marketing

Publisher Picks the Most Bland Cover to Sell a King Recommended Novel

Stephen King has been raving about Mischa Berlinski's debut novel, Fieldwork, but berating the publisher for chosing a terrible cover. King says the cover is akin to demanding people not buy the book. It’s hard to tell from the blurry trees that this is a thriller set in Thailand. It looks like, well, a book(…)

Borders CEO Talks Changes with Shelf Awareness, Says Author Branding Important

Borders CEO, George Jones, gave a far ranging interview with Shelf Awareness. Publishers want Borders’s buyers to travel to NY to enhance relationships. Wants to increase the customer average of $25 which is low compared to the amount of time spent in the store Category management is de-emphasized. Author branding is important. Digital technology and(…)

Wherein Jane Offends Authors Against Fan Fiction

If there is anything that I have learned being online is that many, many authors are in need of a readership. Peter Watts, a critically aclaimed science fiction novelist, is giving his book away as a last ditch effort to rescue flagging sales. At least once a week, at All About Romance, readers post questions(…)

New Report Says Author Presence Online Is Important

The advertising firm of Spiers New York conducted a survey which revealed that 18% of readers have visited a publisher’s website and 23% have visited an author’s website. So, I guess if you don’t have an online presence, you may be missing out on giving nearly a quarter of your potential readership information on your(…)

Marketing Dos and Don’ts: A Reader’s Point of View

Alison Kent asked last week what Wendy, Superlibrarian thought was good promotion. Promotion is largely in the hands of authors, particularly new authors. I won’t begin to speculate on why publishers don’t spend more money on promotion. I have to guess that there simply is not a high enough return on investment to warrant it.(…)

What Every Author’s Website Should Contain

Dear Authors: This past week readers have been talking websites and how we really like them. Author websites provide us with information on what is next, what you’ve written in the past and whether we will like your books if you are new to us. Essentially, they are an online sales brochure which help convince(…)