The Black Dagger Brotherhood_ An Insider's Guide - J. R. Ward [102]
12. Promotion. Once you’re sold to a publishing house and have gone through all of the editorial and production steps that culminate in your book being bound within a cover, you’re going to want to consider the various options for promotion.
I’ve talked to a ton of authors and agents and editors about promotion because, like everyone else, I’m still trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t. And you know what the consensus appears to be? (And this is after convos with hugely successful authors and very powerful publishing houses, mind you.)
No. One. Has. A. Clue.
There seems to be no quantifiable link between any one author-driven promotional activity and book sales. That being said, however, there are things that authors can do to help support what their publisher does for them.
a. Brand yourself, and build your promotions around that brand. Ask yourself what kind of books you write and create a definition. For example, dark erotic paranormals are J. R. Ward, and everything I’ve done for promo has the dark erotic paranormal vibe.
b. Defirutely establish a Web presence. Get a Web site that reflects your brand, and get an e-mail address where readers can reach you and you can respond to them.
c. Consider an interactive forum. Whether it’s a message board for your readers or a Yahoo! Group or a blog (either by yourself or with others), be active and engaging and enthusiastic about your work on the Net.
d. Offer a newsletter. I’m a little behind the boat on this, only just now having developed one, but at least I had my message boards and Yahoo! Group to get word out about my releases and appearances beforehand. For better or worse, the initial two weeks of a single-title release are a make-it-or-break-it time, and the more folks who know you have something new on the shelves, the more likely they are to buy during those critical first fourteen days.
e. Do guest days at other blogs/message boards/Yahoo! Groups. Network with your friends and see who will host you for a day around your release time. Conduct a contest to generate traffic, or talk about an interesting subject concerning either your books or yourself.
f. Signings and conferences. Attend them and be outgoing.
g. Merchandising and promo items. Bookmarks and pens and other giveaways can help keep you in readers’ or booksellers’ minds.
All of the above can certainly help—but all of it is also a time suck. For me, the writing must come first, and I’ve had to take the guilt out of all the other things I could be doing on the promotion front. The bottom line is, you need to write the best book you can . . . then worry about how to promote it. There are a lot of times when I’ve had to make choices about what not to do because I’ve needed to write. It’s hard, though, and I know a lot of authors who struggle with this issue. You have to do well in the marketplace if you’re going to stay published—but there’s a lot that we as authors don’t have control over, and promo sometimes feels as if it is the only thing we can do to increase sales.
And now . . . for the single most important piece of advice I’ve ever been given.
The Golden Rule: Do the best you can for where you are. This deceptively simple concept transformed me, and it was a gift that came at just the right time: If you check out the acknowledgments in my books, you’ll see that I always thank “the incomparable Suzanne Brockmann.” There’s a good goddamn reason for it.
Let me paint a picture. Way back in July of 2006, I went to the RWA National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. At that point, Dark Lover had come out in September of 2005 and, against all odds and expectations, had hit the New York Times extended list three weeks after its release. Which made NO sense on a lot of levels. Then Lover Eternal was released in March 2006 and it did even better, staying on the extended list even longer and selling spectacularly well. Readers