NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #19/NN_1992_19.iso/spool/misc/writing/2689

Internet Message Format | 1992-08-27 | 5.7 KB

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From: [e-mail] (Chuq Von Rospach)
Newsgroups: misc.writing
Subject: Re: Post-publication Woes
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 27 Aug 92 16:38:36 GMT
References: <[e-mail]>
Distribution: usa
Organization: I is a writur
Lines: 100

[e-mail] (Dipak Basu) writes:

>I attended the Bay Area Writers' Workshop last Saturday and found a
>surprising amount of attention focussed on promotion of a
>book by its author, after it had been selected for publication.

Publishers have limited resources and lots of books to deal with. Authors
sometimes feel they're being ignored and that their books aren't being
pushed appropriately (which in many cases is true).

>Publishers and bookstore owners agreed that the selection and promotion
>of a book by them was in direct proportion to the amount of effort its
>author put in.

Which publishers?

>And I thought the trials of the writer ended after the tortuous manuscript
>submission process!

Wrong. Writing is a business. First you create a product (write it). Then
you sell the product to a distributor (the publisher), which involves
negotiation the contract and making sure you don't lose your shirt ("we're
losing money on every piece we sell, but we'll make it up in volume!"). Then
you have to work with the distributor to make sure the thing actually does
sell. If you want to be a successful writer, you need to have a good handle
on all aspects of the *business* of writing, not just the craft aspects of
creating a manuscript.

>Do you successful authors agree?

This is one area where authors start sounding a lot like economists. Put 12
authors in a room, you'll get 14 opinions.

>What is the ratio of time you spend between writing and promoting?

Actually, I don't think it's that simple. (I'm mostly talking here about
mass market fiction. Some of it translates to other areas of books and some
of it doesn't, but I'm thinking of a 'typical' SF paperback with a print-run
of about 40,000)

To me, the key is not to spend N% of your time promoting, but to figure out
what things you can to that make sense spending the time on, and you have to
make that determination on a number of levels.

Some things make good, basic business sense: figuring out wehre you're
likely to get good reviews and making sure those places have galleys (or at
least copies of the book), working with the publisher to figure out ways of
differntiating your book from the masses and wedging those special features
into the heads of the salesmen, that sort of stuff -- things that you can do
to make the publisher's resources work more effectively for your title.

Some things are harder to quantify and justify. Going to SF Conventions, for
instance. On a pure number basis, they're not economically useful: if I were
to go to Worldcon (about 6,000 people) and really wow them, I might sell a
few copies of my book. But looking at the numbers, even if I were to get 10%
of that convention to buy my book, I've sold just 600 copies. A standard 6%
royalty of a $4.99 paperback is about thirty cents, so I've just made a
whopping $180. Doesn't even pay for the hotel room at Worldcon.

10%'s a very high number there, too. And Worldcon is a huge convention.

That number ignores a lot of intangibles, of course: word of mouth, industry
reputations, purchases of multiple titles, getting laid, gladhanding
editors. It's important not to think of conventions as worthless, but to
keep them in perspective: if you're going anyway (because you enjoy
conventions), then it makes sense to flog the hell out of your book as long
as you're there. If you hate conventions, it rarely makes sense to go just
to flog books, because it's not economically viable.

The key is to figure out what you feel is a reasonable set of things to do
for your book. Some authors do zero, or almost no, publicity work on their
own and do quite well (Crowley, Eddings to name two). There are lots of
authors who seem to spend so much time doing the flogging that they never
quite get their stuff written, too (because it's neat egoboo to run around
being an Author at conventions), and there are folks who do a lot of
self-publicity -- via stores, conventions, whatever -- who's books still
sell a mediocre 15,000 copies and disappear in six weeks (some are quite
good books, too, that simply don't click).

Lots of publicity doesn't necessarily help, and too much publicity can get
in the way of what's really important: if you aren't writing, you aren't
creating salable product. Lack of publicity doesn't necessarily hurt,
either. So the key is to figure out what mix of writing/business/publicity
works for you, and go do it. That's different for everyone.

(All that being said, I think every author ought to get to know as many
people at as many local bookstores as they can and make sure they know when
books come out. It's a good way to know the local market, and yo might get
either signings or some kind of local recognition. Also keep an eye out for
local newspaper columnists that might be interested, and ditto for local
radio talk show types. All of that is pretty easy, doesn't take a lot of
time or money, and can help establish a regional presence without a lot of
effort. Can't hurt, even if it doesn't help, and being interviewed by the
local DJ or showing up in a gossip column makes good egoboo...)

--
Chuq "IMHO" Von Rospach, ESD Support & Training (DAL/AUX) =+= Member, SFWA
  [e-mail] | GEnie: MAC.BIGOT | ALink:CHUQ =+= Editor, OtherRealms
    A real SF writur with stories in ALTERNATE KENNEDYS and THE
      FURTHER ADVENTURES OF BATMAN, in better bookstores now!