Tag Archives: marketing

How Books Avoid the Digital Decline

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The New Republic magazine recently presented an article on how books are avoiding the digital decline seen in the music and video entertainment industries.

Generally, CDs declined not because people switched to digital versions that were cheaper but because they listen to songs individually…and wanted to buy only one or two songs from an album.

TV shows suffered the same fate. The packages of entire seasons weren’t always what people wanted to buy and so they turned to individual streaming of single shows.

Books, on the other hand, can’t be offered in pieces. Although some authors have found success serializing their books by releasing single chapters at a time, most readers want to consume the entire work in a single sitting or multiple sittings performed within a short timeframe. This is part of the engagement of readers in a story or nonfiction topic, so books perform better for readers when they are consumed in this fashion.

So, although prices have fluctuated for ebooks, there really isn’t any comparison that can be made for how a reader is impacted by a book. It has to be taken as a complete whole at the reader’s leisure, not in bits strung out over time.

As we move forward into this new world of publishing, remember that. Price your works accordingly, and reserve the low prices and bundling deals as short-term sales.

Optimize Your Book for Mobile

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The Pew Center reports that 57% of American adults use their mobile phones to browse the internet. Among smartphone owners, the number is much higher: 93 percent.

If you haven’t already, make sure your website is optimized for mobile viewing.

As you work with a designer or publisher on your book cover, ensure that it displays well in a thumbnail size.

Keep all your digital pages clean; the faster it downloads, the more likely browsers are to stay a while.

Book Marketing with Adjunct Stories

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Often I talk to authors about selling themselves to readers as much as their books. It’s natural for readers to want to know more about authors, their motivation for writing a particular book, even about the writing process.

Nowadays, with short books and short stories being produced in ebook and even print formats, there’s an added ability to market your books. No matter what you’re writing, you can create adjunct books.

Consider a self-help author with a workbook…the workbook isn’t the primary self-help book but it adds to the original publication in a helpful manner. Novelists, too, can use this idea by writing short stories about appealing secondary characters in their stories.

These can be sold, of course, or given away to generate interest in the book. Since most adjunct books are short, the time and effort to produce them is often much less than what the original project required.

2013 Frankfurt Book Fair Welcomes Self-publishers

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During the 2013 Frankfurt Book Fair, an entire hall will be given over to self-publishers.

The administrators don’t want to be left behind in the digital revolution. Since such a large part of that revolution is about what authors can do on their own, they invited authors, printers, and other service providers to speak and set up booths.

The Fair runs October 9 through 13.

Amazon’s Print and Ebook Bundling

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Recently I posted on the discussions about bundling a free copy of ebooks into every print edition sold. Now Amazon has announced that they will be launching a program like that in October.

Called Kindle Matchbook, the offer is not going to be available on every title. Instead, they need to negotiate with individual publishers. They have predicted that 10,000 titles will be available on that program by its launch date.

Now, Amazon has already taken flack for merely predicting that 10K number. But by now, everyone should know that Amazon’s spin often turns out to be self-fulfilling. The real question is why now, and why Amazon?

Of course the idea is timely and readers love it, so it works. If it helps authors expand their reach, that is useful too. For now, though, the impact seems to be limited to well-known authors or well-known titles (even ones that are decades old). For Amazon, though, it’s a way to enhance their date collection. Depending on whether you abhor big data as an invasion of privacy or think big data on reading trends can be helpful, that might sound greatly overreaching or just plain great.

Bundling Print Copies and Ebooks

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Lately there’s been chatter about whether to automatically bundle ebook copies with print copies…so every reader gets one copy of each.

There is of course the idea that every sale then has added value to the reader. Many readers, in opposition to the idea that individuals favor either print or electronic books, are opting to consume both ways. There are even fans who purchase ebooks and, if they enjoy the work enough, return to purchase the print version for their home libraries.

Publishers have generally been resisting this trend because they are concerned that the value of ebooks will be discounted.

In the meantime, consider bundling your own print and ebook versions in special, limited-time offers to enhance sales.

The Importance of Titles…and How They Can Fail

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I’ve posted before on the importance of titles in terms of how they work with algorhythms on websites that sell books. Here’s a great article about some titles that failed due to how they strick potential readers.

More on Agent Assisted Publishing

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Amazon offers a White Glove publishing service. In this program, your agent works directly with Amazon to publish your book.

I wrote not too long ago about agent-assisted publishing, and this is just another incarnation of the same process. You might end up walking this road if the traditional publishers reject your agent’s efforts to place your book. But again, you end up with the agent as your book’s advocate.

On this road, you don’t travel alone. That in and of itself can be a boost to your passion. The fact that it can also boost your career sweetens the deal.

Barnes & Noble is Good for Amazon…and Readers

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Leonard Riggio, the original founder of Barnes & Noble, is considering buying up the stores and taking them private. He’s thinking about the move because bookstores are still a sound business.

One of the biggest surprises in the constant battle between brick-and-mortar stores and the e-giant Amazon is that after Borders failed, sales of e-books immediately fell. Analysts think it’s because with fewer opportunities to browse, readers just aren’t going to buy as many books.

Congratulate your local bookstore owner with a cup of coffee, a chocolate truffle…and a new sale.

New Self-Pub Book Market: Penguin’s Book Country

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Note: Penguin’s Book Country operates separately from their other self-pub arm Author Solutions.

Book Country allows self-published authors to sell their works through their website. There are the usual marketing packages authors find at many self-pub companies but there is one difference: authors keep 85% of the royalties. This is higher than both Amazon and B&N.

New Book Market: Hotels

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Top hotels are adding a new amenity for their clients: libraries.

The move is intended to keep patrons in the bars and lobbies longer. Books are being stocked in central areas, dedicated suites and even reading rooms. The cozy feel and the availability of their favorite authors helps them connect with younger patrons, who want a community feeling even while away from home.

Country Inns and Suites, with 447 hotels across the nation, now has an exclusive deal with Penguin Random to stock their authors.

If you’re a local author, don’t downplay the importance of that with your local hotels. If any are stocking books, stop in and place a few copies with the manager yourself. Be sure to sign the copies!

Amazon Dukes It Out with Overstock.com; Indie Booksellers Lose

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On Friday, Amazon began offering discounts that have never before been seen even on its own site. The move is supposedly a response to Overstock.com’s full frontal assault, which consists of discounting books to match or beat Amazon’s prices.

Dan Brown’s Inferno is now available on Amazon at a a 61% discount. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini has a 58% discount. Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In is at a 64% discount. A whopping 64% discount is offered on The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

There are signs, however, that even Amazon is not invincible in this battle. J.K. Rowling’s The Cuckoo’s Calling, written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, is discounted only 42%. That’s right in the usual discounting area of 40% to 50 percent. Amazon likely doesn’t want to discount something that is selling well regardless of price, and wants to keep the profits involved in that title.

Overstock.com’s shot across the bow of the mighty frigate Amazon is a long-overdue attempt to take some of the wind out of Amazon’s sails. The recent verdict against Apple has already spurred Amazon toward discounting books to eliminate the real competition that is left: the thousands of indie booksellers who together hold more clout among readers than any website ever will.

Unfortunately indies do not yet hold any kind of combined economic clout with publishers and so cannot discount books at the same rate. Thank goodness someone has noticed what’s going on in book publishing and has thrown the economic might of their company onto the battlefield.

What’s in a Subtitle? The Impact on Book Algorithms

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Titles are important. Any author can agree to that. But are subtitles as important, less so, or possibly more important?

One consideration is how subtitles impact algorithms that help readers find a book. Subtitles that seem unwieldy because they are so long can actually boost sales on websites.

A second consideration has been around for a while: a descriptive subtitle tells readers exactly what they’ll get from the book.

Finally, a subtitle can indicate the author’s voice (funny, academic, etc.) or tone (the emotional quality of the work). That can be attractive to readers and thus generate sales.

Subtitles are clearly not more important than titles…but they are equally important.

J.K. Rowling Revealed as Robert Galbraith: An Analysis

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Yet another famous author has taken the anonymous road to publishing. J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame has been revealed to be the author Robert Galbraith.

She is quoted as having said, “I had hoped to keep this secret a little longer, because being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience,” she said in a statement. “It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation, and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name.”

The media, and perhaps some readers who are themselves authors, are wondering if this wasn’t a publicity stunt. After all, getting attention is a concern even for the biggest authors, especially after an author switches genres as Rowling did.

From the author’s side, there is of course the concern that all her works will be judged against the Potter series. Since she has moved into writing for adults and has already released one novel as her own for older readers, it might be an attempt by Rowling to get real feedback on her efforts.

From the publisher’s side, however, the “debut” novel was released on April 30 of this year. The revelation happened very near the end of the 90 day cycle that every book is subject to…if something isn’t selling well by the end of that time, bookstores often remove it from their shelves. Since the leak to the media happened at the end of this cycle when Galbraith’s novel would be returned to the publisher, it might have been a planned leak intended to keep the book on the shelves.

In the end, the effort has actually achieved both. Rowling has been able to step aside fully from her wizard roots with this work, and the leak has saved the publisher from having to eat the losses associated with a novel that until the revelation sold only about 1,500 copies in Britain.

Latest Trend: Steamies

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All right, YA authors, heads up! Recently I posted about the trend toward New Adult fiction…works that target slightly older audiences aged 18 through 24. There’s already a subcategory for New Adult: Steamies.

These are works that focus a bit more (and sometimes a lot more) on erotic or sexual aspects. It’s natural for individuals in that age group to explore and wonder how sensual and sexual activities fit into their lives and personalities, so it’s also a natural for inclusion in novels.

Some publishers welcome Steamies. Others reject them out of hand. Readers will be the same. Know before you pitch to publishers or readers what you’re offering so you can target your audience with pinpoint accuracy.