erase it and download another one but you have an actual book to read instead of a screen.

Musk would probably have a jack in the back of our necks to download a book onto-but brains dont work that way. Reading is in a specific part of the brain that we develop and that helps memory, logic and other centres develop. You can't take a pill and get smart. It's a whole process- and Musk pretty much demonstrates how that process cant be bought-it has to be earned.

The publisher doesn't ask me to do this, I do it because I want to and because I want readers to read my book. The cost is also fairly minimal, which helps.

Subtext: And the publisher won't do. Their attitude is, "Sink or swim little book. Let's see how much your mommy loves you."

 

[AgentPete]

It’s not unusual for authors to have their own publicists. I’ve written briefs for publicists, interviewed them and appointed them, quite a few times over the years.

What this piece seems to be doing though is to conflate “subsidy” (i.e. vanity) publishing which is inherently a bad idea, with retaining your own publicist, which can be a good idea.

However, I need to sound a note of warning. When you’re hiring a publicist (or an ad agency, which is what I used to run) the potential for money-wasting is huge. If you don’t write a decent brief, hire a decent agency, and monitor the heck out of them… well, good luck

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Yep. It was the marketing that finally got me to go the self-pub route--I realised I was going to have to do my own marketing either way, so I figured I'd just self-publish. I really enjoy the creative control over the process with self-publishing. Why give a publisher a cut when they're not going to do the one part of the process I don't enjoy?