When do you Start Marketing Your Book?

Guest Blogger

Carol White

When I can "have it my way" - which isn’t often  - I prefer to work on the book at least 6 months ahead of the pub date – I know, “but my book is coming out next week!” - you really need that much time to get the marketing/distribution/pricing plans together. 



You need to apply to distributors, get their paperwork done, get their sales team representing your book to the chains, the chains place their advance orders, you know how many to print and ship to them, they have to get them in stores - all prior to your pub date. If you aren’t going to use a trade distributor, how are people going to get your book once they know about it? You have to be able to answer that question; and the answer isn’t “from my website” – most people will not buy from an unknown website by an unknown author.

Speaking of websites, a website is another activity that should be done as early as possible - you can use it to begin creating advance buzz for your book, have a media room where the media can learn about your book (cover art, pictures from the book, pub date, etc.) and a place to post your media coverage as it comes in. You can post your Table of contents, a sample chapter, do a blog, and so on - lots you can do to start building that platform waaayyy ahead of the book.

You also need your publicist in place with your media kit to do pre-pub reviewers 3-4 months minimum before pub date (required time), get early copies out to large magazines with long lead times, and then when the time gets closer, do newspapers, blogs, websites, and short cycle magazines. If you don’t hire a publicist, then you need to do these activities.

WHEW!!! See why it takes 6 months? Oh - and YOU have to follow-up on all this to maximize the impact.

My motto: No follow-up = no results
Get your book really ready by following these steps:

1) You need a distribution strategy (whether POD or off-set - just the logistics are different) - how sad is it to create great buzz - and you don’t have your book anyplace where the trade and consumers can get it for your anxious buyers.

2) To engage a trade distributor or even a wholesaler (assuming you are doing print runs) you must have a written marketing plan for them.

3) You have to make sure that your product is top notch - or a publicist won’t take it - their reputation is on the line with every book they recommend to their media contacts. That is what you are really paying for - who they know and how effective they are at placing your book for publicity.

4) You have to make sure that your price is competitive with other books in your genre or no amount of publicity will create the sales that you expect.

5) You need a good media kit for the publicist to use as a basis for the publicity she/he will create for you - or you can pay the publicist or another marketing professional to do that work for you.

 

Of course all of these steps are predicated on your goals for your project, the amount of resources (time & money) you can devote to your book and any constraints that your life situation imposes on you (don’t want to do live appearances or maybe radio terrifies you, etc.).
So give your book a chance – start early and plan your marketing just as carefully as you planned your words on the page

 
Carol White is an author, speaker, writer, and book marketing coach.  In addition to co-authoring the best selling, award-winning book, Live Your Road Trip Dream, Carol is a frequent guest speaker at conventions such as the national AARP Life @ 50+ and The Great North American RV Rally.  She is also a published writer for magazines and websites and has spoken about publishing to groups including IBPA’s Publishing University, the Northwest Association of Book Publishers and the Bay Area Independent Publisher’s Assn. She has an active book marketing consulting practice that includes both domestic and international clients. www.carolwhitemarketing.com

Publishers and Printers

Experts come in every shape and size. Some make you feel like you don't know very much and require their far superior information. Others explain way more than you'd ever want to know and make you wish you had never asked. And then there are the ones that are life-savers and are so helpful that you don't know what you'd do without them. Well, to a self published author a good printer is the life-saver, the one that makes us look good that can tweak, fudge and sends us back the manuscript for layout revisions if need be...or fix it on the spot with their pre-flight genius. (Pre-flight refers to the process a book goes through before it is printed.)

In the early days of my publishing career, I used the local printing shops to print up my books. I brought in a high quality laser copy. The company photo copied the pages. They were bulky, comb bound and I couldn't be more proud if the book had leather cover and gilded lettering. They were mine. I had sweated through the process, worked hard and ultimately finished after many, many setbacks. But, here it was in my hand and ready to be purchased by an eager reader, I was sure. The book retailed for $7.95 and was the first edition of "Teaching Science and Having Fun." My first official book speaking tour began with a conference in the Florida panhandle. I learned through a friend, that I had been chose as a Keynote speaker!

Armed with hundreds of books, the family trekked up the state to sell them. I am glad I listened to my husband and only printed 300. I had many books to trek back home. The conference was very well attended but many came to look and purchase at a later date. Questions came like a flock of geese heading south for the winter:

 "Do you ship?"

"How much does it cost to ship?"

"Do you sell wholesale?"

"How much do you discount?"

Shipping? Wholesale? Discounting? What was all that? All I wanted to do was write a book and publish it not become a one-man storefront. I soon learned the process after much help from very kind people, like the lady who took about 50 books off of my hands to sell, and others who followed suit. The first bit of advice I received was to leave the price off the back cover of the book and raise the price to at least $12.95 so I could wholesale it at 40-50 percent discount. (Wow, that much! Little did I know that other larger wholesalers required 55-60% discount.)

Well, I'm still in business, the book in question now retails for $16.95 and is in it's 5th edition, and was selected as on of the top 100 Homeschool Curriculum. It has been used in Christian schools by educators, in co-ops and right here in my own home. In fact, I'll use it in the morning to reference the best place to purchase slowing agent for our upcoming Biology co-op.

I am especially thankful to my printer, now an offset printing company that prints the books in larger runs. The books are digitized and I can upload them with a click of a button from my computer to the company's website. The book sports a 4-color cover these days and nice quality paper on the inside. This definitely is a much improved version. It really helps to have a printer that can answer questions and works with me on upcoming projects.

I will be interviewing an expert, Mike McCoy who has lots of experience in the field of book printing, both commercial and with self-published authors. He offers personalized service and consultations on projects no matter how large or how small! Remember my husband's advice? Keep that first print-run small unless you have pre-sold books and know how you will discount and ship them! Better to be safe than in debt! Besides, you can always print a larger run the next time.