Were you snarking at me there? I do hope you weren't.
Yes you are right, dead authors can not help sell their books. This of course is obvious
[/QUOTE]You're right and wrong.
Publishers don't hire publicists ("PR people" are a different thing) for every single book they publish: only for the bigger authors, or for celebrities.
But they employ whole departments of publicists, and every book which is published will be assigned a publicist. It might be that the publicist does little more than sending out review copies; it might be that the publicist arranges book tours, interviews and personal appearances; most books get something in between.
Book tours aren't necessarily effective: if no one knows about them, no one will turn up. So they have to be partnered with interviews (not just TV: radio and print are useful too), articles and reviews, along with a decent amount of appropriate local advertising (which can just be a poster in the bookshop's window, but which is often more).
Blogging and tweeting can be very effective, if you blog and tweet to the right people and do it well. In six months of tweeting I got offered all sorts of work (talks, articles, and so on), which was very lucrative for me, and I didn't even have a book to promote.
What makes you think this is the most effective promotion tool? What are you basing your assumption on? I'm interested to know.
I'm not saying that it's not effective--I think it can be very effective: I am just interested to hear why you think it is so important. [/QUOTE]
[/QUOTE]"persea"?[/QUOTE]
Pardon me - I did not think I was going to be edited. Per say.
[/QUOTE]You're using "marketing" where I'd use "promotion". [/QUOTE]
A PR was hired for me, I worked "with" the marketing/publicity department at McGraw-Hill. I did and do my own self-promotion. Sorry if I confused the situation by lumping all these "titles" together.
[/QUOTE]Please don't try to
"direct" your publisher's marketing department; you definitely shouldn't try to get them to the places you list. If you "direct" them you're at risk of making them feel like you're bossing them about, and then they're not going to be very motivated to sell your book; and the things you're suggesting are, I think, things that a publicity department would work on, not a marketing department.[/QUOTE]
Although I believe in assertiveness with everyone working on your behalf to publish your book, I meant the word direct as in offering suggestions - leading. Semantics, really.
[/QUOTE]A marketing department would arrange advertising, that's true: but they generally wouldn't pay for advertising in the consumer-focused outlets you describe. Their advertising budget is usually more effective when spent on ads which people in the book trade see: if you get books on bookshop shelves you get it in front of its potential readers in the most effective way possible, and increase both in-person sales and online sales too.
Agreed
[/QUOTE]If your publisher's publicist works on these things with you then again, you really shouldn't be
"directing" them: you should be working with them. They'll send out review copies to almost everyone you ask them to; they'll contact people who might be interested in interviewing you or featuring your book, and will ask for a list of contacts that you have.
But they won't write articles for you, so the more interest they generate the more work you're going to have--often for no pay. While it's good to make a splash, don't over-extend yourself here. [/QUOTE]
Agreed.
Once again "directing" was perhaps a poor word choice or you just misunderstood my intention.
Of course they won't write articles for you??? They will write ad copy which they sometimes may let you check or not.
Over extend - yes - remember it only lasts 15 minutes according to Andy, so go for it.
[/QUOTE]With non-fiction it's pretty much standard now for authors to understand where their book fits into the market, and to know their potential audience.
With fiction? Not so much.
It can help, of course: but in my direct experience, many novelists are clueless about promoting their own work, and can actually hinder a publisher's efforts if they have too much of a plan.[/QUOTE]
I fear my response to this will insult lazy amateurish writers who believe their masterpieces should be recognized without a monumental effort on everyone's behalf. Including taking the time to read their competition and follow their marketing/promo tactics including who is publishing their work and which agents represent them. Research is research. If you do it to write, do it to sell. The clues they need are here on this very website. I just learned about the importance of web presence on a thread here.
This is one reason I stated getting your name on any byline in any print with your book title next to your name is good free (or even paid) advertizing whether its a major mag and a product review or a local paper that accepts freelance columns, movie or restaurant reviews, etc. I read on this website that blogging and tweeting aren't that helpful as this proven type of self promotion. For one thing, you are at least reaching people who read print and aren't surfing the web 24/7/365. JMO - not written in stone anywhere.
[/QUOTE]Of course publishers are going to want you to do all you can to promote your own work. But you can say no if it costs you too much. [/QUOTE]
Agreed and evident. I was merely pointing out to be careful what you wish for. Business travel sucks, sitting at bookstore table is tedious, having to do a reading or lecture or interview is nerve racking. Unexpected expenses creep up, etc. etc.
I'm just describing my experience to someone asking a question. You accuse me of snarking, but you are critiquing my spelling, arguing semantics of job descriptions although I agree they are different they are also similar and germaine to the topic at hand. And lastly responding to my reply with repetition - i.e. below. I'm not looking for a problem, just stating opinions.
[/QUOTE]As I think I said earlier, such extended tours work best for authors with an extensive backlist. Authors who only have one book out might well find that it costs them too much in other ways to make it worthwhile.[/QUOTE]