Marketing – LDS Publisher

Where to Get a Review

No doubt you have addressed this subject before, but I’m a relatively new reader. My question is about getting your book reviewed (my publisher is sending out very few review copies). So how should an author go about obtaining reviews? What sources would you recommend? Which reviewers would you recommend on a national level?

Your marketing/review plan depends on the type of book you’ve written (see “genre specific” below). Some reviewers won’t accept books directly from the author. You’re going to have to do some research and customize your own list of reviewers, but here are some areas to consider.

National reviewers: New York Times (if your book is selling well enough), Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Midwest Book Review (they have a list of links to online reviewers), Library Journal, Foreword Magazine (reviews smaller, independent publishers). Also, go talk to your local librarian. He/she may have some ideas.

Genre specific: Reviewers often specialize in specific genres or age groups. Go find a few best-selling paperback books in the genre you’re writing and look at their blurbs. Any professional reviewers listed would be ones to consider.

Local/regional/niche: Newspaper and magazines—your city and any big city within 100 miles. Try to get them to do a feature story on you as a local author as well as a review. Look for genre magazines that do reviews. If you’re LDS, you want to get it reviewed on Meridian Magazine and in the major Utah papers.

Misc. Bloggers: There are a zillion bloggers out there who do book reviews. Find some that you like, that are getting good traffic (you can usually judge traffic by the number of comments they’re getting). Other bloggers to consider are: friends, family, fellow writers.

Readers, any other suggestions? Give us links if you have them.

Chip’s Guide to Marketing Your Book

On the advice of Candace Salima (see comments on this post; thanks, Candace), I checked out Chip MacGregor’s blog. Hadn’t seen him before. Interesting guy. Has lots of good tips.

I read a few posts, and found this one talking about marketing. That’s been a frequent question around here, so I suggest you go read it. I agree with pretty much everything, except the cost of review copies. In a small market like ours, with small print runs, most books cost more than $1.00 per copy. Other than that, I liked what he had to say–especially encouragement toward internet marketing.

[If the link to that post doesn’t work, go here and look for the Sept 13, 2007 post titled “How to Market Your Book and Lose Lots of Money.”

Marketing Plan for Writers

Could you tell me what’s included in a marketing plan? Is there a particular format? How can I learn how to put together an effective marketing plan? When is the best time to present it to the publisher?

Thanks. (PS Cedar Fort will publish my YA LDS novel in spring 2008–woo hoo!)

I’ve received marketing plans in all sorts of formats–from highly detailed and complex business proposals (overkill) to a simple numbered list. I don’t have a preference–as long as I can understand the concepts and it doesn’t take longer to read than your manuscript. (You’re a writer; write clearly.)

Some publishers may have instructions on their websites.

Here are a few quick link for ideas. I am not endorsing these sites or the products offered on them, and I’m not sure how helpful each one actually is. I did a quick google on “marketing plans for writers” and skimmed the first few. I’m sure there are others that I’ve missed but this will give you a place to start. If readers know of some good sites or other sources, please post them in the comments section.

http://www.writerswrite.com/selfpublishing/hollowell.htm

http://ezinearticles.com/?Writers-Need-A-Marketing-Plan-Too&id=118526

http://marketing-plans.suite101.com/writers.cfm

(P.S. Good for you! Feel free to identify yourself in the comments section,)

Promotional Expectations

What should an author expect from a publisher in the way of promotion?

In addition to what I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I made a few suggestions here and here.

What’s the best way to promote a book?

Depends on the book, the genre, the target audience. There are a few suggestions in the links above. But in addition to this, brainstorm. Look at what others are doing and adapt them to your situation. But don’t be a Nathan Newauthor. DISCUSS the possibilities with your publisher and TOGETHER decide what will work best.

More on Promotion

Doesn’t promotion/marketing fall mainly to the author, especially in the LDS market? [I added “marketing” to this question, because they’re so closely related.]

No, it doesn’t. Yes, an author has to do a lot of promotion for their book but it is an error in thinking that the author does the majority of the promotion for their book.

Your publisher is going to concentrate on marketing your book to the bookstores, to get it in the stores and on the shelves. A lot of this promotion is very “behind the scenes” to the author. It includes schmoozing, developing industry relationships, phone calls, mailings, e-mailings, faxes, catalogs, order forms, shelf liners, in-store posters, promotional discounts, convention booths, sometimes personal visits to the stores, etc., etc., etc. It also includes things like the cover design and layout of your book, to make it attractive to the buyer, pre-market research, and all sorts of stuff that takes time and costs money–90% of which you, the author, will not see happening. We’re honestly not just sitting there twiddling our thumbs. We have a monetary investment in your book that we want to recoup and to build upon.

The author promotes mainly to the reader via book signings, television and radio shows, newspaper reviews, press releases, bookmarks, business cards, websites, blogs, post cards, firesides, buttons, t-shirts, and whatever else you can think of. (Some of which the publisher will provide, or assist you in creating; all of which you should run past them.)

Dollar for dollar, I know I’ve outspent every single one of my authors in marketing and promoting their books.

Now, for a few other questions. I am going to give you MY answers, as in, OUR company policy. Your publisher may have a different policy and/or attitude. When in doubt, ask them.

Is it acceptable to blog about or announce on your website, an upcoming (6 months or so from now) book release?

Yes. It’s fine to blog about your challenges and rewards of your work in progress, to post about it as you move through the submission and acceptance process, where it’s at in printing and marketing. That’s great. It creates a buzz and an expectation; it also personalizes it to your blog readers. They’ll be more likely to buy your book if they’ve shared your journey.

Don’t post content because 1) it will likely change; 2) if the reader doesn’t care for your first draft, they won’t be drawn to read the finished book.

Also, do not post negative things, like “Gee, my stupid publisher blah, blah, blah” or “I hate my book cover…” All of that puts a negative spin on your book and decreases interest.

Is it acceptable to continue to blog about the book release?

Yes, see above.

Do most publishers provide bookmarks or other promotional items if the author asks for such?

We do—up to a certain amount and under certain conditions. If the author wants more or different items, then we negotiate it on an item by item basis.

Bottom line: an author should obtain permission for all promotion, including blogs?

You shouldn’t have to clear every single blog post with your publisher. We don’t have time for that and we wouldn’t be publishing you if we didn’t have some faith in your writing abilities. However, I really liked Josi’s suggestions about a marketing plan. If you make a quick outline of what you intend to do, include blogging on that list. Then if your publisher has a problem with it, they can contact you to discuss it.

The Horrible Story of Nathan Newauthor

On the subject of marketing and promotion, I’m saddened to hear that some publishers don’t get back to their authors in a timely manner concerning promotional events. Sometimes it’s beyond their control and a matter of bad timing, but if it’s a regular occurrence, that’s really unfortunate. And as an author, you may feel hamstrung in your efforts because there is probably a clause in your contract somewhere that says you have to have all promotional pieces and marketing efforts approved by your publisher.

There is a reason for that clause as illustrated in this story about Nathan Newauthor. Nathan is a soon-to-be-published new author whose book is currently at the press. In his enthusiasm and inexperience and without permission and approval from the publisher, Nathan decides to get very creative with his marketing ideas. Having read a book on guerilla marketing for writers and being encouraged to push the envelope by friends and family (who know very little about the publishing industry), Nathan creates and hand distributes a promotional piece at an event with nearly 1,000 attendees that are HIS TARGET AUDIENCE.

Wa-hoo! Those orders ought to start rolling in.

Here’s what Nathan doesn’t understand.

Although he and his mother thought it looked quite attractive, his marketing piece was very unprofessionally done. It looked like it had been copied at Kinko’s and hand-cut and assembled. Which it had been. Now, let’s think for a minute. Does an ugly promotional piece encourage or discourage someone to go purchase a product? Do the people he gave promo to know that Nathan lovingly slaved for hours to create this? Do they give him an A for effort? No. They think the publisher did it–and if that’s the best the publisher can do, why would they think the “real” book would be any better? Nathan most likely just lost 800 of the 1,000 people in his target audience.
If Nathan’s publisher had been involved, the promo would have been professionally designed, using appropriate fontage and color and white space and all that other graphic design mumbo-jumbo that most people poo-poo, but which has an actual, measurable impact on the buyer.

Nathan spent way too much money on the project, so he decided to just do a few in color and the rest in black and white. Color says, these people know what they’re doing; black and white says, these people are working out of their garage on a shoe-string budget.
Had Nathan’s publisher created the piece, it would have been in color and printed at a much lower price. Because we have connections.
Nathan thought it would be great to get advance notice out for his book. Good in theory. But if you market too soon, you lose momentum. Since his release is over a month away, it’s too soon to market to the end customer.
Nathan also thinks people will pre-order his book. No, they won’t because his name is not J.K. Rowling. They’ll go to the bookstore or website, decide to wait to get the book when it’s available, and then FORGET about it.

Publishers understand this. We time our advance notice.
Nathan didn’t know (because he didn’t bother to ask) and the publisher hadn’t told him (because it clearly states in the contract that Nathan has to approve all marketing efforts and since he didn’t, the publisher had no way of knowing he was planning something like this) is that there was trouble at the printer and his books are going to be delayed by several weeks past his scheduled release date.
Publishers know that release dates can be tentative and they plan accordingly. New authors believe the release date is carved in stone.
Nathan thought it would be a great thing to let all the people at this event know about his upcoming release. What he didn’t know is that the event coordinators have a very strict policy against distributing promotional pieces at said event. In fact, if a publisher does that, they are very often asked never to return.
If Nathan had asked his publisher, the publisher could have prevented this serious faux pas.

Nathan thought he was doing his publisher a favor because the event coordinators are one of the publisher’s largest bulk buyers. But they don’t like what he did. They are not happy. If they are severely unhappy, not only will they NOT buy Nathan’s book, but they may also stop buying other books from this publisher. Nathan thinks he was only promoting himself and his book, but in reality, since the publisher’s name was all over the marketing piece, he was also indirectly representing the publisher, and by default, all of their other products as well.
Again, the publisher could have prevented Nathan from not only shooting himself in the foot, but also from shooting the feet of the publisher and their other authors.
Nathan thinks marketing and promotion is all fun and games, and that anything goes. As long as he’s paying for it, what’s the harm? What he doesn’t realize is that he’s created a situation that could cause a lot of potential harm, for himself, for his book, for the publisher and for every other author the publisher represents.
Because the event coordinators are a major buyer of the publisher’s products, the publisher has to keep them happy. This is especially important in a small market like ours, where there are only so many distribution channels.

If the buyer is ticked, and the publisher blows it off, they lose credibility with the buyer. If the buyer is really ticked, the publisher may have to choose between Nathan Newauthor’s not-yet-released book and placating the buyer. Since Nathan’s book is one teeny part of the publisher’s product line, and the buyer is a huge part of the publisher’s income, what do you think the publisher is going to do? The choice could literally be between dropping the author like a hot potato or going out of business.

Worst case scenario: the publisher decides Nathan’s mistake puts them in a high-risk situation, cancels the contract with Nathan, destroys the book, and sues Nathan for loss and damages due to breach of contract.

Best case scenario: the publisher gives Nathan a harsh talking to, holds the release of the book until everything is smoothed over with the big buyer, and is now very reluctant to consider future projects with Nathan.

Point of the story: Just because an author doesn’t understand why a publisher has a certain policy or clause in their contract, it doesn’t mean there’s not a very good reason for it. When an author disregards that, they are asking for trouble.

Another point of the story [for those of you who still don’t quite understand this concept yet]: Yes, for the publisher, the bottom line IS ABOUT THE MONEY. If we don’t make money, we won’t be publishers for very long.

One last point: If this is too restrictive for you, then you are free to self-publish. No one is preventing you. But if you choose the traditional publishing route, you have to be willing to play by the publisher’s rules.

P.S. This is not a fictional story. It is based on true events, but the names and a few small particulars have been changed to protect the… well, you know.

P.P. S. Fortunately for Nathan, the publisher was able to smooth things over with the buyer and he got the best case scenario.

Judging a Book by its Cover(s)

I’ve never before received an e-mail that had someone else’s entire blog post copied and pasted, followed by the words, “What do you think?”

So go read the post and all the comments over on Six LDS Writers and A Frog, then come back here for my opinion.

***

As a reader and book buyer, I have never purchased multiple copies of a book just to get a variety of covers. I have, however, purchased new copies of books when a cooler cover came out. For example, I had the whole set of The Chronicles of Narnia, purchased about 20 years ago. When the movie came out, the market was flooded with reprints, all with new covers. I bought the trade copy with all seven books in one and the picture of the Snow Queen on the front. Did I “need” new copies? No. But the cover was really cool.

Also, as a reader and book buyer, I have browsed books on the shelf, picked them up, then put them back–only to see the same book on a different shelf with a different cover, picked it up for a second look, and bought it. Because the cover was more appealing and enticing to me. You’d think, being in the business and all, I would know better than to select or reject a book based on its cover. But I don’t. I’m just like everyone else–easily seduced by a pretty picture.

As a publisher, there are reasons that justify multiple covers–all of them to do with marketing. Multiple covers are especially good for books that are genre or age cross-overs, like the Harry Potter books. Because they appeal to both children and adults, having a separate cover to target each age group is a good idea. How many adults want to be caught engrossed in a book with little kids on the cover? Okay, bad example. As proved in the U.S., where we only have one cover and no one cares. But you get the idea.

It’s also a good idea with classics and blockbusters, like aforementioned Chronicles of Narnia. You know you’re going to sell a lot of them, so the cost of multiple covers isn’t a big deal. You do a cover that appeals to different types of people to seduce (there’s that word again) them into purchasing a copy. You want to make the book as irresistible as possible to as many people as possible.

Another time for new covers is when a book has been out for awhile and you’re doing a reprint–especially if there is any significant revision of the book (common in nonfiction, not in fiction). Cover art, fonts, and layout go in and out of style. If a book has been around for ten years or longer, you might want to do a new cover to update it and give sales a new shot. We’ve done that with books before. And yes, people will buy a replacement book with the new cover.

We always test market our book covers. Recently we did a book cover in pink, yellow and blue. No one liked the yellow, but the blue only had a small margin over the pink. If we’d expected to sell 50,000 copies, we might have considered doing a cover in both colors, but since we only expected to sell 5,000, we went with the blue. It wasn’t the cost of the multiple covers (which isn’t that big a deal), it’s just that having multiple covers in a small market seems a little silly.

Now for the anti-multiple covers argument. In a small market, like the LDS market, your book cover is part of your branding of the book. Brands are important. They provide instant identification, which you want. If an author has multiple books, particularly if they are in a series, you want to extend that brand as much as you can. A good national example is Danielle Steele. You don’t have to read a thing on her books to recognize the cover as one of hers. Good LDS examples are Heather Moore’s Out of Jerusalem series and the Work and the Glory series (both sets of covers). The cover designs are part of the branding of the series. A bad example of this is Robison Wells’ Wake Me When It’s Over and The Counterfeit. (Sorry, Rob. What was with the cover of that first one, anyway?) You can’t tell by a quick glance that these two books have anything to do with each other; or even that they’re by the same author. In my opinion, that was a mistake–or at the very least, it didn’t optimize the added sales potential of branding.

You want your books to stand out, to be unique, yet very recognizable to your rabid fans. You also don’t want to have readers re-purchase the same book by accident. (How many of you think OSC’s Woman of Destiny and Saints are two different books?) So in our market, the only time I’d do multiple covers is if the book has been around awhile and needs updating for some reason (like the Work & the Glory). Or possibly, if I did both a hardback and a paperback release–but even then, I’d keep the covers similar enough that you could tell it was the same book.

So who wants to argue with me?

I’m Not Testy; I Have a Positive Self Image

Found in the comments section of yesterday’s post. I moved it here because a lot of people do not read comments and he has a legit concern, complaint. A lot of first time authors ask these kinds of questions. (Although most of them do not call me “testy” or refer to my treatment of their ideas as bull-dozerish.)

Why is that editors get so testy when an author dares to tread upon their creative world and suggest a cover design or a title, but they drive their bulldozers all over the author’s creative world like so much ado about nothing. I know. Covers are what they pay your for. Editing is what they pay you for. But for heaven’s sakes, will there ever be an editor humble enough to recognize that an author just may have a good sense about a cover that will market their book well. Or that an author just may have a better title than the marketing guys across the hall. Probably not!

Anonymous

When I went back to the comments to copy and paste them, I discovered that Robison Wells had answered the question—and he is dead on. Here is Rob’s reply.

Anonymous, I like to compare it to royalties. There’s a reason that authors only get 5-15% of a book’s cost: it’s because the author is only one piece of a very large puzzle. It’s a vital piece, certainly, but it’s still only one piece.

If an author has as much good marketing sense as you stated–if they know that their title/cover/marketing ideas are great–then why not just self-publish? Richard Paul Evans is the perfect example: he was a professional marketer, and he’s made gobs of money.

Besides, most publishers are very willing to discuss titles and covers (though they’ll almost all maintain veto power), but they don’t want to look at those ideas during the submission process. You, as the author, are asking them to make a very big investment in you; the least you could do is show a little professionalism and respect submission guidelines. There will be PLENTY of time to discuss titles and covers and illustrations once your book is accepted.

I would add a few things, based on my 26 years in the industry as a professional (I just love that word) editor and/or publisher:

If you submit a good title, we will keep it! We kept the author’s original titles on the last two books we published. Others titles I tweak by one or two words. Sometimes I’ll reject the original title, but have the author send me a list of alternates. Usually I can blend that into something really good that the author is happy with. But creating titles that sell and writing a story are two entirely different skill sets and some are just really, really bad.

I have never, in 26 years, seen a book cover created by an author and sent with the manuscript submission that was anywhere close to usable. They are usually way too dark, use clip art and dated fonts, and don’t have an appropriate balance to the design. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, or you don’t know why these would be a problem, then don’t try to make your own cover.

I have, a couple of times, had an author who was also a graphic artist. After their books were accepted, they very professionally asked if I would take a look at their ideas. Of course I did. These two covers were wonderful. One we kept exactly as it was. The other we had to tweak a little to fit in the bar code. The point is, they approached me about it after acceptance.

The publisher always retains veto rights. As Rob said, if I am going to invest thousands of dollars in you and your book, I need to control that investment in the way that my experience tells me works best. If title and cover art are deal breakers for you, then by all means, self-publish.

You’re assuming that the author will not like my title/cover art better than what they’ve created. Most of our authors love what we do with their books—even if we don’t use any of their suggestions.

I never, ever bulldoze my authors’ creative world. I’m not investing in a one book deal. I want this to be an ongoing relationship. I want my authors to be happy. At the same time, I am not going to let an author sink a book due to personal preferences. We test our titles and book cover designs on our target market and run them past at least a dozen design, marketing and publishing professionals before we finalize something.

And one last comment: You, as an author, have to invest a certain level of trust in your publisher. You have to believe they know what they’re doing, that they will make decisions based on what is best for your book, that they are current on what is hot in the market, and that their years of experience are more valuable than yours. If you don’t trust your publisher enough to title your book or design your cover, then you’re with the wrong publisher.

Have I answered your questions?

A Rose by Any Other Name…

Do you think authors need to stick with one genre to build readership? Do you think readers will read other works by an author in a different genre? Should authors use pen names if they jump around to different genres?

This is one of those “it depends” questions. There are pros and cons to both sides of the argument.

In the beginning of a career, I think it’s wise to stick with one genre, or perhaps two closely related genres (like suspense/horror; sci-fi/fantasy). It helps build readership. But sometimes authors get bored with that; or they have way too many ideas and want to branch out. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but it needs to be handled carefully. You & your publisher or agent should make the decision on pen names together, after weighing all the pros and cons.

Many authors write in several different genres successfully. However, most of them will have a different pen name for each genre—at least in the beginning. (Ex: Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb; Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels; Janette Rallison /Sierra St. James; Obert Skye/??-is he still keeping this a secret?)

I think this use of pen names is wise because yes, readers will read other genres by their favorite authors. Use of a pen name keeps the successful author’s name “safe” while they’re experimenting in other areas. For example, let’s say an author* is a hugely famous best-seller in sci-fi/fantasy. Then they decide to write a few romances and they stink, at least compared to the sff. So here’s what happens. Rabid fans of the sff read the romance and hate it. Next sff title comes out. The bad taste of the romance is lodged there in their memory. They may still buy that new title, but maybe they won’t wait in line on release day. And from the other direction, readers who like both romance and sff may stumble across the sub-par romance novels first, then be unwilling to give the sff a chance, thinking the quality of the writing will be the same.

Or let’s say someone is a well-known writer of sweet middle grade readers. Kids love them; parents trust them. Then they decide to write a racy YA novel. Past fans read it because of the author’s name. The little kids are shocked. Parents are outraged. Suddenly all books by this author are suspect and sales of the middle grade readers drop.

Now, if the second genre is as big a hit as their first, publishers will let it leak out that the two authors are one and the same, which then boosts sales of both genres as fans of each will try the other.

In the middle grade/racy YA example, I’d probably try to keep that a secret for as long as I could, although it didn’t seem to hurt Shel Silverstein (or is that an urban myth?).

From another marketing point of view, writing under a pen name is like starting out as a brand new author. You don’t have a following yet. The publisher is going to have to invest more in marketing the new book. That can be a pain. The upside is that the new book under the pen name is likely to be better than the author’s original first book, simply because of the experience the author has gained as a published writer. But the downside is some authors think they can write in a second (or third) genre, and they really can’t.

As a publisher, I don’t mind if an author writes in multiple genres, as long as they keep producing books in their stronger genre on a reasonable time frame. As a reader, I hate it when the next novel in a series is slow coming out because an author is off playing under another pen name. (cough-Robert-cough-Jordan)

Does this make sense?

*10 points to the first commenter who knows who I’m talking about.

Christmas in July

I am working on the final edits of a novel that takes place during Christmas time. It is not a “Christmas book” per se, but I’ve begun to wonder, because it’s my first book, if I ought to change the season for marketing reasons. Does the season a book takes place in have any bearing on a publisher accepting a first time novelist?

Not really. We might schedule the release date based on the season of the book, but that wouldn’t make any difference for acceptance.

I’m assuming there was a reason your book takes place during Christmas, so I’d say, no, don’t change it unless a publisher asks you to.

Behind the Scenes Acceptance Process

Can you tell me what happens when you receive my manuscript? Do you have a first reader that sifts through all the manuscripts and then passes on his/her picks to you? When does a manuscript go to outside readers? Do all publishers use committees to decide the fate of a manuscript? Who has the final say? Do you follow the same procedure with all manuscripts?

I have an assistant who does a pre-read and sorts them into piles–ones I will probably want to read and ones that I will probably reject. We’ve worked together for a long time, so she’s pretty accurate at guessing what my response will be. If she really likes something, I put it at the top of the pile.

I go through the rejection pile first because those are pretty obvious and there’s no need to keep those authors waiting. I write my own rejection letters–most of them are form letters, but sometimes I offer suggestions on what to improve.

The manuscript goes to outside readers if the in-house staff likes it enough to consider publishing it. We need to make sure it will appeal to a fairly wide spectrum of readers.

If they’re smart, publishers have some type of committee giving them input. Who is on that committee depends on the size of the company. It may be the readers or it may be a group of employees, or it may be an official committee which includes the finance and marketing departments.

Who has the final say? Depends on the company. It could be the head editor, the president, the marketing VP, or a majority vote of the committee. In my company, it’s usually a unanimous vote of the committee.

We follow the same procedure 99% of the time. Sometimes we’ll publish something that has a majority vote, but not very often.

Blogging 101—Extra questions

I have a blog site, but no one reads it. How do I attract an audience?

Read this post and all the comments.

Do you think it’s better to have a separate blog from your website or blog within your website? Or does it matter?

Whichever is easiest for you. But if your blog is separate from your website, make sure it has links back to your website that are obvious and easy to find.

Is there an advantage to blogging with others (i.e. Writers in Heels, Six LDS Writers and a Frog, etc.)?

Yes! More exposure. Their readers will read you on the group blog. If they like you, they’ll also start visiting your personal blog.

How do I [insert technical stuff here]?

With all the technical questions I’m getting, I’m starting to think maybe I should dump this blog and start one on blogging, etc. Oh, wait. That would make me a geek–a fate that should be avoided no matter what the cost. (sigh) Here are a few of the resource sites that I use:
Blogging Basics 101
Blogger Tips & Tricks
The Real Blogger Status

I’m fascinated that so many people can find time to not only write books/articles/stories, but also find the time to write consistently interesting and helpful blogs.

Priorities. It is Your Job as an author to promote yourself and your work.

I feel like I have nothing of interest to blog about. There are so many talented authors with so much more experience, why would anyone want to read something I’ve written on a blog? How can I offer anything of value to readers?

I’m sort of shocked by this question. The whole point of being a writer is that you have something burning inside, something to say. If you don’t have anything to say, then your novel won’t have much to offer either. If this is truly, truly how you feel, and not just a moment of discouragement, you shouldn’t be looking at writing as a career choice.

That’s all I have about blogs. On to the next question…

Blogging 101—Driving Readers to Your Site

I may not get all the blogging terminology correct here because I’m new to blogging myself. Also, I am not a geek—at least, not on Wednesdays. But you’ll be able to get the general concept behind these ideas.

The most important thing about having a blog is to get your name and writing style noticed. If people recognize your name on the cover of a book, they’re more likely to buy it. Also, because repeat visitors to your blog like you, when you announce your book, they’ll be very likely to run out and buy it. Or at least check it out from the library.

The blogging community is one of your biggest assets when it comes to driving traffic to your own blog site. Here are some ideas:

Find bloggers you like and ask them to trade links with you. You put their link in your sidebar; they’ll put your link in their sidebar.

Comment on blogs. Lots of them. And don’t do it anonymously! When you leave a comment, readers can click on your name to go to your profile and from there, they can click on your blog. That’s too many clicks for me, so I also suggest…

Create a signature with a link to your blog and post it at the bottom of every comment you leave.

Join blogging communities. There are gobs of things out there you can join. Some are referral blogs (what are these things called?) which are basically lists of blogs that focus on a particular topic or area, or whose writers fit a certain profile—like www.ldswomenblogs.blogspot.com which Josi so graciously told us about in her wise use of the comments section on this blog. Some blogs sponsor short term programs, like a book club or something, and will let you sign up and participate. Join as many of these as you can. Post comments to all the other member’s sites. (Please post your favorite blog communities in the comments section.)

Join forums. There are gobs and gobs of online forums. Join them. Post comments. Use your signature with a link back to your blog. (Please post your favorite forums in the comments section.)

Personal e-mail—use your signature here too. Every personal e-mail that you send out should have a link back to your blog. Your friends want to know about your blog. They like you. They’ll support you.

All of these ideas (and many others that I hope readers will suggest in the comments section of this post) will get people to visit your blog. Keeping them as regular readers is another thing altogether.

The most important factor in building a regular readership for your blog is GOOD WRITING! Interesting, unique, entertaining, informative.

Blogging 101—Settings, Part 3

Before I start on today’s list, I forgot a setting from yesterday. It’s under “Publishing.” Send Pings—Yes. This notifies the web crawlers that you’ve added new stuff to your blog. The more often you add stuff, the higher you move in the search engines.

Template: If you are new to blogging, stick with a standard template. Find something you like, something simple and clean. Some templates let you adjust more fonts and colors than others. Edit HTML only if you know what you’re doing. (Save your code first.)

Links: In your sidebar, link to your website and any other blogs you participate in. You can also link to blogs of friends and other authors and often they will agree to link to you as well.

Labels: This feature works like an index. It lets you create topic categories. It invites visitors to read all your posts on a particular topic. If you’re doing a personal/slice of life blog, limit your labels to a dozen; long lists are just…too long. Post them in your sidebar. (My list is too long, but I don’t care. I’m not doing this for promotional reasons but to make it easy for you to read about particular topics.)

Pictures: Use pictures in your posts and in your sidebar as much as you can. Pictures invite people to read your blog. Some people do a “Picture of the Day/Week” which they change daily/weekly. This keeps your site active and invites the web crawlers. (See note on Pings above.)

Other pictures that are a must on your sidebar are:

a profile image—an attractive photo of yourself, or at least a cute icon.
covers of your books—WITH LINKS to where they can be purchased.
icons for any programs/rings/circles/whatever that you are a member of (discussed in more detail tomorrow)

Archive: There are several ways you can set your archive. Some are space savers and you may be tempted to use them. Don’t. Use the hierachical method because it shows your Post Titles in the sidebar, at a glance. Like the title of your book, the titles of your posts are important. They should stimulate curiosity, interest, invite readers.

Hit Counter: There are several free hit counters out there. I recommend adding one early on. This helps you track visits to your site so you can know if what you’re doing is effective. You can have it be invisible or you can display it on your blog (as I do; scroll down to bottom of my sidebar). Set it to count unique visitors, not page loads. Set the interval to 24 hours.

Blogging 101—Settings, Part 2

I’m using Blogger as my resource for the order in which I talk about settings. I am only discussing the ones that directly effect using your blog as a marketing tool for your writing. In Blogger, many of these settings have a question mark beside them that you can click on for more info. If you use a blog host other than Blogger, it probably has similar settings, but they might call them something else.

BASIC
Add your Blog to our listings? Yes, you want to do this. A reader may find you by browsing Bloggers list.

Show Email Post links? Yes. This allows readers to easily e-mail your blog to their friends, making it more likely for them to come read other posts on your site. (If you’re worried about someone stealing your stuff, put a copyright notice at the top and/or bottom of every post.)

FORMATTING
Show # posts/days: Set this to at least 7. Visitors to your blog are a lot more likely to scroll down to read additional posts than they are to click a link.

Convert line breaks: Yes. This helps keep your post from running all together. In fact, do a double return at the end of each paragraph. This makes it nice and clean and easy to read.

COMMENTS
Show: Yes. Invite comments to your blog. People like to share their opinions. In fact, one of the best things that can happen is when your readers start a conversation between themselves in your comments section. That means they’re coming back, over and over again.

Who Can Comment? Unless you’re having a real problem with vicious posters, set this to allow everyone the ability to comment. You want to invite participation on your blog, not exclude people.

Backlinks: This allows people to link back to your blog from their blog. You very definitely want this; it increases your sphere of influence. Readers are much more likely to find your blog through a backlink than they are by simply surfing the Internet.

Show comments in a popup window? Yes. If a reader has to keep clicking to return to the main page, they will stop.

Enable comment moderation? Again, unless you are having trouble with vicious or nasty posters, this is not necessary. People want to see their comments posted immediately, not wait several days for you to check your e-mail, notice there’s a comment waiting, and approve it.

Show word verification for comments? Start your blog with this turned off. It’s annoying to have to type this stuff in and some people will not go to the trouble. If you start having problems with spammers, then you can turn it on.

Show profile images on comments? Yes. It’s fun to see the photos or icons that people use to represent themselves.

ARCHIVING Enable Post Pages? Post Pages give each of your posts their own unique web page, in addition to appearing on your blog’s front page.* YES! This makes it much easier for people to include links to a specific post on your blog within their blog. You want this.
*quoted from Blogger

SITE FEED/RSS FEED
You want people to subscribe to a feed from your site. This makes it much easier for them to see when you’ve added something new and they are much more likely to come back when you do.

Also, it lets people put your site feed on their blog, for example, in the sidebar. That allows visitors to their blog to see the title and/or first sentence of your newest post. This is a good thing.

I have three more posts about blogging and then I’m done. Tomorrow I’ll do Settings, Part 3, and talk about templates. Next I’ll talk about driving readers to your site. Last I’ll answer the questions I’ve received that don’t fall into these categories.

Blogging 101-Settings, Part 1

If you’re blogging for promotional reasons (and if you’re an author or wanna-be, that should be your #1 focus), there are a few settings and other things that will make this easier for you.

Domain name: Choose your domain name carefully because you cannot change it later. Most people will come to your blog through a link. If they like what they see, they will bookmark it and return that way or via RSS feed. But for those few who will be typing in your URL (like a publisher or agent), please pick something that is easy to remember and at least slightly professional—like your name. Or if your blog focuses on a theme, something that reflects that. i-am-a-disney-princess.blogspot.com is not a good idea.

Blog Title: This may or may not be different from your domain name. It’s the same here on my blog. The title is what appears in the header of your blog. You can be much more creative with your title than with your domain name. Still, you want to present a professional image.

Description: This is where you explain what your blog is or why you are doing it. For example: Dedicated to helping LDS authors successfully navigate the LDS publishing world.

Profile: Your profile shares with the world some of the details of who you are. A lot of people are hesitant about including these details and you do need to be careful. But anything that you would include in the author bio of your book would be just as safe here.

I suggest posting your photo because people like to see who they’re “talking” to. It makes you seem friendlier and more approachable—both attributes you want to cultivate as an author. If you really don’t want your photo there, use the cover of your book or an attractive icon or a piece of clip art (like mine).

Take advantage of the “Extended Info” to invite readers most likely to relate to your site. List areas of interest that correlate with the focus of your books. When they visit other blogs, readers will click on the key words that correspond with their personal interests and your blog will show up on the list.

Blogging 101-Getting Started

I’ve been inundated with questions about blogging, so I’ll be doing a short series of posts about where and when and how and all that jazz, with an emphasis on how best to use this to promote your writing career. This will be old hat for some of you who are experienced bloggers but I’m hoping you will jump in with your comments, opinions and tips.

Where to Blog:
If you have not yet started a blog, do a little research. Look at the blogs of people you know. Click on their blog roll (links to other bloggers) and notice what you like, what appeals to your eye.

There are several free or inexpensive blog hosting sites. The most popular are Blogger (this one; it’s free), LiveJournal (free), Word Press (free and subscription versions) and Typepad (starts at $4.95/month). [If you know of others you’d recommend, please post the URL in the comments section.]

Each of these blog hosting platforms have their advantages and disadvantages. I chose Blogger because it was free and easy, and because several friends used it and were willing to help me get going. [Comments on which host you chose and why would be appreciated.]

Start Simple:
Most blog hosts have a variety of templates you can use. Pick one that is clean and attractive. Stick with the basics while you’re learning. You can always fancy it up later on.

Blog Content:
There are many types of blogs, from a simple online diary to a full-fledged promotional focus. Here is a list of some blog types. Choose one that appeals to you or mix and match. It doesn’t really matter what type of blog you choose, as long as you remember that people will be judging you and your writing abilities by your blog. If you want to promote your writing, I’d suggest a slice of life, general interest or a blog about writing and/or books, rather than the online diary or rant style. You might also consider doing book reviews.

Before clicking “Post,” check spelling and grammar. Think about how your reading public and/or potential agents and publishers might react to what you’re saying. Are you projecting the image you want to present to the world? Will a publisher reading your blog see you as professional and careful with your words? Easy to work with? Positive attitude? Interesting? Will your readers find you friendly? Fascinating?

Be very careful not to plagiarize. If you “steal” from someone else’s blog, be sure to give them the credit and plenty of links back to their blog.

Be consistent. Post on a regular basis—daily or weekly. If you go too long between posting, readers will stop checking back.

Blogging for Readers

When do you think it’s important to establish a web presence? Before you ever have hope of being published, after acceptance of your manuscript, or when the book comes out?

Do you think a blog is sufficient for a web presence?

When do I think wanna-be writers should establish a web presence? YESTERDAY.

If your plan is to publish, start marketing yourself now. When I have an author tell me he/she has a blog that’s getting 100+ hits every day (that’s unique visitors, not page loads), and hosts a forum with over 100 members, and has a monthly newsletter that her loyal following subscribes to, I sit up and take notice.

Anyone who reads your blog (and returns to read again) is a potential book buyer. If they have a relationship with you–even a virtual one–they are more likely to buy your book. In fact, I was at the local LDS bookstore today and bought two books, neither of which I would have ever purchased had I not already read and liked the authors’ blogs.

A blog is sufficient up until your book is accepted. At that point, you’ll want to create an official author website.

Publishing on the Internet, Take Two

I was just thinking about authors’ websites and the practice of them posting the first chapter of their books on their sites (or not,) when I remembered the Baen free library. Sci fi publisher Jim Baen has encouraged “his” authors to let him take their out-of-print books(1) and put them up on his website in their entirety for anybody to read. You don’t have to pay anything or even sign up. The premise is that this is free advertising. You can read an author’s older works for free and decide if you like his or her style before buying something that is current. According to author Eric Flint, this actually works great. I was wondering if this would be a viable option in the LDS market.(2) Because I live far away from any LDS bookstores, I rely on the web to give me the information I need to help me choose the books I buy. Is there anything in the dreaded contracts that would prevent authors from putting an entire, out-of-print book up on their personal websites?(3) Better yet, is there anything stopping a publishing company from making their own free library?(4) Or is there anything stopping them from putting up as many as three chapters from each new book on their website, so that readers outside the range of brick and mortar stores can browse and make better-informed decisions?(5) (I just checked a random Baen book, new for April, and there were seven chapters free for perusal!)

Check it out at http://www.baen.com to see how it works. In my opinion, it really is the next best thing to being there.(6)

I’ve already discussed this before, here and here. But this practice is becoming more and more common, so I’m revisiting it. Also, there is a difference between a publisher and/or a published author (with their publisher’s permission) choosing to post excerpts of out-of-print books on the Internet, and non-published authors publishing works on the internet for critique.

1. If a book is out of print, there is nothing wrong with the publisher and/or author (with their publisher’s pemission) posting it in its entirety on the Internet. I think it’s a great idea, for the very reasons you listed. As a publisher, I’d also make it available as a POD title, if someone wanted to order it after reading it in electronic format. The only caveat is, make sure you plaster copyrights all over it. Many people assume that if it’s on the net, it’s public domain and they are free to re-publish and sell or distribute it as they wish. This is not true.

2. Of course it’s viable. And again, a great idea. However, it’s probably a low priority for many publishers because it won’t be a big money-maker and there will be some expense involved in setting it up. (Hmmm, I think I’ll bring this up at our next staff meeting.)

3. Depends on the publisher and their contract. If you’re an author with an out-of-print book, make sure you get permission from your publisher before doing this. And if they’re fine with it, make sure you put links to your in-print titles at the end of each chapter, something along the lines of “If you’re enjoying this book, check out the author’s other titles at…)

4. No. (See answer #2)

5. No. In fact, that’s a very good marketing idea. However, if the publisher has more than just a few titles in print, they’ll probably have their authors do it on their own websites, just because of the time and web space involved. Publishers should provide the files for the author to upload to their sites.

6. I agree.

Review Copies

Realistically, how many copies of a book does a publisher give away for possible reviews? Does the author have any say or input in these decisions?

And the definitive answer is: it depends.

It depends on the type of book (fiction vs non-fiction), the genre, the initial buzz and excitement about the book, the budget, how many copies we printed in the first print run, the number of reviewers we have a positive relationship with, the number and size of papers/local magazines in the authors home town, when the book is released (near Christmas or other related holidays or events), how much energy the author is going to put into promoting the book, what kind of mood the marketing department is in, whether it’s raining outside,…

The author may or may not have a say in it. We make up our list and if the author wants us to add to it, they have to make a good argument for it. For example, let’s say the author lives in Kaysville, UT. We would send review copies to the Salt Lake City papers. If the author wanted us to send a review copy to his/her local Kaysville paper, we’d probably decline, UNLESS a bookstore in Kaysville was going to do a launch party/signing for the author and the paper was agreed to do a timely and positive review in connection with that launch.

Another issue we have with review copies is when authors want us to send them to bloggers. (I’m not talking about online reviewers, such as Jennie Hansen at Meridian. I’m talking about non-professional bloggers.) We only consider this if the blog is targeted to our audience (LDS readers) AND if they get a respectable number of hits per day AND if we get pre-approval/kill vote on the post.

If an author wants to send the book to more reviewers than we’re willing to send to, they’re always free to do so using their own comp copies.