Word of Mouth/Promotion

July 16, 2008

Yesterday I got over-involved in a posting thread over on agent Nathan Branford's blog about a couple different publishers and/or imprints such as Vanguard, that are attempting a new business model. Essentially the business model involves publishes far, far fewer books, providing much lower advances, guaranteeing much more money gets put into promotion, higher royalties because of the lower to non-existent advances, and the upshot being that because they are going to publish far fewer books, they intend to treat each with tender loving care and turn each one into a bestseller.

It's not the first I've heard of it. I spoke with both David Morrell and Tom Grace (at length) about it, both of whom are at Vanguard. Both of them have a significant sales history and reputation and for one reason or another, can afford to go with a minimal advance (or none), or, at the least, are willing to. Vanguard, at least, seems to be focusing on authors who have sold quite well in the past and are looking for more promotional support from their publishers.

I'm not opposed to the idea, but I wondered in my first response if this would be a bad idea for the rest of us ilk, those of us with small or no advances already. Yes, it would be great if the publisher who was already not paying us much money decided to up our royalties and then promised and actually followed-through and spent a specific dollar amount on promotion. I just didn't see it happening that way, quite possibly because no publisher can afford to promote every book they publish effectively... most books are the equivalent of cannon fodder or spaghetti--you throw it at the wall and see if it sticks, and if it doesn't, you shrug and say, well, we didn't spend much money on it anyway and there's more where he came from. My point was that there were tons of books being published with small or non-existent advances so publishers wouldn't be inclined to increase the royalties to make up for that, and since their investment was so low anyway, what motivation did they have to throw any real money into promotion or co-op?

Somebody apparently decided I was focusing on the promotion element too much and money, and really, all it takes for a book to succeed in the marketplace is for readers to love it and talk about it, and after all, there's a lengthy history of books given modest advances and no particular push by the publisher that take off, and a lengthy history of books that are given big advances, huge marketing pushes that then fail.

Indeed there is and I didn't disagree, I just asked that she name 5, and I was specifically pointing out that I wasn't challenging the statement, I was just curious what she would put up. (Okay, yes, perhaps I was challenging the statement, but not because I thought she was wrong, but because I wanted her to substantiate her claim, that is to say, put her money where her mouth was).

So she did, and one of them was JK Rowling and Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone.

Yep, I don't disagree with that. Her publisher certainly did not realize when they paid her whatever little they paid her, that she was going to be the most famous writer on the planet. I would also add Sue Grafton and Patricia Cornwell and Janet Evanovich to that mix as well, and without spending a lot of time researching it, I'm sure I could come up with more.

I also pointed out, however, that it wasn't long after those authors developed an unexpectedly large following that their publishers started throwing a great deal of money into promotion. I specifically noted around the time the 3rd or 4th Potter book came out, how Borders had these giant 3 feet by 4 feet cardboard, glossy posters hanging from the ceilings in all their stores, that I asked who paid for them--the publisher--and could only guess how much it cost not only to make and deliver those signs, but then to pay Borders and B&N and everybody else for the real estate. (And I didn't say this, but I asked this when I was doing a book signing in their store where I was lucky to sell 7 or 8 books and there had been no promotion done by the bookstore or the publisher whatsoever, not even a sign in the store window saying I would be there. The only promotion done for that was what I did, which was minimal because I didn't have the money for anything).

My point, which I probably did not articulate as clearly as I should have, was that clearly the publishers weren't relying on word-of-mouth, they were spending money--and a lot of it--to promote their big authors, they were making sure they got reviewed by the major trades, but also made sure there were expensive ads and articles in major newspapers like the New York Times, USA Today, LA Times, et al., they were spending co-op money to make sure huge stacks of their books were placed on the front tables at the chain stores and at the New Titles sections, and next to the cash registers at Wal-Mart and Kmart and Sam's Clubs. In some cases they were paying for TV and radio ads.

Word-of-mouth is great. Absolutely great. But if your book is only available in every third store--probably 1 copy--and your distribution sucks, even if the 500 people who love your book talk it up, it probably won't sell. And it sure as hell won't sell if nobody can find it or has heard of it.

I find it interesting that "word-of-mouth" often seems, in reality, to mean that some feature writer at the New York Times writes an article about the book, then somebody at USA Today decides it needs a look and does an interview, and it grows from there. What seems to be missing is the notion of where that "word-of-mouth" may actually have begun. Did it begin with some reader buying a copy for his maiden aunt? Did it begin with a librarian or bookshop owner recommending it to readers? And how did they hear about it? Did they read a review in Publishers Weekly or Library Journal, did the publisher send them an ARC and they picked it up by accident, happen to like it and recommend it?

Or did the publisher's PR person send out press releases indicating how much money they had spent on the book and how hot it was and really, they should try and try to read this HOT NEW BOOK.

By comparison, for my last novel, my publisher sent out 4--yes, count them, 4!--advanced reading copies and I was mentioned in their catalogue and on their website. I believe it was also mentioned in a 1/3 page ad in Mystery Scene Magazine along with 6 or 7 other books. That is, as far as I know, the extent of my publisher's promotional efforts for The Serpent's Kiss. Again, welcome to the reality of publishing. (I, on the other hand, spent several thousand dollars on AuthorBuzz, sending postcards to libraries and bookstores, my website, and visiting bookstores and doing a couple radio interviews, library talks and book fairs. It sounds good, but it's a drop in the bucket and was largely wasted time, money and effort).

Let me give you an interesting example. I was a book reviewer for The Oakland Press here in Michigan for quite a few years. (Also other places). I still get books sent to me. Also press kits.

Most authors you've never heard of and even many you have, you get an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC). Sometimes it's the hardcover, sometimes it's the mass market paperback, most often it looks like a cheaper version of a trade paperback that may or may not have cover art on it--sometimes it's just a plain piece of paper with the title and author info on the front, no cover art. Typically there's a one-sheet describing the book--essentially the jacket copy and the author bio.

A year or two ago I received Barry Eisler's PR person's book. I think it was for The Last Assassin. Along with the hardcover of the book I received a black binder with a white label on the front that read: TOP SECRET. Inside the black binder were several pages describing the book along with potential feature story ideas. A multi-page biography of Barry. A one or two-page Q&A with Barry. A thing Barry wrote about acting like a spy and surveilling your surroundings.

Clearly, someone was going out of their way to sell Barry and his books.

Around the same time, David Morrell's book "Scavenger" came out. In this case, I know that David's daughter, Suri Morrell, was the one who sent it to me, and she's a professional book publicist. It came with an ARC of the book (with cover art), a binder, materials similar to Barry's with an author bio, Q&A, an article David wrote about time capsules, Internet links about time capsules, an article David wrote about how he came up with the story ideas. For David's previous novel, "Creepers," I got a similar press kit and a thin flashlight ideal for tossing in your luggage in case you're stuck in a hotel when the power goes out.

Okay, my question. What builds word-of-mouth? What generates the interest of book reviewers and feature writers? What does that word-of-mouth cost? What starts it?

You tell me.

Cheers,

Mark Terry