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Copyright © 2008 by Open Horizons and John Kremer
Last modified: 7/12/08
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Promoting Your Books
Selling Your Novels
Using Fiction to Sell Fiction
“The top results in a Google search for Jayne Dennis are a
Web page with a photo of the B-list actress posing on a red carpet, and a
fan site full of snapshots and gossip about Ms. Dennis's relationship with
actor Keanu Reeves.
“The twist: Jayne Dennis doesn't exist—not in the
real world, at least. She is a figment of writer Bret Easton Ellis's
imagination and a character in his upcoming novel, Lunar Park. The
woman pictured on JayneDennis.com
is actually a model, and readers who click around on the site can eventually
find a link to the publisher's official site for the book.
“The fake Web sites came from Farah Miller, manager
of new media at Mr. Ellis's U.S. publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, and by the
book's U.K. publisher, Picador. Ms. Miller has also created a profile for
the protagonist's teenage son Robby on social-networking site MySpace.com,
and plans to solicit help from Mr. Ellis's fans to maintain it.”
Thus begins an article on Using Fiction to Sell Fiction in Wall Street
Journal Online. To read the entire story, which features some new ways
to market novels, go to:
online.wsj.com.
First Time Novelists:
How to Get Attention
I just read a great post on the
Media Bistro blog about how one first-time novelist sold her book.
I think she offers good advice, especially her first point:
I submitted my short story “Adults At Home” to twenty-eight literary
journals before it was accepted by the Indiana Review. I couldn't believe what
happened next. Three agents contacted me -- proving the fact that agents
actively seek clients, and they really do read literary journals. I had only
just started writing TWINS, but I responded to the agents' queries, thanking
them for their interest. Over the course of the next two years, one persistent
young agent (Alex Glass of Trident Media Group) stayed in regular contact with
me. When I finished TWINS, I sent the manuscript directly to him.
I know too many talented writers who don't submit their work. This drives me
crazy. It's a simple fact: you can't get published if you don't put yourself
out into the world. Buy manila envelopes, print labels, make copies, get busy.
Amazing things can happen as a result.
To read her entire post, check out:
Media Bistro.
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John Kremer, Book Promotion Expert
John is the author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books and editor of the Book Marketing Update newsletter.
Amazon.com Secrets
The Inside Secret of Book Marketing
An Interview with John Kremer
Q&A: Selling
Children's Books
My websites:
BookMarket.com
The Self-Publishing Hall of Fame
JohnKremer.com
JohnKremer.net
JohnKremer.org
CelebrateToday.com
Hot Times,
Cool Places
WayBackWords.com
My blogs:
Promoting Your Books
Hot Times,
Cool Places Blog
Open Horizons
P O Box 2887
Taos NM 87571
575-751-3398
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Novel Editors and Publishers
On my web site at bookmarket.com, I feature
more than 1,400 editors and publishers of first novels, children's books,
business books, health books, sports books, reference/humor titles,
cookbooks, and religion/spirituality. Those lists are free for anyone to
review. Among the editors are more than 400 who have bought a first novel in
the past two years. If you are looking to sell reprint rights to your novel,
check out my BookMarket web site at
http://www.bookmarket.com/newnovels.htm.
Speak Up to Sell Books
Wall Street Journal recently contrasted two new fiction
releases: The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova and The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks.
According to the Journal, the reasons for the great success of The
Historian vs. the more modest success of The Traveler were, as follows:
- Kostova's excellence at public speaking (Twelve Hawks, on the other hand, refused to be interviewed or tour)
- Her January prepublication tour
- Her publication tour
- Her ability to connect with booksellers, especially independents
- The fact that a tale about vampires is generally more appealing than a science fiction novel.
If you get out and speak — and make friends by creating relationships —
then you will be successful as a novelist. Anything less simply won't create
the magic word-of-mouth for your novel.
Note: John Twelve Hawks is a pseudonym for a man who lives off the grid —
with no cell phone, credit cards, or other ways to be traced. Hence, his refusal
to be interviewed or tour for his book.
His book is set in a world of constant surveillance where rebel warriors
called Harlequins defend prophet-like people called Travelers. Doubleday paid
over $1 million for the book, which had a first printing of 190,000 copies. It
is the first in a trilogy that has already been sold in 18 countries and which
is set to be turned into a film by Universal Pictures. It failed to crack the
top 10 of the New York Times list and rapidly fell off the bestseller
list.
Promotion for Fiction Writers
If you write fiction, you need to read this interview with Joe Konrath, a mystery writer:
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/investing/20050726b1.asp.
He's a relatively new author: two books published, a third at the publisher,
and a fourth on the way. All featuring the same character Jacqueline "Jack"
Daniels. I'm going to have to check his novels out. The interview made them
seem like funny and involving reads.
He is a novelist who knows that promotion is an important part of the game.
He spends 20% of his time writing and 80% promoting his books. You don't
have to follow his example to be a successful author, but you do have to put
some percentage of your time into promotion, whether it's 80% like Joe or 20%.
Web Trailers: Great Online Promotions for Novels
Do you want to see an incredible introduction to a book? One that makes you
want to read the novel at the same time it entertains you? Then check out this
web trailer (it's for The Wheelwright's Son by Michael Alan):
http://www.minefallspress.com/wheelVid/wheelwright/play.asp. Also check out
this novel trailer (it's for Willforce by Michael Alan, again very
clever):
http://www.minefallspress.com/wheelVid/willforce/play.asp.
If you'd like to know more about this web trailer technique (using Flash),
check out
http://www.minefallspress.com/trailermill.
You can also view other such trailers at http://www.vidlit.com.
These trailers could evolve into an incredible marketing tool and,
eventually, into an incredible new medium for publishing. This is your chance to
get in on the ground floor of a new book promotion and publishing format.
I can tell you this. The web trailers created for Alan's books made me want to read them.
Web Trailers on the Cheap
Martin Bertram, author of Vanity of Vanities, sent me a link to his
trailer. According to Martin, “This was very inexpensive for me and I think it
turned out well. I got a grad student in graphics/animation who needed a project
for his coursework to do it for $50, plus I paid $150 for the graphics/3D
models, $75 for a voice actor to do the 3-minute voice track, and $50 for the
royalty-free soundtracks. All in all it cost about $325.”
If you have a moment, check it out on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdz2uvaBxe4.
Now I don't think that his book trailer is the best one I've ever seen. And his
voice talent was not talented. Indeed, the narration devalued the rest of the
trailer. But, for the price, it was a decent trailer. I'll be interested to get
a report back from Martin later on how whether or not the trailer helped him to
sell any books.
The Author Connection
Reader's Suggested Web Site: "A service that you should add to your site that has
worked very well for me is
http://www.TheAuthorConnection.com -- This site provides a network of
sites that charge a resonable bundled fee with 100% money back if they don't
deliver. I've had 4 authors use them and all 4 were very, very happy. I thing
AC should charge more for what they offer but in talking with one of the
owners they said it's against what they are about. They don't gouge. You should really push this company."
Well, so here I do. Check them out. It seems like a reasonable program.
Marketing Novels: Book about Genre Novels
Jeffrey Marks, author of Intent to Sell: Marketing
the Genre Novel, asked that I remind my fiction readers that his book
exists. The book was nominated for Anthony and Macavity awards in the mystery
community so it must be pretty good. Check out the book at
http://www.jeffreymarks.com.
The book, published by Deadly Alibi Press, sells for $18.99. Here is a short excerpt from the book:
When I received the advance for my first book, I invested the money into promotions. I’ve known a myriad of
authors who have spent their advances on cars, appliances, or to quit their day
job. Then when they realize that book promotions require a certain amount of
cash, they have to dip into their own pocketbooks. Even so, by then the window
of opportunity might be closed for the book. That’s the reality of publishing.
You’ll need to promote yourself. No one is as committed or concerned about your
career as you are. So you’ll be your number one resource in making your book sell thousands of copies.
Novels: How to Market the Suckers?
Question: Bowker
did a book review of my novel. This review is now recorded in their Books In
Print. But, except for libraries, no sales traction. Yet. Where do I go from here? Any thoughts? Your charges?
John's Answer: You need to get reviewed
in the legitimate fiction review places such as the New York Times,
Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, as well as in
cultural magazines such as Vanity Fair, Entertainment Weekly, People,
Time, Newsweek, etc. If your novel is literary, also submit your book
for review with the major literary journals. If your novel is genre fiction
(romance, SF, mystery), then submit it to the appropriate review media for that genre.
Plus you have to do some touring of bookstores. People need to hear you
reading from your work. They have to be able to sample it safely. Your
reading to them offers them that chance. And, once they've met you, they are
far more likely to buy your novel.
That's my short free answer.
Book Author Signings on Your Own
The following post is excerpted from a post by R. Michael Johnson at his blog:
Another example is an author I know who lives in Florida. He went in to
his local mall’s Borders bookstore every day for a month trying to
convince them to allow him to hold an event there. (I wouldn’t
recommend nagging a manager that much, by the way.) After rejection
upon rejection upon rejection, the author finally decided to take the matter into his own hands.
He contacted the mall itself and rented a small kiosk for a day (you
know the kind—you can buy two pairs of sunglasses for $10 or very
cheap-looking jewelry from these wheeled carts). Upon securing the
kiosk—for about a hundred bucks—the author set up (you guessed it)
directly across from the Borders store in the mall. Aside from the
obvious joy it must have done his heart, this author also proved a very
big point and struck a giant blow for the viability of all self-published books.
Upon seeing a crowd gather outside his store, the store manager asked
the author what he was doing. “Holding a book signing,” came the
response. To which the manager turned and walked back into his store.
After the second hour of a steady stream of people walking past his
store to get to the kiosk, the manager invited the author inside for
his book signing. He has since held a number of additional signings at the store—all with great success.
Once again, a little patience, perseverance, and some thinking outside the box led to great success.
Literary Agents for Short Stories
Question: What is the most effective, efficient and expeditious way of getting these
stories in front of a literary agent? The agent must belong to the Association
of Authors' Representatives (AAR) with an eye toward short fiction. My question has three parts:
1) I have written a substantial block of short stories.
2) I need to "get in front" of an agent with these stories.
3) The agent must be a member of AAR.
John's Answer: 1) Your story collection title is great: Zen for Tough Guys.
2) Here are some agents that have sold short story collections in the past year
(from my database of 1500 literary agents). Note that these addresses might now
be out-of-date.
Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Agency, Henry
Dunow, 22 West 23rd Street, 5th Floor, New York NY 10010. Email:
henry@dunowcarlson.com. Web:
dunowcarson.com. Sold rights to Paul
Zakrzewski's anthology Lost Tribe to Harper. Sold rights to Gregory
Spatz's short story collection Wonderful Tricks to Mid-List Press.
John Hawkins & Associates, Matthew Miele,
71 West 23rd Street #1600, New York NY 10010-4101; 212-807-7040; Fax:
212-807-9555. Email: jhamiele@aol.com.
Sold rights to Matthew Derby's Super Flat Times short story collection
to Back Bay Books. Sold rights to a short story anthology Lit Riffs to Pocket.
Jonathan James Agency, Jonathan James.
Email: jameslit11@hotmail.com.
Focus on quality literary fiction and short story collections.
Lukeman Literary Management, Noah Lukeman,
President, 101 North 7th Street, Brooklyn NY 11211; 718-599-8988; Fax:
775-264-2189. Email: lukelit@aol.com or
rights4@lukeman.com. Web:
lukeman.com. Sold rights to Phyllis
Moore's debut short story collection, A Compendium of Skirts, to Carroll & Graf.
Regal Literary, Peter Steinberg, 27 West
20th Street #1103, New York NY 10011-3707; 212-807-0888; Fax: 212-807-0461.
Sold rights to a novel and short story collection by Brad Watson to Norton.
Sold rights to Cathy Day's first collection of interrelated stories The
Circus in Winter to Harcourt.
Trident Media Group, Jenny Bent, 41
Madison Avenue, 36th Floor, New York NY 10010; 212-262-4810; Fax:
212-262-4849. Email:
jbent@tridentmediagroup.com. Web: tridentmediagroup.com. Sold
rights to a novel and short story collection by Ann Cummins to Houghton Mifflin.
3) I believe that the agents listed above are all members of AAR. I do know
that they are all reputable agents, among the best in the business.
Selling Film Rights: Movies Producers List
Question: Do you have a list of movie producers who I can pitch my novel to as a movie?
The book was published by the small publisher PublishAmerica. -- Mark Mills, author of To Protect the Innocent
John's Answer: I have a list of producers
and production companies that have bought movie rights in the past year, but I
don't yet have addresses for most of them.
Besides, you don't pitch willy-nilly when you pitch movie rights. You target
specific producers, directors, actors, screenwriters, or production companies
depending on what they have done before and what they might be planning to do
in the future. You would never want to mass pitch a movie.
I also offer a list of agents who sell movie rights. They pitch to specific
producers and companies. That list is part of the Literary, Foreign, and
Subsidiary Rights agents file I sell for $30.00 via email.
Reader Success:
He's Fine ... But Is He Saved?
“Things are still going great on this end, 10,000 copies in print so far
(6500 sold) and it's only been out six months. One of my national
distributors, Midpoint Trade, secured an end cap promotion with Barnes &
Nobles (they purchased 600 books for 113 stores nationwide) and Borders and Waldenbooks asked for 3000 (1500 each).
“So things are off and running, however demand is exceeding cash flow, as
you know most distributors pay in 60-90 days (one distributor owes for 200
books and the invoice is 5 months old—and I know they sold out of my books
because they asked for 300 more when I had to remind them they owed for the
first 200), then there's the cost of ongoing promotions and book tours
(phew!). But, other than that, things are great! I'm selling at TD Jakes' MegaFest in Atlanta in August.
“Thanks for all your email tips, and any other info you may have would be greatly appreciated. God bless you!”
— Kim Brooks. Web: http://www.KimontheWeb.com.
John's Comments: Her novel sales are
going great. But she does have a cash flow problem—as do many smaller
publishers. What can you do about a cash-flow problem? The key is have more
direct sales to customers so you have a steady income while you wait for distributor payments.
This means sales from your web site as well as sales after talks and
speeches you give as well as sales to catalogs, corporations, and
associations. In Kim's case, sales to churches should also be a good market
that she can develop locally and then spread out regionally and then
nationally. Most of these sales can be made with Net 30 or direct payments so
you don't have a long lag time for incoming money.
Her sales at TD Jakes' event should be good, but she could also be selling
direct to consumers at any church festivals or events.
Meanwhile, I always appreciate any God Bless You's that I receive. I can
use all the prayers and blessings anyone wants to offer. In turn, God bless
all of you for reading my ezine and for your efforts in selling good books.
You are always in my prayers. And since my dogs also think well of you, you
all are doubly blessed.
Interview with Jeff Rivera, Novelist
Forever My Lady is the award-winning
novel that tells the story of a Latino juvenile delinquent that turns his life
around. Originally self-published, the book was picked up by Grand Central and
is now available in bookstores or on his website at
http://www.ForeverMyLady.com.
Q: You took a very unconventional
route to get your novel out there. What challenges did you encounter along the
way?
A: I would go to the Self-Publisher's Hall of Fame webpage on your site
and I would visualize myself as one of those people who got picked up by a
major publisher. I typed in my name on that list and printed it out because I
wanted it to happen so bad. I had no idea the prejudice that some people had
to self-published books, but strangely enough not from the publishing
industry. It was more from the literary snobs and writers that were against
non-traditional ways of publishing. I think the greatest challenge was
sticking with the book when I didn't see the results I wanted to see right
away. But I was passionate about the story an believed it had to get out
there.
Q: Why do you think Warner Books/Grand Central picked it up so fast?
A: I knew my market. I knew exactly who the book belonged to. In my
case it was Latinos, but more specifically those interested in urban Latino
literature. Once I figured that out I was able to gear my pitches to people
who were interested in serving that market as well. Also I really worked to
make the book the best it possibly could be. I would take walks along the
beach and visualize people reading the book and feel them really getting into
it. I did the same thing when visualizing the right editor. And quite frankly
I had what they were looking for.
Q: You have received thousands of fan letters and emails about
Forever My Lady from people all over the world, why are so many people
excited about the book?
A: I think it's a universal story that everyone can relate to. Everyone
knows what it's like to love someone so much or want something so bad -- and
that person or thing doesn't want you back. And in terms of my particular
market, I think they felt like, "Finally, there's a story for us."
Q: Would you suggest people self-publish as a way to break in? If so,
why?
A: Absolutely, it's not the best way necessarily but neither is
traditional publishing. I would say, try traditional first. If that doesn't
work, go for it. Know the pros and cons. Then go for it 100%.
Q: What would you do over again if you could?
A: In retrospect nothing, because I learned so much along the way and I
can help people now and tell them what to avoid. The whole thing has been a
rewarding experience even when I was in bed crying from not selling a million
books in the first week.
Poetry Books: Best Options
Question from reader: I'm 15 years old
and love writing. It's my true passion. I write free verses, modern poetry. I
was just looking for a good publisher. Could you please assist me through
this? I really want to bring out new poetry to the audience, because people
seem to have forgotten poetry and go for Harry Potter or other fiction genres.
I really know I can do this, and will try my best. I'm still writing and have
around 20 free verses by now, obviously I'll continue.
John's Answer: For poetry, a book only sells if an author actually goes
out and does a lot of readings. Most poets don't want to do that but, if you
do, you can be successful as a published poet, although you might have to
self-publish.
You can easily self-publish your book -- and much more quickly than any
publisher -- by using a print-on-demand service. See
http://www.bookmarket.com/ondemand.htm for a great list of such services.
Among others, you can try Infinity Publishing, Iuniverse, or Lulu.com.
Aim to publish a book of poems that's about 60 to 80 pages long. Once you
publish your book of poems, you can sell the books at your poetry readings.
Start by checking out your local library author programs, local bookstores,
and places around your city that do open poetry readings. Most cities have
anywhere from 5 to 10 open poetry nights around the city hosted by various
venues (coffee houses, bars, comedy clubs, etc.).
Also, check out my story about an author that is selling lots of books --
poetry and a first novel -- on the subways of New York:
http://openhorizons.blogspot.com/2007/04/ selling-books-on-nyc-subway_29.html.
As a 15-year-old, of course, you'd want at least one of your parents along if
you were to ride the subways of New York every day.