Exaggerate nothing.
Deliver more than you commit to.
Writing is 10 percent, marketing is 90 percent.
— JACK CANFIELD
Your book is your baby. You give birth to it twice: once when you conceive and write it, and again when you and your publisher bring it into the world and nurture its success. Writing your promotion plan is part of that process. It shows your commitment to put your pride and passion to work on behalf of your newborn.
Begin your promotion explanation by telling editors the most impressive thing you will do and then working your way down the list of whatever will convince the editor about your ability to promote your book. When it makes sense, use numbers to indicate how many or how much of something you will do. I've started plans with the traditional off-line activities that publishers like to see, but your online promotion campaign may be more impressive. If it is, start with that (which we'll discuss in the next chapter). Present your plan in whichever order will most excite editors. Feedback from other writers will help ensure your plan is at maximum strength.
Under the subhead “Promotion,” begin your plan by writing To promote the book, the author will …. Then begin a bulleted list, starting each new item with a verb.
If you will have a promotion budget, write: Carry out the following campaign at his/her expense …. This indicates that you will cover whatever expenses your plan requires except for copies of your book that your publisher supplies for promotion.
Or you could write: Match the publisher's out-of-pocket consumer promotion budget up to $X upon signing to carry out the campaign.
If you have access to a publicist or you will hire one, write Hire X to [list whatever your publicist will do online and/or off, that will most effectively and economically get books to the cash register].
Because tours aren't cost-effective in terms of the publicity or sales they generate, publishers are touring authors less and doing more with them online. However, large houses are promoting hundreds of books a year; you're promoting only one.
If your goal is to become a successful author, you need to build communities of all the people who can and want to help you. You can accomplish a lot online, but meeting people is also essential. Partly because of the isolating effects of technology and working at home, people want more of a relationship with authors than words in a book. This is one reason politicians shake as many hands as they can and authors give talks and do signings.
If you can get yourself around the country without a publicist, write: Give talks [that you or your publicist will arrange] in the following X major markets and their metropolitan areas, and do signings and media interviews that the publisher arranges [if you're not using a publicist] … . Then list, in paragraph form, the cities and metropolitan areas you will go to once your book has been published. If you can get paid enough to speak to justify your time and expenses, or you can afford to spring for the costs and you enjoy speaking, take your act on the road. Give yourself a national tour, but make sure that everyone — your staff and freelance publicist and the publisher's publicist — agree that between talks, doing media, speaking to book clubs, and doing signings, it will be worth your time, energy, and expenses to do a tour.
If you are already giving presentations, you may be able to choose the best places to give them. If not, don't worry — you don't have to know where you will speak in each city. Once your manuscript is accepted, you will have at least nine months to set up places to speak. If you won't have a publicist, try to get a commitment from your publisher when you sell your book to have your staff publicist pitch the media in the cities you will visit. Publishers sometimes use freelance publicists to supplement their efforts. If you haven't chosen a publicist when you sell your book, your publisher may have a recommendation. Appendix B is about hiring a publicist.
If you can get paid to speak, the publication of your book is an opportunity for you to make money. Between speaking fees and back-of-the-room sales, set a goal of at least breaking even with the relationships you create, the publicity and speaking offers you generate, and the new fans and clients you find as bonuses.
Your publisher will tell you if it's worth doing book signings. Most signings result in fewer than ten sales. What can be more productive is a creative event: a talk, a discussion, a demonstration, a party (perhaps with prizes), hosting an event that ties in with the topic of your book, or a fund-raiser at a bookstore or with an organization. Maybe you can tie it into a holiday or local event. Try to involve your communities in planning as well as attending.
Providing food and drink will give people a reason to come. For her memoir, Harlot's Sauce, Patricia Volonakis Davis fed people who came to readings with wine and pasta doused in harlot's sauce — salsa puttanesca. You can see a video of it at www.patriciavdavis.com.
Giving a portion of the proceeds to a worthy cause will be incentive for people to buy books, and you will feel good about giving back to the community.
If you will visit book clubs, you can use bookstores, the website www.meetup.com, Craigslist, and your communities to line up clubs and indicate how many clubs you will speak to. Although clubs may be small, they may post their activities, so you'll be reaching the people they know.
You can also seek out opportunities to be involved in conferences related to the topic of your book. Write: Give talks at the following conferences/conventions during the year of publication … . List trade and consumer conferences and conventions you know you will be able to speak at during the year after publication and those you can speak at every year. If the events are large, indicate how many attendees they have or the combined attendance at all of them.
Conferences don't usually pay expenses for speakers. They rely on attendees who are coming to the conference. But they may provide admission. Don't mention speaking at BookExpo America (BEA), the annual publishing convention. Your publisher will arrange this, if it's possible.
Then, if it makes sense for your book and justifies your time and expense, write Continue to give X talks to X people a year. Like giving talks on a tour, this must be a believable extension of your platform. Writers often tell me they're “willing to give as many talks as it takes.” This is no help to publishers.
Publishers always want the biggest buyback — the number of books authors will buy to resell or give away — that authors will commit to in their contract. A John Wiley editor noted that business authors sell books to 25 to 30 percent of their audiences. That stat isn't true for all kinds of books, but 25 percent seems a reasonable goal for other books as well.
If you give a talk that inspires and excites your audience, they will want to take your book home with them, if only, as marketing guru Seth Godin says, as a souvenir. Corporations understand this, which is why they sometimes buy copies for everyone in the audience. If you can sell a four-figure quantity of your book a year, give a round number. Assume that your publisher will include the number in your contract, so commit only to the largest round number you know you can sell.
Base this quantity on the number of talks you give and the average attendance at your talks. A large or midsize house will want that number to have four digits and won't be impressed by a number smaller than three thousand. Small houses will be satisfied with whatever number you provide or, if you can't specify a quantity, just knowing you will sell books.
You may prefer to say: Sell X books the first X year and X books after that. Or you may feel more comfortable saying: Sell X books for X years and continue to sell books after that.
If you will sell books but don't have enough information to commit to a number, write: Sell books at my talks.
Talk to speakers in your field to see what they sell. Commit only to what you are absolutely sure you can deliver. Underpromise and overdeliver. Test-marketing your book will enable you to choose the right number.
You can integrate your online campaign in this section by writing the following outline.
Do a virtual book tour of
Provide a mailing list of online review services
Editors are always looking for a combination of three things: an author with an established platform, a book with a solid media hook that virtually guarantees lots of publicity opportunities, and solid writing.
— GREG DANIEL, DANIEL LITERARY GROUP
For your media kit, include anything that will excite the media about you and your book. Keep in mind that authors post their media kits on their websites and don't mail them. There are no hard costs associated with printing and mailing a kit, and there are models galore online. Plan to create one for your book that may include:
If you're contacting the media, write a pitch letter with an irresistible one-line hook explaining why readers, viewers, or listeners will benefit from learning about your book, and a bulleted list of seven to twelve points that expand on your hook. Include a link to your kit.
If you plan to mail promotional copies of the book to opinion makers or important publications and organizations in your field yourself, give a round number of copies you will mail with a cover letter and the groups of professionals who will receive them.
If you would like your publisher to mail them, your list has to convince your publisher that mailing these copies will be justified by their potential for promoting your book by generating talks, publicity, and sales. Your publisher may be willing to mail copies to at least part of your list, provide mailing envelopes and postage, or reimburse you for the costs to mail them.
Staff publicists train on the job, are overworked and underpaid, usually have no compelling incentive to promote a book, and face no consequences if their efforts fail. When you sell your book, find out what your publisher's plans are for promoting it. If you can, meet with your publicist and set up a way for you to follow up so you can keep track of what's going on with your book. Keep in mind that plans may change and publicists may change jobs by pub date.
If you have appeared on shows that have invited you back, and if their names or stations will impress potential publishers, mention them. If you've only had contacts with media people, you can mention them at the end of your plan. Contacts alone are not ammunition; who knows whether they will be there (or will come through for you) when your book comes out.
Follow these power points by listing whatever else you will do that will excite editors, including the name of a promotional partner who will help you and in what ways (the subject of Appendix C).
If you have big goals — but not the promotion plan to achieve them — consider these alternatives.
Whether you have a publicist or you do your own publicity, print and broad-cast media are worth pursuing for five reasons.
Shivani Goodman's proposal included two promotional techniques for her book, plus a lifetime plan. If she were writing this now, she would be doing more online.
To promote the book, the author will
hire X to:
The author will continue to promote the books by having an annual promotion budget of $20,000 to:
9 Steps also had two built-in promotion plans, as follows.
Out of necessity, most authors publicize their books themselves. If you will do your publicity, you face the challenge of proving to editors that you can. Having already done it successfully, perhaps in your city, will help.
Even with limited funds, you can
If Kevin Reifler were writing the plan for Stooples now, he would take advantage of social media. But as it is, his plan reflected that Kevin owns two PR agencies.
Kevin and Adam will carry out the following campaign:
A promotional tour: On publication, the authors will do a tour of the following twenty cities: [list of cities] In each city, the authors will:
Contacting the media: Kevin will contact the following media:
E-mail releases: Kevin will continue to promote the website through press releases to business media, and will expand the campaign to book, entertainment and lifestyle editors. They will also send releases to the writers they know.
Prepare a press kit on their site will make use of the book's humor. It will contain:
Arrange for reciprocal links from such Web forums as:
Here are five ways to meet publishers' expectations in your plan.
Publishers won't expect the same platform or promotion plan for middle-grade or young-adult books as they do for adult books. Follow this book's advice as closely as you can, adapt it as needed, and join the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators.
Because your proposal is a selling tool, your promotion plan is a top-down vertical plan that gives editors the information in order of its ability to sell your book. But you will also need a horizontal plan, a timeline so you know what to do when. Editors don't need it and don't want to see it, but you'll need it once your book goes into production. Your promotion network and your publicist will help you create it.
Don't let yourself be overwhelmed by the challenge of promoting your book. Adapt this advice to suit your book and where you are in your career. Writing a promotion plan works for self-help, how-to, consumer reference, and inspirational books. It also works for books about people whose fame, infamy, or achievements will interest the media and book buyers. If this model isn't right for you or your book, do what works best for you and your book, but make your plan as potent as you can.
Pursue your dreams and take the long view. You will continue to improve in your ability to write and promote your books. Persevere!
The following chapter is about the greatest opportunity writers have ever had to promote their books: online promotion.