A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: Advertising
It is Tuesday. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side.
Today's topic is about the role of advertising in marketing -- and how it is changing (or has changed). Is it cost-effective? Should you include it in your marketing efforts? Read on.
Current facts about advertising:
1. The cost of advertising has gone up (along with the cost of printing, shipping, etc.), but retail prices have not gone up a parallel amount, so it is a bigger stretch to get good return on investment.
2. Readers seem to be reading less print media, and some print advertisers have turned to e-blasts instead of print mail and to online sales sites instead of catalogues.
3. More and more, readers can—and want to—reach out and touch authors. They do not want a mailer about how good an author’s book is, they want to read an author’s blog and intuit how good the book might be. They want to be able to write an e-note to an author with a question. They want to hear an author’s broader set of thoughts and opinions through podcasts, interviews, and essays. This is likely one reason why we—and those authors who use it—find social media to be helpful.
4. Readers have good sources, alternatives to rah-rah advertising, to learn about new books (or even old ones) and get more pertinent information about whether they want to buy a book, ranging from endorsements on the online stores to book reviews to displays at exhibits they attend to learning about winners of book contests. These are more likely to inspire someone to buy a book than an advertisement. Think about it—which would inspire you more, in-depth reporting or a small (or even large) ad?
5. And the best source of book-buying information for most readers is the opinion of relatives, friends, colleagues, and experts, i.e. word of mouth. Word of mouth is the most effective advertising method in any industry.
Alternatives to advertising:
1. Book reviews.
2. Entering your book
into competitions.
3. Making your book
available for exhibits—book fairs (you will not get good return on investment,
but you may well get other kinds of useful information, including mailing
addresses that can pay off in the long run), professional conferences, your own
workshops, and locally available opportunities (such as at your library—donating
a book to your library if it does not have the funds to make a purchase is also
not a bad idea, especially when you offer a lecture to go along with it.
4. Look also for
places to put a copy of your book that you might not have thought of: your
doctor’s waiting room (always in need of reading materials); ditto for hospital
book-sharing programs, waiting rooms at nearly any business, and who knows
where else. One of our authors actually sold lots of copies of his book at a
pizza shop where he was well known and would pop in once in a while. You can place labels inside your book that ask
readers not to remove the book and direct them to where they can get their own
copy. Sounds offbeat, but it has worked in some cases, and it does not even
have to be a full book copy. An excerpt that can be used as a placemat
(picture, too, please) in a mom-and-pop restaurant, sets of playing cards in a
gift shop (as a promo or at-cost acquisition for the owner) with some aspect of
your book (one author successfully used quotations from the book with information
on each card where to get the book).
The limit of possibilities is created only by your imagination.
5. Getting as many
people as possible to endorse your
book. Endorsers will usually include their endorsement—after all, they took the
time to write it—on their website and likely talk about it to at least one
other person and likely to many; remember the importance of word of mouth.
6. Get yourself out
in front of people on the platform you prefer: social media, TV/radio
interviews, articles in local or professional journals, podcasts (your own
and/or others). And, this may sound a bit farfetched, but don’t restrict yourself
to “here is my book, please buy it” activities. Become active in your local community,
and let people slowly learn about your book. Become active in your profession,
and let people slowly learn about your book. Put your book jpeg, without
comment, wherever is appropriate (on your LinkedIn page, Face Book page, etc.).
7. Write articles on
related topics, where your credibility is the fact that you wrote the book.
Indirect advertising is so much better than direct advertising. (Why do you think
the Chicken Soup authors or the Rich Dad Poor Dad author spend so much time
doing things other than directly promoting their book? All those lectures, advice,
free seminars may help attendees, but, frankly, they help those authors even
more. Everyone who participates in their activities or reads their articles on book
marketing (but not on their book) will know their book one way or another, and
in one way or another, they are likely to increase their sales.
8. Take copies of your book with you when you travel—look for local places and local connections where you can display a copy of your book along with your business card (and include an online ordering source for your book). Those sets of playing cards? Great for conferences, professional meetings where people are often bored, business soirees, charity get-togethers (best if on the same topic). Don’t limit the ways in which you build word of mouth without hitting someone in the face with an ad.
Bottom line: Advertising may still be effective in some cases, but authors need to determine what is an acceptable return on investment and test the waters with various kinds of advertising and alternatives to see what works best.
Lesson for today's Tuesday talk: Assumptions (e.g., books must be advertised) are based on what we see, hear, or are told, rather than what we research. Research, instead of assuming, to get the best value for your marketing dollars.
Read more posts about publishing HERE.
The Tuesday talks reflect real discussions between the management of MSI Press LLC and our own authors or those would-be authors who come through our doors but don't make the cut--yet. If you have a topic that you would like addressed, leave the question in the comment section. Chances are, in our 18 years of publishing first-time and experiences authors, we have had a conversation with one of our authors that we can share with you.
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