Do the costs to promote a book sometimes equal the advance you got for it, and does that make you question A) writing it or B) doing all that expensive promotion?
by Paul D. Marks
The question isn’t, or shouldn’t be, if the costs to promote the book = the advance, but if the money you spend pays off in terms of more sales, new readers and a higher profile in the long run. Of course, not everyone can have a perfect profile like these fellows.
In ye olden days of yore ye promotion was extremely expensive for the most part and largely out of reach of authors unless you were at the top of the heap and your publisher was hefting the hefty bill with hefty ads in various book reviews and papers of weight. Maybe even radio spots. Or sent you on a multi-city, multi-state book tour, flying first class of course…’cause isn’t that how we think of authors?
But in ye days of today things have changed. Many, if not most, advances are on the low end. And many publishers do little or nothing to promote a book once they birth it, whether you’re with a small publisher or on a big publisher’s midlist. They throw it out in the world, give it a spank on the rump, and then it’s sink or swim—unless, again, you’re one of the lucky few that the publisher decides to actually get behind and promote. So unless you’ve been through drownproofing you’re gonna sink and your book will go down even faster than you do.
But these days there’s so much you can do that either costs nothing or next to nothing. Hey, if you’ve got even 1/10 of Bill Gates’ money you can still do expensive promotion—take out TV ads, radio spots, full page newspaper ads…but with so many other outlets today you can probably get away with spending a lot less and getting a lot more bang for your buck. So even if your advance isn’t huge there’s plenty you can do.
Facebook, Twitter and a million online things, blogging, groups, conventions, promo materials (like PR releases, bookmarks, etc.) are a few things you can do on your own. Or you can hire a PR firm or person. Some work on an a la carte basis, others more on a retainer system. You can see more about ways to promote here:
http://7criminalminds.blogspot.com/2017/02/face-to-facebook.html
http://7criminalminds.blogspot.com/2016/05/kicking-and-screaming-into-social-media.html
http://7criminalminds.blogspot.com/2014/12/blog-tweet-meet-and-greet.html
There’s also book signings that you can set up on your own, but I have issues with those. Unless you’re John Grisham or Louise Penny most likely you’ll be lucky if your family shows up. On the other hand, doing book signings can get you in with booksellers who can then recommend your books to future customers. It’s a six of one, half a dozen of the other kind of thing.
When my two novels, White Heat and Vortex, came out they both sold pretty well, all things considered. But I’m not living off the profits. What I’ve done is set up an account where any profits go and I use that money to promote future books as well as existing ones. There’s very few of us who can live off our book writing, so unless you need the money to cover some basic expenses why not take whatever you earn, both the advance on a book and royalties from any books, and plow it back into promoting your books and yourself? Or to be hip and cool: your brand.
So to answer the questions: I rarely question the writing, though who doesn’t on occasion? Anyway, we all know you have to be nuts to want to be a writer. As Dorothy Parker said, “If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”
And as for doing all that promotion, expensive and otherwise, it’s all part of the glamour, appeal and prestige of being a writer, as much as the writing and all that “glory” heaped upon us. But without it there’s definitely no glory.
And now for the usual BSP:
by Paul D. Marks
The question isn’t, or shouldn’t be, if the costs to promote the book = the advance, but if the money you spend pays off in terms of more sales, new readers and a higher profile in the long run. Of course, not everyone can have a perfect profile like these fellows.
 |
| W.C. Fields and John Barrymore -- AKA "The Great Profile" |
But in ye days of today things have changed. Many, if not most, advances are on the low end. And many publishers do little or nothing to promote a book once they birth it, whether you’re with a small publisher or on a big publisher’s midlist. They throw it out in the world, give it a spank on the rump, and then it’s sink or swim—unless, again, you’re one of the lucky few that the publisher decides to actually get behind and promote. So unless you’ve been through drownproofing you’re gonna sink and your book will go down even faster than you do.
But these days there’s so much you can do that either costs nothing or next to nothing. Hey, if you’ve got even 1/10 of Bill Gates’ money you can still do expensive promotion—take out TV ads, radio spots, full page newspaper ads…but with so many other outlets today you can probably get away with spending a lot less and getting a lot more bang for your buck. So even if your advance isn’t huge there’s plenty you can do.
Facebook, Twitter and a million online things, blogging, groups, conventions, promo materials (like PR releases, bookmarks, etc.) are a few things you can do on your own. Or you can hire a PR firm or person. Some work on an a la carte basis, others more on a retainer system. You can see more about ways to promote here:
http://7criminalminds.blogspot.com/2017/02/face-to-facebook.html
http://7criminalminds.blogspot.com/2016/05/kicking-and-screaming-into-social-media.html
http://7criminalminds.blogspot.com/2014/12/blog-tweet-meet-and-greet.html
There’s also book signings that you can set up on your own, but I have issues with those. Unless you’re John Grisham or Louise Penny most likely you’ll be lucky if your family shows up. On the other hand, doing book signings can get you in with booksellers who can then recommend your books to future customers. It’s a six of one, half a dozen of the other kind of thing.
When my two novels, White Heat and Vortex, came out they both sold pretty well, all things considered. But I’m not living off the profits. What I’ve done is set up an account where any profits go and I use that money to promote future books as well as existing ones. There’s very few of us who can live off our book writing, so unless you need the money to cover some basic expenses why not take whatever you earn, both the advance on a book and royalties from any books, and plow it back into promoting your books and yourself? Or to be hip and cool: your brand.
And as for doing all that promotion, expensive and otherwise, it’s all part of the glamour, appeal and prestige of being a writer, as much as the writing and all that “glory” heaped upon us. But without it there’s definitely no glory.
***
And now for the usual BSP:
My short story “Blood Moon” will be coming out in Day of the Dark (Stories of the Eclipse). Edited by Kaye George. Releasing July 21, 2017, one month before the big solar eclipse on August 21st. From Wildside Press. Stay tuned for updates.
