The key to marketing success is communication. You may have written a novel to rival Gone with the Wind, but if no one knows about it...well, it won't sell like Gone with the Wind.
Communication is an art. One I'm not too good at. I have trouble communicating with my relatives. If I ask my husband to pick up a certain item at the store, chances are he'll come dragging in something entirely different. Understand that this is the one who's closest to me on earth. Someone who loves me and wants to please me.
Why would I think a complete stranger would care what I have to say? It doesn't help that the means of communicating today isn't one I'm expert at. Ha! If I gathered everything I know about the internet, including facebook, twitter, and websites, it probably wouldn't fill up the standard size thimble.
But communication is essential, and it's methods are changing, so if I want to sell my books, I'd better grab on and learn fast. Who knows what will be next. Maybe the entire way we write books will change. Readership is declining, and at some point someone will ask why and give the reader what he wants.
People are becoming more visual. They don't want to take the time to sit down and read a book. Let's face it, some of them don't want to think. (Not my readers or yours, but some.) Imagine the state of publishing in the twenty-fifth century. Instead of writing words, we may be creating images--movies, producing them right on the screen.
That sounds like fun to me. Instead of actors acting out a script, we can create our characters from holograms, choosing the voice, the hair, body type, eyes, mouth. It should be great fun. We'd give the characters the words to say, of course, the action to do, the thoughts to think. Perhaps they'd do that while staring off into space. We wouldn't have to do a lot of dull research. Just select a place and time from a list and plunk those characters down in their setting.
The readers (viewers?) would select the book (movie?) of their choice and enjoy on their little mobile screen or their big wall-to-wall theater. Their choices would be limitless.
Whoa! We writers would be faced with the same difficulties in selling our books. How to make ours stand out. There's no way to get around the need for good communication. Do you think they might allow us to create our own commercials with those futuristic books (movies)?
Since I'm not likely to still be on earth during the twenty-fifth century, I'd better stick to learning how to communicate in today's world, from word of mouth to the internet. These are the techniques I'll be researching and blogging about during the month of April.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Sunday, March 24, 2013
What's Your Brand?
Everyone who sells has a brand whether he knows it or not. It's just that particular thing that distinguishes a product from all other like products. Sounds simple enough, but how did Coca Cola, Charmin, Ford, or Burger King develop their brands? Through their reputations. A writer is no different. His or her writing will distinguish an author's brand.
Is it possible to define a brand before putting anything out there for the public's approval? That's what I'm attempting to do. I looked at the brands of some of my favorite authors. Janette Oke is known for her homespun prairie romances. Tracie Peterson is known for her strong characters and historical detail. Mary Connealy is known for cowboys and humor.
After considering all my manuscripts I can see four distinctions. They're all historical, but not a particular timeframe or setting. They're all over the place...1880s American west, 1770s Scotland, 1812 England, 1802 Austria, 1868 American south, even 1963 Atlanta. Yes, even 1963 is now considered history, a sobering thought for me since I was alive then.
All of my manuscripts are also romances. I can't tell a story unless it's from both the male and female POV, and of course, they have to get together. Besides, I like to read romances, so it's natural that I write romance. So there must be thousands of historical romance writers. Nothing to set me apart there.
Then something I didn't realize before came to light. All my plots involve intrigue. Something is always hidden in the story line, something even the characters don't know, but had better find out if they're to stay alive and healthy. The bad guy may or may not be known until the end, but there's always a surprise when the enemy is revealed or vanquished. One other thing, since at least one of the main characters is Christian and there's an inspirational theme running in the background, it's inspirational fiction.
So with all that in mind, my brand is historical romance to inspire and intrigue. There it is...my logo. I'm sure I'm not the only writer in the world whose books have those four elements, but I'm the only one with my name. Now all I have to do is let the rest of the world know. Even before the books are published, and the readers can judge for themselves, which is usually how it works, I can get the word out. I'll add it to my profile, my business card, everywhere my name goes, my logo will go. I think I'll even put it below my signature on my tax returns. A good thing I don't write mysteries.
It may sound weird, but I think the brand is the first thing a writer should publicize, not the last.
Excuse me while I go nail down the first plank in my platform.
Is it possible to define a brand before putting anything out there for the public's approval? That's what I'm attempting to do. I looked at the brands of some of my favorite authors. Janette Oke is known for her homespun prairie romances. Tracie Peterson is known for her strong characters and historical detail. Mary Connealy is known for cowboys and humor.
After considering all my manuscripts I can see four distinctions. They're all historical, but not a particular timeframe or setting. They're all over the place...1880s American west, 1770s Scotland, 1812 England, 1802 Austria, 1868 American south, even 1963 Atlanta. Yes, even 1963 is now considered history, a sobering thought for me since I was alive then.
All of my manuscripts are also romances. I can't tell a story unless it's from both the male and female POV, and of course, they have to get together. Besides, I like to read romances, so it's natural that I write romance. So there must be thousands of historical romance writers. Nothing to set me apart there.
Then something I didn't realize before came to light. All my plots involve intrigue. Something is always hidden in the story line, something even the characters don't know, but had better find out if they're to stay alive and healthy. The bad guy may or may not be known until the end, but there's always a surprise when the enemy is revealed or vanquished. One other thing, since at least one of the main characters is Christian and there's an inspirational theme running in the background, it's inspirational fiction.
So with all that in mind, my brand is historical romance to inspire and intrigue. There it is...my logo. I'm sure I'm not the only writer in the world whose books have those four elements, but I'm the only one with my name. Now all I have to do is let the rest of the world know. Even before the books are published, and the readers can judge for themselves, which is usually how it works, I can get the word out. I'll add it to my profile, my business card, everywhere my name goes, my logo will go. I think I'll even put it below my signature on my tax returns. A good thing I don't write mysteries.
It may sound weird, but I think the brand is the first thing a writer should publicize, not the last.
Excuse me while I go nail down the first plank in my platform.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Facing the Competition
Everytime I think of competition I remember those nature shows I like to watch, the ones that depict survival of the fittest. That's one of the most important laws of the natural world, and Christians are immune. They either adhere to this rule or lose.
What do animals struggling in an eat-or-be-eaten world have to do with selling a book? That book will face competition--lots of competition. There's hardly any industry driven as much by competition as book selling.
In years past the wheat was divided from the chaff by big publishing houses who acted kind of like monopolies because they got the shelf space and the advertising budget. This worked well for those who managed to get in the wheat pile, although a good bit of chaff made it on the shelves, and some good wheat was left in the fields.
Today, everything can make it to the public in publishing. But the books are kind of like those flowers that pop up among the weeds in hopes of attracting the bees. There are so many, and so varied, but still the same number of bees.
Those of us who write in sub-genres try to attract the specialized bees--you know, like those that just like clover--by giving our audience exactly what they want. But it's tricky. The more specialized you are, the more your audience shrinks. If the audience becomes like the panda who'll only eat bamboo, we'll find our creativity stiffled by strict rules of what can or cannot go into the novel. Like the hero and heroine must meet on the first few pages of a romance.
With all this in mind, who is my competition? I can rule out Steve King. His audience wouldn't touch my books, and though I write romance, I can rule out those who write sexy novels. Unfortunately my competition are the authors I love most, those who write the same sub-genre. Of course, they don't have to worry about me yet. I'm like the seal who's floating on a block of ice with killer whales circling. I'm threatened to be overcome by the sheer difficulty of breaking into the market.
The whales crash against the ice, trying to knock the seal off. Added to his troubles, the ice is melting. Discouragement crashes into me and the market is shrinking. But even in this dire situation, something may happen.
As I'm clinging to my block of ice, and the competition threatens to devour me, there may be an opening. At the last minute a group of other seals foolishly swim up and the whales turn on them. The seal sitting on his ice block seizes the moment and jumps off, swimming for his life.
The right moment will come for me, and I can jump off into the sea of competition.
What do animals struggling in an eat-or-be-eaten world have to do with selling a book? That book will face competition--lots of competition. There's hardly any industry driven as much by competition as book selling.
In years past the wheat was divided from the chaff by big publishing houses who acted kind of like monopolies because they got the shelf space and the advertising budget. This worked well for those who managed to get in the wheat pile, although a good bit of chaff made it on the shelves, and some good wheat was left in the fields.
Today, everything can make it to the public in publishing. But the books are kind of like those flowers that pop up among the weeds in hopes of attracting the bees. There are so many, and so varied, but still the same number of bees.
Those of us who write in sub-genres try to attract the specialized bees--you know, like those that just like clover--by giving our audience exactly what they want. But it's tricky. The more specialized you are, the more your audience shrinks. If the audience becomes like the panda who'll only eat bamboo, we'll find our creativity stiffled by strict rules of what can or cannot go into the novel. Like the hero and heroine must meet on the first few pages of a romance.
With all this in mind, who is my competition? I can rule out Steve King. His audience wouldn't touch my books, and though I write romance, I can rule out those who write sexy novels. Unfortunately my competition are the authors I love most, those who write the same sub-genre. Of course, they don't have to worry about me yet. I'm like the seal who's floating on a block of ice with killer whales circling. I'm threatened to be overcome by the sheer difficulty of breaking into the market.
The whales crash against the ice, trying to knock the seal off. Added to his troubles, the ice is melting. Discouragement crashes into me and the market is shrinking. But even in this dire situation, something may happen.
As I'm clinging to my block of ice, and the competition threatens to devour me, there may be an opening. At the last minute a group of other seals foolishly swim up and the whales turn on them. The seal sitting on his ice block seizes the moment and jumps off, swimming for his life.
The right moment will come for me, and I can jump off into the sea of competition.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
The Target Audience
Some years ago at a Romantic Times convention I stumbled on this meeting of ten or twelve ladies sitting in a circle bemoaning the loss of some young woman's father, and how a man was trying to help her save the farm. It took me a few minutes to understand they were discussing fictional characters. None of these ladies knew the publisher, only two knew the author, but all of them knew the intimate details of the characters. Which told me it was much more important that my characters were memorable than I was.
Sure enough, when I told them I'd written a novel, they fell on me like ticks on a hound dog. It didn't matter that the novel wasn't published. It didn't matter that I wasn't published. They wanted to know how I came up with the story, where the setting was, what the characters looked like, what was happening to them, what did she do, what did he do, what they did with each other.
"I don't like that flowery language so much," one of them said. "I know what you mean, that stuff reminds me of High School Lit," another said. "I skip that. I want to know how she feels as she's sobbing into the night." Another pipped in, "Or how he feels when she leaves with another man and he's just standing there."
I had met my target audience in the flesh...avid romance readers. I had sense enough to listen to what they said because even in those early days, I knew their opinion mattered. Emotions are number one in romance. I took notes. If it were possible, I'd have packed those ladies up and brought them home.
Don't wait until the novel is finished to consider the reader. Start with the first word. Companies selling products know the importance of studying the target market. Millions of dollars are spent test marketing. Usually they're right, all except for maybe that New Coke thing.
As far as I know, neither writers nor publishers test market a manuscript to see if it will sell, but they do study what has sold, hence you see plenty of books with the same theme or style...what's hot at the moment. But I wish there was a way to test market an unpublished book, or even a proposal. Yes, we spend plenty of time trying to find a professional editor or another writer to read our work, but they have so many filters, they can't see what the ordinary reader does.
How does one find the target audience and get a sampling of that audience to read the manuscript or a portion of it. What questions would I ask besides the all important one of "Would you buy this book?" Even if I could do that, how could I make sure they would be unbiased since they'd have to be paid? But if I had a test market, a sample of the entire avid readers in the country, could I avoid the time and effort of writing and polishing a losing proposition?
Regardless, the target audience will be an important consideration...no, the top consideration...as I build my sales platform. Which brings me to the reason behind test marketing. How do you make your book better than the other ones out there? How do you beat the competition?
What is the competition in today's Christian fiction market? That's the subject of next week's blog.
What's your idea of the average Christian fiction reader?
Sure enough, when I told them I'd written a novel, they fell on me like ticks on a hound dog. It didn't matter that the novel wasn't published. It didn't matter that I wasn't published. They wanted to know how I came up with the story, where the setting was, what the characters looked like, what was happening to them, what did she do, what did he do, what they did with each other.
"I don't like that flowery language so much," one of them said. "I know what you mean, that stuff reminds me of High School Lit," another said. "I skip that. I want to know how she feels as she's sobbing into the night." Another pipped in, "Or how he feels when she leaves with another man and he's just standing there."
I had met my target audience in the flesh...avid romance readers. I had sense enough to listen to what they said because even in those early days, I knew their opinion mattered. Emotions are number one in romance. I took notes. If it were possible, I'd have packed those ladies up and brought them home.
Don't wait until the novel is finished to consider the reader. Start with the first word. Companies selling products know the importance of studying the target market. Millions of dollars are spent test marketing. Usually they're right, all except for maybe that New Coke thing.
As far as I know, neither writers nor publishers test market a manuscript to see if it will sell, but they do study what has sold, hence you see plenty of books with the same theme or style...what's hot at the moment. But I wish there was a way to test market an unpublished book, or even a proposal. Yes, we spend plenty of time trying to find a professional editor or another writer to read our work, but they have so many filters, they can't see what the ordinary reader does.
How does one find the target audience and get a sampling of that audience to read the manuscript or a portion of it. What questions would I ask besides the all important one of "Would you buy this book?" Even if I could do that, how could I make sure they would be unbiased since they'd have to be paid? But if I had a test market, a sample of the entire avid readers in the country, could I avoid the time and effort of writing and polishing a losing proposition?
Regardless, the target audience will be an important consideration...no, the top consideration...as I build my sales platform. Which brings me to the reason behind test marketing. How do you make your book better than the other ones out there? How do you beat the competition?
What is the competition in today's Christian fiction market? That's the subject of next week's blog.
What's your idea of the average Christian fiction reader?
Saturday, March 2, 2013
The Power of Faith in Selling a Book
Before you can sell your book you have to be sold on it. How strongly do you believe in your novel? When I asked myself that question, I braced for doubts. Why would I believe my book is good enough to sell? Anytime you invite doubts--they come. I could imagine an agent clicking the delete key before she'd finished the first paragraph. I could already see the eyes of an editor glaze over with pity as I pitched my book at a conference. Or if I self-publish, I visualized the review that went something like, "Why would this woman think she could write? I demand she refund the money I paid for her stupid book."
Then I recalled a reading group I met at a Romantic Times convention, (more about them in next week's blog) and I know those ladies would love my novel. They would swoon over the hero. They'd identify with the heroine. They'd wait for the next twist and turn of the plot with bated breath. They'd stay up late at night reading. Perhaps I exaggerate, but they would like this story enough to buy it. They are my target audience, and all I have to do is reach them.
Ah, that is the problem with marketing, you see. Everyone has an audience, be it large or small. The problem I have is my readers don't know me from Adam's housecat. (BTW, how does anyone know that Adam had a housecat?)
Henry Ford had the same problem. Yes, at one point in time, no one knew the great Henry Ford from Adam's housecat. Not only that, but the guys who monopolized the car industry didn't want anyone to know him. But Henry knew his car was as good as anyone's, and he could sell it a lot cheaper than those greedy men who held the monopoly. Knowing he had to convince people his car was better, he set up a publicity stunt...a race with one of the power cars. He had to believe in his car because if he lost, who'd want to buy his car at any cost? He was sticking his neck out.
The rest is history. He won the race, got his publicity, built his assembly line, changed the auto industry. That's what faith can do.
Instead of a publicity stunt, I think I'll go at it bit by bit. I'll make contacts with these people who don't know me from Adam's housecat as the opportunity arises, even those who don't want to know me. Believing that God will bring me the opportunities, I'll watch for them, and convince people I can write, and that they'll want to read what I write. I'll learn the techniques of book marketing, even the silly ones, looking for ways to find my target audience and expand it. God will open the doors only when He's ready and I'm ready, so I'll prepare for that time, and have the nerve to stick my neck out, get out of the comfort zone, look like a fool.
Next week...finding your target audience.
What are the best ways to build your reputation in the publishing industry?
I know some have had trouble entering comments, but I really need your input. If you have problems, email me at ehmanders@cox.net. My wordpress blog is http://elainemanders.com
Then I recalled a reading group I met at a Romantic Times convention, (more about them in next week's blog) and I know those ladies would love my novel. They would swoon over the hero. They'd identify with the heroine. They'd wait for the next twist and turn of the plot with bated breath. They'd stay up late at night reading. Perhaps I exaggerate, but they would like this story enough to buy it. They are my target audience, and all I have to do is reach them.
Ah, that is the problem with marketing, you see. Everyone has an audience, be it large or small. The problem I have is my readers don't know me from Adam's housecat. (BTW, how does anyone know that Adam had a housecat?)
Henry Ford had the same problem. Yes, at one point in time, no one knew the great Henry Ford from Adam's housecat. Not only that, but the guys who monopolized the car industry didn't want anyone to know him. But Henry knew his car was as good as anyone's, and he could sell it a lot cheaper than those greedy men who held the monopoly. Knowing he had to convince people his car was better, he set up a publicity stunt...a race with one of the power cars. He had to believe in his car because if he lost, who'd want to buy his car at any cost? He was sticking his neck out.
The rest is history. He won the race, got his publicity, built his assembly line, changed the auto industry. That's what faith can do.
Instead of a publicity stunt, I think I'll go at it bit by bit. I'll make contacts with these people who don't know me from Adam's housecat as the opportunity arises, even those who don't want to know me. Believing that God will bring me the opportunities, I'll watch for them, and convince people I can write, and that they'll want to read what I write. I'll learn the techniques of book marketing, even the silly ones, looking for ways to find my target audience and expand it. God will open the doors only when He's ready and I'm ready, so I'll prepare for that time, and have the nerve to stick my neck out, get out of the comfort zone, look like a fool.
Next week...finding your target audience.
What are the best ways to build your reputation in the publishing industry?
I know some have had trouble entering comments, but I really need your input. If you have problems, email me at ehmanders@cox.net. My wordpress blog is http://elainemanders.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)