Getting Published for Fiction Writers

Welcome back everyone! Today we are going to discuss the Marketing, Promotion, and Advertising departments of a publishing house.

Marketing, Promotion, and Advertising

This department is responsible for any promotions that the house pays for, i.e., the advertising in various media as well as the creation of sales materials. They are responsible for marketing strategy and coordinate efforts with the promotion art department. They identify the strong audiences for individual titles. These responsibilities require them to work very closely with the sales department and the advertising department to assist in creating ads for individual or list titles.

The main objective of the Marketing Department is to get the books in front of the consumer. To do this, they are involved in the support of the book sales department in getting the books into distribution channels (like bookstores) and, ultimately, in front of the customer. Since advertising is also crucial in getting the book to the consumer, Marketing works alongside the Advertising department.

The Publicity Department is distinct, in that the main purpose of this department is to get the book in front of the media (print, radio, television) in order to get it in front of the consumer. This department also works at setting up book tours and signings. This department will have a publicist who will develop a press kit (press release, bio, and any supporting materials such as an author Q & A) and photo. Sometimes this department will also provide electronic media blast emails to reach out to editors and producers to gain their interest in the book.

So what does this all mean to the self-published author who has to do all the marketing, promotion, and advertising themselves? Well, I can tell you what it doesn’t mean; it doesn’t mean it’s impossible. It means a lot of work, yes, but very doable. Take notes from the big guys and tailor it down to your size and budget.

First, you have to understand what book marketing is.

In general, your main objective is to get your book in front of bookstore buyers and book distributors, libraries, gift shops, and any other channel, making sure your book is available and on display to the consumer public.

Here are a few things you can do:

* Determine the potential audience/reader for the book

*  Determine the size of the market for the book

*  Determine the best strategy to reach the consumer audience of interest

Once you have completed the above, next you move on to creating your marketing plan.

You want to create any sales tools for your book, such as a small poster, table cards, bookmarks, book cover cards, etc. and use these to present the book to booksellers, wholesale distributors, gift stores, libraries, and so on. Don’t forget your industry trade shows and regional independent booksellerorganizations.

Online ads are becoming more common, and are a channel that you must use. Outreach to bloggers for a blog tour, an interview, or a guest post.

Find your audience, get to know them, make friends with them, and they will reward you with their loyalty. There’s no better promotional tool than a happy reader.

It’s a road full of potholes, but the road is passable. This is something you have to do. Learn to love it. It never stops. I’m still marketing The Consequential Element each and every day. I’ve just finished my second novel, Mists of Bayou Rhyne which is now with an agent and in the revision process, and I’m about a third of the way through my third novel, Where Demons Hide – a psychological thriller. I’ve already begun the marketing development for those books. All three are different genres, so I have to research three different audiences. Talk about work! But hey, finding your niche is half the battle.

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Until next time, I wish you much success in all that you do.

Dee

Dee Ann Waite was born in Fall River, Massachusetts and grew up in a small town named Somerset; a town she relates to Stephen King's Derry, Maine. A town where the people are pleasant, the landscape well maintained, and dark secrets are kept. She currently resides along the central east coast of Florida. She released her debut novel THE CONSEQUENTIAL ELEMENT in 2013, and has recently completed her second novel MISTS OF BAYOU RHYNE which is currently being considered for agenting by the Corvisiero Literary Agency.