SKO-Brenner-American is a collection agency that specializes in the book trade. They publish a monthly confidential list of delinquent bookstores and wholesalers. They will also handle collections. For information on their services and a subscription to their newsletter, see http://www.skobrenner.com/.

The telephone is a powerful collection instrument and a good supplement to dunning notices. Many callers use scripts to make sure they get their complete message across quickly.

Also, remember, it’s better to have the books returned unsold than to have the books sold and not get paid.

If a customer has been bouncing large checks, put the next one in “for collection.” Your bank will send it to the customer’s bank with instructions to hold the check until there is enough money in the account to pay it.

To collect a large bill from a foreign customer, try calling the cultural attaché at the nearest embassy or consulate. Often the attaché will relay your message, and this puts pressure on the foreign debtor.

Whatever collection system you select, make it automatic, so that you can be objective and will not allow deadbeats to negotiate delays. Let customers know you mean business. See Business Letters for Publishers in the Para Publishing Special Reports in Appendix 2 or at http://parapub.com/sites/para/resources/allproducts.cfm for some suggested collection letters.

 

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

This is one of the most pleasant operations, because it’s fun to count your money. As the checks arrive, match them with the invoices.

Checks will be made out to the publishing company, the author or the name of the book. List them all on your check deposit rubber-stamp. Pay a little extra for a self-inking stamp; it will save you a lot of time.

Bank deposits can be made up every few days. If you don’t use a computerized bookkeeping system, add the checks up and submit your adding machine tape with your deposit slip. If your bank wants you to list each check individually on the deposit slip, threaten to go to another bank. Big corporations do not have to do this, and you won’t either if you are assertive. Keep it simple!

 

RETURNS

Returned books are one of the biggest controversies in the publishing business, amounting to more than $7 billion annually. Distributors, wholesalers and bookstores expect to be able to return all books they do not sell. Bookstores return more than 18% of the books they order to the distributor, but the distributor returns just 2% to the publisher and they are shelf-worn. If this still sounds like a lot, then consider that the returns are so high for mass-market paperbacks that the dealers save shipping costs by “stripping” the books and sending back only the covers for credit! That’s why mass-market paperbacks have their ISBN printed on the inside front cover.

The returns system almost amounts to consignment, and you are caught in a bind. Unfortunately, if the booksellers did not have the return privilege, they would be far less likely to carry your books. You want your books displayed and so you have to take the chance of having several of them come back. Returns result in zero profit transactions (ZPTs). The books went out with costly paperwork and came back with paperwork; everyone was busy, but nothing was sold.

From time to time, people in the book industry suggest changes to the system of returns. One popular recommendation is to eliminate the returns and pass the savings on to the bookstore in the form of higher discounts. Because we operate in a free-market economy with a lot of competition, none of these suggestions have ever caught on.

Make up a return policy and post it on your Web site. Baker & Taylor and some of the other wholesalers will probably ask for your return policy when they first open an account with you. Also call attention to the policy when a bookstore or wholesaler requests permission to return some books.

Most publishers will allow returns between 90 days and one year of the invoice date. They specify 90 days because they want to make sure the books were given a fair trial on the shelves, but one year because they don’t want the books sitting around too long—the title may go into a revised printing.

Many publishers require the bookseller to request permission for returns and specific shipping instructions first, but few stores do this. They just ship the books back.

The paperwork that comes with the return should identify the original invoice number under which the books were purchased. You want to credit or reimburse the bookseller with the correct amount. You also want to make sure the books came directly from you. If the books were purchased from a wholesaler, they should be returned to the wholesaler.

Books must arrive back at the publisher in good, unblemished, resalable condition so that they may be returned to stock. This is the biggest failing of the bookstores. They almost never pack the books properly. They just throw them in a carton, often without cushioning material, and send them back. During the long trip, the books chafe against each other and the carton and consequently arrive in a scuffed, unsalable condition.

If the return is from a yet-to-be-paid-for order, the bookstore should be credited against their original invoice. If it is against a paid-for order and you are a small publisher with a limited number of titles, you could issue a refund check. Most bookstores buy on a net 30-day basis, but that doesn’t mean you’ll see your money in 30 days. Usually they pay within three to four months. Large publishing firms with many titles usually don’t send refunds on returns from bookstores. They issue credits because they’re dealing with the bookstore on a continuing basis.

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Long-term planning does not deal with future decisions, but with the future of present decisions.

Peter F. Drucker, management consultant

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Sample returns policy statement

 

BOOK RETURN AUTHORIZATION

 

1. OUR BOOKS ARE RETURNABLE. If a title isn’t moving in your market, we want to get it back before a new edition makes it obsolete. Thank you for giving it a chance on your valuable shelf space. Our return period is normally between 90 DAYS AND ONE YEAR of the publisher’s invoice date; however, we will accept the book for return after one year as long as the edition is still in print. To keep our products current, we update our titles every one and a half to two years.

2. RETURN PERMISSION MUST BE REQUESTED so that we can issue detailed packing and shipping instructions. This is your authorization and the instructions are below.

3. NOTICE OF SHORTAGE OR NONRECEIPT must be made within 15 days of the shipping/invoice date for domestic shipments, 60 days for foreign.

4. BOOKS DAMAGED IN TRANSIT are not the responsibility of the publisher. Please make claim to the carrier.

5. Returns must be accompanied by your packing slip listing QUANTITY, TITLE, AUTHOR, ORIGINAL INVOICE NUMBER and INVOICE DATE. Books returned with this information will be credited with 100% of the invoice price minus shipping. Otherwise, it will be assumed that the original discount was 60%. Some books have been returned to us when they should have been directed to one of our wholesalers; books should be returned to their source.

6. ROUTING: Ship books via parcel post (book rate) prepaid or UPS prepaid to Para Publishing, Attn: D. Poynter, 530 Ellwood Ridge, Santa Barbara, CA 93117-1047. Note: This is not the same as our order address.

7. To qualify for a refund, returned books must arrive here in good RESALABLE CONDITION. If they are not now resalable, please don’t bother to return them. If you are not willing to package them properly for the return trip, please don’t waste your time and postage.

To package the books so that they will survive the trip, we suggest you wrap them the same way they were sent to you. There are two important steps in successful book packaging: Keep them clean and immobilize them. Place the stacked books in a plastic bag. This will separate the dirty newsprint and greasy “peanuts” from the book edges and will prevent grit from creeping between the covers. To keep the books from shifting (which causes scuffing), cut a shipping carton to the right size and stuff it tightly with padding.

Since it has been our experience that books shipped loose in oversize Jiffy bags always arrive scuffed, it is now our policy to simply REFUSE them at the post office so that they will be returned to the bookstore. DO NOT USE JIFFY BAGS!

8. A credit memo will be issued toward future purchases.

9. The industry tells us that it now costs more than $8 to write a letter. Correspondence, packaging and postage cost us all a great deal in money and time (and time is money). Years ago, when postage was cheap, it made sense to return slow-moving books. Today, however, many bookstores are finding it is far more cost-effective to simply mark down the books and move them out.

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Dan Poynter preaches what he practices.

Don Paulin, author and speaker

 

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7 PROMOTING YOUR BOOK

Making the public aware of your book without spending for advertising

 

A major way authors measure their success is with money. And to make a profit, you’ll need good promotion. This chapter covers those promotional methods that require some time and effort—but no big advertising dollars. Of course, there will be a certain amount of overlap with these areas.

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It doesn’t matter if you go with a publisher or publish yourself; the author must do the promotion.

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Your most important reference book will be the Literary Market Place (LMP). Although you can use the copy in your local library, this book will be used so often that you should buy one for use at your desk or get an online subscription to it. Visit http://www.literarymarketplace.com/lmp/us/index_us.asp.

The two basic secrets to book sales are: (1) to produce a good product that has a market and (2) to let people know about it. Many small publishers receive very little publicity for their books. This lack of attention is not because of any great conspiracy between the big (New York) publishers and the media; it’s simply because the neophytes do not ask for coverage. Many small publishers are good at publishing, but haven’t any experience in promoting. They seem to have little interest in their books beyond the editorial work and production. They don’t want to promote; they just want to create. Some beginning publishers feel the market-ing end of publishing is too “commercial,” and this becomes their excuse for neglecting the most important part of any business—informing the buying public of their wares. However, if you don’t sell your product, eventually you won’t be able to afford to produce more of it.

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Being an author is 5% writing and 95% promotion.

Russ Marano, Hi-Tek Newsletter

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Twenty-five percent of the population consists of introverts, and many writers fall into this category. It’s hard for them to promote their books on radio, on TV or in stores. The good news for this type of writer is that most of the things I suggest for promoting books can be done from home—almost anonymously.

 

THE COST OF ADVERTISING

Selling books through space advertising is expensive, because books are a “low ticket” (low selling-price) item. If you were selling airplanes, one sale would pay for a lot of ad space, and if you were selling something less expensive such as candy, you would sell so much to so many people that the ads might pay. It’s tougher to break even when advertising a low-priced product to a small and scattered group of people. For example, a half-page ad in a national book-oriented magazine might cost $1,850. Using round numbers and assuming you printed the book for $2 and are selling it for $20, you would have to sell 102 books at retail, or 308 books at wholesale, just to break even on the ad. Experience tells us you’d be lucky to get five orders.

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Do not spend money on advertising until you have exhausted all the free publicity.

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ADVERTISING VS. PUBLICITY

The major differences between advertising and publicity are cost and control. Publicity is free, but advertising is not. On the other hand, you can control your advertising, but your news release (publicity) might be rewritten by an editor, drastically changed or not run at all.

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Just as a parent’s responsibilities do not end with giving birth, an author’s do not end with publication. The child must be raised and the book must be promoted.

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EDITORIAL COPY VS. ADVERTISING COPY

Generally, book promotion is less expensive and more successful when you use book reviews, articles and news releases.

Book reviews are “editorial copy” that is far less expensive and far more credible than space advertising. For many nonfiction books, there are hundreds of appropriate magazines and newspaper columns that receive and review books, and the number of review sources is growing with the proliferation of online reviewers. For a list of more than 90 categories of magazines, see http://parapub.com/sites/para/resources/maillist.cfm.

On the average, people spend seven minutes with each of their magazines. Obviously, they see very few of the ads. Of those ads they do see, they read very few. Of those ads they read, they believe very few. Of those ads they believe, they act on very few. People are skeptical of advertisements. On the other hand, readers tend to believe editorial copy. Now ask yourself: How much advertising space can I buy for $1,500? Not much—and it won’t sell many books anyway. For the same amount, you can send out 500 review copies, many of which will result in editorial copy (articles and reviews) that people will believe. The public is usually more receptive to publicity because editorial copy is viewed as news and advertising is perceived as self-serving. An industry rule of thumb is that editorial coverage is seven times as valuable as paid coverage.

However, competition for free space is a tough proposition. More than 500 new titles are published each day, and with the growth of purely electronic books the daily out-put may be considerably higher. More books are published in the fall than the spring. You have to compete for attention in a crowded field and against much larger, more knowledgeable firms. But you will be surprised at how successful you can be when you jump into the fray, exploiting the media through news releases, review copies, radio and TV appearances, feature stories, interviews and presentations—especially when you target specific audiences.

Large publishers are lucky if 40% of their titles make money, and remember that they have whole departments of experts to launch their promotions. They also have built up thousands of key media contacts during their many years in the business. You have only one book, your first, and therefore you have only one chance to make it. But look at the brighter side. The big firms often work by routine and without imagination, spending only a short time promoting a book before moving on to the next one in line. You’ll probably know more about the subject mat-ter of your book and the groups of people who care about this particular subject.

And your overhead is much lower. You cut out the intermediaries by publishing yourself. You will do a more effective job of promotion because you have a greater interest in your book than a publisher who is looking after several titles (or several hundred titles) at one time. There’s a lot of room for the very small independent publisher with imagination, initiative and a well-defined target market.

By doing the promotion yourself, you avoid the most common problem in author–publisher relationships— differing on the amount of effort that should be invested in each area of promotion and advertising. The author cannot be objective about his or her product and is convinced that the book would sell better if only the publisher would spend money to promote it. The publisher, on the other hand, needs more sales to convince him or her that it is worth investing more dollars in promotion. As both author and publisher, you see both perspectives and make the final decisions.

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Many, many times, I have said, “This is too hard. I am getting out of this business,” but then something good will happen and my enthusiasm is replenished.

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BOOK PROMOTION TAKES TIME: Writing the book is the easy part—the tip of the iceberg. The real work begins when you switch hats to expend time and money on promoting the book.

Book reviews can take three months or longer to appear, because magazines and sometimes even daily newspapers have long lead times. Don’t get discouraged. The easiest mistake is to send out books for review, email news releases on your book or post an email offer, and then sit back and wait for the results. The secret of savvy book promotion is to keep up the pressure—keep sending out the packets and continue making the telephone calls.

 

BEGINNING THE PROMOTION

FIRST ANALYZE THE MARKET by determining who might purchase your book, and then figure out the best way to reach them. Your buyers must be identifiable and locatable. Ask yourself what stores they frequent, what magazines they read, what associations they join, what conventions or events they attend, what channels they watch, what emailing lists they join and so on. Where can you find a high concentration of people interested in your book’s subject matter?

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Analyze carefully the type of person who is a prospective purchaser of your book. This is perhaps the single most important thing to consider.

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If your book is on auto repair for the car owner, one prospect is car enthusiasts. What do they read? You’ll want to send news releases, review copies and articles to auto magazines. Where do car enthusiasts congregate? Auto supply stores, car rallies, auto shows? Think about how you can get exposure in these places. If this repair manual covers one type of car, you may be able to find a highly targeted mailing list of owners of that type of car. Also, check the Internet for emailing lists and chat groups for auto repair. The trick is to think about who the buyer might be and then think about where this type of person can be found. Rarely is the answer bookstores or libraries.

Show me a publisher who says you can never tell which book will make it and I will show you a publisher who evaluates manuscripts without considering the market.

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One reason the demand for books is constant is that the book-buying public is not static. It’s constantly changing. New readers are entering the bookshops all the time, while old readers are going to that big library in the sky.

Max Alth

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As you read through the next few chapters, think about your book and its market. Make a list of, or underline, those ideas mentioned that best fit your book. Then go back and work out a promotional schedule, by the week, for several months. Set a schedule so you won’t lose sight of it later when you are busy keyboarding orders and stuffing cartons.

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If your book fails to sell, you don’t know your market.

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ASSEMBLE A BINDER: Organize your promotion thoughts and record your work by setting up a binder for your book. Use a 2'' or 3'' three-ring binder with dividers for five sections. Slant-ring binders with inside pockets are best. Now set up each section as follows:

* Section 1 is where you record your promotional plan. Type up your initial plan and check off the items when completed. Whenever you have a new idea, turn to another page of Section 1 and make a note. Use the balance of this section to store every news release you write, every emailing you make and every brochure you design. Date each promotional piece and record the results. In the back of Section 1, store copies of the publishing forms you file. You may have to subdivide Section 1 as the amount of your promotion increases so that you can easily file and locate your materials in each marketing category.

* Section 2 is for all your costing information. Store copies of all printing, artist, trucking, etc., bills as well as all the printing quotations. With this information all in one place, even after six printings you’ll know exactly how many books have been printed and what each edition cost.

* Section 3 is where you store the reviews, testimonials and other publicity you have generated. All the good things that have been said about your book will be kept in one place; that way, when you want to make a list of testimonials and quotes from reviews, they will be easy to find.

* Section 4 is for any important correspondence. Here you will store some of the more interesting letters that don’t fit in the other sections.

* Section 5 is the revision section. As you come across new material or think of something that should be included in the next edition, make a note and store it here.

You’ll appreciate the promotion binders even more after you publish several books. All your costing, promotion, review and revision information will be easy to find.

 

KEEP TRACK OF CORRECTIONS

Also take one copy of the book, mark it “Correction Copy” and keep it near your desk. Cut off a corner of the front cover so that it won’t walk out of your office or find its way back into stock. As you find small errors or want to make changes, mark this book. Then when it comes time to return to press, all your revision information will be in the correction copy and the fifth section of your binder.

 

PATTERN OF SALES

You can expect your sales to take on an airfoil shape if your promotion is well-organized. For most books, sales will climb rapidly, level out, taper off and become steady. Thereafter, you will notice bumps in response to seasonal changes or when your promotional work is successful. The big initial jump is due to your prepublication publicity.

 

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The large New York publishers promote books in the same way Hollywood publicizes a motion picture: they throw it out on the market with some publicity to see if anyone likes it. If it gets a response, they dump in more promotional money. Then they may push it for a couple of months. When the interest cools, they bring out another product and start the process all over. As a small publisher, it makes more sense to market your book like breakfast food or soap. Develop your product, pour on the promotion, establish a niche in the market and then continue to sell at the same level for years. This can be done with a nonfiction book that is revised and kept fresh at each printing.

 

BEST-SELLERS

“Best-sellers” for books are only a name, a myth. This is not like a gold record in the music industry or another service to the trade run by Bowker. National best-seller lists (there are several, and they don’t often agree) are assembled from certain bookstore and other sales reports. Even if you move a million books via mail-order distribution you won’t make a best-seller list, because the list may only track bookstore sales. On the other hand, you may calculate that your book is the best-selling book in its field, and there is no reason you can’t mention this in your promotion. For example, Parachuting Manual with Log is the best-selling skydiving book of all time. For more information on the various best-seller lists, advice on how to make them and scores of great promotional ideas, see Document 612, Best-Sellers, at http://parapub.com/sites/para/resources/allproducts.cfm.

 

PROMOTION IS UP TO THE AUTHOR

Large publishers do not effectively promote books. One of the biggest misconceptions in traditional publishing is that the publisher will take care of all the promotion. Publishers actually do little promoting, and by the time the author figures this out the book is not new, making any further promotional efforts too late. The media is geared toward reporting about the latest current releases (front list titles), they rarely pay attention to older books.

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PROMISES, PROMISES

 

A self-publisher had his book acquired by a major publisher at a recent BEA convention. He was promised a 20-city author tour and much specialized promotion. The reality?—the book had a limited print run, was dumped into the bookstores, there was no special promotion to his target market and he was allowed one day of promotion in three cities. On top of all this, he had to share expenses for the mini author tour.

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Bookstores make your book available, but do minimal if any promotion for it. These outlets provide availability, but you must encourage people to go into the stores to buy your title. Authors create the demand. If your book becomes a hot seller, many bookstores will want to carry it.

Authors need to be assertive and take control of their book’s promotion. Start by gathering media contact lists and drafting news releases. There’s a lot to learn from this chapter even if you aren’t self-publishing.

 

KEY MEDIA CONTACTS

Key media contacts are those people who can help you move the greatest volume of books with the least expenditure of time and money. These contacts must be developed if you’re going to promote your book properly. The only difference between you and a professional book publicist is that the professional already has media contacts. There are many wholesalers, TV people and subsidiary rights buyers who are just waiting to discover you and your book. Even though most are very busy, they want you; that is what their job is all about. You’ll meet a great number of nice, helpful people, but only a few key contacts will do you a great amount of good. What you have to do is locate them and then carefully cultivate them. Some of the people will be listed in Literary Market Place and other directories available at your library. (See “Selecting Review Periodicals” later in this chapter.) Online sources of media outlets include www.mediapost.com, www.gebbieinc.com and www.bacons.com. Keep in mind that often a smart promotional strategy is to start locally.

For contacts of particular people who are current, you may have to call selected companies and ask for the name of the buyer or acquisitions person, for example. Tell the company operator (or even better, someone in the special division you are targeting) who you are and ask who you should properly correspond with. Email or call this contact and field your sales pitch; establish a rapport, but also be brief, as these people are usually very busy. Maintain credibility, and remember that they are everyone else’s key contact too. Do not expect them to return calls. Send review copies of your book and follow up in a few days with a telephone call asking, “Have you received it?”

Start files on these key contacts and fill the folders with letters and notes of your telephone conversations. Track them with a contact-management software program such as ACT!, Goldmine, TELEMagic or Maximizer. Note the personal likes and dislikes of your contacts so you can bring them up in future conversations. Treat contacts well and with intelligence, and they will be there to help you with your next book too.

 

PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS

Spend most of your time and money on your Web site; it replaces brochures and mailings. Your business card and email signature should drive eyeballs to your site. Make your company Websitecentric; all your promotional materials should start there.

BUSINESS CARDS are less expensive than brochures and are more likely to be kept by the recipient. The mission of your card should be to send people to your Web site; the Web site is your brochure. Let the card do the telling and the site do the selling.

Include a photo of you as well as the front cover of the book on your business card. Show people who you are and remind them of the book.

Some author–publishers use a folded business card to include more information. They list the benefits of the book or what can be found on their Web site.

Business card printing is relatively inexpensive. Most of the cost is in the setup; when you purchase over 500 cards, they are nearly free. Print lots of cards and distribute them everywhere.

EMAIL SIGNATURES are the lines of type at the end of an email message. If you have a business card, you need a signature. If you’re in business, you must let people know. You want people to know who you are, what you do and where to find you.

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A .sig or email signature

 

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Para Publishing. Dan Poynter: Author (100+ books), Publisher (since 1969), Speaker (CSP).

Information Products on Book Writing/Publishing/Promoting, Parachutes/ Skydiving, Expert Witness & Aging Cats. PO Box 8206, Santa Barbara, CA 93118 USA. Tel: +1-805-968-7277; Fax: +1-805-968-1379; Cell: +1-805-448-9009. DanPoynter@ParaPublishing.com. More than 500 pages of helpful information: http://ParaPublishing.com. Showing people how to write, publish and promote their books—one presentation at a time. http://parapub.com/speaking. F-R-E-E Writing-Publishing-Promoting InfoKits: http://parapub.com/getpage.cfm?file=/infokit.html

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Setting up your .sig takes just a few minutes and is free. Go to your email program (Outlook, AOL, etc.), click Help and type in signature. Follow the instructions. Your .sig does not have to be perfect. In a week or two, you will improve it.

Each time you send an email, your .sig will be automatically appended to it. You don’t have to retype it and you don’t have to proof it. It’s always inserted and it’s always the same.

PROFESSIONAL BOOK PUBLICITY/MARKETING SERVICES are available if you don’t have the time or desire to organize your own promotion.

More and more frequently, authors who are published by large New York publishers are hiring their own PR firms to promote their books. Why? Because they know that the publishers will do little to promote their titles.

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Hiring a publicist isn’t a vanity; it’s a realistic commercial decision.

Paul Cowan, Mixed Blessings

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Book publicists primarily write and place news releases, organize autograph parties and place authors on TV and radio. They usually work on a retainer basis, some on a per-placement basis, and rarely do they work by the hour. The average monthly retainer is between $2,000 and $4,000. Publicity takes time; you must hire the publicist for several months. Many ask for a six-month contract.

Marketing services, on the other hand, specialize in securing distribution; promoting to libraries and special-sales sources; sending out galleys and review books; organizing co-op marketing, Internet promotion, exhibits and advertising; and creating promotional materials and sales brochures. A few target new sales outlets, including specialty stores, and sell foreign and sub-rights.

Some publicists/marketers will have an expertise in specific markets—cookbooks, computer books, fiction, Christian, Spanish-language, etc.

If you decide to hire a professional publicist or marketing service, start early. Don’t wait until your publication date.

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Books do not sell themselves. People sell books.

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Publishers Weekly estimates that there are close to 200 independent book publicists. Some are listed in Appendix 2 under Publicists/Marketing, and more may be found in Literary Market Place under Public Relations Services.

Publicists are very expensive. Most self-publishers are better advised to follow this book and promote the book themselves.

TESTIMONIALS AND ENDORSEMENTS: Testimonials sell books because many people feel that there is no greater credibility than a recommendation from a satisfied customer. Testimonials and endorsements will be used in three places— on the back cover of the book, on the pages before the title page and on your Web site.

Endorsements for your Back Cover may be gathered from “peer reviewers” who read and comment on your completed manuscript or individual chapters. Initially, you want their comments as peer reviewers to double-check your work, and then you want to quote their praise. Therefore, they must be “opinion-molders.” This means that you want people known in the book’s field or known to the general public. They should be people with recognizable names or recognizable titles, who are connected to well-known companies or organizations, or who have professional credentials (doctor, lawyer, professor, author, politician, etc.).

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RELEVANT ENDORSEMENTS

 

You might ask me to endorse your book if it’s on writing, publishing or skydiving. My endorsement on other subjects would not be appropriate or valuable since I’m not known outside these fields.

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You’ll want to add testimonials, along with excerpts from your reviews, to all your sales literature and to your Web site, as well as to your “Review & Testimonial sheet.” The Review & Testimonial Sheet is an important part of your publicity package, because it indicates that other people like your book. This sheet should be assembled from incoming reviews and sent to later reviewers, prospective dealers and anyone else you’re trying to convince that the book is liked and respected in the marketplace.

You may need endorsements on a particular point, or you may need a variety of endorsements. You don’t want all the blurbs to say the same thing or to be very general, such as “It is a great book.” After someone has peer-reviewed your manuscript, approach him or her again. Write out an endorsement making a particular point (relating your book to his or her audience), and ask the peer-reviewer to look it over and edit it. Say that you need a quotation in this area. Editing is much easier than creating, and most people will accept the prompting quickly or just go with your version of the endorsement.

The best way to collect testimonials is to ask for them. It’s easier than you think, because people like to see their name in print. As long as your book is good, experts in the field will jump at the chance to be mentioned. If they sell products or consulting, the exposure is valuable to them. Whether due to vanity or possible financial gain, high-profile people want to have their names in print. Stephen King seems to endorse (and get his name on) every book he can. Don’t pay for endorsements; quotations cannot be considered valid if payments are involved.

Shoot high. Solicit testimonials from the most important and most recognizable people in your industry or activity. You can find just about anyone with an online search.

Unsolicited testimonials will arrive after the book is published. They should be acknowledged, added to your Review & Testimonial Sheet and filed for future use. For more detailed information, see Document 609, Blurbs for Your Books: Testimonials, Endorsements and Quotations,at http://parapub.com/sites/para/resources/allproducts.cfm.

 

PUBLICATION DATE

The publication date is a place in the future, well after your books are off the press, when your books will be available in the stores and your promotion will be working. The publication date is a means of focusing attention. The idea is to have the product accessible when public attention peaks in response to your promotion. You want to time book reviews, TV appearances, autograph parties, etc., to hit after your book is in the bookstores and readily obtainable.

The publication date has nothing to do with the date your book is published (the day it comes off the press and you have finished books in hand). It’s the date you list on the ABI (Advance Book Information) form, but it is not the day of publication you list on the copyright form. The publication date is a fiction for the benefit of a few big important prepublication review magazines such as Publishers Weekly. There is nothing to stop you from selling or shipping books before the “pub date.” Sometimes entire print runs are sold-out prior to the publication date.

After your publication date has passed, remove mention of it from your review slip, news releases, etc. There’s no need to remind the media that your book is no longer new. Let them focus on the content of the book.

The big, important prepublication reviewers need three to four months of lead time. Publishers Weekly and the other wholesale trade review magazines need this time to select your book, assign it to a reviewer, write the review and get it into print for the benefit of the stores. Monthly and bimonthly magazines such as Kirkus Reviews need even more lead time (five months). The stores, in turn, need time to order the book and receive it into stock so it will be available to the public on or before your publication date (known in the bookstore as your “in-store” date). When planning your publication date, remember that Media Mail shipping can take three weeks from coast to coast.

Production is always subject to delay, so it’s recommended that for your first book, and until you learn the challenges exacted by the printing trade, you wait until the book is off the press before you set your publication date.

If you have achieved sufficient prepublication momentum, you should make a significant amount of sales before the printing bill arrives. It is a matter of planning, scheduling, timing and work. The big publishers expend 90% of their promotional effort before the publication date. You, of course, will keep up the pressure.

The best publication dates are probably in the first quarter of the year. Most of the big publishers aim for October and November to take advantage of the Christmas gift-buying season. Avoiding the last quarter of the year will decrease your competition for publicity. But get your book to market; never hold it back for a better release date. Sell fresh information.

Some publishers tie their publication date to a significant date to hitch onto publicity naturally occurring on that date. For example, if you have a book on an aspect of World War II, you might tie in to D-Day. People will be thinking about the war on this date, so your book will benefit from the memorial publicity. For tie-in dates, see Chase’s Annual Events, Kremer’s Celebrate Today and Beam’s Directory of International Tourist Events.

It’s always smart to take advantage of a prime selling season. A book on a summer sport should come out in early spring, when people are making plans for the summer—not in the summer, when they are outside and not reading. A book on skiing should come out in the fall.

For a fuller explanation and a chart, see Document 608, Your Publication Date, at http://parapub.com/sites/para/resources/allproducts.cfm.

The ship date is the month your book arrives from the printer and will be available to your distributor and dealers. It’s preferably four to five months prior to the publication date.

 

BOOK REVIEWS

Reviews sell books. They’re the least expensive and most effective promotion you can possibly do for your book. Considering the cost of producing the book, promotional materials, mailing packaging and postage, each promotional package usually costs less than $4.50 as it goes out the door. That means you can send review copies to over 300 magazines for around $1,350. If you’re writing on a subject of interest to businesspeople, your book should be of interest to 820 business-oriented magazines, newsletters and newspaper columns around the world. Most large New York publishers are very cheap with review copies—sending out less than 50. Reviews cost you very little in time and money.

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Because nonfiction books are news, we get our products reviewed free.

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There are two major types of book review media: (1) “prepublication date” or wholesale reviews and (2) “post-publication date” or retail reviews. They cater to separate markets, and the approach to each is different. In addition, there are early reviews and continuing reviews. The book review order and breakdown look like this:

* Prepublication date reviews aimed at the whole sale book market (stores)

* Early reviews, copyright and directory listings

* Postpublication date reviews aimed at the retail market. These include:

** sure bets: those periodicals that will probably review the book

** the rest: those periodicals that might possibly review the book

* Continuing review program

PREPUBLICATION REVIEWS are directed toward the book industry. Certain magazines will review your book prior to publication so that the bookstores and libraries will have the opportunity to stock it before patrons start asking for it. Since more than 500 new titles are published each day, there is no way a store can stock every book. In fact, booksellers can’t even spend time to evaluate them all. Consequently, many book dealers and librarians depend on the summaries in industry review magazines when making their purchasing choices. Prepublication reviews are directed at the trade and should not be confused with the regular book reviews aimed at the consumer/reader. Good reviews in the prepublication review magazines will bring you more good reviews in other publications later, because many reviewers want to review books that are already starting to get recognition and have been pre-selected by others.

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There is no way anything you send to PW can be too early.

John Baker, editorial director, Publishers Weekly

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Prepublication reviewers expect to receive bound galleys. Galleys can be the same as the laser output you sent to your book printer (each book page centered in the middle of an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper), but you stand a much better chance of review if the pages are trimmed to the final size and perfect bound with a plain typeset cover.

On the other hand, if you send a completed book with a finished cover to a prepublication reviewer it will not be reviewed, because it is obviously not “prepublication.” For instructions on preparing galleys or Cranes, see Book Reviews in Para Publishing Special Reports in Appendix 2 or at http://ParaPublishing.com.

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F&Gs are the Folded and Gathered signatures of the printed book ready for binding. F&Gs formerly were sent to the publisher for final approval prior to binding the print run. Bound galleys are F&Gs with a generic perfect-bound cover added.

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Four to five months prior to your publication date, send bound galleys with a cover letter and a news release to the following prepublication reviewers. You never know what might happen. Then send a follow-up copy of the finished book one to two months after sending the galley. But you must send the galley first.

Publishers Weekly, Forecasts, 360 Park Avenue South, 13th Floor, New York, NY 10010-1710. Tel: 646-746-6758; Fax:646-746-6631. PW is directed at the book trade (bookstores, wholesalers, libraries and publishers). A good review here will result in many bookstore orders; most will come through wholesalers. PW gives priority to books with broad general appeal. They review new books only, no reprints, reissues or new editions. Send two galleys between 12 and 16 weeks before your publication date. Circulation: 38,000. Contact PW for their “Forecast Submission Guidelines” and see the first page of the Forecasts section for recent submission details. See http://publishersweekly.reviewsnews.com/index.asp?layout=submissions.

Library Journal, Book Review Editor, Library Journal, 360 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10010. Tel: 888-800-5473 or 212-463-6818; Fax: 212-463-6734; Email: bkrev@lj.cahners.com. LJ is a magazine directed to general public librarians. They review 4,500 books each year, from the 30,000 received, specifically to assess their value to the library market. For many nonfiction books, a good review in LJ will sell over 1,000 copies. A rave review on a high-demand topic may move 5,000. Most of these library orders will come through a library wholesaler, and some 80% of these through Baker & Taylor. Therefore, it’s important to let the wholesalers know about your book too. LJ will review from galleys or the finished book. Circulation: 28,000. See http://libraryjournal.reviewsnews.com/index.asp?layout=forReviewersLJ.

Foreword Magazine, Alex Moore, 129-1/2 East Front Street, Traverse City, MI 49684. Tel: 231-933-3699; Email: Reviews@ForewordMagazine.com; Fax: 231-933-3899. Foreword receives more than 400 galleys and audiobooks each month, and can review about 10 percent of them. The controlled-circulation magazine is sent to 15,000 booksellers and librarians as well as other trade professionals. See http://www.forewordmagazine.com/reviews/revguidelines.aspx.

Kirkus Reviews, Library Advance Information Service, 770 Broadway, NYC, NY 10003-9595. Tel: 646-654-4602; Fax: 646-654-4706; Email: kirkusrev@kirkusreviews.com. KR is a book review magazine directed toward libraries and bookstores. They review most any fiction and nonfiction except poetry, mass-market paperbacks and children’s books for toddlers. KR likes to see galleys three to four months prior to publication of the book. Circulation: about 5,400. See http://kirkusreviews.com/kirkusreviews/about_us/submission.jsp.

ALA Booklist, Up Front, Advance Reviews, 50 E. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611. Tel: 800-545-2433 or 312-944-6780; Fax: 312-337-6787. Booklist reviews books for small and medium-sized public libraries. They review fiction, nonfiction, reference, young adult and children’s books. This does not include textbooks, workbooks, pamphlets or coloring materials. Send galleys or finished books. Circulation: 31,500. See http://www.ala.org/booklist/submit.html.

The New York Times Book Review, Nancy Martinez, 229 W. 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036. Tel: 212-556-1234; Fax: 212-556-7088. The New York Times is one of the most prestigious of review publications. Times reviews are also syndicated, so a review there may appear in papers throughout the country. The Times does not review very technical, specialized titles or juvenile books. Send galleys and then send books when printed. Circulation: 1,600,000. See http://www.nytimes.com/books.

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The primary review medium in the United States for popular trade books is The New York Times.

Nat Bodian, The Joy of Publishing

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The Los Angeles Times Magazine, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053. Tel: 213-237-7811; Fax: 213-237-4712; Email: LATMag@latimes.com. Times editors look for books that are of general interest to their newspaper readers. Circulation: 1,100,000 daily, 1,300,000 Sunday. See http://www.latimes.com.

School Library Journal (two copies), Attn: Trevelyn Jones, 360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010. Tel: 212-463-6759; Fax: 212-463-6689; Email: tjones@cahners.com. SLJ prints 2,500 reviews annually by school and public librarians of new books for children and young adults. They will consider for review any book appropriate for school library use. This monthly (except June and July) has a circulation of 43,000. See http://www.slj.com.

BookPage reviews almost every category of new books, including literary and popular fiction, nonfiction, children’s books, audiobooks and gift books. They rarely review poetry or scholarly books, and they don’t give review consideration to self-published books, print-on-demand titles or books from presses that lack major distribution (so make yourself look mainstream).

To have your book considered for review in BookPage, send an advance review copy at least three months prior to a title’s publication date. Early receipt of a galley or bound manuscript gives them adequate time to assess the quality of a book and assign it to an appropriate reviewer. If no galleys are available, send a finished book as soon as possible. They cannot consider a book for review if they receive it after the publication date.

Along with your galley, include a letter with the name, phone number and email address of a publicity contact for the book. The letter should also include the book’s publication date, price, number of pages and ISBN number.

Send adult titles to: Lynn Green; send children’s titles to: Julie Hale. Address: 2143 Belcourt Avenue, Nashville, TN 37212. See http://www.bookpage.com/.

Quality Books, Inc., New Title Acquisitions, 1003 W. Pines Road, Oregon, IL 61061. Tel: 800-323-4241 or 815-732-4450; Fax: 815-732-4499. Quality is not a reviewer, but a distributor of small-press titles to libraries. They want to know about your nonfiction books and tapes early, in order to get a jump on distribution. See http://www.quality-books.com.

Major and matching book clubs. Send bound galleys to the major clubs, such as Book-of-the-Month and Literary Guild and those specializing in the book’s field. See Literary Market Place for a list of book clubs. See http://reference.infotoday.com/lmp/us/servicesOrgList.asp?ID=27.

Giving presentation copies to opinion-molders. The best way to get sales moving is to get the book talked about by the right people. This group may amount to just a very few people to hundreds. Sometimes the publisher uses special bound galleys to get the public talking about the book. Many people feel that receiving an advance bound galley is more impressive than receiving the actual book. Some opinion-molders should get bound galleys, but others should receive the finished product.

EARLY REVIEWS, COPYRIGHT, LISTINGS, ETC.: In anticipation of your new book coming off the press, address shipping bags to selected places from the list below and stuff the bags, as appropriate, with review slips (see sample later in this chapter), a news release, your Review & Testimonial Sheet, etc. Add brochures, copies of early reviews and other materials to convince reviewers the book has been accepted by others. Do not skimp here. Then when the truck arrives from the printer, stuff the books into the bags and ship them off.

Note what is said about each of the addressees below, because some may not be appropriate for your book. If yours is an adult scientific text, do not bother sending it to the Horn Book magazine, which reviews children’s books, etc. But do get your review packages out; you want the world to know about your new book.

American Book Review, Rebecca Kaiser, Illinois State University, Campus Box 4241, Normal, IL 61790. Tel: 309-438-3026; Fax: 309-438-3523. This bimonthly, with a circulation of 15,000, reviews 240 books each year.

Baker & Taylor. B&T is a wholesaler, not a reviewer. To establish a business relationship with book wholesaler Baker & Taylor, contact Robin Bright, Publishers Services, PO Box 6885, Bridgewater, NJ 08807. Tel: 908-541-7000; Email: brightr@btol.com. See http://www.btol.com.

Baker & Taylor, Academic Library Services Selection Department, PO Box 6885, Bridgewater, NJ 08807. Tel: 908-704-1366. Would your book be appropriate for Academic Libraries? Again, B&T is a wholesaler, not a reviewer. Enclose a photocopy of the Advance Book Information (ABI) form. See http://www.btol.com.

Booklist, American Library Association, 50 E. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611. Tel: 800-545-2433 or 312-944-6780; Fax: 312-440-9374. You should have sent bound galleys to ALA’s Booklist some months earlier. This is a confirmation copy to show that the book has been published. See http://www.ala.org/booklist.

Chicago Tribune Books, Carolyn Alessio, 435 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611. Tel: 312-222-3232. See http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/booksmags/.

Choice, Editorial Dept., 100 Riverview Center, Middletown, CT 06457. Tel: 860-347-6933; Fax: 860-704-0465; Email: choicemag@ala-choice.org. Choice is a publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association. Choice reviews 6,600 books annually for the $300-million academic library market: high school, college and special libraries. Monthly except August. Circulation: 4,800. See http://www.ala.org/acrl/choice/index.html.

Gale Group, Attn: Contemporary Authors, 27500 Drake Road, Farmington Hills, MI 48331. Tel: 800-877-GALE or 248-699-4253; Fax: 248-699-8070; Email: alan.hedblad@galegroup.com. Contemporary Authors will not list you in their directory if they think your books are self-published. See http://www.galegroup.com.

Heartland Reviews is a venture by book veteran Bob Spear. See http://www.heartlandreviews.com and contact him before sending books. Email: bobspear@lvnworth.com.

Horn Book magazine, Roger Sutton, 56 Roland Street #200, Boston, MA 02129. Tel: 800-325-1170 or 617-628-0225; Fax: 617-628-0882. Horn Book reviews about 420 books each year for children and young adults. It’s published bimonthly and has a circulation of 24,000. See http://www.hbook.com.

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There are only two phases to the promotion of your book: the first 90 days and everything else.

Joel Roberts, broadcast media coach

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Independent Publisher magazine, Jenkins Group, 121 E. Front Street #401, Traverse City, MI 49684. Tel: 800-706-4636 or 231-933-0445; Fax: 231-933-0448; Email: jenkinsgroup@publishing.com. Bimonthly, Independent Publisher reviews 75 to 100 titles every issue. Circulation: 7,000. See http://www.independentpublisher.com/.

Ingram Book Company, Express Program, PO Box 3006, La Vergne, TN 37086. The book must not be marked or identified as a promotional copy. Enclose your brochure and discount schedule (a higher discount on single orders will allow them to give stores a discount that will increase sales). If you have a distributor, let Ingram know that your books will be available from that source. See http://www.ingrambook.com/new/publishers.asp.

Kirkus Reviews, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003-9595.Tel:646-654-4602;Fax:646-654-4706;Email: kirkusrev@kirkusreviews.com. You should have sent bound galleys to Kirkus some months earlier. This is a confirmation copy to show the book has been published.

KLIATT Young Adult Paperback Book Guide, Paula Rohrlick, 33 Bay State Road, Wellesley, MA 02481. Tel: 781-237-7577; Email: kliatt@aol.com. KLIATT annually reviews some 1,600 softcover books for young adults. The magazine is bimonthly and has a circulation of 2,300. See http://hometown.aol.com/kliatt.

Library Journal, Barbara Hoffert, 360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010. Tel: 888-800-5473 or 212-463-6818; Fax: 212-463-6734. Again, you should have sent bound galleys some months earlier. This is a confirmation copy to show the book has been published.

Library of Congress Acquisitions and Processing Division, Washington, DC 20540, along with your brochure and dealer discount schedule. See http://www.loc.gov.

Library of Congress Cataloging, CIP Office, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20540, if you are in the CIP program. Once you have published three books, you are eligible to participate in the CIP program and receive library-cataloging data for printing on your copyright page. See Chapter 5. The Cataloging in Publication Office supplies postpaid mailing labels (once you have been admitted to the CIP program) for sending your books in. See http://www.loc.gov and http://cip.loc.gov/cip/.

Library of Congress Copyright Division (two copies), Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20559, for copyright registration, along with your check for $30 and copyright Form TX. See Chapter 5 and http://www.loc.gov.

The Los Angeles Times Book Review, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053. Tel: 800-LATIMES or 213-237-5000; Fax: 213-237-4712. See http://www.latimes.com.

Midwest Book Review, James A. Cox, 278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI 53575. Tel: 608-835-7937; Email: mwbookrevw@aol.com. Jim favors the small press and will review your book sooner than most reviewers. His reviews are also posted at Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com, Borders.com and other sites. See http://www.midwestbookreview.com/.

Newsday, Estelle Miller, Two Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016. Tel: 212-251-6623; Fax: 212-696-0590; Email: muchnick@newsday.com. Newsday reviews general-interest books such as fiction, history, politics, biographies and poetry. They don’t review how-to books. Send books to the appropriate departmental editor. Circulation: 800,000 daily, 950,000 Sunday. See http://www.newsday.com/features/books/.

New York Review of Books, 1755 Broadway, Floor 5, New York, NY 10019. Tel: 212-757-8070; Fax: 212-333-5374; Email: nyrev@nybooks.com. This biweekly (except January, July, August and September, when it is monthly) magazine publishes reviews, prints excerpts and buys serial rights. They review 400 books each year, and the circulation is 130,000. See http://www.nybooks.com.

The New York Times, Daily Book Review Section, 229 W. 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036. Tel: 212-556-1234; Fax: 212-556-7088. See http://www.nytimes.com/books.

Dan Poynter, PO Box 8206-380, Santa Barbara, CA 93118-8206, autographed. Yes, I receive 15 to 20 books each week. That’s why The Self-Publishing Manual has been called “the book that has launched thousands of books.” All books are acknowledged. See http://ParaPublishing.com.

Publishers Weekly, Attn:Weekly Record,360 Park Avenue South, 13th Floor, New York, NY 10010-1710. Tel: 646-746-6758; Fax: 646-746-6631. You should have sent bound galleys to PW some months earlier. This is a confirmation copy to show the book has been published.

Rainbo Electronic Reviews, Maggie Ramirez, Senior Editor, 8 Duran Court, Pacifica, CA 94044-4231. Tel: 650-359-0221 (9 to 5 Pacific time); Email: maggie@rainboreviews.com. Reviews 300 books a year and posts them online on a monthly basis. See http://www.rainboreviews.com for submission guidelines.

Reader’s Digest Condensed Books, John Bohane, Editor in Chief, Pleasantville, NY 10570. Tel: 914-244-1000; Fax: 914-238-4559; Email: john.bohane@readersdigest.com. See http://www.rd.com/.

Rebecca’s Reads, Rebecca Brown, Editor, Big River Productions, PO Box 371 Clallam Bay, WA 98326. Email: big.riv.prod@rebeccasreads.com. Books submitted for review must be available for purchase on Amazon.com. They do not review poetry, true crime, pulp romance or textbooks. Web site provides a link to Amazon for purchasing. Initial inquiries should be made via www.rebeccasreads.com.

Reference and Research Book News, Jane Erskine, 5739 NE Sumner Street, Portland, OR 97218. Tel: 503-281-9230; Fax: 503-287-4485; Email: booknews@booknews.com. This quarterly, with a circulation of 1,700, reviews some 1,200 books per issue. See http://www.booknews.com.

Romantic Times, Nancy Collazo, 55 Bergen Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Tel: 718-237-1097; Fax: 718-624-2526; Email: info@romantictimes.com. Rave Reviews folded into Romantic Times. This monthly is aimed at consumers, and it focuses on romance, historicals, mysteries with romance elements and occasionally science fiction. They don’t review techno thrillers, horror and men’s westerns. More than 150 reviews are printed in each edition. See http://www.romantictimes.com.

Ruminator Review, Bart Schneider, 1648 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105. Tel: 651-699-2610; Fax: 651-699-0970. Ruminator Review, formerly Hungry Mind Review, is a quarterly book review magazine founded in 1986 and distributed free in more than 600 independent bookstores around the country. Each print issue is built around a particular theme and includes reviews and essays by some of America’s finest writers. See http://www.Ruminator.com.

San Francisco Chronicle, Attn: David Kipen, Book Editor, 901 Mission, San Francisco, CA 94103. Tel: 415-777-6232; Fax: 415-957-8737. Circulation: 570,000 daily, 715,000 Sunday. See http://www.sfgate.com/eguide/books/.

School Library Journal, Attn: Trevelyn Jones, 360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010. Tel: 212-463-6759; Fax: 212-463-6689; Email: tjones@cahners.com. You should have sent bound galleys to SLJ some months earlier. This is a confirmation copy to show the book has been published. See http://www.slj.com.

Small Press Review, Attn: Len Fulton, PO Box 100, Paradise, CA 95967. Tel: 800-477-6110 or 530-877-6110; Fax: 530-877-0222; Email: dustbooks@dcsi.net. This monthly publication has a circulation of 3,500 and specializes in fiction and poetry. See http://www.dustbooks.com.

USA Today, Deirdre Donahue, Book Editor, 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22229. Tel: 703-276-3400 or 202-276-6580; Email: ddonahue@usatoday.com. This daily national newspaper prints reviews every Friday and other times under special subject areas such as sports, money, lifestyle or art and entertainment. Circulation: 1.9 million. See http://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/books/leb.htm.

Voice Literary Supplement, Village Voice, Joy Press, 36 Cooper Square, New York, NY 10003. Tel: 212-475-3300; Fax: 212-475-8944; Email: editor@villagevoice.com. They review 500 books each year in 10 issues. Circulation: 180,000. See http://www.villagevoice.com/vls.

Washington Post, Marie Arana, Book World, 1150 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20071. Tel: 202-334-6000; Fax: 202-334-5059; Email: aranam@washpost.com. Circulation: 780,000 daily, 1,100,000 Sunday. The Post reviews about 2,000 general fiction and nonfiction books each year. A favorable review in The New York Times or the Washington Post tends to stimulate good reviews in the book sections of smaller newspapers. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/.

You should send one copy to each of the 8 to 10 major wholesalers. See Chapter 8 and Wholesalers in Appendix 2.

Again, one copy goes to each of the 6 to 10 most important opinion-molders in your field. If these people talk up your book, you’ll be off to a good start. Personally autograph the books.

Time is of the essence. These early review copies must be sent out as soon as the truck arrives from the printer. Reviewers like new books. Books are copyright dated so it’s easy to tell when they are not new. Equally important, most of your initial sales will come from these reviews. So if you don’t get moving with your review copy program, that inventory will not move out. Meanwhile, the dated books are getting older every day.

By the way, while most reviews are free, they can take three months or more to appear. Just send the books out and then go on to other promotion projects.

REVIEWS TO THE ULTIMATE CONSUMER: Now that the prepublication and early review packages have been sent, it’s time to get to the retail reviewers. These are the rest of the book review magazines, newspapers with book review columns, general interest magazines that review all types of books, freelance book reviewers, radio and TV stations with talk shows and book programs, other online reviewers and—last but not least—special-interest periodicals that cater to the book’s field(s).

It would be very expensive and terribly inefficient to send review copies to every reviewer, yet some publishers do this. Many of the larger publishers automate their review-book process. The result of taking the human touch out of the loop is that some reviewers get more than one package, while others receive large numbers of books they do not review. Big publishers often even ignore reviewers who request a specific title, because the promotion people are by now concentrating on a new line of books. Smaller publishers tend to be smart enough to always send out a “requested title,” knowing there’s a very good chance of its being reviewed.

Since book reviews are very effective and review copies are very inexpensive, it makes sense to spend more time and effort on reviews than on most other forms of promotion or paid advertising. For most books, it’s not unusual to send out 300 to 500 review copies. This may seem like a lot, because many large publishers circulate less than 50; however, they are a sound investment. Several inches of review space in magazines, major and minor, is extremely valuable. And this is editorial copy, far more credible than advertising puffery. For example, 94% of the librarians rely on reviews they read in Library Journal, but only 35% believe the ads. The more reviews you receive, the more likely librarians will see the reviews and buy your book. And, of course, you will repeat the best reviews on all of your library flyers.

If only 30% of the magazines you target review your book, you are way ahead on your investment. Considering that reviews return so much, it is wise to follow these two simple rules:

1. Don’t be stingy with review copies, but do not waste your money either.

2. When in doubt, ship it out.

UNDERSTANDING THE REVIEWER: There are two basic types of reviews. A summary review relates the contents of the work without issuing an opinion on its value. These reviews help potential readers select books for their particular needs. An evaluative review decides whether the author has covered the topic and compares the book with similar works. It usually ends with a favorable or unfavorable recommendation, and may be brief or long.

Your book is a product of you. You poured your time, heart and soul into it. But just because you were interested enough to take the time to write it doesn’t mean a reviewer will be interested enough to take the time to read it all. A book critic will read your entire book, but a book reviewer will probably only check the front matter. Some reviewers write reviews on 10 to 15 books a week. Most of the reviewer’s comments will come from your news release and other enclosures. Make them good. Also consider this: if a reviewer elects to use large portions of your superbly written news release in the review, then to some degree you are actually controlling the content of the review.

It helps to understand the lot of the editors and/or reviewers. Whether they are full-time or freelance, they have one thing in common—they are extremely busy. Neither time nor room is available to review all the books that come in. Even the prestigious and prolific Sunday supplement of The New York Times can only cover about 10% of the books received. All books are not assigned, and most reviewers select the ones they want to review. You can’t change the situation, so you might as well understand and take advantage of it.

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ON OVERLOAD

 

A few years ago, I was dropping off a batch of books at the loading dock in back of the post office in Santa Barbara. I saw a young man (not in a postal uniform) with a cart full of packages near the dumpster, and my curiosity mounted. As I watched, the man ripped open the cartons, took out what appeared to be books, and placed them in a large carton. Then he threw the wrappers in the trash. Unable to stand it any longer, I approached the man and asked if these were lost-in-the-mail books. Turns out the packages were for Los Angeles book critic Robert Kirsch. This gigantic load of books was being received at his home address (imagine what showed up at work), and he not only didn’t have time to pick up the books himself, he didn’t have room for the wrappers. There is a second lesson here too. Much of the material you ship with review copies is likely to become separated from the books.

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Ruth Coughlin of the Detroit News says, “I arrive at my office each Monday morning to find 200 books in unopened mailing envelopes stacked outside my door.” Alice Digilio of the Washington Post says, “We have somebody here 20 hours a week whose only job is to tear open book packages.”

If your book has special-area appeal, you can greatly increase your chances for review by submitting your book to the special publications reaching that particular group. For example, if my book were on skydiving, I might send review copies to all 68 parachute magazines and newsletters world-wide. Then I could also consider every aviation, outdoor, sport, recreation, do-it-yourself, teen, men’s, etc., magazines I could find. There are some 60,000 magazines being printed in the U.S. today (and a lot more foreign). There must be some reaching the groups you want to target.

Be prepared for delays with publications from the smaller associations. They may want to review your book, but they have staff and budget limitations. Usually they rely on out-side free help for book reviews. Typically, the editor will only scan a book before sending it off to an appropriate expert requesting him or her to review it. Often, the reviewer is very busy too.

 

SELECTING REVIEW PERIODICALS

One way to expand your list of appropriate media is to visit the reference desk of a large public library and ask to see the periodical directories. There are at least two for magazines, two for newsletters and several for newspaper columns. (Stop by the bank first for a roll of coins for the copy machine.) Copy just the pages you need and bring them home to enter the addresses of the periodicals into your computer; you’ll use these addresses over and over again.

A main public library in a large city will have a larger budget for directories, and their books are more likely to be newer. You can find many of the directories online, but there is usually an expensive charge to access the listings. Some of the directories you will consult follow. You will also find directories of associations.

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Standard Periodicals Directory: Thousands of magazines. More than 56,000 magazines, newsletters, etc. http://www.oxbridge.com/

Oxbridge Directory of Newsletters http://www.oxbridge.com/

The National Directory of Magazines http://www.oxbridge.com/

Ulrich’s International Periodicals Directory: Many U.S. and foreign periodicals. http://www.ulrichsweb.com/ulrichsweb/

Hudson’s Subscription Newsletter Directory http://www.newsletter-clearinghse.com/

Gale’s Newsletters in Print http://www.galegroup.com/

Literary Market Place (LMP): Many good lists such as book review syndicates, book review periodicals, book columnists, cable networks, radio and TV stations with book programs, book clubs, news services and newspapers with book sections. This resource is so valuable, you may want to buy a copy of your own. http://www.literarymarketplace.com/lmp/us/index_us.asp

Bacon’s Directories http://www.Bacons.com

Gebbie’s All-in-One Media Directory http://www.gebbieinc.com/

Editor and Publisher International Yearbook: The key radio and TV personnel. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/index.jsp

Directory of Literary Magazines by the Council of Literary Magazines & Presses. http://www.clmp.org/about/dir.html

Writer’s Market: Directed at writers in search of magazine publishers. http://www.writersmarket.com

Encyclopedia of Associations directory: Lists 18,000 special-interest trade and professional organizations. http://www.galegroup.com

National Trade and Professional Associations: 7,600 associations, unions and societies. http://www.columbiabooks.com/

A handy resource is The Pocket Media Guide. It lists major trade, business and general-interest magazines and newspapers in its 33 pages. Free from Media Distribution Service (MDS). http://www.prplace.com/mds_guide/

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Address review books to a specific person or your book may get ripped off by someone else on the staff. When this happens, you not only waste a book, you lose out on a potential review. Also address review books to the position, not just the name, of the editor or reporter in case he or she has moved on.

Depending on your subject, you may find 300 to 500 potential reviewers for your book. Don’t be surprised if you come up with more. On the other hand, if the topic is very specialized, you may find there are only a few dozen interested and qualified potential reviewers. The best rule is to contact everyone who might possibly review the book. Divide the periodicals into two groups:

* The good bets: Those magazines you have heard of; good matches that are published regularly and have a large circulation. These periodicals probably will review the book.

* The rest: Those you have not heard of, the title does not sound as though the periodical matches your book, it is published quarterly and/or the publication has a circulation of 600. These periodicals might possibly review the book.

Some magazines will be perfect matches for your subject, and some, although more general, will have such a large circulation that they cannot be ignored. Send books to the group of good bets, but email the rest asking if they’re interested in seeing the book. You are fishing at this point; you won’t hook a fish with every cast, but you have narrowed your odds by asking first.

Go through the directories and make up lists of newspapers, weekly magazines, review journals and specialized periodicals. Many smaller newspapers do not have reviewers on their staffs; they use syndicated columns. Be sure to send review copies to all syndicated reviewers.

ParaLists maintains lists of more than 90 categories of magazines. If you don’t have time to go through the exercise of compiling your own, they can be downloaded in an Excel spreadsheet and maintained on your computer for repeated use. You can update the lists yourself and print out mailing labels at any time. Your mailing lists become a valuable company asset. See http://parapub.com/sites/para/resources/maillist.cfm.

ONLINE BOOKSTORE REVIEWS: Online booksellers such as Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com have grown to be major forces in the industry. A good review at Amazon can move books; a bad review can hurt sales. Encourage those who like your books to post reviews on those sites.

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REQUEST REVIEWS VIA PPM

 

Once your book is listed at Amazon, B&N and other online booksellers, you may request reviews via my spin-off newsletter Publishing Poynters Marketplace. See http://parapub.com/sites/para/resources/newsletter.cfm. People with an interest or expertise in your book’s category will read and post a review on the Amazon and B&N Web sites.These comments can be used else-where in your promotion as well, and you could also request stories to use in the books you’re developing.

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REVIEW PACKAGE

The package sent to reviewers should include a book, review slip (see sample later in this chapter), a sample review, news releases, reprints of other reviews and your business card. Here are the details:

1. BOOK: Don’t send a damaged book or selected second as some publishers do. You want to put your best foot forward, hoping to get the attention of the reviewer. Make sure the book looks new. Pack the book as you normally do so that it will arrive in good condition.

Some reviewers still assume that in real publishing the hardcover edition comes out several months prior to the softcover. If they receive a paperback, they take for granted the title is old. Today, with the increasing dominance of the quality or trade paperback, this barrier is beginning to be breached, and many books are being selected for review on their own merits, rather than being sorted by their cover. If you’re publishing in softcover only, make sure the point is clear in your review package.

Use a rubber stamp to mark the review copies. Rubber-stamp the edges of the pages (side of the book) so that the marking is visible without lifting the cover. It is embarrassing when a marked review copy finds its way back into your for-sale stock.

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Review book rubber stamp

WOW! A review copy

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The rubber stamping will not stop the sale of a review book, but it will ensure the book will not be returned to you by a bookstore for credit.

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DON’T GO THERE!

 

In mid-1979, the newspaper and book industries were scandalized when 10 newspaper book reviewers were accused of selling review books to the Strand bookstore in New York. Apparently, several bookstores sent form letters to reviewers soliciting books. The stores typically buy the books at 25% of list price and resell them at 50% of list. One reviewer estimated that he had received 30,000 review copies in seven years! Today, we’re hearing a lot of complaints about the resale of review and promotional copies on Amazon. Fortunately, many periodicals have a policy of donating review copies philanthropically—to hospitals, charitable book fairs, etc.

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Certainly the ability to easily sell review copies may promote more requesting of books without a real intention of considering them for review. There’s nothing wrong with a reviewer requesting a book if he or she plans to review it. But it is wrong if he or she plans to sell the book without first considering it for review. It has recently been noted that along with the burgeoning growth of Web-based book reviewers, more and more brand-new books are being offered for sale as “slightly used books” on the Web—many times before their publication dates and at inflated prices. So the practice of requesting review copies, primarily to be sold, may be with us. Stay savvy when responding to requests for review copies.

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Review copies are the least expensive and most effective way to promote your book.

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Book Review Slip

 

Para Publishing Presents for Review

 

Title: The Self-Publishing Manual

Author: Dan Poynter Edition: 15th, completely revised. (A new book with a track record)

Number in print: More than 205,000

CIP/LCCN: 2006057841

ISBN: 1-56860-134-2

Pages: 472

Cover photo in ParaPub.com Pressroom

Price: $24.95

Season: Spring 2006

Publication date: May 2006

Rights:

a. Book clubs: Writer’s Digest Book Club, Independent Book Club, Small Press Book Club.

b. Condensations: Publishing Trade, Income Opportunities.

 

A copy of your review to the address below will be appreciated.

Para Publishing

Reviewer Relations Department

PO Box 8206

Santa Barbara, CA 93118-8206

USA

Tel: 805-968-7277; Fax: 805-968-1379

info@ParaPublishing.com

http://ParaPublishing.com

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2. REVIEW SLIPS contain the basic bibliographic data on the book. Most publishers slip the loose sheets between the pages. However, pasting the book review slip inside the cover with a spot of rubber cement or double-sided tape will make sure it stays with the book. Alternatively, review slips may also be made by computer-generating the information on mailing labels and pasting them on the inside front cover or flyleaf of each book.

3. SAMPLE REVIEW in the form of a news release. This could be generated by you or by a copywriter you hire. It highlights the features and strengths of a book, saving the reviewer time. It’s an honest assessment, but by a knowledgeable source that knows the book in and out. Many reviewers find these sample reviews very helpful, and some publications will run them verbatim. In fact, it won’t hurt to write up two samples, a short one and a long one.

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Sample review

 

Book review for Choices: A Teen Woman’s Journal for Self-awareness and Personal Planning

by Mindy Bingham, Judy Edmondson and Sandy Stryker.

For Immediate Release:

“As a little girl, did you ever wonder what became of Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty after they married their princes and retired to their respective castles?”

And so begins a revolutionary new book, Choices: A Teen Woman’s Journal of Self-awareness and Personal Planning by Mindy Bingham, Judy Edmondson and Sandy Stryker (Advocacy Press). This refreshing book is a welcome change from the traditional offerings for teenage girls. While the publishing industry continues to produce more and more romance novels for adolescent girls that reinforce the “they-lived-happily-ever-after” Cinderella syndrome, Choices gives the message, at a critical time, that the teenage girl has to take charge of her life—that she can’t just drift and hope for some Prince Charming who will take all her burdens away.

*

4. OTHER REVIEWS: Reviewers are more apt to review your book if big-name reviewers have treated it favorably in prepublication reviews. One way to convince them your book is worthy of their attention is to include copies of other reviews. Cut out or scan each review, and paste it on a piece of plain paper. Then cut out or scan the masthead or title of the magazine and paste it in for source and date identification. Underline the best parts of the review to draw attention to them. Make photocopies for your review kit.

Take advantage of a good review: Besides being very good for the ego, it can be used to further stimulate your promotion and sales program. You want your distributors and wholesalers to know you are promoting the book, so send them a copy. If a review appears in a local newspaper, send copies to the local bookstores. Keep these pasted-up reviews on file in your promotion binder and send them out with future review copies, letters to foreign-rights buyers or for use anytime you need more promotion. When you set up a booth at a bookfair, enlarge the reviews as part of your booth dressing and counter display.

5. A COVER LETTER is not necessary as long as the book is clearly marked as being a review copy. Stamp the book and assemble the usual package.

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STAY SINCERE

 

Some public relations people like to get very personal in review copy mailings. They jot a little personal note to the reviewer, hoping to snow them into thinking they have met before, or that the reviewer may have made some long-forgotten promise at a cocktail party. This technique should only be used with great caution, as it can easily backfire and destroy the relationship.

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6. COVER PHOTOGRAPH: Artwork will command much more space and make the review more attractive, resulting in a higher degree of readership. Provide the URL where a 300 dpi TIF file can be retrieved. Mention it on the review slip, the news release, etc.

7. THE REVIEW & TESTIMONIAL SHEET: The “rev/test” sheet lists excerpts from previous reviews and testimonials along with pertinent number-in-print and rights information.

 

MORE ON REVIEWS

CONTINUING REVIEW PROGRAM: Your review-copy program will not end at the publication date. Requests will come in as other reviewers hear of your book, and you should be on the lookout for new reviewers.

 

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THOSE UNSOLICITED REQUESTS: From time to time, you’ll receive unsolicited requests for review copies. You could look up the periodical for its frequency, circulation and audience match, as well as whether this person is really on the staff or a bona fide stringer. However, since the review package costs you so little, you may decide to just respond cordially. Certainly the free publicity a review can provide is worth many times the cost of the book. When in doubt go with your gut feeling, or explore it further if you’re truly suspicious.

PRESS CLIPPING SERVICES employ people who regularly read all major publications and clip out mentions of their clients. You can subscribe to one of these services (see listings in Literary Market Place), but it probably is not worth the expense. The clipping services cannot read every periodical; they often send clippings that mention your key word but not you, and you do not need all these clippings anyway.

Google and other online services provide a faster and cheaper service.

Many smaller periodicals will send you copies of their magazine containing the review. Plus, some customers enclose a clipping with their order. There will be very few reviews you do not hear about.

TRADING ADVERTISING FOR REVIEW: Never suggest to an editor that you might be willing to advertise in the magazine as a way of gaining a review. Most editors do not sell advertising—that is the job of the advertising department. Petty bribery will repel most review editors, who view themselves as independent. On the other hand, when the ad sales representative calls, it’s OK to say that you are “waiting for the review to appear to test the match between your book and the magazine’s audience.” You want to see how the review pulls before investing in an ad. Let the review test the medium.

BAD REVIEWS: Some of your reviews may be negative, and one reason (but not the only reason) is that some reviewers are negative. Some of these critics are frustrated writers who try to bring all other published authors down to their level. They take cheap shots or use the book as a spring-board for lofting their own views.

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Many book reviews are mean-spirited. Even if a reviewer likes a book, he or she must find fault and write snide and/or patronizing little asides about the author’s character or motives that demonstrate the reviewer’s intellectual and moral superiority.

Andrew Greeley in Publishers Weekly

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Reviewers tend to be very cautious people. Even a very favorable review will probably contain one negative sentence or paragraph. This is a cover to save the reputation of the reviewer in case the book turns out to be a loser.

In smaller publications aimed at a select target audience, an author may know every qualified reviewer! This could work for or against you. Books are sometimes unknowingly assigned to a reviewer who has an axe to grind with the author. (Some reviewers write negative reviews on purpose.)

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There is nothing like a good negative review to sell a book.

Hugh R. Barbour, bookseller

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Don’t worry about a negative review. Any review is better than no review, because people tend to remember the subject more than the details of the critique. Even a bad review will arouse reader curiosity. Libraries must cover every subject, and acquisition librarians are always searching for something new.

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Ellipses are often the enemy of truth.

Brigitte Weeks, editor, Washington Post Book World

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When you quote the negative review, just use the good parts. If there are no good parts, just say “as reviewed in the Washington Post” or “find out why Consumer Reports hated this book.” Do not edit out the bad words so that the review appears to be favorable.

It’s flagrant misrepresentation to edit out less desirable phrases if they change the meaning and intention of the review. Reviewers and editors are writers too, and most have excellent memories. If you misquote them, they’ll probably catch you and certainly remember you when your next book arrives for review.

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Someone once remarked that we have the power of life and death over a book. Life perhaps, but not death. We could devote our entire section to loathing the latest Sidney Sheldon, and it would make no difference.

Stefan Kanfer in Time

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Learn from negative reviews. Perhaps your promotional approach is misleading. Think about changing your news release. Help the reviewers understand the book. Try to direct their thinking. The same goes for good reviews. Focus on the praise—the parts of the book reviewers like. Emphasize these parts in your updated news release.

WHY REVIEWERS REVIEW BOOKS: Many reviewers will spend some 10 hours reading a book, a couple of days thinking about it and perhaps 6 hours writing up the review. Some reviewers are paid a small amount and often get a short description at the end of the review (which may be helpful in promoting their own book or agenda); however, many do not get paid at all. They get the book and the satisfaction of being on the inside of publishing and/or their area of expertise. To add insult to injury, the IRS has attempted to tax some reviewers for the value of the books they receive.

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Book reviewing is one of the few activities in the world that could be said to depend largely on love.

Jack Beatty, literary editor, New Republic

#

Your local newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations almost have to cover you, because you and your book are local news. Get out the Yellow Pages and make up a list of local media. You’ll probably find more contacts than you expected. Send a review package to each periodical, addressed to a particular features editor. They may not have a book review section, but you would rather have a half-page feature on you and your book anyway. Follow up in a few days with a telephone call to the most important ones. Next, do the same for local radio and television stations.

If you know a freelance or staff reviewer personally, send him or her a review copy. Use every possible connection you might have. Hit all your hometowns—where you live now, where you grew up, where you went to school—all of them. You may get not only a nice review, but a special feature story as well.

FOLLOW-UP CALLS increase your chances for a review. Don’t be a pest, but it’s acceptable to call to see if your book has been received. You may find that your package has not arrived on the reviewer’s desk or that your book or news release should have gone to another editor. Make your calls brief and to the point.

ACKNOWLEDGE ALL REVIEWS with an emailed personal note; praise and thank the reviewer. They will remember you when you send your next book. A small amount of time spent on letters here is an investment in the future. Annotate your computerized list of reviewers to indicate that this reviewer has performed for you.

HOW TO SHIP: Review copies can be sent to most reviewers via USPS Media Mail. If you live near any of the reviewers on your list, hand-delivery never hurts.

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MAKING THE ROUNDS

 

When the Frisbee Player’s Handbook rolled off the press, I made up a list of reviewers in street-address order. New York co-author Mark Danna made the systematic rounds of reviewers in Manhattan and threw the book at them. The unique circular book was brought to their attention, made an impression and was very well reviewed.

#

If the reviewer requested the book, make a copy of the request and place it on top of the book. Everyone recognizes and takes an interest in his or her own message. Seeing their message reminds reviewers the book was requested.

CREDIT THE REVIEWER: Reviewers like credit for their work, so mention their name as well as that of the publication. For example: “Kevin Gibson, Parachutist Magazine.” In fact, if the reviewer really likes the book, he or she will try to provide a few quotable lines, hoping for a mention.

PERMISSION TO QUOTE: Reviews are written to be quoted. Normally, you don’t have to contact the reviewer or periodical for permission. However, in the last few years, a few isolated review publications have begun requesting payment for reprinting their reviews. This is a new development.

PAID-FOR REVIEWS are not as credible or valuable as free reviews.

Put a lot of effort into reviews. Far less expensive than display advertising, they’re the best promotional investment you can make. For more details on setting up your review program, see Book Reviews in Para Publishing Special Reports in Appendix 2 or at http://parapub.com/sites/para/resources/allproducts.cfm.

 

NEWS RELEASES

Releases are used to announce products, promotions and events. They accompany galleys and review copies of books, are included in promotional kits to radio, television and print media and are posted in the pressroom on your Web site. Sometimes a release accompanies other promotional or informational material, and sometimes a release is sent alone.

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News release” is the modern term for “press release.” Your message will be sent to all forms of media such as radio, television and other opinion-molders—not just the print media.

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The media are in the news-gathering and publishing business; they want to hear from you. Publicity is not like expensive advertising; instead it involves the use of inexpensive news releases. News items receive a much higher degree of readership than advertising, and greater readership leads to more response (sales). News releases generate publicity and invite book reviews. Releases may be used to announce publication of your new book to newspapers, magazines, libraries, radio and TV. In fact, they should be sent to anyone who will read them.

Editors might use only one news release in 10, but news releases are responsible for 20% to 25% of the editorial space in many newspapers and magazines. Some of the smaller, more highly targeted publications use an even higher percentage of news release input.

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If you make life easy for the editors, they will give you coverage.

Terri Lonier, Working Solo

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Editors would use even more news release material if the news releases they received were more interesting. Your challenge is to draft copy that is irresistible to the editor—to come up with interesting information the editor will want to pass on to his or her readers. You want the editor to open your monthly mailings first while thinking, “I wonder what good material Drew is sending me today?”

Remember, you’re providing a service to busy editors. As an author–publisher, you are an expert in your field and a great information source. You’re providing important, timely and interesting information to the editor and his or her readers.

The four steps to placing your news releases are:

1. Develop an interesting “angle” that shows how your book will benefit the reader. You need a “hook,” an issue.

2. Locate and cultivate the appropriate media contacts.

3. Deliver the information in the proper f rm.

4. Be persistent and follow up.

Give the editors what they want and need; deliver the information in such a way that it is useful and newsworthy. The less rewriting your release requires, the more chance it will be used.

TAILORING NEWS RELEASES: You’ll draft some releases specifically for distribution to a particular publication. Study the publication, imitate the writing style and follow the same article length and layout. The secrets are to know what the editor considers good news value and to know how to write in good press style. Computers make news release tailoring easy. Most of your release will remain the same, but you will tailor the headline and lead paragraph to the target audience. For a book on publishing, I would have different pitches for releases sent to magazines for publishers, writers or printers. Just change the headline and lead paragraph and let the machine copy the rest of the previous release.

FORMAT AND LAYOUT: The format of the release is standardized. The easiest way to design it is simply to type “NEWS RELEASE” on your own letterhead stationery. Then just type in the date the release is to be used (“For Use the Week of September 17th” or “For Immediate Release”).

Place a contact name with telephone number in the upper right-hand corner. If your name is Greg Godek, the book is authored by Greg Godek and/or the book is published by Greg Godek Publishing, make your company look like a larger publisher by selecting another (pen or PR) name for the contact person.

Use 8.5 x 11 paper. Some publicists use legal-size paper, which has the advantage of sticking out of a pile of papers and is more easily noticed. Begin a bit of the way down from the top and leave 1'' margins on the sides and bottom. The traditional approach is to double-space the release. Today, with the option of electronic distribution, you may wish to single-space it as shown in the news release sample.

The release can be any length, but one page or two is the norm. Some people prefer one-page releases. If the release runs more than one page, identify the story with a header in the upper left-hand corner of the second page. If you want to keep it to one page, excerpt a portion and place it in a separate release featuring background on the book’s subject or an author biography. Another way to condense a release to a single page is to use the computer’s ability to change from double-space to 1.8- or 1.5-line spacing or single-spacing. Never type on the back of the sheet. If it’s more than one page in length, put “more” at the bottom of page one so the reader will know to go to the next page.

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News release layout

 

NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release

Contact: Joyce Ready 805-968-7277

JoyceReady@ParaPub.com

Headline

Type a descriptive, clever and catchy headline in capital letters and center it. Lure the editor to read more. Then space down and get into the body of the release.

Issue or challenge

The lead paragraph is designed to invite the largest number of people to read the article. It must have broad appeal; make it interesting. The release should be issue-oriented; write about the problem, not the book. The release should begin by stating the problem and telling why this is an important subject. Make it provocative.

Development

Spend time on a second paragraph developing the message. Put the most interesting information first to keep the reader reading. Recite the most important items in descending order so that if some are cut from the end, the most important will remain. Provide interesting facts and statistics.

How the book solves the problem

Now move from the what to the how orientation. It’s not necessary to dwell on the book. Anyone who finishes the article will be interested in the book. Then describe the contents of the book; mention it as a resource. Continue with some background on the topic and show why your book is unique, useful and timely. Recite the benefits.

Author

Write a short paragraph about the author and tell why the author is an expert on the subject.

Ordering information

List the price and say that the book is available from the publisher and the stores. List your address so the reader will know where to send the money. Code your address.

End the release with the newspaper termination sign: ### or -30-

 

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News release sample

 

For immediate release

Contact: Joyce Ready, tel: 805-968-7277

“This book is so reduced, so concise, so easy to grasp—if you’re really serious about writing, grab it.” —Barnaby Conrad, Founder and Director, Santa Barbara Writers Conference

 

Bet You Can’t Read Just One

Writers love writing and they love reading—especially when it’s about writing. This is a book about writing for writers and it is in sound bites. Dan Poynter has taken the whole business of writing nonfiction books and distilled it down to the most important tips or rules. Successful Nonfiction: Tips & Inspiration for Getting Published could well be described as Life’s Little Instruction Book meets Chicken Soup for the Writer’s Soul.

Each page contains a writing tip, a pertinent illustration, an explanation, a relevant story and a quotation on the point from someone in history. This book could be much longer but Poynter has distilled the 109 inspirational tips into memorable and thought-provoking bite-sized pieces.

Sound-bite books seem to be all the rage now. Maybe it’s because people are so short of time. Some books are just groupings of quotations. This book goes much further.

This 144-page gift book is beautifully designed with French flaps, gold stamping, embossed letters, contrasting end sheets and matte lamination. It is a treasure both inside and out.

Dan Poynter is the author of more than 100 previous books, many of them on writing and publishing. He’s best known for The Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print & Sell Your Own Book, now in its 15th revised edition.

Successful Nonfiction is available for $14.95 in most bookstores or by calling Para Publishing at 800-PARAPUB.

###

Successful Nonfiction: Tips & Inspiration for Getting Published by Dan Poynter. Original edition. 5-1/2 x 8-1/2, 144 pages, 110 illustrations. ISBN 1-56860-061-5. $14.95. See our pressroom for a 300 dpi TIF of the cover.

Para Publishing

PO Box 8206

Santa Barbara, CA 93118-8206

USA

Tel: (805) 968-7277, Fax: (805) 968-1379

info@ParaPublishing.com

http://ParaPublishing.com

*

You can send news releases via email. Editors are more likely to use a news release that’s convenient. Include it as part of the email message—not as an attachment. And post it on your Web site.

JOURNALISTIC STYLE: Observe basic journalistic style.

1. Keep your sentences to 23 words or less.

2. Use 3 p.m., not 3:00 P.M.

3. Commas and periods go inside closing quotation marks.

4. No capital letters should be used for anything in the text but initials, first letters of proper names and first characters of sentences (exception: TV, not tv).

5. The first mention of the author should include first name, middle initial and last name (subsequent mentions should include first or last name only).

6. Use a journalistic tone, not an advertising tone.

7. Italicize book titles.

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Releases should, like all writing, be accurate, consistent, clear, concise, persuasive, interesting and, above all, correct in spelling, punctuation and grammar. (I did not say this would be easy!)

Rose Adkins, past assistant editor, Writer’s Digest

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Use the fewest number of words to communicate any thought. Cut unnecessary words. Circle all repeated words in a paragraph and select alternates. Never use a less common word when a familiar one will convey your meaning. Use simple sentences; complex sentences can be hard to read. Do not make judgments. If you say the book is “the most important contribution to literature since the Bible,” the editor will cut it out or just trash your release. On the other hand, it doesn’t hurt to quote someone else who says some-thing nice about your book. Proofread and re-proofread!

Take your time and compose a good release. Not all news gatherers do their own work all the time, so your release may appear verbatim in print. It may even be reprinted word for word as a book review or wind up syndicated in several magazines.

A release that starts out, “Festival Publications is happy to announce…” sounds self-serving. There’s a much better chance your release will be used if an issue-oriented headline begins “Breakthrough found in…” The release is being written for the readers of the periodical; it isn’t an announcement for your company picnic. When drafting a news release for a specific section, such as Publishers Weekly’s “Back to Press” column, write it in the same format and style as the column you’re targeting. Don’t make the editors rewrite the release; they may round-file (trash) it instead. Provide a URL where the editor can retrieve a 300 dpi TIF of the cover.

Remember, you want the release to push your issue; the book is a secondary message, almost subliminal.

EMAILING THE RELEASE: Send the releases to all appropriate magazines, newsletters, book clubs (see “Book Club Rights” in Chapter 8), subsidiary rights contacts (see “Subsidiary Rights” in Chapter 8), wholesalers, libraries, sales representatives, hometown papers, etc. Don’t forget your connections with alumni, fraternal, trade or church publications.

Spread the releases around. Follow up with a telephone call to the most important periodicals.

News releases to local periodicals may be hand-delivered. Personal delivery not only receives more attention, but meeting editors will be a great education for you.

Use news releases liberally. Every time you go back to press or revise the book, issue a release to herald it. Magazines such as the prestigious Publishers Weekly may give you a few lines if you just let them know. Releases can also be issued to announce speaking engagements, TV appearances, autograph parties, awards won and any other newsworthy event. If business slows down, think up a newsworthy item and write a release about it.

Always respond to Publishers Weekly’s requests for information for their spring and fall announcements issues. Once you register for an ISBN, you will be on R.R. Bowker’s mailing list and should receive these requests automatically. You must follow the PW submission guidelines in order to be listed. If you’re going on tour, send a short release, listing the places and dates, to PW’s “Author Publicity” column. Also be on the lookout for special editions of PW and other magazines. Some of the special editions are on cookbooks, travel books, sports books, etc. Listings are usually free.

Foreword Magazine has four announcement issues per year for independent and university publishers. See their Web site for submission guidelines: http://forewordmagazine.com/. Tel: 231-933-3699; Fax: 231-933-3899.

Remember that media people work in a pressure-cooker world. Be polite; they won’t expect it. You might get a lot of mileage out of one kind word.

For more information on news releases and paint-by-the-number instructions for drafting and using them, see News Releases and Book Publicity in Para Publishing Special Reports in Appendix 2 or at http://parapub.com/sites/para/resources/allproducts.cfm.

PRESS KITS

Press kits, folders with information on your book, are being used less as publishers move these materials to their Web sites. It can be more efficient to place all the kit materials on your site on a pressroom page. Then direct the media to your promotional materials with email and business cards.

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While publicity misused can be nothing but an ego trip for the author, well used it can be a powerful sales tool.

Al Lind

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USE COVER OVERRUNS for book promotion. Print your promotion copy on the other side and mail them out. If your book is 8.5'' x 11'', fold and trim the extra covers into file folders and hand them out at appropriate conventions. Delegates will carry your folder around, using it to collect other papers, for days. If you have a hardcover book, get extra jackets—not just for promotion but for replacements on the books. Jackets become shelf-worn quickly in the stores. A new jacket will make the book look crisp again. Also, distributors and sales reps need extra covers for their presentations to book buyers. Always ask your printer for the overruns and order a few hundred extra. Run-on printing is very inexpensive, whereas reprinting the cover/jacket later or using color copying can be quite costly.

NOTIFY YOUR FRIENDS of your new book via email. Copy and paste your back-cover sales copy to use in your announcement. Then ask everyone in your address book to forward the announcement to anyone in their address book who might have an interest in the subject matter of the book.

Also email influential people in the field covered by the book. They are prime prospects and will help to promote your book by just talking about it. Influential people in the field should also receive an autographed, complimentary copy; you want these opinion-molders on your side.

 

RADIO AND TELEVISION TALK SHOWS

Every day, more than 10,200 guests appear on 988 television stations that broadcast 4,250 local interview and talk shows across the U.S. Roughly 94% of the author–guests don’t even have recognizable names.

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Many people love to go on radio and television. In fact, I think some people write books just to get on the air.

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Authors are interesting people. Most people feel that authors are experts and celebrities. Radio and television talk shows constantly need interesting guests to attract listeners and viewers. The fact that you wrote a book will get you on; then you must have something interesting to say that is unique, controversial or fascinating.

Most of the guests booked by the shows are authors, so your book is your entrée to the airwaves and cable. However, you’re appearing on the show as interesting, entertaining “talent,” not to overtly promote your book. The host will promote your book (or may allow you to plug it), but your function is to impart exciting information about your subject. If you come across as dull or unprepared, the host can always reduce your segment or edit you out later.

Do talk shows sell books? Sometimes, oftentimes, but not all the time. We hear when a show works, but we usually don’t hear the rest of the stories. If you enjoy talk shows, do them; if you don’t like talk shows, do not feel obligated to go on the air.

FOR-PAY INTERVIEWS: Never pay a station for an interview. If a radio station is charging you, it must be because they don’t have advertisers and listeners. Conversely, stations do not pay you for an interview. They are giving you exposure.

START WITH PHONERS on “talk radio.” They are fast, easy, inexpensive, and you don’t have to get dressed up or travel. You just talk from your own telephone to the radio host, who is probably miles away. Begin with local radio shows and work your way up. Then graduate to local tele-vision shows and work your way to national shows. Don’t try to start out with Oprah. You have only one shot at the top shows, and if you blow one you will not only not be invited back—you won’t be invited to any of the others. They monitor each other. On the other hand, if you’re a dynamic guest, others will notice and want to book you.

HOW TO GET ON: There are several ways to get on the shows. You can book yourself, advertise your subject and expertise in the publications the producers read or hire a public relations agency to contact the producers for you. For a complete explanation and the very latest in contact names and addresses, see Instant Report 602, Interviews: How Authors Get on Radio and TV, at http://parapub.com/sites/para/resources/allproducts.cfm. You can also take out a listing in the Radio-TV Interview Report. For a sample copy, advertising rates and an application, contact http://www.rtir.com/.

 

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MEDIA FLYER: Another way to let the talk shows know you’re available is by sending them a catchy media flyer. The media flyer stresses an interesting issue and offers you as an expert to explain the subject. The back of the flyer can describe the book. The book is not the subject of the pitch; it simply gives credibility to the expert.

TELEVISION: The big television shows are best, of course, because they reach more people. Today, The Tonight Show, Oprah and 60 Minutes are the most influential in book-selling. The best plug for a book is when Oprah Winfrey takes a personal interest. According to TV Guide, an appearance on Today can sell 3,000 copies of a book, but a few minutes on Oprah have moved 50,000.

Don’t overlook the smaller and local shows and cable stations. They’re much easier to get on, and you can use them to work your way up. Many stations have special shows for interviewing authors, and most have at least one talk show. Your local station may want you on a community-affairs program, for instance. Depending on your subject, the station might even produce a short clip for their news broadcast. Once you have appeared on one local station, do not give up on the others. Use another interesting angle.

To get on a show, find out who the producer is. Simply call the station and ask the switchboard operator.

Once you appear on television, you may want a “clipping” of the show. Some services tape everything on the air and will sell you a copy. Contact Video Monitoring Services of America at http://www.vmsinfo.com/. Or if you ask, the TV station may record the show for you if you supply the tape or disc.

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There are two major reasons the Chicken Soup books are successful. One is Jack and the other is Mark. They spend every waking moment creatively promoting the books.

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YOU’RE ON THE AIR: The show’s producer will call you to set up an appointment and then call again at the appointed time. Always clarify the time zone; will he or she be calling at 7:00 a.m. your time or his or her time? Respond by sending a copy of the book, your news release, an author bio and photocopies of any reviews you have received. If you send a list of questions and/or interesting facts about your topic that can trigger questions, most hosts will use them.

When you go on the air, be prepared. Disable call-waiting if you have it on your telephone. (The clicking is annoying.) Several months have passed since you wrote the book, so review it. Practice public speaking. Think about the best answers to the questions most likely to be asked. Rehearse your stock answers and use high-impact words or brief “grabber” comments that are suitable for a sound bite. Make a list of the main points you want to make, and slip them in no mat-ter what the questions are. The talk show host may frustrate you by bouncing from subject to subject, so don’t be caught with nothing to say. Push the subject, not your book. Don’t mention the book at every opportunity—it only turns off listeners and wears out your welcome.

Before you start the interview, make sure that the show host, producer and switchboard operator all have a card with your complete ordering information—phone, URL and email address and the fact that your book is available in bookstores.

When you start doing a heavy schedule of radio and TV, your book must be in as many bookstores as possible. This is because people are creatures of habit, and they will buy books where they always buy books—regardless of your prompting.

On the big morning shows, you’ll be lucky to have three minutes on the air. Later in the day, you might have four to eight minutes. Evening shows may run an hour.

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READY WHEN YOU ARE!

 

A few years ago, I was listening to a local radio station while running errands. I heard a disc jockey talking about making his first parachute jump. Since I had written several books on skydiving, I called the disc jockey, who spoke to me during record plays. An invitation was extended, and I dropped by the radio station for an impromptu interview that lasted all afternoon.

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Media people are busy and under a lot of deadline pressures. Even though your book is the most important thing that has happened to you lately, it’s just another news item to them. They are not easily impressed; they deal with news-making personalities all the time. Be polite; they won’t expect it. Everyone around them is tough and short. A thank-you note afterward will leave a nice memory, and you’ll be more likely to get good treatment for your second book.

The biggest challenge all authors face with media interviews is that their books are not in all the stores. Listeners may make one attempt to buy the book and then forget about it. One way to handle this potential disaster is to tell the host you’ll send a free information kit to any listener who will drop you a card. Talk show hosts love to give things to their audience and most will repeat your message and URL again and again. Automate your InfoKit with an autoresponder. Let your Web site send out the information and collect the addresses.

 

AUTHOR PROMOTION

AUTHOR TOURS are the way you promote your book at events and on television out of town, and they are very hard work. There was a time when all authors had to do was deliver their manuscript to the publisher and then go home to await the royalty checks. However, with the advent of TV and more hype in the book business, the toughest promotion effort for the writer now is in criss-crossing the country speaking and selling the book.

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For the publisher, it is publicity at low cost. For the author, it is an endurance test.

—The Wall Street Journal

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Author tours are often a grueling experience from sunup to sundown, and they are no longer inexpensive (air travel, food, lodging, clothing, car and driver, etc.). However, there is no more effective way of reaching huge masses of the book-buying public.

When you’re on a television tour, try to book print media too. Make the most of your time by granting interviews to the newspapers and magazines in the same city. Don’t forget college newspapers, if appropriate. Also try to schedule author signings at bookstores and appearances at clubs, organizations and writers’ groups. The fact that you’re appearing on radio or television will tell them you are important, and they can promote your in-store signings in conjunction with your other appearances and events.

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When promoting your book, speak proudly about it. You worked hard on it and should be proud. False modesty will get you nowhere.

Mark Danna, co-author, Frisbee Player’s Handbook

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When you know you are going to be on a show, try doing a postcard mailing to all the bookstores in the broadcast area (often your distributor will aid you in this by giving you the lists of important stores). Let the stores know who your distributor or wholesalers are so they can easily order in anticipation of your appearance.

Before appearing at a bookstore for a reading or a signing, send an email message to all your friends, relatives and associates within driving distance of the store. Ask them to alert their friends. The store will drum up a few attendees, but if you want a crowd the turnout is up to you.

FEATURE ARTICLES: Local papers, company magazines, alumni and association publications, etc., are always looking for interesting news about their people. Let them do a story on you and they will mention your greatest accomplishment—your book. You are now an expert, an interesting person and a celebrity just because you’re a published author. It’s the “magic” of being an author.

You are news to every publication you’re connected with—from national associations to local newspapers. Take advantage of having these contacts. Remember, book reviews sell books, but feature stories sell more books.

MAGAZINE ARTICLES are a way to gain publicity for your book while furthering your writing career. It’s easy to spin off articles from the pages of your book.

You’ll be pleased to find that you will have less difficulty selling articles to magazines now that you’re a published author. You are an expert, and magazines want authoritative material. Of course, you will want to end the article with: “Editor’s note: Ed Rigsbee is the author of… that is available from…” and type the notice just as you want it to appear. Don’t leave this up to the editor. Those who read your article are interested in the subject or they wouldn’t be reading about it. Many will want to know more and will seek out your book.

Most national magazines don’t pay a great deal for articles— usually just a few hundred dollars. However, the exposure is more important to you than the money. And if you offer the article for free, you have a better chance of its seeing print.

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS: As an expert on your subject, you are in demand by service organizations, adult education programs, church groups, PTAs, businesses, conventions, the chamber of commerce and others. Many of these groups feature a guest speaker at every meeting. Sometimes they rotate the responsibility among the membership to find a speaker. Your call to them might actually get someone off the hook.

The possibilities will become obvious once you begin to think of your topic from the marketing standpoint. If yours is a carpentry how-to book, a hardware store or lumberyard might like to build a seminar around you. Your presentation might turn into an annual affair. Think of other possibilities. You’ll make good contacts and develop new ideas; it’s stimulating.

When you make your speaking appearance, always mention your book. Have one on display, and make several copies available for sale and for autographs in the back of the room. Authors often make more from “back-of-the-room” book sales than they do from the presentation itself. Prepare a short, powerful speech on one small, very interesting related item, and leave plenty of time for questions and answers. Always write out your personal introduction so the host won’t stumble around trying to explain who you are.

Speaking engagements will do three things for you—(1) they promote and sell your book, (2) you might receive a fee for speaking and (3) they add to your professional portfolio. Now, in addition to being an author and a publisher, you are a presenter too. You must be an expert!

You may find that you like speaking even more than writing. Both are great ways to get out your message. For information on professional speaking, see http://www.NSAspeaker.org.

PUBLIC SEMINARS are speaking engagements you organize yourself. You set up the program and collect the admissions. A General Motors study found that approximately 40,000 seminars are given in North America each year, and they generate revenues of $100 million to $160 million.

Use your book as a text for the seminar and include it in the admission fee. Display related books in the back of the room and sell CDs of your lecture.

AUTOGRAPH PARTIES may be staged in bookstores or in a backyard around a pool. Sell and sign books.

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When my parents taught me not to write in books, they didn’t know they were raising an author who would autograph them.

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The store will provide the place, but you must get the people in. Do not rely on the regular customers to buy your book. Mail announcements of your appearance to every friend, relative, acquaintance and prospect within driving distance. Make the event sound big and important. Make everyone in town think that everyone else is going, and that if they don’t go they’ll be the only one not there.

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Do seminars, not signings. Attract buyers to your autograph party.

Terri Lonier, Working Solo

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Once you know that a local paper is going to review your book or do a feature article on you, visit the bookstores. Suggest to the manager that he or she might like to place an ad to draw readers into the store. Offer to stage an autograph party—another fine tie-in.

Don’t overlook fund-raising event autograph parties. Here you do the selling and donate part to the club or organization.

When traveling, drop in on bookstores, and when you find your books on display, offer to autograph them. An autograph makes the book more valuable, and this will pro-vide an opportunity for the staff to become familiar with you and your book. Bookstores will often feature “signed books” in a special sales area. Sometimes you will wind up doing an impromptu presentation.

For more information on author tours, see Document 639, Autograph Parties & Signing Books, at http://parapub.com/sites/para/resources/allproducts.cfm.

 

BOOK AWARDS

There’s probably no greater satisfaction for a writer than having his or her book selected for an award. Some book awards are important and well known, and some are obscure. There are those that are general, while others are quite specialized. However, all are awards, and just being nominated for one looks good in your promotion.

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THE REWARDS OF AWARDS

 

After Alan Gadney and Carolyn Porter’s book won “Outstanding Reference Book of the Year” in their category from the American Library Association, they reaped the following bene-fits. Because of the ALA publicity and their award promotion, library sales went through the roof. They managed to place a “Revised Award Edition” with seven national book clubs. With an award sticker on the cover, they took a booth at the ABA/BEA convention, landed national distribution and regional wholesalers, and came out with 22 major publishers interested in publishing a new edition.

Then they went to the convention in New York, where the book was on special display. While there, they negotiated a co-publishing contract—not just for one book, but for a series of 16 books. So awards do count; if you win one, then promote it as much as possible.

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Awards can be announced on stickers and applied to the books. These stickers are a bit of extra work, but they get attention. If the organization making the award does not sell the stickers, have them made by a label printer, a quick-print shop or make them yourself with a laser printer. In later editions, the “sticker” can be printed right on the book.

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WHEN SMALLER IS BETTER

 

According to Publishers Weekly, the larger publishers say that awards do not sell books. By the time the award is received, the book has been pulled from the stores and the publishers are promoting newer books. So what is the effect of an award? “It prompts the author to ask for more when contracting for his or her next book,” said one large publisher.

Fortunately, smaller publishers benefit from awards, because they keep their books alive longer.

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Book awards, contests and grants are listed in Literary Market Place and Writer’s Market (available at your library) and in a book titled Grants and Awards Available to American Writers, published by PEN American Center. See http://www.pen.org/.

EXCHANGES BETWEEN PUBLISHERS: When two or more publishers of like material handle each other’s books, their customers get a wider range of choices and the publishers get an improved response rate to their advertising because they are selling multiple titles. This cross-distribution partnering, formerly available only in other sales channels, is now becoming more common in mail-order book marketing.

Approach publishers with books that complement yours. Trade cartons of books based on their list price, and add them to your brochure. If you don’t wish to take on products from other publishers, at least make an agreement to stuff each other’s brochures into outgoing packages (called “flyer-swapping”).

BOOK LISTS can be used to plug your other books. Each of your books should carry a list of all your books, and these lists should be updated at each reprinting. The list can also be in the Appendix of the book. This is a way to get your sales message to potential buyers in the same field at little cost.

KEEP ACTIVE: Be prepared to move into action when your book takes off. Have your promotional plan organized so you’ll be able to gain maximum mileage from your publicity. Capitalize on each piece of promotion. Have your releases, ads and letters drafted.

Take advantage of every possible market. Pursue the most lucrative, but don’t overlook the marginal ones—move in as many directions as possible. It costs very little to serve more markets once you have done the initial organization.

See Book Promotion Made Easy: Event Planning, Presentation Skills & Product Marketing by Eric Gelb. http://www.SmallBusinessAdvice.com.

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No matter what else you do, do at least five things to market each and every one of your important books each and every day.

John Kremer

 

 

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8 WHO WILL BUY YOUR BOOK?

Markets and distribution channels

 

Which retailers will carry your book; where will your book be sold? Most people think first of bookstores, but there are many additional places to sell books. More nonfiction titles are sold through the non-traditional (nonbookstore) outlets (e.g., parachute books in parachute stores; other special-interest books in health food, office supply, computer, auto, garden and toy stores), in catalogs, as premiums, etc. These nontraditional sales are usually easier to make, very large and much more lucrative. Of course, you want your book displayed and sold in as many places as possible.

The chain superstores have grown and stabilized somewhat (they build new stores and close others), the chain mall-stores (with smaller selections) are shrinking and many independent bookstores are being killed off by the chains. More and more specialty stores are carrying books, as are grocery stores and drugstores, newsstands, hotels and airports. College chain and franchise bookstores are growing, taking the place of independent college stores. The largest growth has been among Internet book sites such as Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. Amazon alone sells more than 10% of the books.

Who’s buying books, where do they buy them and what are the most popular categories? For the latest numbers on the book industry, see Book Statistics on my site: http://parapub.com/sites/para/resources/statistics.cfm.

First let’s explore the book trade, then the nontraditional markets and finally some of the other opportunities.

 

WHOLESALE VS. RETAIL SALES

Since it’s only a bit more work to ship a carton of books than a single book, you want to pursue quantity orders. If you’re selling more, you can print more and achieve a lower per-unit cost. You’ll use distributors and wholesalers and sell to stores, catalogs, etc. You’ll give them a percentage of the retail price but sell books in greater numbers.

On the other hand, the advantage of selling directly to the ultimate consumer (the reader) is the elimination of the distributor/wholesaler intermediaries; you keep the entire list price for yourself. But approaching the reader requires greater effort, and the books are sold one at a time. Books have been sold door to door, at street fairs, at flea markets and hawked on street corners. Individual sales are not normally efficient.

Using the Internet, publishers and authors are dealing directly with their consumers—the end-user readers. The Web allows the party seeking information to find the party creating the information—quickly, easily, accurately and inexpensively.

The Internet allows us to substitute inexpensive direct email for expensive traditional direct (postal) mail advertising.

It has become less expensive and less time-consuming to alert potential customers to new information products.

MULTIPLE DATABASES: The traditional bibliographic database is Books in Print, a multivolume reference book available in print, on CD and online. See http://www.bowker.com/catalog/000005.htm. Books in Print lists the nearly 3 million books that are currently available, or in print, in the U.S.

Today, many people find the databases maintained by Amazon.com and other online bookstores easier and less expensive to use, and these sellers provide more information about the books.

While you cannot physically place your book in every bookstore, you can make it available through every store by listing in these databases.

 

DISTRIBUTORS AND WHOLESALERS

Both distributors and wholesalers have warehouses for storing and shipping books. The difference is that distributors have sales reps that visit the chain-store buyers and independent stores; reps show off the new books and bring back the orders. Wholesalers just wait for orders to arrive. Distributors move a lot more product and need a greater discount for their efforts.

There are some 90 distributors across North America. Your Plan A is to strike a deal with one of them. Let that distributor sell books to the bookstores and wholesalers so you can concentrate on specialty stores, catalogs, individual mail-order sales and other markets.

Bookstores prefer to deal with larger publishers, several distributors and a few wholesalers. They would rather write 50 checks at the end of the month, not 50,000. And stores prefer to deal with a limited number of suppliers they know and with whom they have established accounts. Meanwhile, bar codes make instant inventory control and just-in-time delivery possible.

THE DISTRIBUTION PROCESS: To help you under-stand the book-supply pipeline, the following is a listing of the various intermediaries between the publisher and the bookstore. Several of the companies are evolving and growing. Some started off in one category and later changed.

 

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National distributors act as the exclusive sales and fulfillment department for their publisher clients. They are publisher-driven (in other words, they “push” the product into the stores), and their mission is to create store-demand for orders. They usually represent each publisher’s entire line of books. Most have a catalog and sales reps who visit buyers at the chains and independent stores. They also supply the wholesalers. Your distributors will launch your books each season in a catalog. Typically, distributors pay you 90 to 120 days after they ship the books.

Your distributor serves the wholesalers (especially Ingram and Baker & Taylor), sends their sales reps to the independent bookstores and other sales outlets and sells your books to the chains. The primary difference between national distributors and the various wholesalers listed below is that only one distributor will sell your books on an exclusive basis to the book trade through sales reps who sell to bookstore and wholesaler buyers, usually through a face-to-face meeting.

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A distributor is a surrogate sales department for a group of independent publishers.

Julie Bennett, publisher

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Remember, while distributors replace part of your shipping department, they don’t replace your marketing department. You must always do the promoting yourself.

The distributor’s services to you include warehousing, cataloging, sales representation (to the independent bookstores and chains), shipping, billing, collections, marketing and editorial consultation. Many distributors provide other services at additional cost. Some of those services include an exhibit at the BEA book fair, filling individual (retail) orders, co-op advertising in book trade publications, postcard mailings to bookstores in areas where you are appearing on radio or TV, etc.

The only successful way to get both independent and chain stores to buy is through a face-to-face visit. Publishers have tried less expensive methods such as mailings and telephone calls, but none have worked as well as in-person sales calls. Large publishers have their own group of sales reps. Small publishers use distributors that also have sales reps. You need a distributor both to effectively sell to bookstores and then to make books available through as many wholesalers as possible.

More and more of the chains and larger independent stores are requiring electronic ordering systems (EDI). Few publishers can afford them, so here is another reason to use a distributor. Book reviewers are more likely to review books that have national bookstore distribution and are readily available to their readers (always mention your distributor in your review kit and promo materials). Having a distributor means that a professional book-trade organization has selected your book for sale out of all the thousands of books available. Distribution legitimizes your book, separates it from the pack and gives it credibility in the marketplace.

Wholesalers are demand-driven or bookstore-driven. They wait for the orders (they wait for someone to “pull” the product from them); they do not generate orders. But they respond quickly. They carry just those books that are in demand and fill orders when received; some do not even stock the books. They carry books from most publishers nonexclusively, because their main service is delivering books quickly. While many wholesalers may call themselves “distributors,” they are actually wholesalers because they do not have sales reps.

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Wholesalers perform a valuable order-consolidation and distribution service, but they don’t market individual titles.

Mark Sexton

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More than 30% of the bookstores buy from wholesalers regularly and most depend on wholesalers for some of their stock. These wholesalers ask for a 50% to 60% discount from you or your distributor and then sell to their stores at 40% to 45% off, depending upon quantity (titles can be mixed to get a higher discount). Even the big chains make use of wholesalers when they run out and are desperate for a book.

Wholesalers can be subdivided as follows:

* National Wholesalers: There are two national wholesalers that have multiple warehouses in various parts of the country so that they can quickly ship books to libraries and bookstores in the United States. Baker& Taylor has four regional service centers (warehouses) and does about 80% of its business serving the “institutional” market (public libraries, schools, colleges, universities, specialized libraries, etc.) and about 20% serving the “retail” market (bookstores and other retail outlets). Ingram Book Co. has four regional warehouses and focuses its business in exactly the opposite way of Baker & Taylor—approximately 80% store and 20% library/institutional.

* Regional Wholesalers: These wholesalers focus primarily on one region of the country and some have active marketing programs and specialized sales representation. They include The Bookmen (Midwest), Bookazine (New York), Southern Book Service (Southeast), Sunbelt Publications (Southwest),Washington Book Distributors (Mid-Atlantic) and others. There are about a dozen significant regional wholesalers.

* Specialized Wholesalers: A larger number of wholesalers offer books in specific categories—children, computers, cookbooks, gift books, health, legal, medical, music, new age, outdoor, religious, scientific, travel and so forth. Some serve specific types of sales outlets, such as college stores, golf shops, school supply stores and truck stops.

* Library Wholesalers: These companies find books for libraries. Up to 90% of the libraries buy from wholesalers. These intermediaries provide a valuable service by combining orders and saving librarians from thousands of single-title orders. Larger library wholesalers stock some books, but most order from publishers only when filling an order.

While there are many library wholesalers, only about a dozen do substantial business. Brodart, in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, is the largest of the library wholesalers, with a warehouse stocking more than 100,000 titles. Other library wholesalers ranked by the approximate size of their inventories are: Emery-Pratt Company (100,000 titles), Ambassador Book Service (75,000), Midwest Library Service (75,000), Coutts Library Service (35,000), Blackwell Book Services (25,000), Academic Book Center (20,000), Book House (20,000) and Eastern Book Company (15,000).

And don’t forget the earlier mentioned wholesaler Baker & Taylor (B&T), which does 68% of its business in library sales.

Library Distributors: There are two library distributors, Quality Books and Unique Books. Quality and Unique each have traveling sales reps who actively sell books to libraries. Both are worth the time for a smaller publisher to pursue.

Independent Distributors (IDs) carry magazines, trade books and mass-market paperbacks to serve drugstores, super-markets, newsstands, hotels and some airport outlets. IDs are really magazine dealers who treat books the same as magazines: the books go on the rack for one month. Then if they don’t sell, the IDs replace the selection and return only the covers from unsold books for credit. You probably will not deal with many IDs, although your national distributor may. The larger IDs are Anderson News Co., The News Group, Charles Levy Circulating Co. and Hudson-RPM Distributors. Through consolidation and attrition, the number of IDs has dwindled from more than 1,500 several years ago to fewer than 300 today.

Chain bookstores are stores that are related to each other and usually have a single central buying office.

For lists of distributors, wholesalers and chains, see Appendix 2.

 

SELECTING A DISTRIBUTOR

Now the major question is: How do you find the right national distributor? The secret is to match your book (or line of books) with a distributor that already offers titles of the same type. They’ll have a relationship with stores that have major sections of that type of book, and they may be serving other appropriate stores outside the book trade. For example, if you have a business book, you might approach Midpoint Trade or NBN. If you have a health and fitness book, you might check with Nutri-Books. If you strike a deal with Nutri-Books/Royal, for example, they will get your book into bookstores with significant health and fitness sections and into health-food stores. You want a distributor or sometimes a wholesaler that is already plugged into the right markets for your book.

SELECTION CRITERIA: Distributors are very selective. Each may only present a couple of hundred new titles each year. Many of these new “front list” titles are from their existing publisher clients, so their acceptance of new publishers may only be a hundred, more or less, per year. They have to be choosy!

Distributors will consider the following when deciding whether or not to accept your book:

* Do they feel they can move this title? Does it fit into their existing line of books? Is there a ready market for this type of book? Is there too much competition, both from other similar titles and from competing lines of books they already distribute?

* Is the book manufactured to accepted industry standards in terms of binding, page and cover design, typestyle, size and so on? Cover design and a professional interior design and typesetting are especially important.

* Is the book backed by an advertising or promotion budget and marketing plan that will bring the book to the attention of readers, libraries and/or bookstores? A substantial budget for marketing and promotion is important. A distributor can convince trade buyers to make the book available in bookstores, but the publisher in turn must make readers aware of the book and motivate them to buy.

* Does the publisher have more than one product? Distributors like to open accounts with established, ongoing businesses. Many distributors are hesitant to deal with one-book publishers who may never publish again.

* Do they perceive the publisher to be a “problem client,” that is, someone who will tie up their time with constant phone calls and naïve questions, not really market or promote, ask for constant explanations of the distribution process and sales reports, nitpick their contract terms and generally be more of a nuisance than the value of their potential book sales?

Your next move is to contact the distributors who appear to best match your book(s) and request submission procedures. For a current list of distributors and the categories of books they want and don’t want, see Document 605, Locating the Right Distributor, at http://parapub.com/sites/para/resources/allproducts.cfm.

If a distributor turns down your book, it may be because the book is not right for their particular market, the book may be poorly written or produced or, in their brief evaluation, they may fail to see its sales potential. Distributors, like bookstore buyers, have little time to evaluate the dozens of books they receive every day. So try again. Wait a few months and build up a track record. Then resubmit the book and send along sales figures, reviews, endorsements, your marketing and promotion success—anything that will demonstrate that the book is selling and that customers are responding. If the book is moving, the distributors may want to get in on the action.

If you call a distributor and they don’t feel your book is right for their line, ask them for a recommendation of another distributor or specialized wholesaler. They know the industry and will not consider noncompeting distributors as a threat.

PMA TRADE DISTRIBUTION PROGRAM: Plan B. Started in 1992, this is a special book program sponsored by the Publishers Marketing Association (PMA) and the Independent Publishers Group (IPG), a national distributor. Twice each year (in January and July), PMA members may submit books to a selection committee. Books are screened for suitability for general-interest bookstores by buyers from Borders, Barnes & Noble, Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Independent Publishers Group and independent bookstores. IPG has agreed to carry all the books selected. This is a great service for the chains, because they get access to pre-selected, pre-screened (otherwise unseen) books. It’s also a great pro-gram for the smaller and newer publisher because it provides access to the chains, wholesalers and independent booksellers. See PMA’s Web site at http://www.pma-online.org.

EXCLUSIVES are necessary in the book trade because sales reps want credit for their efforts. Stores prefer single vendors of record so they can cycle books back (via returns) and forth (through orders). The exclusive territory is only for the outlets covered by the national distributors. The sales outlets are usually wholesalers and bookstores, or what we call the “book trade.” Give your distributor an exclusive to the book trade and then concentrate your time and money pursuing other areas such as the gift trade, catalogs and other outlets.

CONSIGNMENT: Most distributors operate on consignment inventory and pay you 90 to 120 days after they ship the books to the bookstore or wholesaler. This means they have very little invested in their operation. While publishers should avoid selling to small accounts on consignment, there are good arguments for these terms with national distributors. Book manufacture requires large print runs, so part of your inventory might just as well sit in another warehouse as your own.

Remember, however, title (ownership) to the books is still yours. If the books are lost or damaged and if the distributor doesn’t have insurance, the loss could be yours.

 

BOOKSTORE CHAINS (See Appendix 2 for a complete listing.)

The large bookstore chains are important to publishers because they control the majority of the bookstore market. That means that a limited number of buyers have power over most of the books sold in bookstores. Chains are easier to reach since they have single central buying offices. Visiting one chain buyer to sell hundreds of copies is more efficient than sending sales reps to hundreds of individual stores.

The chain stores have their cash registers tied to the central computer to monitor sales. They purchase by category and demographics, matching books to the store’s neighborhood clientele. Often the computer will throw a large number of books out to stores as a test, only to be sent back if unsold after a period of time. This instant access to sales information enables the headquarters to stay on top of fast-breaking books. They can reorder quickly to maintain inventory levels.

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What really interests us are print runs and promotions. We want to know what is the publisher going to print? What is it going to put behind the book? Is the author good on talk shows? And is there going to be a tour?

Harry Hoffmann, former CEO, Waldenbooks

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Although most chain buying is centralized, many local stores are authorized to make small purchases, and they are especially receptive to regional books and local authors. Though Walden does not permit local managers to make purchases, their headquarters does listen to them when they request a local publisher’s book. Most chains expect a 40% discount, FOB origin, and many pay in 60 to 90 days.

The larger chains have stopped buying directly from smaller and newer publishers. However, you can still reach them through your distributor. So find a distributor and then let the distributor pitch the chains. You can also place your books with the various wholesalers and then encourage bookstores to order via the wholesalers.

The major bookstore chains account for the majority of national bookstore sales. If you add to that the percentage of books sold through warehouse and discount stores, the Internet, book clubs, mail order and other outlets, then independent bookstores and small chains (those with six or fewer stores in the chain) now make up only 15% or less of the total dollar volume of books sold. (This is why some distributors send reps only to the chains and major wholesalers, and then sell to the remaining independent bookstore market via catalogs and the telephone.)

Here is a breakdown of the major types of bookstore chains:

THE LARGER CHAINS: The three largest bookstore chains control the majority of the bookstore business.

* Barnes & Noble is a national chain affiliated with BookStar, B. Dalton, Bookstop, Doubleday and Scribner stores. They have more than 1,500 bookstores, and are increasing their superstores, while decreasing the B. Dalton stores.

B&N buys by format and publisher rather than by subject category. The best way to approach them is to have a distributor’s sales rep visit, as he or she will have an established relationship with the buyer. You could also try to contact the appropriate buyer yourself (but clear it with your distributor first). Send the buyer review copies, news releases and catalogs, and see if you can stir interest in your project.

* Borders, which is affiliated with Waldenbooks, Brentanos and Library Ltd., is one of the most successful mall-based booksellers in the U.S., with more than 1,100 stores. Borders purchases books from approximately 7,500 publishers, but they prefer to deal with (fewer) distributors.

Borders buys by category. Your distributor should contact the Borders buyer for you or you can try yourself (clear it with your distributor first). Send review copies, news releases and catalogs to the appropriate buyer.

* Books-A-Million has more than 100 stores, and 26 are superstores. Many are combination book and greeting-card stores operating under the Bookland name.

NATIONAL CHAINS: These include two larger chains that sell not only books, but also music and videos: Hastings (with about 150 stores) and Media Play (with about 80 out-lets, including the Musicland and On Que stores). Other national bookstore chains include Little Professor Book Centers, Virgin Megastores (about 20 stores, also selling music and videos), Rizzoli and Waterstone’s (about 20 stores in air-ports). Little Professor—based in Ann Arbor, Michigan—has no central buying; each store buys individually.

REGIONAL CHAINS: These include chain bookstores that serve specific regions of the country, such as Joseph Beck (including Davis-Kidd) and Reader’s World in the Midwest, Harry Schwartz in the Upper Midwest, Olsson’s in the Central Atlantic area, and Books Inc., Tower and Powell’s on the West Coast.

CHILDREN’S BOOKSTORE CHAINS: These include chains that sell books, toys and other children’s products, such as Books “R” Us, FAO Schwarz, Hammet’s Learning World, Kidsmith and lots of stores with the word “Learning” in the name—Learning House, Fun, Place, Shop, Smith, etc.

INDIVIDUAL BOOKSTORES: Individual, but not necessarily independent, are a diverse group of retailers. They include the downtown bookstore, the college store, the religious bookstore and others. There are more than 15,000 stores that carry books. They come in all sizes. Some sell books exclusively, while others carry books as a sideline. Some stores are general, and some are specialized (computer, movies/TV, mystery, new age, science fiction, women’s, etc.). Some are attached to museums or libraries.

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Bookstores are a lousy place to sell books.

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Modern booksellers are faced with trying to attract and sell to all kinds of different people. To do so, they have to locate in high-rent, heavy-traffic areas. Stores report an inventory turnover of two to five times a year, with an aver-age of 3.3 times. If a book hasn’t moved in four months on the shelf, it is usually returned. The newer and smaller publisher is trapped between the Scylla of wide exposure and the Charybdis of massive returns.

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Bookstores are the frosting, not the cake.

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Many small publishers tolerate, but don’t pursue, small individual bookstores. The major challenges with the stores are that they order just a few books at a time, complain about the 40% discount, seldom pay in 30 days and often return the books for a refund—damaged. You wind up processing a lot of paperwork for many small orders and returns while making very few sales. The best approach is to let your distributor handle the stores.

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If selling books through bookstores was good business, the bookstores might be paying their bills.

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Try visiting nearby bookstores; it will be a good education. Tell them you’re a local author and therefore local people will be interested in your book. Mention any local publicity such as talk shows that are planned. Stores want to know if the book is readily available through a wholesaler and if it will be promoted. Reviews and author appearances are more important than advertising. If the book is professionally produced, a sale should not be difficult. Be ready with a stock phrase such as: “I can offer you the books at a full 40% discount, without delivery charges, and they are fully returnable, of course.” The whole pitch will probably run five to 10 minutes. You can also offer to do an author signing or mini-seminar.

BOOKSTORE PATRONS: Bookstore patrons consist of the book addict and the occasional buyer. These recreational readers are used to plunking down $24.95 for hardcover fiction. Fifty percent of the customers in a bookstore are looking for a particular book. These particular-book seekers are more likely to be younger and female. About 47% are looking for a nonfiction title, 27% for a particular book of fiction and 28% want textbooks. Although 20% do not find the book they are looking for, 54% buy one or more books before they leave. Then there are those people who never visit a bookstore.

COLLEGE, SCHOOL AND TEXTBOOK STORES also respond best to face-to-face sales calls. There are roughly 2,800 college stores serving 2,200 U.S. colleges and universities with more than 11 million students. Some of the major college-store chains are: Follett College stores (about 600 stores), Barnes & Noble (315), Wallaces’ (60), Nebraska Book (50), Founders (20) and Dekalb (15).

College stores follow their own schedule, depending upon whether they are on the semester, quarter or early-semester system. Don’t put too much energy into college stores. Many of them primarily stock textbooks and reference materials. Students generally don’t spend money on much more than assigned texts, music and beer. Large textbook orders go to the publisher. About one-third of school-store orders are through wholesalers, so wholesalers may be a better way to reach this market.

 

THE LIBRARY TRADE

Libraries come in several types. There are almost 16,000 public libraries and 8,937 public library systems, some with branches. There are 50,000 libraries in elementary schools, 20,000 in high schools and 15,000 special libraries (including 1,700 law libraries). Other libraries include more than 3,000 in colleges, 1,897 governmental, 363 military and over 1,000 formal libraries exist in larger churches.

 

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The Library of Congress shelves 24 million books, Harvard University has 14 million and the New York Public Library has 11.5 million. For more library statistics, see http://www.ala.org.

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Many librarians view the publisher as the money-grubber between the author and the reader.

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More than 90% of the libraries that respond to your mailings or a review in Library Journal or the other library magazines will order from a library wholesaler, and 75% of those orders go to Baker & Taylor. Rather than place thousands of orders with individual publishers for single titles, libraries (just like the bookstores) save time by bundling the orders together and sending them all to a wholesaler. They are extended a 20% to 33% discount by the wholesaler, so they’re not only saving time but also receiving both a discounted price and service.

Their challenge is money. The cost of ordering and processing a new title can cost as much as the book itself. Many libraries are spreading their already tight budgets even thinner now by adding audiovisual and other nonprint items. Most of the library budget goes for personnel; only about 15% is spent on books and other media.

LIBRARY MARKET SIZE: Libraries spend around $1.5 billion each year for books, buying some 14% of the books published. Of those, public libraries buy 23%, el-hi school libraries 33%, college libraries 27% and special (e.g., law, medical) libraries 17%. Many library purchases are for books with press runs under 5,000, which would not get published without their support.

If libraries bought one copy of every book published in the U.S., they would each need a budget of more than $2 million per year. Yet only about 2,600 public libraries have an annual book budget of $25,000 or more, and most have much less. They have to be selective in their purchases. Contact only those libraries that can afford to buy your book. Don’t waste your energy and money pursuing the rest.

As could be expected, nonfiction, reference and technical books would be of greatest interest to college libraries (rather than children’s books, for example). Send your brochures to the right type of library. If you have a special-interest book, target those libraries (and bookstores) with an interest in your subject.

Libraries don’t buy “fill-in-the-blanks”-type books because librarians don’t want people writing in their books. If your book has to be filled in, you must accept the fact that libraries will not buy it. Some fill-ins can be changed to lists. Or you might suggest that readers photocopy the page.

Many libraries are also averse to buying spiral- or comb-bound books, because patrons can easily rip out the pages. Additionally, spiral- and comb-bound books must have a printed spine so they can be shelved “spine out.” Libraries almost never buy books in ring binders, and if they do, they rebind them for permanence.

Many libraries buy more for topic than quality. They have to justify their budgets to the community (if public) and try to offer something for everyone. It’s said that better judgment is shown in the purchasing of children’s books and fiction. One librarian recently explained, “When material is scarce on a topic and interest is high, we will often buy any reasonably priced new book through an ad in Library Journal or even a flyer. However, we usually don’t buy if the book receives a bad review.”

Libraries don’t expect a discount unless they order several copies. Some publishers follow a universal discount schedule, giving 10% for an order of 5, 20% for 20, etc. Some big-city public libraries take advantage of quantity deals because they are buying for several branches simultaneously.

DO LIBRARY ORDERS KILL SALES? Some book publishers question the wisdom of selling to libraries, based on the theory that this one sale will kill several others when many people read the book free. They note that some magazines charge libraries a higher price for a subscription on the theory that more people will read the periodical.

Other book publishers feel that libraries are showcasing their book—and are paying to do it. Often orders for The Self-Publishing Manual are received with a note stating: “The library will not let me check the book out again, so I want to buy my own copy.”

Library loans may hurt sales of fiction (which are read through less often), but not reference books (which are referred to over and over and people may need a personal copy). Mailing a free copy of a new book to the central buyer of major library systems (those with many branches) might even be a good promotional investment.

APPROVAL PLANS: Some wholesalers serve their library accounts automatically by sending collections of books in specific categories on approval, allowing the library to return the unwanted titles. Because the wholesaler has prescreened the books and matched them to the library’s special collections, few are returned. Academic and special libraries might buy 30% of their books this way, whereas public libraries buy some 10% of their books through approval plans. Obviously, it’s to your great advantage to have your book included in these computer-matched offerings, especially in the Baker & Taylor system.

ORDERING CYCLES: Libraries tend to do most of their ordering around the beginning or end of their fiscal year (usually December 31 or June 30), when they try to use up their old budget or break into a new one. This is when they may show slightly less buying discrimination. Your book might be selected at this time even if it’s an afterthought, not a first choice. At the three-quarter point in their fiscal year, libraries are often out of book-purchasing funds. School libraries usually use the slow summer months to work on ordering.

ACQUISITION LIBRARIANS: Some libraries have acquisition librarians, while committees select books in others. Because more than one person is often involved in acquisitions in the larger libraries, it’s wise to send more than one copy of your promotional material.

Don’t send your promo package to the head librarian or acquisition librarian. In large libraries, it’s best to direct mailings to the subject-area supervisor who makes the actual buying decisions. These supervisors are in charge of areas such as children’s books, adult fiction, reference, etc. Ask about these categories at your local library, and always list the category at the top of your sales flyer. You could also check the correct category and person’s name for each specific library on your mailing list before sending the material off.

Since libraries want to order from wholesalers, you must let them know which wholesalers carry your book by listing them on your sales flyer. Make ordering easy. Librarians want all the numbers: ISBN, LC control number, Dewey classification, copyright date, number of pages, trim size, binding, etc.

It helps if you build consumer demand, because most libraries respond when a library patron requests a title. For example, school libraries are responsive to the wishes of their faculty. Mailings to teachers often result in school library orders.

BOOKS WEAR OUT: A book can be lent out only so many times. A softcover book is good for about 18 cycles. The life span of most books is 1.5 to 2 years. Unless a worn-out title has seen a lot of recent use, it usually isn’t reordered. On the other hand, if the book has been very popular, the library may order several copies. Books are also stolen. Despite electronic security systems, about 20% of a library’s collection is lost each year.

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IN DEMAND ON THE LIBRARY SHELF

 

In 1979, when The Self-Publishing Manual was first presented to a librarian in Santa Barbara, she said, “We’ll have to order several of these. This is the type of book our patrons keep.” During the next few years, the library went through more than 30 copies, despite the fact that the book is available for sale in several bookstores, copy shops and office supply stores around town.

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HARDCOVER OR SOFTCOVER BOOKS? Do libraries want hardcover or softcover books? Actually, more and more, they want electronic books, because they don’t have shelf space for printed books. Fiction is still being stocked in print form, but reference materials may be sought on CD-ROM or be accessed online by library patrons. Now when people want to take research material home from a library, they may download it to a floppy, rather than photocopying or printing out a hard copy. The world of electronic books is not coming; it’s here!

LOCAL SALES: Your local library should buy your book just because you’re part of the community. Some even have a special private room for books by indigenous writers. If so, it would be appropriate for you to donate a copy to this reference section. If you do make such a donation, be sure the local paper is notified with a news release so you can get some promotional mileage out of your largess.

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HONORED IN A SPECIAL ROOM