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First things first, for the person who came to this site with the search phrase “i want to read tales of the otori for free” I have an answer for you, it’s called the library. You can find the Tales of the Otori series and many other fine, fabulous books for absolutely no money down…unless you have library fines. That I can’t help you with.
Secondly, I want this book, however I will probably have to follow the library advice I gave above for currently the funds are lacking. Ms. Kate Rothwell, add this one to your suggestions list.
Now on to the real business. On the “Online Publicity Kits: Do You Have One?” column Lynda Hilburn asked, “I have a question about the press kit. Everything you talked about is on my website, but I don’t have a specific button called “press kit.” Is it enough that all my materials are accessible?”
You do not need a specific button called press kit, no. Your site is laid out in such a way that if you wanted to create a downloadable PDF file on your bio page you could, but it is not necessary. Instead you should have all this information saved on your computer in a Word or PDF document that you can copy (the text and the hotlinks) into an email or just attach the document along with the pictures to your email. Save the jpegs for when you know you will be hosted on the other site so as to avoid getting sent directly to the trash folder. If you wanted your trailer included in a guest column or interview, you would send that link along with anything else you thought the writer might need. Given that most bloggers I know don’t reside in basements, but actually work full time jobs as well as blog, anything you can provide to make their job easier the better. So keep a file on hand on your desk top just in case.
Lynda’s question and my own column got me thinking about the role of Press Releases/Publicity Statements on the internet. For me they often seem to lose their impact when all I get from a subject line is “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.” That’s good to know, but what is for immediate release? Why should I care?
The impact of the title line is lost because I’m not even tempted to open the email.
Of course, I’m an odd duck, so I want to hear your opinion. Have any of you received emailed Press Release/Publicity Statements that worked? How’d they do it? Have any of you written one that has received a good response?
As always, interested in what you have to say.
Bottom Shelf Books, a site that looks at “picture books from a somewhat grown-up perspective,” has a really amusing two-part interview up with the characters from Punk Farm by Jarrett J. Krosoczka.
Chronicle Books has a blog, and I know I’m probably the last to hear about it, but I thought I’d pass the information along to the rest of you. Go over and see pictures of their new offices, get recipes from upcoming cookbooks, and giggle at their customer letters.
This is old news from July 30th, but it bears rereading: Jean Marie Pierson talks “Getting Published: Insights from a Book Contracts Insider.”
If you didn’t make it to ComicCon you can read, watch and hear all about it from this collection of bloggers, podcasters, videos and message boards.
Bookselling This Week talks book displays with the good people of BookPeople.
Oh, Amazon rankings, it appears like any system you can be manipulated. Not surprisingly you were spoken over and over again at DPI as a way to gage interest in a book after a big interview or article has hit the public.
Chick Lit Review has their new online issue out.
The Man Booker Longlist is out too.
And proof the Oregon Trail game continues to live on in people’s hearts and minds.
The speakers at the Denver Publishing Institute ranged over a wide variety of topics from copy-editing to magazine publishing to college publishing to marketing and more(all of which I hope to touch on in the next few weeks), but today I’m going to focus on the world of publicity. Our faculty member for this presentation was Scott Manning (of Scott Manning & Associates) who gave a wonderful presentation complete with examples of publicity work he’s done in the past.*
While Scott had a lot to say on the state of publicity**—the who you know aspect, the importance of targeting your audience, and using the combination of new media and old to find success for your book—I’m going to focus on something that occurred to me during his presentation: getting inside the head of journalists.
What he meant was, to get your book covered by the press you need to give the reporters everything they could possibly need. How does your book relate to news they are covering or what is going on today? How is it relevant? What do you need to provide for a story to be spun from the platform your book provides?
Once you know these answers, you build your publicity statement and kit accordingly.
I’m not telling you anything that you haven’t heard before. Obviously this is easier to do for nonfiction since not many fiction authors can claim to be an expert in the field of study they write about or one that can get them on the news, but that does not mean that you can’t take the concept and apply it to your own book.
Specifically I want to apply it to how you represent yourself and your book online.
Why online? The future of a successful will become more and more dependent on the successful mix of New and Old Media. With the shrinking of review sections, etc, New Media (the internet) allows the author and publicist to find other forums to better target their audience, and enough coverage can gain Old Media attention. In the reverse, massive Old Media attention often triggers New Media’s interest.
New and Old Media work on different schedules though. A successful Old Media campaign means having all reviews and mentions of the book coincide with the release date. If the review or interview drops too early, the people who go into the store and are told your book is not out yet will be just as likely to forget about it as they are to try again, something every publisher wishes to avoid.
Unlike with Old Media, you do not want to hold off until publication day to get people online talking about your book. A well-placed Amazon link means that a reader can easily add it to their wish list or pre-order the title. An early review can generate buzz with each person who comments mentioning how much they want this book, or how they’ve already pre-ordered (and you want this, you want this bad. Readers like reassurance they are spending their money on something they will love, and they get this by seeing others excited about the upcoming release).
Also, to successfully manipulate the Google algorithm you and your book need to have created some sort of backlog of information. You need to have a website that is coded correctly so that it comes up on the first page. You need to start getting your name out there pre-publication.
Which brings me to why you need an online publicity kit.
(Eventually I do get to my point.)
Say you see a call go up for guest bloggers here on Bookseller Chick. Knowing that I’m interested on the changes in the publishing industry, the bookseller/author relationship, the writing process, and the world of your book (and how you came up with it), you would ideally email me with something on one of these topics. Since we’re working in an ideal world here, let’s assume that I got back to you immediately with a date and time for column publication.
Excellent, but what do you want to go with your column? What does this blogger know about you?
I mean, we would all like to assume (me included) that I’m going to have enough time to do my homework on your background to come up with some sort of intro, but the truth is that I often get these posts ready in the morning when I don’t have a ton of time to go searching for links and definitive information.
Enter your online publicity kit.
When you send back your column you should also include:
- An author’s bio
- A (small) jpeg of your cover
- An author photo if you want one included
- A link to your website
- Links to any other places you’ll be doing interviews/columns (as well as dates if you are doing a virtual tour)
- Links to any reviews you may have received
- Links to your book on Amazon, B&N, Borders, Powells or any other place you want your readers to shop
- Jpegs of past book covers if you want those included
Seems like a lot, doesn’t it? Kinda feels like you are doing all the work for this other person (me), but the truth is that this is the only way you can guarantee that everything you want is included and shows up correctly. I automatically default to Amazon when I’m linking books, but maybe you would rather have people shop at Powells or your local Independent. I don’t always have the time to pull together all the information I want to on an author, and I don’t have any idea what you are doing or writing next.
You should also keep all this stuff fresh on your site. Doing an interview or guest blog does no good if you don’t link to it in a place where people can find it. Receiving an excellent online review means nothing if it gets mentioned once and disappears into the archives of your blog. These things need to be easy for your readers to find. With most newspapers making their articles accessible online, this gives you a chance to place New and Old Media side by side. People can read your book’s review in the LA Times online as well as check out what different readers had to say. People can check out articles and op-ed pieces you’ve written, and then check out your online interviews and opinion pieces.
The internet (and your standing on Technorati, Ice Rocket, and all the search engines) is based on how many people link back to you, so you need to get out there and you need to do it early. You need to become the online authority on you and your book so that when little ol’ me comes along, totally in love with your last novel and wanting to interview you (or ask you to write a column), I have all the information I need available directly from your site.
Questions? Thoughts?
I realize that I’ve rambled on, and I’m willing to focus in on any one point and expand if asked (or follow you off on an unrelated tangent).
Tell me what you think.
*(Scott gets double points because past publicity work meant getting Mark Bowden on the Colbert Report, and that meant we got to watch a clip.)
**For those of you who might be unclear on the subject, publicity differs from marketing in that it is the act of getting something for “nothing.” “Nothing” gets quotations marks because really what you are trading on connects and information instead of money, unlike with marketing where you are spending funds on tchochkes and advertising and co-op space.
The coffee has yet to kick in and I’m a little weirded out by how affected I am by the humidity after the glorious Denver dryness, but, all in all, I’m happy to be back in Portland. The program was fabulous and the people wonderful, but I needed to get back to my own stuff. Dorm rooms don’t really promote a warm environment, you know?
I’m still mulling over the best way to sum up the program because the topics ranged widely over the whole publishing field and I’m not sure that all of it will be that interesting to you. Not to mention if there was a PowerPoint presentation involved and the lights were turned off, I got a serious case of the nods, which is not very conducive to note taking.
I’ve set aside today to get serious with my three-hole-punch to organize my notes into one cohesive whole, so that tomorrow we can launch into the Denver Publishing recap (as well as off-topic discussions on what occurred to me while I was listening to speakers). If you have any questions about the subjects I bring up, or on the program as a whole, please let me know.
Until later then, I must unpack all the stuff I managed to collect in a month’s time. Thank goodness I drove because I hate to think what I would have been charged for trying to get this all on a plane.
Sorry for the radio silence. I’ve got two lovely notebooks full of notes just waiting to be turned into columns on the publishing industry. The Institute continues to be wonderful, but just so you don’t get the impression that I’ve been slacking here are a few links involving me, things of interest, and frequent commenters here at BS.
Proof of my non-slacker status:
My column “The Proper Care and Feeding of Booksellers (and How It Can Work for You)” is up over at Romancing the Blog. The column is not genre specific (for those of you who break out in hives at the thought of being called Romance) and continues my campaign to get authors to bring food when bribing booksellers.
My review of 13 Little Blue Envelopes, a young adult novel by Maureen Johnson, is up at Paperback Reader.
Things of Interest:
Booksquare has a very interesting column up called, “The World is Not Flat,” in which she discusses the theories raised by Andrew Keen’s book, The Cult of the Amateur. Booksquare focuses mainly on Keen’s argument that “Keen’s primary argument seems to be that the Web 2.0 revolution is destroying the guardians of Old Media,” and whether or not this is a bad thing. I find the discussion interesting when compared with the comments Scott Manning, of Scott Manning and Associates, made when he taught our class on publicity. Among other points, he talked about the blending of New Media and Old, and how the best publicity campaigns use both to build momentum. Newspapers pick up internet trends, publicists use the internet to target their niche markets and forward on print articles, and discussions evolve from both forms in both forms. Thoughts?
Since I’ve posted a link to a review, it seems only right to also link to Book/Daddy as he highlights Gail Pool’s book, Faint Praise: The Plight of Book Reviewing in America. An example of Web 2.0 examining print without bloodshed.
And in the realm of completely random (when compared to the previous topics under this heading), Bookshelves of Doom has been designing bags featuring old book covers. Let it be the ultimate of your library/bookshopping accessories. I know a couple of people I would buy the Doctor Who bag for.
Cool, non-slacking frequent commenter topics:
Marta Acosta will be hosting an interview with those Smart Bitches Candy and Sarah later today, and among other things they’ll be discussing “blog vs. print reviewers, romance and genre fiction, gender in writing, [and] their feelings about humor.” A wide range of topics for all.
The Written Nerd continues to outline her dream bookstore, and I must say I love her vision. Brooklyn will be lucky to have it.
So this little book came out at midnight on Friday, something called Harry Potter. Maybe you’ve heard of it? Since I didn’t have to work it this year–and I’m still trying to weasel my way out of any reading promises I may have made in the mistaken belief that book seven would take a lot longer to come out*–I attended Hairspray instead of any HP parties and then went home, but I know many people didn’t given the 8.3 million sold statistic being quoted by Scholastic.
How many of you bought a copy this weekend? Did you do so at a midnight party, the next day, or without a reservation at your local grocery store?
Have you finished it yet?
I want to hear your stories (not spoilers) on who gave the best party, who totally forgot your reservation (and how they handled that), and whether or not it was worth it. In return I’ll see if I can get my hands on a picture of me dressed as a witch for our HP 6 event.
In unrelated news, I’ve joined Facebook and have been playing with its new Shelfari application to keep track of the books I’ve bought, received for free or read here at the Publishing Institute. I’m interested to hear how people think Shelfari measures up to LibraryThing.
*I was basing my assumptions on Jordan’s track record, bad me.
No, peeps are not getting the books (think how sticky they would make the pages), you are. Specifically those of you picked by the random number generator: Random Ranter (Tied to the Tracks) and Barb (First Person Plural). If y’all can email me at the address in the purple box in the right hand column I’ll make sure you get your books.
Sorry for the delay in making this announcement.
Christine Fletcher has the distinction of being one of the few people I’ve actually met in person after years of interacting on this blog. A wonderful woman (who allowed me to use WAL*MART as an excuse for my egregious lateness), she also has the distinction of having visited my store back in those days of my anonymity. I can still remember the Boss Lady telling me how I’d just missed this great author by ten minutes as she pointed out the newly signed copies of Tallulah Falls.
It is with great pleasure that I post Christine’s guest blog today and I hope you enjoy her thoughts on writing, life and the second novel.
~*~
The Year of the Second Novel
My first young adult novel, Tallulah Falls, debuted in May 2006. Around the same time, my agent negotiated a deal for my second book. I was so giddy, I practically floated. After twelve years of writing, I couldn’t help but feel that I’d finally gained the summit…and the view was mighty fine.
I soon discovered what every author finds out: publication, exciting as it is, is only the first peak. Ahead: the entire Himalayan range. Oxygen! Quick!
First, there was the mysterious world of book promotion. Promotion involves a whole set of skills radically different from writing, different even from agent searches and conference schmoozing and other steps on the road to publishing. Let’s just say it’s been a steep learning curve, and I’m still hauling my keister up it. Readings, contests, meeting local booksellers,* mailing postcards, visiting schools, blogging, keeping up the website and MySpace page that are now de rigueur for authors…
…and, all the while, writing the second book.
The thing about second novels is, they come with deadlines. First novels don’t. Except for the author, nobody cares if a first novel ever sees the light of day. That’s the challenge: knowing the world is indifferent, and slogging through to the end anyway.
The challenge of the second novel is making it better than the first, and writing it faster. It took me almost four years to complete Tallulah Falls. For the second book, I had one year. I also had two day jobs, and Tallulah to promote. Not to mention a boyfriend, a house, friends, family, pets…
I quit my teaching job. At the veterinary practice, where I’m blessed with a boss who loves books, I was able to consolidate my hours into two days a week. Housework became an early, and enduring, casualty. When I’m preoccupied, I can subsist indefinitely on cheese popcorn and Dublin Mudslide ice cream; fortunately for both of us, my sweetie took over the cooking. The veggies on my plate were like love notes: Eat this, it’s good for you.
Preoccupation became my constant mental state. Novel writing is a bit like inhabiting a waking dream. After spending five consecutive days in the world of my book, re-entering the living, breathing reality of clients and patients was always a shock. Bits of my life fell away: dinners out, coffee with friends. As did every belief about what I needed in order to write well.
I used to say, If I don’t get a good start early in the morning, the entire day is shot. And: I can’t be distracted with errands and chores—it breaks the flow. Cue fluttering of hands.
Funny how quickly you can get over yourself when faced with a deadline. My hands stopped fluttering and started typing. I wrote in the mornings, the afternoons, and late at night after I got home from work. In between, I did errands and chores and all that real life stuff because—and this sounds obvious except it wasn’t—real life doesn’t give a crap about deadlines.
Maybe that’s why this year, the year of the second novel, I started feeling like a real writer. You’d think this feeling would have bloomed when Tallulah Falls was accepted for publication. Or the first time I held the actual book, with its gorgeous, haunting cover.
Nope. I felt most amazingly fortunate, but under the excitement lay doubt—maybe, maybe it was all a fluke.
There were days, this past year, when I’d sit at my computer, not a word to be found in the desert that used to be my brain, except a repeating chorus of self-reproach: What on earth made you believe you could actually write this thing? Then, eventually, the words would start coming, and the sentences, and the pages. I lived in the characters’ skins, saw through their eyes, fell in love with them. I tried to tell their stories well, so they’d come to life for readers the way they had for me. The way Tallulah had come to life, out in the world. I found that putting myself in front of strangers had an unexpected side effect: I was enjoying myself tremendously. Connecting with booksellers and readers has been a blast, the best reward of publication by far. Who would have guessed?
Oh, and the deadline? Three hundred seventy-six pages, delivered on time. The book (tentatively titled Ten Cents a Dance) will be published in April, 2008. Meanwhile, Tallulah Falls has just come out in paperback (with a brand-new, equally gorgeous cover), and I’m working on ideas for a third novel. I know a little better what’s ahead, now. More peaks, lots of hard climbing.
I can’t wait to see the view.
*Thanks to our lovely hostess who, back in her days of anonymity, gave me stellar advice on how to approach that wily species, the bookseller, in its native habitat.
~*~
Thank you, Christine.
If you’re interested in learning more about Tallulah Falls or Ten Cents a Dance you can visit Christine’s website.
