Sticky Notes Blog

A blog of writing news, tips, and inspiration from Fat Plum

The writer as blogger

I've written before about Neil Gaiman, the author of many sci-fi and graphic novels, and how he uses his website to stay connected with fans. The Business-Standard offiers a brief but useful profile of how readers perceive his blog:

A professional writer for more than 20 years, Gaiman has been at the forefront of the revolution that has seen comics and graphic novels gain a measure of literary respectability; his Sandman series is one of the most highly regarded works in the genre. Now, his official website has a cult following that rivals his published work ?with 400,000 unique visitors per month in 2004, and close to 600,000 per month expected in 2005. Gaiman's online journal (which forms a section of the website) is syndicated to thousands of blog readers every day, and provides treasured insights into the writer?s inspiration, style, and working method.

(Link thanks to Syntax of Things.)

Posted by Cindy on August 24, 2005
This entry was posted in the following categories: Online publishing
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Case study in book marketing: The Historian Vs. The Traveler

Today's Wall Street Journal has an informative article on the marketing of summer best sellers ("How Novel Differences Shaped a Battle Between Two Best Sellers," by Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, WSJ, 8/15,2005, p A1). In particular, the article foces on the reasons why one book can end up with nearly five times as many copies in print in the span of a few months. The books in question are Elizabeth Kostova's "The Historian" and John Twelve Hawks's "The Traveler." Both authors are relative unknowns. Both novels are aimed at best-seller markets, and both enjoyed strong marketing and promotional pushes from their publishers. The key difference seems to have been author participation in the promotional process.

Striking a chord with the independent booksellers, in particular, helped reach the influential readers who help set reading trends among the public. "Word of mouth is still much more important than any kind of advertising," says Laurence Kirshbaum, Chief Executive of Time Warner's book group.

Even if a book gets a good send-off from retailers, though, big-box discounters like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will swiftly ship a book back to the publisher if sales falter to make room for new titles. That can be costly. As a result, publishers are increasingly dependent on free publicity, which depends on authors making themselves available for signings, readings and media interviews.

This is where Ms. Kostova, a 40-year-old mother of three who has been working on her book for a decade, shone. She set out on a 15-city tour as soon as the book hit stores, ensuring continuous coverage in the form of feature stories in newspapers, online, and on radio and TV. She also landed a much-coveted appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America," which was broadcast on June 28.

Mr. Twelve Hawks, by contrast, is famously reclusive. He says he lives "off the grid," and neither his editor nor his agent know him well. His refusal to be interviewed or go on tour actually helped drum up prepublication publicity because "The Traveler" is about the need to preserve personal privacy. But after the book's release, his anonymity damped sales, despite what retailers say was an otherwise impressive marketing campaign by Doubleday that included a Web-based game and a two-CD promotional brochure.

Roberta Rubin, owner of The Book Stall at Chestnut Court in Winnetka, Ill., a leading independent bookseller, says people came into the store asking for "The Historian," and that didn't happen with Mr. Twelve Hawks's book. "We do a lot when a writer is coming to our store: We have a window display, we advertise, we promote. And all of that is invaluable to selling a book," she says.

The lesson: No matter who you publisher is, how big the print run is, as an author you must expect to help shoulder the burden of getting the word out.

Posted by Cindy on August 15, 2005
This entry was posted in the following categories: Marketing and promotion

More on Google Print

Google is, not surprisingly, running into controversy regarding its new Google Print program (about which we posted previously). According to PublishersWeekly:

Google says it's making changes that will accomodate publishers objecting to its Google Print for Libraries program, the biggest of which is that it will allow publishers not to participate. Publishers, however, were not appeased.

Essentially, the company is making the program an opt-out instead of an opt-in, allowing houses who contact them about Google Print for Libraries to pull books. (Earlier, the firm had said that all books would be a part of it regardless of publisher preference, in part because only snippets of these works were being made available.)

The company's Adam Smith, senior business product manager for Google Product and Google Scholar, said Google "still maintains that legally this isn't something that's required" but is doing this "in the interest of balancing the needs of publishers and users."

Publishers are notoriously protective of online rights, so it's to be expected that they would try to block or fight the program. And it's unlikely that Google has been "surprised" by their reaction, even though they claim to be.

All the same, I repeat my recommendation that authors do what they can to get their books listed in Google Print. You'll want to work with your publisher, without fail. Think through carefully how much of your work you want to have published online -- an extended excerpt could be enough to appear in relevant searches. Your goal should be to reach as wide an audience as possible, through useful search mechanisms. Google Print sure seems to be an innovative tool, one you should check out.

Posted by Cindy on August 12, 2005
This entry was posted in the following categories: Online publishing

Promote your books on Google

Google is testing a new service called Google Print. Here's how they explain it:

Google's mission is to organize the world's information, but much of that information isn't yet online. Google Print aims to get it there by putting book content where you can find it most easily ? right in your Google search results.

How does Google Print work?
Just do a search on the Google Print homepage. When we find a book whose content contains a match for your search terms, we'll link to it in your search results. Click a book title and you'll see the page of the book that has your search terms, along with other information about the book and "Buy this Book" links to online bookstores (you can view the entirety of public domain books or, for books under copyright, just a few pages or in some cases, only the title?s bibliographic data and brief snippets). You can also search for more information within that specific book and find nearby libraries that have it.

Where do these books come from?
The book content in Google Print comes from two sources: publishers and libraries.

And that's where you come in. As an author of a book, you can submit it to the system, so that it shows up in searches. Potentially, people everywhere will be able to discover your work.

If your book was published by a company, you'll want to work with your publisher on this. The Google site offers a page of publisher information, including rights concerns and reasons why it would be smart to be included.

If you self-published your book, you're free to submit right away. Make sure you've got the book's ISBN number handy and get cracking.

Posted by Cindy on August 03, 2005
This entry was posted in the following categories: Marketing and promotion, Online publishing