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Today, we welcome back author Pam Jenoff, who wrote a great article for Booksquare called “A Rose By Any Other Name: Has Genre Become Irrelevant?”. Today, Pam explores publicity challenges facing authors, including shifts in world of literary agents as they develop programs to help authors in the wild world of publicity.

As you’ll see, there are no easy answers to the questions Pam is asking, and she invites new thinking into her paradox.

The Publicity Paradox

After four book releases at two different publishers (a status I would call not-quite-new-to-this-business yet far from a seasoned veteran), one of the issues that still vexes me the most is book publicity. What works? How much should I do myself, or pay to have done? How much should I rely on outside help and, if so, what kind?

I suspect I’m not alone in my confusion and if I could find the answers, they might be worth more than the remuneration from actual writing. With each book release, I put forth my best efforts, beating the pavement from one bookstore or library event to the next, well or sparsely attended. I shake the trees of my alumni and regional publications, mill the Facebook network and mailing lists. But aside from the time that it takes (a whole third job, it seems on top of the day job and the writing), I’m aware that there is only so much I can do on my own. The in-house publicists with whom I’ve worked are talented and dedicated professionals, but in many cases, they are overworked. How then to supplement?

Seemingly in response to this question and the needs of their clients, some literary agencies have developed a publicity department which can supplement their authors’ efforts. These services are generally not part of the agency’s included services to clients, but cost an extra fee depending upon the scope of the publicity campaign. I am not in favor of this model because I believe that when a client pays for agency services, it threatens the alignment of interests between author and agent that is generally in place under the commission model and creates a conflict of interests. For example, if a publicist who works independently or for your publisher does a less than adequate job, your agent can — and should– advocate zealously on your behalf. However, if a publicist who works for your literary agency doesn’t perform, the agent is placed in the position of defending that person’s work at the same time as he or she is trying to secure you good publicity.

I am also wary of hiring independent publicists. Aside from the very significant costs associated with doing so, I always have this nagging (perhaps unsubstantiated) fear that the overworked in-house publicist might be tempted to do less if he or she know that I am paying someone to supplement his or her efforts. Additionally, a bigger problem seems to be that there is no way to hold publicists accountable – they are often unwilling, understandably, to share their proprietary lists of contacts to whom publicity materials are being sent, leaving the author in the dark as to the scope and nature of the publicity campaign. And the effectiveness of their work is difficult, if not, impossible to assess. My pie-in-the-sky solution to this problem would be to have publicists work on a contingency model based on the results achieved. For example, a publicist would get paid x for every media placement he or she secured and y for every “bounce” or secondary placement. Difficult to quantify? Perhaps. Unpalatable to the publicists? Definitely. But it’s the best solution I’ve got and I bet a lot more authors would be willing to invest their hard earned money with some certainty of return.

But in the absence of such a solution, what is a writer to do? As for me, I approach the publicity for each book release like a cake recipe that I didn’t quit

While it can seem like the move to digital is the only topic consuming publishing industry, online marketing has resurfaced as a trending topic. Once the provence of display ads (with a few wild experiments with the evil pop-ups!), online marketing is now, for better or worse, all about social media. Your MySpace, your Facebook, your Twitter.

Just as when the blog craze hit (remember when everybody had to have one, even if the reason wasn’t clear?), social media mania is filling the halls of the publishing business. It’s not a bad thing. Because, social media (and marketing) is, at heart, a return to the most old-fashioned, effective way to sell books: hand-selling.

Hand-selling in the digital age, sure, but hand-selling can be shiny and modern, too. Because when you get right down to it, hand-selling is all about the conversation. Social media is all about the conversation (and sharing funny pictures of cats). Done right, it’s a win for everybody from authors to readers. And when you think about it, that covers a lot of people.

Without a doubt, the poster child for this conversation is Twitter, arguably both the fastest-growing and most misunderstood of social media. By one (disputed) measure, Twitter’s retention rate is only 40%, meaning over half the people who sign up for Twitter don’t stick around and use it. Yet, the media hype, including a push from none other than Oprah Winfrey, suggests there’s something…different about this Twitter thing.

(I’m just going to put it out there: I avoided Twitter because I knew it would be like potato chips; I was right, I didn’t stop at just one.)

As I write this, a lively discussion about the issues surrounding proposed changes to ISBN use is competing with a national conversation about organizing a “Buy Indie Day” on July 14 of this year while a group of readers and reviewers are talking about reviewing books from small press. A bunch of great articles are queued up in my browser, courtesy of the people I follow. Oh, and two friends are touting literary events. My local bookseller told me he’d posted a great interview. I know who’s doing signings in my region.

So now for the commercial: we get that people don’t get Twitter, but we also see it as one of the best tools publishing people — authors, agents, editors, marketers, booksellers, technical people, and everyone else — have going. If you’re plugged in to the right people on Twitter, every day is, as Jennifer Tribe of Highspot, Inc noted, like attending a master class.

As our launch workshop for Booksquare University, we’ve created Tweet Camp — a hands-on workshop designed to introduce you to Twitter and get you involved in the conversation happening right now. If you’ve already signed up but just didn’t get it, this workshop will get you past your initial hurdles.

If you’re not sure you’re ready to take the plunge, here’s a short video that tells the truth about Twitter (or maybe it’s the big secret about Twitter).

Okay, end of commercial. Back to the social thing. Conversations about books and publishing are happening everywhere. You can’t be part of all them, but you know you need to be out there, talking and, more importantly, listening. One thing we know is, when it comes to online conversation, the mountain must indeed move…

I cringe a little when I hear that someone is “working on a viral campaign” for a product or service. I see viral marketing as taking a fingers crossed approach to marketing — hoping that you’ve created something cool enough that others will want to pass it on to their friends — while social networking means that you take an active role in cultivating and maintaining relationships with your friends, customers, fans, and other interested parties. To me, it’s the difference between passive and proactive action.

Social networking is not a magic new concept. If anything, it’s a return to basics: talking to your customers, reminding them that they are important to you. The only difference between then and now is that your customers are everywhere and technology gives you the power to find them, listen to them, talk to them, and build relationships that extend long beyond the boundaries of a traditional marketing campaign.

Social networking, by its very definition, is a sustained, ongoing process. If you’re a publisher, this is requires changing your thinking. You’ve traditionally maintained some distance from your ultimate customers: readers. People buy books from retailers. Retailers buy books from distributors. You might take out some ads and put dollars into promo, but you haven’t spent a lot of time talking to readers. Focus groups don’t count.

It’s time to get your hands dirty, to dig into the real-world conversation. It’s a weird thing, and sometimes awkward and uncomfortable, especially if you’re accustomed to public relations-speak and the cheerleader behavior that accompanies marketing messages. When you talk directly to real people who read and buy books, they tune you out when you try to stay on message. If they wanted to rehash cover copy, they’d read the back of the book.

What you’re going to find — if you haven’t already — is that you have absolutely no control over what is being said about your brand. While you’re busy executing marketing campaigns that are the end result of countless meetings, blanded-down and made safe enough to keep your CEO’s pulse steady, real people are out there, talking about your books. They’re reviewing on Amazon, they’re reviewing on blogs, they’re reviewing on Twitter.

It’s an amazing thing, these conversations. There is positive, negative, lukewarm, curious. It’s linear, it’s tangential. It’s of-the-moment, it’s six months later. Look at the comments related to a review of Sara Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars. The review was posted in November, 2006. The comments continued into June 2008 (and would have gone continued had the site not been put on hiatus).

Books are social. Reading, usually, is a solitary endeavor (though I still think back to dinners where my mom read stories about King Arthur to us while we ate). Books, however, invite conversation. The continued popularity of book clubs is not just about the wine; it’s the fact that people love to get together and talk about books (also, gossip about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness).

Social networking means that the book club is online — and the participants range from people who’ve read the books, people who want to read the books, people just passing through the conversation, people who sell books, people who sell books to people to sell books, and, yes, people who acquire, edit, market, and distribute books.

Think of it like a giant cocktail party. You might know one or two people very well, you’ll likely meet several interesting people, and, as you circulate around the room, you’ll dip in and out of various conversations — sometimes adding something, sometimes eavesdropping. The key here is that you’re participating on various levels, sometimes initiating the conversation, sometimes listening.

Which reminds me of something else: never underestimate the power of just listening. Don’t just listen to what is being said about you, but what is being said about your competition. Listen to what your customers want, what makes them happy, what makes them crazy. You might think you know these people very well…you might be surprised by how wrong you are.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re saying. I hear you. I get it. But, man, the time, the time. This stuff takes a lot of time and energy. How am I supposed to do it all?

The good news is that you don’t have to do it all. Do one thing, two things really well. You can’t do everything, but you have to do something. Let’s face reality: print coverage is shrinking (and even at its zenith, you were fighting for space), radio is dependent upon the right listener being in the right place at the right time, television? Ditto.

Nobody can reach out and touch your customers better than you because nobody knows your books and what makes them special better than you (except, yes, your authors; they play a role in this process as well). There is no right way to do this. I’m loving what publishers like Little, Brown and Co are doing on Twitter: talking about books and engaging readers (they get bonus points for the frequent offers of review copies to people). I think it’s amazing that publishers like Unbridled Books make it a point to reach out and talk to people like me on a regular basis — even the business contacts have a personal flavor.

Pan Macmillan has a team of really smart bloggers talking about the future, as does HarperStudio, via their blog “The 26th Story”. Harlequin Twitters, blogs, and maintains a robust, interactive website, not to mention constant blogger outreach. We’re seeing publishers like Dzanc Books and booksellers like Vroman’s use tools on Facebook to connect with readers.

(In fact, we’re very encouraged by the marketing possibilities offered by Facebook, so much so that we’ve putting the finishing touches on an online workshop to teach you all about the cool ways you can use the site to build relationships.)

Yes, social networking is hard work. Yes, it requires a lot of time. Yes, it means changing your way of thinking.

But the rewards of engaging with your readers, your customers on a human level far outweigh these seemingly negative aspects. If done right, you are directly engaging in a wider community than you ever expected.

Once there was an author who wrote a book. He (though he could have been she) sent the book to his editor who cried at the beauty of the words and published the book and the people bought this book and declared it a thing of wonder and the book was deemed an American Classic (because it was so good) and the author kept on writing books and publishing books and never bothered with anything so mundane as publicity because the author was a writer and writers write and marketing somehow happens magically and people just buy the author’s books.

And it totally works. For J.D. Salinger and Thomas Pynchon. Sometimes publishers try to relive the Salinger/Pynchon magic (that whole John Twelve Hawks disaster comes to mind), but, well, it’s not wise to view outliers as models for success. Or maybe you can view them that way, but don’t go putting your career on the line with the Salinger model. I mean, even Thomas Pynchon appeared on The Simpsons.

In publishing, there are two divergent-yet-complementary forces: publishers and authors (there are other forces, but we don’t have all day). Publishers are book focused; authors are author focused, with occasional flashes of book focus. The former functions in the now; the latter works on a more wholistic level (yes, I know, but I prefer this spelling in this context). Publishers buttress careers, authors have careers.

I am baffled and amazed by authors who do not see marketing as part of their jobs. First off, is there really a job description for authors? If so, please forward to me as I have a few holes in my resume and I’m too lazy to do the work myself. Second, what planet are you living on? Very, very few authors have the luxury of not engaging in marketing. And even they have to do talk show appearances or “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me”.

While, sure, there are some readers out there eagerly awaiting your next book — and congratulations for that! — the truth of the matter is that people, real people, are busy. Your publisher is juggling hundreds, maybe thousands of authors. Understandably, said publisher isn’t actively engaged in promoting you all the time (though publishers like HarperCollins and Harlequin are building tools to help you help yourself). Also, shocking as it sounds, some authors write for more than one house.

How is a poor reader supposed to keep up?

All roles in entertainment media are changing, and authors, particularly, need to switch from a book-oriented focus to a career-oriented focus. This involves little things like updating your website between books (please, please, please don’t have two-year old content on your home page!). Blogging, if you’re so inclined. Writing articles that are read by your existing and future fan base. Using social media for good (as opposed to evil). Keeping your name in the game even when you’re not actively selling something, except your backlist.

This is the author as a business, as opposed to the writer as a creative being. Note the distinction. You’re wearing two hats. One might fit uncomfortably until you realize that marketing is your job. Marketing might be a distraction for a writer, but it’s essential if you’re an author.

More, later. You’ve been warned.

It is rare that I hear something on the radio that makes me go “Yeah, tell it like it is, sister” (okay, brother), but there was a great story on the Marketplace Morning Report last Friday about social networks and mailing lists and who owns your list. If I were a better person (I’m not), I’d write a nice publishing specific post about this. Instead, I’m just going to be lazy and link to the larger rant I wrote at Medialoper.

Basically, if you don’t own your fans, you don’t own Jack.

While I wait patiently for the kind folks at Hatchette to send me a Sony eReader (surely I am the next logical step in their process), I am thinking about the myth of Sisyphus. You recall it, of course: Sisyphus mails tons of ARCs and press releases to a closely guarded mailing list, only to repeat the same process over and over and over again for eternity…cursing the fact that there is no measurable, provable rate of return.

It’s easy to slap a mailing list on a book and hope for the best.

Since time began, this has been the process. Send books to reviewers, hope reviewers read the books, cross fingers and wish for press coverage. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Publishing houses are changing their marketing strategy, to be sure. Shrinking newspaper column inches has pushed efforts online. More books than ever are being released into the market (how long before the industry adopts the newish Disney model of less is more?). And it’s hard, really hard, to find pliable reviewers with massive audiences. You know, the kind that newspapers and magazines once enjoyed?

Readers are heading online, seeking more and more information about books. This is a terrific change as this means the discussion is greatly, wonderfully expanded. Where we were once limited in our book discussion spheres by geography, we are freed by underwater cables and wires. The world has changed.

But publishing continues to practice the Sisyphean mode of working with influencers. Send books, hope for the best. And while there is a trend toward creating “blogger outreach” programs and online coordinators, most publisher-to-me (me being the greater me, not the individual me) communication is alarmingly…clueless.

Two examples.

This book arrives by mail or UPS or some other way. I think I might be interested (in fact, I think I’ll be packing this book for my SXSW trip), but beyond that I have no agenda for this title. When the publicity person contacts me to let me know the author is happily engaged in a book tour, she suggests that I let her know my coverage plans for this book/author.

Uh? My plans? I don’t have any plans. Shouldn’t the publisher’s professional publicity staff have plans? Shouldn’t the publisher’s staff be contacting me with ideas about how we can, oh, I don’t know, create a mutually beneficial plan (I mean, wouldn’t you rather read anything but this rant?)?

Via email comes another ill-conceived web-outreach plan. The publicist starts by noting that she’s checked out my site and thinks I’d be interested in a particular book. Okay. Cool. She knows what I’m doing here (which makes one of us). I’m given a couple of choices: interview with the author or a review. See a lot of either here? Didn’t think so.

The thing is that these pitches might be perfect for other sites. Half the time, I respond these emails with a “Hey, thanks for contacting me, and…[generally, the “and” is something like “if your author is eager to write a cool piece that relates to what I write about here and it’s a broad range, then I’m eager to have him or her”]”. The other half, I just delete.

Reason being that most of the time my response is greeted with dead silence or — worse — a “we’ll think about it”. I hardly ever hear back from these publicists (a shout-out to Caitlin Hamilton Summie from Unbridled Books who not only responds but also pitches me authors and ideas that fit my site). It’s a funny way to sell books, and while I do try to respond to email as much as possible (I get a lot of email), it’s frustrating when the connection is broken.

I think it’s because these publicist don’t want to spend that much time on a book. It’s one thing to slap a mailing label on a book and send it on its merry way. It’s entirely different when you’re coordinating authors and bloggers/reporters/influencers. That changes the publicist’s job — it requires a different skill set.

And it requires putting effort into books that didn’t necessarily get that much love in the old world. But I say it’s time to let Sisyphus rest.

I realize personalized, individualized pitches are next to impossible. I realize you have a whole boatload of books to juggle every season. I get that blogs are like candy. I also know that you’re seeing how important my world is to your world.

Make it easy on yourselves. Create better databases of reviewers, etc. Describe the interests of each. Do the same for your authors. Find good matches. Follow up and make sure your authors execute (honestly, if I don’t get the copy, I don’t worry. There won’t be a blank hole in the middle of my site.).

Teach your team the beauty of RSS and feed management. Learn to cull blogrolls for names and URLs. Read these sites before pitching them.

What you need to know: you’re hitting me and my peers with pitches all the time. All of you. Every day. This means we need to sift through the good, the bad, and the scary (don’t get me started on the scary) of pitches every day. What would you do if you were us?

I swear this is going to be my last TOC 2008-related post*. There is one more topic that has been rattling around BSHQ and, well, it’s time to get it out in the open. Blogging. It’s good, it’s bad, it’s ugly, and it’so misunderstood. We need have some frank discussion.

There is no such thing as a blogging imperative

Scott Karp, during the “Blogs as Books, Books as Blogs” session, made a comment that, sadly, was overshadowed by the bizarre twists and turns the discussion took. As a starting point, I want to highlight what he said: blogging systems are basically content management systems. Or, if you will, a blogging system — WordPress, TypePad/MovableType, Blogger — is an efficient way to publish content on the Web. Keep this thought in mind.

In the minds of many, however, blogging is this messy, post every day, create bad content sort of enterprise. Yes, blogging — weblogs — started life as a sort of online diary, but, wow, if you’re still seeing blogs in that way, I have to introduce you to the 21st century. Blogging is so much more. This is that good, bad, ugly, and misunderstood thing.

There is much angst, sturm, and whatnot about blogging. Authors say, “Everyone else is doing it, so should I.” Publishers hold meetings where someone says, “We really need to start a blog.” Booksellers think, “Maybe I should, but how?”

There is no such thing as a blogging imperative. In fact, after long consideration, I believe that most authors should not blog, especially if they’re accepting the messy diarist definition of blogging. Sad truth: most people are not good at writing about daily trials and tribulations with wit, verve, and voice. It’s hard work, and for many authors, it’s the opposite of what they prefer to write. Good blogging is good writing, but not everyone can or should do it.

Sharp readers will immediately seize upon my apparent contradiction. Surely I have been on the blogging stump for years.

No contradiction here — I have never been in favor of bad blogging. I think a poorly written and executed blog reflects very badly on authors. Lordy, if I can’t read your blog without cringing, there’s no way I’m going to dip into your fiction. Those authors who move fluidly between the short-form writing of blogs and long-form fiction are rare and to be celebrated. Champagne for all!

So we have this weird middle ground where blogs are bad but blogging systems are good. This is where Scott Karp was headed and gets back to my favorite aphorism: the blog is not the territory. Or, maybe, not all blogs are the same. Rather than jumping desperately onto the blogging bandwagon, I think authors and publishers and booksellers should be looking at the features these systems offer and using them to maximize their online presence. Stop with the bad blogging and start with the good blogging.

I have the dubious privilege of visiting a lot of author websites on a regular basis. As with author blogs, the average author-oriented website is very bad. Perhaps this is the nature of the beast. I like to think not, but time has not proven me wrong. For a large group of authors, there is a false attempt to create a homey, cozy atmosphere, a sense that there you are visiting their virtual homes (I am, by the way, declaring a ban on American authors who invite me to sit down and have a “cuppa” while I’m cruising through their websites).

The problem is these sites are often the least hospitable venues on the planet (what does that say about your physical home, you have to ask). Horrible, ugly design. Out-of-date content. Information that is remarkably uninformative — my gosh, is it so hard for authors to provide more depth and thought about their books? If I wanted a regurgitation of cover copy, I might as well hang out at Amazon.

Blogging systems such as WordPress allow people to create a mix of static pages, dynamic content (posts or the ear-cringing “blogs”), content containers (places on a page that house specific content), and — hold your excitement — well-designed sites. And I’m just typing off the top of my head. These systems offer so much and are so sadly underutilized.

Focusing still on authors (the other groups, while worthy of my time and love, different needs), you can see how a good back-end system gives you the ability to add and change content on your website without a whole lot of technical skill (and, bonus!, no need to pay a third party to manage minor site updates. Man, I hate that there are authors out there who pay good money to have a site with X-number of “pages” or to add information about a new release. Old-fashioned web development required a certain level of technical expertise. New-fashioned web technologies mask the HTML-goobledygook.

Having a good system to manage the content creates a lovely sort of flexibility for authors. So you’re just wanting to post brief items, a few sentences worth. Go for it. Maybe you are a daily diarist. If you are, then you are. Don’t fight your nature. If you’re the type who think essays are just nifty, nobody’s stopping you from a longer-form writing. And if you want to go even longer than the point where you move past essay into a paper, indulge.

Or mix it up. Stop thinking of blogs as this one thing and start thinking of blogs as the tool you need to accomplish your goals. It’s your career, you know, and you have the power to make sure you’re creating the right impression when people seek and find you.

* - Probably a lie, but let’s pretend.

One of the privileges of being me (as opposed to one of the privileges of living with me) is that I have brilliant, smart, creative friends. And I don’t brag about them (brag on them? I am told this is proper English, but my people don’t speak this way) often enough. And I should. So I am going to is get all excited about a friend, just because I can.

My friend Jill Monroe, who just happened to write of the BS’s most popular perennial posts (which she needs to update, hint, hint), is one of the funniest people I know. I do not say this lightly: I know people who can blow you across the room with funny (jealous, moi?, absolutely). Jill is in the pantheon, and the one thing that I love most is when she’s just letting the Jill roll. Weird as all get out and I mean that in good way.

So she sends me this link to a video she’s posted on YouTube. And because I’m at a client’s, I can’t watch it right away. When I get home, I have received an email about Jill’s video from an unrelated third party. Discussion ensues. Discussion that happens behind Jill’s back and, yeah, she’s gonna ask me for gory details. Needless to say, we are enthralled.

Here’s the video:
.

I am, officially, in favor of book trailers (unofficially, I feel like I’m living through the never-ending previews at a Laemmle theater). I think that the publishing industry could benefit from better use of video, but, well, see previous re: Laemmle theaters. Does it have to be so !@#$% dull? It is not understating things to suggest that the number one asset an author has is voice — yet so many authors treat promotion like it’s a vacation in a maximum security prison.

Maybe that worked for J.D. Salinger, but, hello, if you’re living the modern world and working as a professional writer, you cannot expect your publisher to get the word out. Sorry kids, but that’s your job. You can optimistically hope that the world will somehow discover your work among all the other books on the shelf, or you can take smart, proactive steps to help yourself. Your call.

I say let your voice shine even while doing promo work. How many books are you gonna sell if your interviews (video, audio, print) feel like high school textbooks? I know, I know, you’re a writer, promotion doesn’t come naturally. Uh huh. Things are different now (and by that I mean not so different now than you think…). Talent is a beautiful thing, but, man, you’ve got to sell yourself, differentiate yourself.

Authors need to find their inner actors when it comes to promotion, be it audio, video, or print. Where’s the personality, baby? I mean, if you want me to read your words, suck me in. Doubts? Read three “interviews” with an author about a current book. Any insight? Any signs of life in there? Any difference?

That’s what makes me so absolutely happy about Jill’s video. Yesterday, I found some of the earliest correspondence between me and Jill (we live in different states — very different! — and didn’t meet face-to-face for years after we’d been working together). I always remember the beginning as me being, well, me and saying (I paraphrase), “Love everything you’re doing here, but lose the first, oh, chapter or so.” Her comments were, “Nice, but wow, could you show me something instead of telling me about it? Also, cut about a gazillion words.”

Maybe it’s because we’re strong personalities, but we didn’t hide ourselves in our correspondence. I knew then what I know now. Jill has incredible voice. I’ve had the privilege of watching Jill’s voice grow stronger over her career. I have also had the privilege of knowing that her voice has become more personal (in a fictional sort of way) over time. And now I’ve had, well, I’m not sure it’s a privilege, but it’s something, of hearing her say, “Slooooo-w-lly” over and over.

The best part, I believe, is that readers will get a sense of Jill as an author and feel compelled to try her books. She’s not like all the others.

Gena Showalter gets super-extra credit points for her patience. And I like to think that Jill chose the vest because of me. But that might be taking my personal ego too far. I mean, Jill is known for her wardrobe.

Thanks to the magic of TiVo, I rarely see commercials these days. In fact, I am at the point where a commercial is a wondrous thing: Oh look, I think, someone is trying to sell me something. Serendipity is a great thing. Every now and then I’ll mess up on the fast-forwarding and discover that bands like the Buzzcocks are doing AARP commercials and the Clash are trying to sell me a car (so close, dear Pressure Drop, so close).

Last night, as I was fast forwarding through “Buffy” reruns (the commercials, not the programming), what to my wondering eyes did appear but an advertisement for a book: Karen Marie Moning’s Bloodfever. Moning, who has built a strong following as a romance author, is expanding her repertoire with the new “Fever” series. Naturally, Delacorte Press, a division of Random House, is hoping her existing fan base follows the author as she moves into a slightly different type of fiction.

But Delacorte is also trying to reach a new audience. Hence the commercial. You can imagine the meetings, the excitement. “Buffy fans…obsessive. If we can tap into them…we can rule the world!” And so on. It makes sense that Moning, who has made the leap to hardcover and made her name in paranormal romance, would be promoted to this audience. That the publisher would buy television advertising, even in the relatively inexpensive syndication market, says something about their commitment to this author.

It does make me wonder why I don’t see more individual book advertising, outside the vanity ads placed in book sections (that still exist) of major newspapers. Harlequin does a lot of Internet advertising for its book clubs, but very little for individual titles. Given the low cost of advertising on blogs and other websites, I am surprised that I don’t see more publisher-generated title advertisements.

I am of the opinion that selling books requires far more than preaching to the choir. Moning’s publisher could likely do very well based on the strength of her existing romance audience. But to take her to the next step, she needs to reach even more readers. I’m curious to learn how the television campaign goes. But it’s also instructive to consider that book readers are not necessarily accessible through book portals.

Put another way, not every reader out there is reading industry-oriented or even reader-oriented blogs. Sure, these sites get a high volume of traffic based on search engine love alone, but, as you might guess, search engine traffic requires the act of seeking. Why not more micro-ad placement that moves beyond the usual suspects?

A few months back, HarperCollins launched its “Author Assistant” project (example here. In a nutshell (meaning, yes, I’m going to get into more detail in a few paragraphs), the service allows HC authors to easily build dynamic web presences with a smattering of Web 2.0 features that allow for community building.

Authors must be active participants in marketing themselves and their work.

HarperCollins is, justifiably, proud of this service. The in-house initiative provides basic content management to notoriously non-technical authors. If you’ve mastered shopping at Amazon, you can work with Author Assistant. I think this is really great for authors.

While there are some authors out there with either the money or technical skills necessary to build a decent website, the truth of the matter is that there are far more really bad author websites than there are good. Authors get that websites are important (or, rather, most authors get this…there are quite a few who have chosen to ignore this Internet thing entirely), but the web is far more than throwing up bad HTML and hoping for the best. Sure, tools like WordPress make content management easy and Google-friendly, but, hard as it is to believe, there are many people out there who aren’t aware that blogging software does more than blogs.

I’ve had a few conversations with Carolyn Pittis, the Senior Vice-President of Marketing at HarperCollins, and she has maintained a constant theme: “let your publisher do what your publisher does best”. In this case, the publisher has strong marketing know-how, infrastructure, and tools. And while Author Assistant might not be the choice of all HC authors, it’s a fantastic way for authors to build a strong presence.

As Pittis noted when we talked specifically about Author Assistant, the HC tool does not limit an author’s online abilities. Authors can continue to maintain their own websites, MySpace pages, Facebook pages, blogs, mailing lists, wiki entries, Flickr accounts, Second Life avatars, snail mail postcards, online calendars, Squidoo, Twitter, email, and all of the other promotional tools that are de rigueur for today’s author. And while Pittis promotes in-house marketing power, the truth of the matter is that publishers simply don’t have the staff and budgets to market each and every book published.

Authors must be active participants in marketing themselves and their work.

Why am I hot on Author Assistant? As noted, it’s easy to use. I cannot overemphasize how important easy content management is. If updating your website is a chore, requires the intervention of a third party, or installation of FTP software, then chances of regular updates diminish. Nothing — nothing! — is worse than an out-of-date website.

Hmm, that’s not true. Really bad music that plays automatically is worse, but only marginally.

For those authors who so choose, they can purchase their own domains (note to authors: purchase your own domain right now, even if you think you won’t need it for some time. You’ll thank me for this lecture when you don’t have to pay a speculator for the privilege of buying your name) and point them to the HC site. For those authors who already have their own websites, the HC pages serve as ways to reach a different audience. Smart authors are already using their existing resources to up the popularity of their HC author pages, thereby pushing their names to the HC home page.

This is good because, oh yeah, publishers release a lot of books in a year, and home page real estate is prime. While it’s arguable that the general public associates books, authors, and publishers in any sort of logical way, publisher websites generate a good amount of traffic. Leveraging a publisher’s website is a good way for authors to increase exposure to an audience who might not otherwise find them.

In the comments section of Joe Wikert’s Why Does Seth Godin Hate Author Assistant?, a response to Seth Godin’s Who is Philip Roth?, Godin notes that one of his major objections to Author Assistant relates to ownership of content. He cites the example of authors writing for multiple houses or leaving one publisher for another. It’s a valid question, but misses the entire point of what is happening with Author Assistant.

Nothing about this service prohibits authors from maintaining their own web presence. There is no requirement that authors create “unique” content for the HC website. Authors are free link to third party sites. Yes, the publisher does review content before it goes live, but that’s to be expected. The official HarperCollins website is a very different animal than, oh, MySpace. I maintain control over what is published here, it makes sense to me.

Absolutely, this benefits the publisher. But there are also author benefits. As much as many of us want to believe that authors can jump into the DIY ethos of the Internet, many authors simply do not possess the right skill set to be their best online advocates. I believe, wholeheartedly, that it is essential for authors to educate themselves about online promotion (and I believe that publicity departments of publishers should be teaching effective marketing to their authors), but it’s a lot to learn, a lot to do.

Running an effective online marketing campaign can be a full-time job. Running an effective online marketing campaign can take an author away from what he or she does best. Leveraging existing resources is critical. It’s arguable that services like Twitter are effective promotional tools, but Godin cites Twitter as a positive use of time and energy. Why not add a presence on your publisher’s website to regular online promotional activity?

Not to mention that the templates and features offered by HC lead to pretty nice looking pages. I’m sorry, but if authors seriously believe that some of the horror stories they’re creating on MySpace are creating positive reader impressions, they are grossly mistaken. There’s a lot to be said for restrained, tasteful design. A lot.

In addition to providing a high degree of flexibility to authors who use Author Assistant, HC is also offering basic social networking capabilities. Pittis, who has been holding the idea of Author Assistant for a long time, waiting until “the market reached the right point”, points to the “Author Connections” feature as a first step. Building on the “friends” concepts of other social networking sites, authors can associate themselves with like-minded or favorite authors.

HC has also built some back-end author/publisher management tools to assist authors as their publication date moves closer. Being a bit of a web geek, I can see how this module alone can really streamline book-related interactions between the two parties.

Other publishers offer author promotion on their websites but with varying degrees of success (one major publisher, touting author blogs, made the egregious error of listing all authors, leading to the unfortunate experience of letting users click through to “no content here” pages — makes both the publisher and author look bad). Pittis is “glad that we got the chance to be first” when it comes to an integrated, robust system. Given the strong base developed by HC, it might, in my rarely humble opinion, make sense for other publishers to license the technology as a starting point rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.

I was excited about Author Assistant when I first heard about it, I was even more excited when I had the chance to see how it all comes together, and I’m still excited. I often point to the lameness of traditional publishers when it comes to online activities. Author Assistant is one of the most positive, forward-thinking initiatives I’ve seen in a long time.

Man, that makes me happy.

Technorati Tags: harpercollins, author assistant, publishing, publicity, authors, author marketing

So, yeah, you’re thinking that the Apple announcements yesterday were interesting. You’re thinking, wow, I didn’t want to spend a month’s worth of book money on a phone, but, hey, they lowered the price. Or maybe you’re thinking you didn’t need a new phone. But everyone can use an iPod. Especially since iPods are now more versatile than ever.

Put on your magic thinking cap and make the best of this technology.

I mean, to be more versatile, they’d have to work in the shower.

I admit it. I wanted an iPhone for my birthday. Didn’t get one. Okay, fine. But, through one of those twists of fate that can only be called fortuitous, the battery on my iPod has decided that it’s simply not interested in this mortal coil. At the same time, I’m seeing my super-cute pink phone as a liability. How can you take me seriously when my phone is pink*?

Practical is (almost) my middle name. Great timing, never my forte, has shone upon me. When Steve Jobs announced the new “i” product line, I can well imagine that every person in the book industry sat up and took note. Finally, we all said, a product for us!

Truly, nobody was left out of the food chain. Except maybe distributors, but that’s only until the inevitable hacks come online. Do not worry, people who get the books from the publishers to the customers. Your day is nigh.

Let us count the ways the new iPod can make book people happy (most apply to the iPhone too, plus you can call your mother):

Readers: Ah readers, the people who keep this whole crazy business afloat. How often have you been out shopping, only to find that you are unable to make an informed decision: this book or that book? Well, let’s glance at our most trusted website and get the necessary information. Ah, that book.

A transaction well done.

Readers can use the native WiFi connectivity to connect to the web, check email (provided the email is web-enabled), and find information. This is good for readers. It’s also good for…

Authors: Hello. YouTube enabled right out of the box. Book trailers, check. Also, remember the iTunes store supports PDF files. Oh my, the possibilities are endless. Your blog? Just a browser address away. And what are the people saying about your new book? Let’s check with the…

Reviewers: It’s all very well and good when someone is sitting safely at her desk, reading your profound analysis of a novel. But isn’t even sweeter when that person is standing in a bookstore, trying to make a major decision. Your words of wisdom can lead to a purchase of a book, in real time. Is there any greater joy than knowing you’ve given back to an author who gave you so much (or, perhaps, is there any greater joy than knowing you saved a reader ten bucks…while steering said reader to something much more worthy?)?

Finally there is a device that brings together the holy trinity: readers, reviewers, and…

Booksellers: Dudes, WiFi. Offer it. Make sure your customers can connect to the web and find books. Then you can sell them stuff. I mean, who can walk into a bookstore and walk out empty-handed? Nobody.

Make sure your store is iPodTouch/iPhone friendly. That person who looks like he’s sending illicit text messages? He’s really checking out the title of William Gibson’s latest book (Spook Country, unless you’re reading this in the future). Look…there he goes, over to the correct spot in your store.

Ah, life is good.

Hmm. Seems like I forgot somebody. You have readers, authors, reviewers, booksellers, ah, right…

Publishers: This is it, kids, the moment you’ve been waiting for. Finally you can be part of the fab online world. You have the technology — and the means to bring together all of the elements that lead to the goal. Yes. Books and customers. Has there ever been a better moment than this?

Think about it. Content, video, audio, links, more links, more audio, more video, more content. The iTunes store. Magic. Gives you chills, doesn’t it?

There are some catches here; there are always catches. All of you crazy kids who thought that optimizing your website for some obscure version of Internet Explorer was the be-all and end-all of HTML? Clean up your code. Make sure you look like a million buck in Safari, the native browser (ah, Apple, throw the Firefox contingent a bone…Safari is, well, nice, but Firefox? You could rule the world.).

You need to think freedom (and, if you’re believing you’ll make a bundles on wireless charges, free). You need to put on your magic thinking cap and look at how you can make the best of this technology without veering into the world of obnoxious.

Also, remember that as much as we all like to pretend it isn’t so, there are only so many shopping days until the major gift-giving season is upon us. Think of all those bright and shiny and happy faces opening their new iPods/iPhones/possibly cooler device to be released between now and then. Don’t you want to be part the magic?

Thought so.

* - Of course, knowing how much I spend on shoes, how can you take me seriously at all?

Technorati Tags: ipod, iphone, ipod touch, apple, books, publishing, authors, bookstores, booksellers, reviews

Sometimes something comes along and you think, “Why hasn’t this been done already?” Or maybe you think, “I’m so glad that someone is finally doing this right” Or a combination of the two. And it’s always a joy when the good idea builds upon other good ideas by people you like.

A multi-pronged approach increases the breadth and depth of information for readers.

When I last saw Kevin Smokler, it was a crowded, smoke-fill–okay, the last time I saw Kevin Smokler was at the O’Reilly Tools of Change Conference. But the room was crowded. Kevin handed over his new business card, telling me that he was part of the new venture BookTour.com. Technically, his job title is Chief Evangelist and Community Director.

A few years ago, as you will recall, Kevin started a concept called the “virtual book tour” — where he hooked up authors with various websites. Day- or week-long tours of blogs showcased the author’s writing and ability to meet a crowd. BookTour.com is a similar concept with a twist: in-person appearances (note: the site is still in Beta).

Shocking, no? Yes, there is a finally a service that connects authors and audiences. Or, to put it in their words:

BookTour.com, a free online service connecting authors and audiences, announced its public launch today. In private beta since June 1, BookTour.com has been showcased at Book Expo America 2007 and the first O’Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing Conference, where company chairman Chris Anderson (Editor in Chief of Wired Magazine and author of The Long Tail) was a featured presenter.

“BookTour.com uses what’s best about the Internet—decentralization, low barrier to entry and universal access—to create a one-stop tool for book promotion,” said Anderson. “For authors, BookTour makes locating speaking venues totally painless. For the community at large, there’s now a single site for information on when a favorite author is coming to town.”

Yes, kids, thanks to easy-to-use, modern technology, you can get out the word about your appearances. But wait, there’s more! By combining authors, books, and places, you get personalized content. Like, oh, a weekly newsletter telling you about author appearances in your neighborhood and, once you’ve registered, the home page gives you a listing of upcoming appearances (dates would be helpful here).

Kevin described BookTour.com as a sort of Pollstar for authors. This is either handy shorthand or an indicator of great future ambitions. If the latter, here’s why. There are multiple ways for fans to connect with authors: email (still cool after all these years), RSS (hallelujah!), you can add dates to your calendar (adding an option for the Google calendar would be lovely, even via a widget that can be embedded in your website; also I didn’t notice if I can get a specific venue via the calendar or RSS option — if so, yes!, if not, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t have a wish list).

Authors, if you haven’t already abandoned this post to hit the BookTour site, add your information, and embed the widget on your home page, what, pray tell, are waiting for? Do you really want to continue to continue to code this stuff in HTML?

You can also request visits from authors. Now, don’t be fooled. Not every request will be fulfilled. However, lots of individual requests might make an author think seriously about visiting new and different places.

As noted above, there are many ways to connect fans with authors. Meaning that you don’t have to be the author (or publicist) to add upcoming information. You don’t have to be the bookstore owner to add upcoming tour dates (yes, there are controls in place to make sure information is accurate). By taking a multi-pronged approach to getting author appearance information into the database, this increases the breadth and depth of information for readers. Since they’re the ones who matter, this is very good indeed.

Please recall that the site is in live Beta and there are — as is always the case — bugs being worked out. The best way to help the BookTour.com folks help you is to tell them when you encounter something that doesn’t feel right. Read the FAQ. Check out the bells and whistles. And, please, add your data. It’s your good deed for the day!

Technorati Tags: booktour, booktour.com, book tour, kevin smokler, chris anderson, publicity, authors

On most Wednesday nights Diana Allandale can be found reading to a small audience of dedicated fans at Passionate Books. The shop is one of four that Diana owns and operates. When she’s not reading at one of her own stores, Diana travels to far away places where she invariably finds a receptive new audience.

Diana’s life may sound like every author’s wildest fantasy. What strange world is this where writers own bookstores, travel at will, and never read to a room filled with empty chairs? It’s called Second Life, and it’s proving to be a valuable marketing tool for the authors who’ve begun exploring its possibilities.

In first life, Diana Allandale is known as Diana Hunter. She’s written 12 books for Ellora’s Cave over the last four years. Her BDSM-themed novels have found an enthusiastic audience among the inhabitants of the virtual world.

Second Life has enabled Diana to reach a whole new audience who might never have discovered her work otherwise. When she steps up to read at her shop, her audience members are logged in from around the world, many from countries where her books have never been marketed.

After one of Diana’s recent readings, an excited fan named Jojamela Soon tells me, “I had never heard of Diana or Ellora’s Cave until SL. Now I’ve read every one of her books and am starting on the other authors.”

Second Life may be the perfect venue for Diana’s style of fiction. The anonymity and freedom within Second Life creates a natural environment where people can explore lifestyles and subcultures they would never dream of exploring in real life.

During our interview Diana explained, “BDSM is obviously a theme that runs through my stories…and SL is a place where people try it out just to see what it’s like.” To facilitate this experimentation Diana opened a small shop with all of the equipment necessary for readers to explore and recreate scenes from her stories. Fans are encouraged to use the semi-private space as they see fit. Fortunately this is Second Life and the sheets are always clean.

While Diana thinks it’s unlikely that she’ll ever include Second Life in her books, she is using her experiences in world as the basis for a new work that is available only from her virtual store. Rosie’s Story is a semi-autobiographical tale of a woman exploring Second Life for the first time, and running into all of the inevitable problems that occur in a world where the “remove all clothes” menu item is just a mouse click away.

Sometimes a Good Suit Really Does Make a Man

madddyyy Schnook’s life changed on the day he decided he needed a new suit. Unlike most men, madddyyy wasn’t happy buying off the rack. No, he actually wanted to make his own suit. The only problem was, he didn’t have a clue how to make clothes, and the only instructions he could find weren’t up to par. Eventually madddyyy managed to tailor something he could wear, then he set out to document the process. madddyyy published his clothes-making guide as an ebook, then began selling it at his nightclub. The guide became an immediate hit with his patrons, and madddyyy realized he was on to something.

In the year and a half since, madddyyy has published a total of 44 SLGuides designed to help residents navigate the terminally under-documented world of Second Life. The guides have sold nearly 100,000 copies, allowing Andrew Sullivan (the human behind madddyyy) to quit his real world job in order to write, publish, and market ebooks full-time.

madddyyy’s real-life sales and marketing experience have undoubtedly contributed to his success in building the SLGuides brand in world. madddyyy isn’t strictly an author, but more of an author/publisher/marketer hybrid. More than anything, he’s a savvy businessman who knows a tremendous opportunity when he sees one.

I asked madddyyy how friends and family have reacted to his new career:

“It’s strange when people ask you what you’re doing now, and you say, ‘Well this morning I ejected 2 dragons from my house, banned 2 robots, disarmed someone and finished a book’. That’s my job. lol”

madddyyy is quick to point out that a full-time job in Second Life is not as glamorous as it might seem. Besides the dragon slaying, there are many long days and a lot of hard work involved in building and maintaining a virtual publishing empire.

The effort has paid off with more than just increased ebook sales. Earlier this year madddyyy signed a real world book deal. In November, UK publisher Vision will release “How To Live Your Second Life”, madddyyy’s first printed book.

As Selina Greene, the Managing Director of Vision, explains, the entire deal was negotiated in Second Life:

“We met [madddyyy] inworld, I [teleported] in my sales director and commissioning editor and we had a meeting in the SL Vision office where we negotiated the terms of the agreement.”

If madddyyy’s story is any indication, the future of the publishing industry may involve quite a bit more teleportation than any of us had previously anticipated. That might not be such a bad thing given the current state of airport security.

Meanwhile madddyyy is hatching plans to take the SLGuides brand to new levels. He recently opened his own island, and he’s working on a new type of fully immersive ebook that can only be implemented in a virtual world. In addition to his own books, madddyyy has also begun publishing other authors. On 06/06/06 madddyyy published Dobbit Dö and two other horror/sci-fi titles authored by Pamela Woodward and Wilbur Witt.

Finding Your Place In the Metaverse

The most common mistake outsiders make when talking about Second Life is to assume that a) the world is some type of video game, and b) Second Life appeals to a very young audience. In reality, Second Life isn’t a game at all, and the average user age is much older than you might expect. At the beginning of this year, the average Second Life user was 38, although this year the average has dropped to 32 — there are still a substantial percentage of users 35 and older. There’s a reason why BMW and Mercedes are competing for attention in world.

As a study in contrasts, Diana and madddyyy couldn’t be more different, and yet they’ve both found their respective niches in the virtual world. Regardless of what your niche might be, it’s likely that you’ll find a substantial number of residents with similar interests in Second Life.

Having said all this, it’s pretty clear that Second Life is not for everyone. The system and bandwidth requirements are relatively high compared the Internet in general, and the user interface can be confusing to newcomers.

Writers who are interested in exploring Second Life should try setting up a free account and spend some time exploring the world before making any commitments. For some people, it can take a a fair amount of time before Second Life clicks. madddyyy tells me that he tried Second Life briefly, then took a year off before returning. Once he returned he wondered why he’d ever left.

Diana speaks to one of the real dangers of Second Life when I ask her if she would recommend other authors give the world a try, she replies “Yes…but only if they have the discipline not to get sucked in. To be honest, SL is habit forming…and I find I can spend hours here…hours I SHOULD spend writing”.

Technorati Tags: Second Life

Day one of the O’Reilly Tools of Change conference has been both eye-opening and, well, comforting. The latter because, as we’re sure you can imagine, we do so like to be right, and we’re feeling very right at the moment. The former because we’re seeing a strong desire to make fundamental changes in how the publishing business works, without that little something extra that leads to actual jumping off of cliffs.

Making yourself findable is just the first step…

Not that we believe one should jump off a cliff. First off, very messy. Second, you don’t need to splatter yourself on the rocks (or wash away downstream) to make a huge improvement in your online efforts. There seems to be a sense that major investment — time and money — is required for online and/or digital ventures. That is not the case, dear publishing friends.

We’ll be rolling out our thoughts on this topic over the next few days — the conference fun is just beginning, but one theme has meshed nicely with one of our favorite topics: search.

There is this sense that publishers need — must — control the user experience. After all, when you’re trading in what is essentially a linear product, you become accustomed to the thrill of power. You assume that every consumer reads your books in the proscribed front to back method. You know this doesn’t really happen, but you like to believe.

Publishers, knowing they must work with Google, MSN, Yahoo!, and whomever comes down the pike (collectively, hereafter known as “Google”), realize that some content must be fed to the search engines. The problem comes when the publisher takes it upon him- or herself to decide what content will be “searchable”. This despite being very much human and knowing that our species very rarely behaves how we are expected to.

Call it the old tomayto/tomahto quandary.

In providing abstracts and snippets and key words to the search engines for ingestion, the publishers are necessarily limiting their findability. We are busily refining a new BS mantra — trying to make it pithy, catchy, t-shirtesque. Right now, we’ve narrowed it down to:

If they can’t find you, they can’t find you.

Our goal is to achieve the lasting resonance of:

Wherever you go, there you are. (Buckaroo Banzai, 1984, best movie ever)

You can see our challenge.

Regardless, if you can’t be found, you can’t be found. Simple as that. If your potential customer is searching for “blue dogs in swamps”, you must provide sufficient clues that tell said potential customer that your book has loads and loads of useful information on just that topic. If your “searchable” information keys on “animals in swamps”, chances are that your work will be overlooked. Remember: you are not just competing with a handful of content producers. You are now competing with the collective wisdom of the web, and there is always going to be a blogger out there who just happens to write daily on the topic of blue dogs in swamps.

Who would you rather hold the title of ultimate authority on that topic? Unless you’ve recently signed a publishing deal with the blue dog blogger, we’re guessing you want your publishing house to wear the crown.

It is right and proper that publishing houses want to control what aspects of their content gets released to search engines. But with control comes great limitations. Do not fear, dear publisher, that you are alone in your “do we or don’t we” decision-making process. Even O’Reilly Media, probably the publisher with the most going on online, has not fully come to terms with how to get their content into the search engines.

They are working diligently toward resolution. As one member of our BS team noted, if he’s searching for content that he already knows O’Reilly has, he’s heading for the O’Reilly website. The difference between the BS tech department and the average user is the in-depth knowledge of this particular publisher’s catalog. Though one of the better branded publishers in the world, O’Reilly still does not have ubiquitous market recognition; there are still a few people out there who don’t know the publisher’s name and product.

It’s a balancing act. However, we would like to suggest that there is a strong difference between search and consumption. Giving it all up to the search engines does not mean that you will lose the customer. It feels that way, doesn’t it? Once Google serves up the content, they lose the eyeballs.

Ick. Let’s try that again. Once Google returns the search results to the potential customer, the Google role in the process is done. If your search results seem to meet the customer’s needs, then, voila!, you get to take the next step in making a sale that will impress your friends and contribute to the corporate bonus pool.

Oh yes, did we mention that? Making yourself findable is just the first step…

Technorati Tags: TOC07, Tools of Change, Tools of Change 2007, search, search engine optimization, SEO, Google, MSN, Yahoo, publishing, books

We know that publishers are huddled in meetings, devising strategies for going forth and embracing the blogosphere. There may be task forces or committees or, shudder, ad hoc committees. Now that they have religion, publishers and more than a few authors are trying to figure out how to make the most of the opportunities provided by online communities

As publishers and authors join communities, they need to remember the rules of engagement.

One important thing to note is that you and your product are already being discussed. You have lost control of the conversation. In many ways, you lost control so long ago, you didn’t know it happened. In the past, providers of services and products controlled the message. Via the creation of clever (okay, sometimes clever) advertising campaigns and public information, a very clear, always positive, image of an entity was presented to the people.

Once we were told that a happy customer might tell one person while a dissatisfied customer would tell ten people. Probably more. Think of how those numbers have changed in the world of ubiquitous blogs and robust online search. Yeah, we’d go back to bed and pull the covers up tight if we could, too.

Bottom line is that your products are often being marketed via channels that you haven’t approved.

Sometimes the discussions are filled with high praise and adoration; sometimes, the conversation is downright negative. Let’s deal with the positive first: say “thank you”. That’s right, post a comment — as yourself — saying, “I appreciate what you’re saying. Thank you.” Naturally, you, being you, will phrase the thing differently. No point in everyone using the same words, right?

If you have a blog yourself — and who doesn’t? — you can also, kindly, link back to the nice comments. Incoming links are still so important and you want to give back to the community, right? If you wish to engage in more detailed conversation, go ahead, but be careful.

If the comments are negative, oh boy. This is a slippery slope. If the criticism contains factual errors, that is one thing; if it is “I didn’t like it”, that is another.

When truly factual mistakes are made, the best approach is to correct them in no-nonsense sort of way. As yourself. One of the key aspects of the blogosphere, heck, the whole Web 2.0 thing, is authenticity. Simply say, “I am so and so, and wanted to correct one item.” Then correct the item. Don’t engage in further arguments, do not (please!) argue the merits of one opinion over another. Do not make yourself look foolish or (worse) clueless by fighting and arguing and just generally looking like a poor sport.

Facts = okay. Everything else = dumbest thing you can do.

That is not to say that entering into a spirited debate is a bad thing. Just remember that there is a difference between debate and stupid arguing. If you cannot tell the difference, then you should resist the urge to respond.

Also, careful readers will note the use of “as yourself” in a previous paragraph. Funny thing: so many individuals, whether speaking for themselves or in defense of their business, believe that anonymity or the use of a pseudonym (heck, full-on false identity) is the optimal choice for engaging detractors. Suffice to say, these ploys are both transparent and easily unmasked.

And the unmasking creates a certain sense of pleasure. You have no idea how many clues you leave as you traverse the Internets. Even more so, you have no idea how easy it is to follow your trail. In some instances, you pretty much leave your name, rank, and serial number even as you’re posting as “Anon Y. Mouse”. We have heard tales of technologically-challenged individuals who have found real identities through the simple task of tracing IP addresses. These individuals, mind you, normally confine their prowess to turning computers on and off.

As publishers and authors engage in community, real names, real thoughts, and authenticity are the most important aspects of today’s online world. You get bonus points for facing your critics in a forthright manner. While it is tempting to hide behind a veil, you’re not doing yourself any favors. What seems brilliant is really dumb. Remember that fine line between clever and stupid.

Above all, resist the urge to enlist your family and friends on your behalf. Please. Resist the urge. You will only live to regret the fallout should you ignore this sage advice. There is no defense more transparently obvious than the “friends and family” barrage. Oh, there is one: the friends and family pretending to be unaffiliated third parties who just happen upon the bloodletting at the right moment. You’d be surprised at how often that happens. It always ends badly.

Hint: the one being criticized never wins. Trust us on this.

As publishers and authors become more engaged in community, they need to remember the rules of engagement. This goes for staff who are hired to interact with web-based communities. When they speak of the community, they need to speak with authority. A year ago, Dell Computers found themselves in the midst of a fight they couldn’t win when someone in their employ (indirectly) took exception with online criticism. Dell did not handle the situation well; this mishandling will be remembered long after the original criticism is forgotten. Other companies have made similar mistakes. Learn from those who go before…

Every now and then, we are contacted by very kind individuals who are part of publishing “blogging outreach” programs. Based on our very careful, very detailed research, we have determined that these good folks are tasked with contacting bloggers of various persuasions and asking them if they would like free books.

Your corporate website is not friendly nor usable enough to serve the community you’re trying to build.

Truly, who doesn’t want free books?

Let us suggest that this is a good first step, but not nearly enough. Yesterday, we began discussing the concept of niches. Today, we’re going to start in on community and how you can use it to mutual advantage. That’s an important word there, mutual. In the olden days, before and after the invention of electricity, marketing was seen as a one-way endeavor: you market, they buy.

Today’s audiences are far to cynical to fall for this ploy. The most effective types of marketing come from trust relationships (note to Microsoft and your college outreach program: college kids know that those so-called “peers” are just trying to sell something; they’re not so much buying as wasting time). Part of building trust is building community.

Once upon a time, members of neighborhoods sold Avon or Tupperware. Generally, what would happen is that someone would become a “Tupperware Lady”. They would encourage a friend to have a “party”. At this party, a sales pitch would be made, extolling the virtues of the product, perhaps offering free samples, and definitely there would be food. Probably not booze, though it’s not a bad idea when you’re trying to get someone to part with funds.

One key aspect of the Tupperware Lady was that she lived in your neighborhood. You could, as you drove by, see lots of shiny, colored plastic in her garage. Some it might be yours, being readied for delivery. You would see your Tupperware Lady at the grocery store. You’d have conversations, sometimes about the product, sometimes about the weather, sometimes about the Dodgers.

And because she knew you, your Tupperware Lady would fret if there were delays or problems. She wasn’t just a salesperson, she was part of the community. Her success depended upon her ability to provide quality, value, service, and, yes, make casual conversation at the grocery store about things that had nothing to do with her job. She also depended on you to be so pleased with what you’ve received (that lovely hostess gift, for example) that you would be willing to introduce her to your friends — so that they could have parties and learn to love Tupperware.

So this is the thing about all those niches we’ve been talking about: they are a whole bunch of Tupperware parties waiting to be had. Rather than just giving books (though we still believe this is a fine gesture!), blogger outreach programs should must include community immersion. We have long pointed out the folly of the drive-by author: “Hi, I’m so happy to be part of your community. I plan to participate all the time. I have a new book coming out tomorrow. Please buy it.”

Drive-by authors are never heard from again. Unless they should be lucky enough to release another book. Funny thing is that these authors are so clueless that they don’t realize how sad and pathetic their efforts are. The community as a whole considers them no more than a truck rolling by with a blaring loudspeaker. The message is irritating but easily ignored. Life goes on.

It is the authors who join communities and remain engaged who find their efforts rewarded. Mostly because they’re not selling their books. In fact, mentioning new releases is often a casual afterthought. It doesn’t need to be part of the everyday conversation. Just as you know when members of your community have a new baby (hmm, are there old babies to be had?), you know when members of your community release new books.

There are ways to impart this information while being subtle and true to the mores of the community.

Blogger outreach should also extend beyond the LitBlog community. LitBlogs are very nice and as you pass from nexus to nexus on the web that forms the community, you find that you’re reaching a larger and increasingly diverse audience. BS readers overlap with readers of other LitBlogs, but we also have a core community all to ourself (selfish, yes). Traversing the little strands between blogs helps in building trust among familiar faces while reaching new readers.

You must also reach out to other niches. There are many of them out there. Just as knitters don’t turn to the Washington Post for information on new patterns, members of various communities have their own trusted resources for information. If you’re trying to sell something that meets the needs of a community, you need to sell to that community. Cross-niche success will come if it makes sense — or if you have a product that’s so awesome that it gets the knitters buzzing to the point that they tell the quilters who tell the crocheters who can’t wait to share with the needlepoint group. You see how this goes?

You accomplish your goals in a few ways. First, you comment about posts. This seems so simple, doesn’t it? Au contraire, au contraire. You, dear marketer, must remember to comment on topic and, unless your product is so absolutely on point, without mentioning what you’re selling. Not a word. You have just entered someone else’s house, semi-invited. Be a good guest. You can debate and discuss, but only to the topic at hand. This is where the Tupperware thing gets a little messy: you don’t get to pitch a book until you’re invited, either directly or by asking the blog owner if they’d be willing to allow you to take the floor.

These guest posts are lovely ways to talk to a community. You still need to understand that community: what is the tone, how do they approach the topic, how can you make your goals mesh with theirs. Because you’re new, it might take a while before other community members feel comfortable approaching you. This is where being a regular commenter really does come in handy — others feel like they know you. They also feel more inclined to listen to your sales pitch because you are trusted. Finally, you are not just taking from this group. You’re giving back.

Also, generally speaking, it’s a really good idea if you have a robust, interesting, not-necessarily-sales-oriented publishing blog to link back to…if the blogosphere is like a neighborhood, your blog is like a house or condo or however you want to consider it. We can pretty much guarantee that your corporate website is not friendly nor usable enough to serve as an appropriate extension of the community you’re trying to build. Quite the opposite.

We know, we know, marketing books online is so easy! Go forth and execute.

As news trickles our way from the 2007 BookExpo America gathering (breaking: air conditioning not so very available), we are gathering the threads of a few themes. Meaning, yes, we’ll be analyzing and discussing them over the next few days. A biggie to emerge from the conference is the concept of niches.

Putting advertising where the customers are: so simple, it’s almost genius.

Since the beginning of time, publishing has always been about niches — publishers simply pretended they were catering to a large mass of people, much like television did prior to the advent of lots and lots of cable options. Very few books have ever held an entire nation in thrall. In our modern the era, the closest we’ve come would be the Harry Potter series and, perhaps, The Da Vinci Code.

Otherwise, the market is made up of thousands of little niches. You buy a book about gardening. Perhaps, more specifically, you purchase a book about gardening in little square feet. Even more specifically, you’re seeking something about gardening in little square feet but doing it organically.

It is difficult to market to the niche of people who want to garden in little square feet. You cannot, for example, take out full-page ads in the New York Times. Nobody would stop you; if you wish to throw away your money, there is always someone willing to take it. The problem becomes that such an ad would not reach the target audience — unless the NYT has a very robust gardening section. We don’t know.

The real trick would be to take out ads in gardening sections of newspapers around the nation. Lots and lots of ads, though you begin to wonder if such gardening sections exist. The Los Angeles Times, which publishes in what is clearly one of the best places for gardening on Earth, doesn’t so much have a section devoted to the art of digging around in dirt as it has an area devoted to the home. An ad for a book about gardening organically in square feet probably would be lost among the ads for couches and whatnot.

All hope is not lost. The problem we see with publisher advertising is that it is often unimaginative. For example, today’s gardeners are as likely to seek advice online as they are to check out books from libraries. Thus it would make sense for advertising about gardening in square feet to be placed on websites that offer advice and support for individuals who practice the art.

Rather than cutting a wide swath with advertising about books, marketing departments need to start thinking smaller buys in niche markets, print, web, and virtual worlds. Smaller buys, better targets. Basically, putting advertising where the customers are. It sounds so simple, it’s almost genius.

Oh yes, this would be a lot of work for publishing companies. It is much easier to market to the perceived masses. Marketing staff would need to stop thinking in terms of broad campaigns and start thinking in terms of niche. This would, naturally, lead to the idea of community development…which is a topic discussed long and loud in the BS garden office this weekend.

So as you recover from your post-BEA flights and drives and haze, go ahead and niche today. You deserve it.

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