What We're Writing: Julia on pre-Sales and Promotions

 JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I'm working on something new, but it's kind of tiny and fragile with sharp claws and needle-like teeth, so I'm not going to be talking about it for some time yet.

I can definitely talk about AT MIDNIGHT COMES THE CRY, and in fact, my publisher would love me to do so. We're at the stage where the book's publication seems both impossibly far away and also holy cow it's coming up fast. The quantum novel: it will never be on the shelves, it will be here practically tomorrow.

My agent and editor have sent out requests for blurbs and they're coming in (many, many thanks to Rhys, who took time she couldn't spare to say very nice things about the book) and there have already been a couple pre-ordering deals. St. Martin's is running a giveaway contest at Goodreads, the second ebook in the series is priced at $2.99 all month, and Steve, my really, really nice marketing manager, has been sharing graphics with me I don't even know what to do with.

This is a "short vertical." I bet Jenn knows how to use this.

I was Zooming with my bestie in Colorado (Hi, Roxanne!) and her husband popped on to say he'd seen a promotion from Barnes & Noble and got all excited about the book being here soon and was shocked to see the pub date was November 18th.

This one's supposed to go on top of my Bluesky profile, I think.

 That's November 18, folks! Find it in fine bookstores everywhere! 

I laughed and said 1) I would send them a book so don't worry and 2) the publisher likes to get way out ahead.

But why?

I've written about what pre-ordering means to the author before: it shows the publisher the amount of reader enthusiasm, and gets bookstores excited, and more likely to up their orders. However, there's another point of view to consider: the publisher's.

I think this version would look nice silk screened on a bolster cushion, what do you think?

Book publishing, you will not be surprised to hear, is a business with slim margins. The old joke goes, "How do you make a small fortune in publishing? Start with a large fortune." Like many businesses, the Big Five try to cut material costs wherever they can. The price for print-quality paper has been rising since 2021, and the looming trade deficits won't help that trend, since a considerable amount of it comes from Canada. (67% of the "uncoated" paper used in the US - that's the stuff you stick in your printer or copy machine, as well as what you find between the covers of your favorite books - comes from our friendly neighbors to the North.)

This is for my Instagram Story. I've never done an Instagram Story! I have a feeling I'm going to let Steve down.

However, publishers have a limit to the amount of raw material they can save. Mars can sell you a mini Snickers bar, but no one is going to read a book that tops out at 87 pages because it's been printed in this size font! 

 In addition, the number of large-scale printing companies in the US have been shrinking over the past twenty years. Scheduling the when, where and most importantly, how many copies of of the book to be produced begins to look like another moon launch at times. 75,000 copies of THE WELL-LOVED DETECTIVE INVESTIGATES? Slot it in between the 25,000 run of AN MFA STUDENT'S STORY and the 200,000 copies of QUIRKY MILLENNIALS IN LOVE. God forbid two weeks ahead of time, AN MFA STUDENT'S STORY gets featured on Fresh Air with Teri Gross and you've got fourteen days to figure out how to double the print run. (I mean, that's a good problem, but it's still a problem.)

Also for my Instagram Story. I'm going to have to call Virginia in De Haag and have her walk me through this.

Every book that doesn't sell, and that has to be pulped, is a waste of resources. Conversely, getting a book on the shelves and immediately having to go back to print is expensive and can lead to a lot of upset bookstore owners who have to send those Teri Gross listeners away. "Sorry, we can have it in two or three weeks, do you want to get on the list?" is not a winning commercial strategy.

So, dear readers, this is why we have pre-sale specials, and contests and publicity and all that other stuff: so when St. Martin's pushes the button for AT MIDNIGHT COMES THE CRY, the printing presses will chunder out exactly the right number of copies to meet the demand - the demand you, dear readers, establish. Fingers crossed I outsell QUIRKY MILLENNIALS IN LOVE...

GET FAT! Yes, really.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: So, all you published and not-yet-published authors out there, now that you've gotten your legal facts straight--thanks to Leslie Budewitz on Tuesday, and you have your book trailer made--thanks to Lisa Black on Wednesday, and you understand why a one-star review might be a good thing--thanks to Catriona McPherson yesterday--now what?

Marketing maven Jen Fusco has three little words:

MARKET OR DIE.

(And for all you readers out there-this proves how incredibly important you are to the future of the books you love. This proves how one kind word--can change an author's life.)

Now. You'd think we at Jungle Red would never advocate getting fat. But Jen Fusco says yes! To succeed--we must all get fat! And, sadly, that has nothing to do with chocolate.

JEN FUSCO: Thanks so much to Hank for allowing me to return to the Blog. I really enjoy spending time with you guys.

The weekend is almost here. I'm glad, too. I could use a rest, but I won't get one. I'll be visiting some new friends in San Diego, CA. And I couldn't be more excited about it. Not only do I get a chance to meet new people and introduce them to some practical marketing techniques, but I also benefit. I have the opportunity to "get fat." No, it has nothing to do with extra dessert at lunch.

Its about widening Market or Die's sphere of influence. Take a look at this. This graph comes from Bob Clark at 24kmarketing.com, someone I like to read when I have time....

Let me explain this sphere of influence thing. You and me, we make up the smallest part of the Core Circle. By being an Market or Die trubie, you are going to know things about MOD first. I need you and your support and hopefully, you need Market or Die.

Now, let’s look at the inner circle. These are your writing groups you work with, your social media "friends" and the professional writing organizations you belong to or other writers you know professionally. Hopefully for some, your readers fall into this category. The outer circle describes the people who know you, but you fail to know them. These are the people who buy your work, form an opinion about it and tell others.

Scary, huh? But also valuable.

To succeed in this business you and I have to get fat. We need to keep widening our sphere of influence and growing our inner circle. Can it be uncomfortable meeting new people? You bet.

The upside? The more people you bring into the inner circle will help you spread a positive message about you and your work to the outer circle.

Those people will be come your brand advocates.

Brand advocates are your village and they have the power to emerge online as your primary influencers. Recently, I ran across a marketing blurb about brand advocates that said using brand advocates yielded a two-to-one positive influencing rate of a friend or family member to buy the product or brand they recommended. Brand advocates are incredibly valuable to an author because they are better connected to other readers and can have a larger sphere of influence.

But Fusco, you say, I’m a published author. I have influence.

True.

But how much time do you have to pound the pavement and stalk the internet?

And, how sick are people going to get of you tooting your own horn?

Isn’t it better when someone else toots it for you? Doesn’t it make the claim that someone should buy your book more powerful if you’re not the one saying it?

Of course it does.

If you want to stay relevant in the competitive world of writing, your time is better spent putting butt to chair and words on paper. Trust me on this one, will you?

So tell me one thing, how you vow to do to widen your circle?

Lesson number two! Advertising! And the keys to making a successful ad. There's one golden rule in advertising. If your audience remembers the ad, but doesn't remember the product, you've failed.

There are millions of great ads out there, but only a few that I remember both the ad and the product the ad was selling.

The biggest one that comes to mind is the Snickers TV ad that featured Betty White playing football. The concept a group of guys razzing a teammate for playing poorly and his teammate says, "You're playing like Betty White out there," until the player eats a Snickers then becomes himself again. The tagline, "You're not you when you're hungry."

Brilliant!!

What we as writers can learn from this piece of advertising is this. MAKE IT MEMORABLE. I know we all don't have budgets to advertise on TV however, some print and online advertising can be affordable. Make your ads interesting enough to the reader so that it will get their attention. (A book cover with an ISBN number running across it IS NOT interesting) Jazz it up.

Don't be afraid to tell the reader why they're going to like your book. And, don't forget to direct them to where to buy it.

So, in thinking about advertising what's worked or hasn't worked for you?

HANK: And what do you think, Reds writers? What's worked for you--and hey, what hasn't? And readers--what makes you choose a book?

And we'll give your choice of Market or Die (for authors) or a book by a Jungle Red author (for readers) to one lucky commenter!