Seeking effective/economical means of direct marketing to libraries and/or bookstores

kimcooper · Apr 22, 2014

In February, my husband Richard Schave and I launched Esotouric Ink, a new imprint dedicated to producing beautiful books that explore the culture and lore of Southern California.

Our debut title is "The Kept Girl," my fact-based mystery set in 1929 Los Angeles and starring the young Raymond Chandler and the real cop who is a likely model for Philip Marlowe, on the trail of a cult of murderous angel worshippers.

After extensive promotion to journalists and bloggers, the book has been getting terrific notices, from the Los Angeles Times Jacket Copy blog to the Irish Times, LA Review of Books to the Kirkus website, with several reviewers comparing it favorably to the new "official" Philip Marlowe novel by Benjamin Black.

Our problem: none of these great reviews have appeared in the print publications that librarians and bookstore buyers rely on to select titles they will order.

We've got a small marketing budget and the title is listed in Baker & Taylor's wholesale list for easy ordering. Short of reaching out individually to bookstores and acquisition librarians, as we've been doing, can anyone recommend paid mailing lists or advertising that you've found to be effective and economical means of alerting large numbers of these folks to a new title that they might well want to order?

Old Hack · Apr 23, 2014

There are several publications which review books for libraries, and most librarians will only order books they've seen given favourable reviews in such publications. But such publications will almost always only review books at the point of publication, so if your books are already published there's no point sending them review copies: the publications will only discard them.

As for getting books into bookshops, reviews aren't going to do it: you need a full-service distributor, and you are extremely unlikely to find one willing to take your book on without your having several books with good sales behind them, a good marketing budget, and a strong marketing plan to support their efforts.

kimcooper · Apr 23, 2014

Thanks, Old Hack. Reviews are still coming in, so perhaps we'll hit one of those library-favored publications yet. Some of the librarians we've reached out to directly have responded positively, even without those specific reviews. (Although we didn't get a print review in Kirkus, there is a nice feature about The Kept Girl on their website.) We're hoping to find less time-consuming ways of communicating with that audience and letting them know about the book.

For bookstores, it's much the same--some individual buyers are picking up the book when queried, and we'd like to reach more of these folks, through a list or effective ad. Has anyone had experience using such marketing methods, and can recommend or advise against any specific ones?

Old Hack · Apr 23, 2014

kimcooper said:
Thanks, Old Hack. Reviews are still coming in, so perhaps we'll hit one of those library-favored publications yet.

Did you send any review copies to the appropriate publications? Did you send them out a few months prior to publication, to fit in with the magazines' requirements? If not, then I'm afraid I don't see how you're going to get reviewed in those magazines.

Some of the librarians we've reached out to directly have responded positively, even without those specific reviews. (Although we didn't get a print review in Kirkus, there is a nice feature about The Kept Girl on their website.) We're hoping to find less time-consuming ways of communicating with that audience and letting them know about the book.

You might well have some luck contacting individual libraries, but to get nationwide coverage you do need those reviews.

Have you spoken to any libraries/librarians about this, and asked their advice?

For bookstores, it's much the same--some individual buyers are picking up the book when queried, and we'd like to reach more of these folks, through a list or effective ad. Has anyone had experience using such marketing methods, and can recommend or advise against any specific ones?

Like I said before, you need a full-service distributor to get your book into bookshops. You can sell the book in yourself, but it takes a lot of time and effort, and doesn't come anywhere near matching the results you'll get from proper distribution.

Having your books listed with Baker & Taylor is a start, but it's only going to help people who already know about your book place orders for it. If you want to bring your book to the attention of people who buy stock for bookshops, you need a distributor AND a strong marketing plan AND the budget to back it up. Have you looked into distribution?

AlexHale · Apr 23, 2014

I don't have any publishing experience (yet) but I do have some PR experience. Could you reach out to local libraries/bookstores and offer to do a workshop for their clients that could simultaneously promote your book? It could be something along the lines of "Local Author Giving Workshop on Writing Mysteries/Narrative/POV" or "So You Want to Get Published? Join us for free writing tips from local authors X and Z at this time". That way, you can have people come in to interact with you, and you can have flyers or copies of your book out for them to see.

Old Hack · Apr 23, 2014

That can work, but it's a very labour-intensive way of making it happen and costs usually outweigh the value of any copies sold.

kimcooper · Apr 23, 2014

Thanks for the suggestions and questions.

Yes, we did send ARCs out to all the usual library-approved review journal suspects in advance of publication, and have continued supplying requested review copies since the book's release. Some reviews have had very quick turnarounds, others are taking months. So it may not be too late for a review to appear in one of those influential titles.

Local events are not a problem for us. We've got a built in audience with our weekly L.A. bus tours and free monthly LAVA Sunday Salons, which have already proved to be great markets for this book, which was published by Subscription. We also have good relationships with local indie bookshops and libraries, and have been scheduling signings and readings.

We've talked with librarians, but not with any acquisition librarians. That could help.

With a single title and most copies selling directly to our existing audience, it's probably premature to work with a distributer, though we'll revisit that once we've got a catalog. Still, there should be an independent way to pay to alert large numbers of librarians and/or bookstore buyers to a well-reviewed genre title... no?

Old Hack · Apr 23, 2014

kimcooper said:
Thanks for the suggestions and questions.

Yes, we did send ARCs out to all the usual library-approved review journal suspects in advance of publication, and have continued supplying requested review copies since the book's release. Some reviews have had very quick turnarounds, others are taking months. So it may not be too late for a review to appear in one of those influential titles.

If you sent your books to them at the right times, and with all the supporting information that they require, but your book have now been published and no reviews have appeared, they are unlikely to now review your book.

Local events are not a problem for us. We've got a built in audience with our weekly L.A. bus tours and free monthly LAVA Sunday Salons, which have already proved to be great markets for this book, which was published by Subscription.

You have a website for your publishing company on which you advertise bus tours of LA?

That's an interesting cross-over. I hope it works well for you. But I wouldn't want to submit my work to a publisher which seemed to make money out of bus tours.

And do you mean your book was sold to subscribers, so published chapter by chapter? How well has that worked for you?

We also have good relationships with local indie bookshops and libraries, and have been scheduling signings and readings.

Signings and readings aren't very cost-effective methods of selling books.

We've talked with librarians, but not with any acquisition librarians. That could help.

With a single title and most copies selling directly to our existing audience, it's probably premature to work with a distributer, though we'll revisit that once we've got a catalog. Still, there should be an independent way to pay to alert large numbers of librarians and/or bookstore buyers to a well-reviewed genre title... no?

I agree: distributors are unlikely to work with you.

You could try sending review copies direct to bookshops: but it would be a costly experiment, and unless your books are returnable you're not likely to see many orders as a result.

kimcooper · Apr 24, 2014

Old Hack said:
You have a website for your publishing company on which you advertise bus tours of LA? .

It's more accurate to say that we operate a literary/ historical L.A. tour company which has branched out into publishing, focusing on narratives of Southern California. It's not entirely a new pursuit; I published a music and pop culture magazine called Scram for many years. Fans of our tours have been clamoring for a book for some time.

Old Hack said:
And do you mean your book was sold to subscribers, so published chapter by chapter? How well has that worked for you?

Some writers are selling their new books a chapter at a time, but we didn't do that. For The Kept Girl, a deluxe edition of the complete book was pre-sold by Subscription, which is a very old publishing strategy which worked particularly well for Mark Twain in America. We signed up 65 Subscribers, including the Huntington Library and UCLA Special Collections, and created an Art Deco silver-foiled phase box to enclose their numbered copies. It's worked out very well. The Subscriptions offset quite a bit of the printing cost, provided welcome moral support through the stresses of production, and inspired the creation of a more beautiful object than we could have produced without their support. It's not a path that will work for every book, but it made sense for this one.

Seeking effective/economical means of direct marketing to libraries and/or bookstores

kimcooper

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

kimcooper

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

AlexHale

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

kimcooper

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

kimcooper