There are two false assumptons even mildly seasoned authors make. It's important that nothing is assumed in publishing. The industry is changing rapidly, though not rapidly enough for some. For house to house, things can vary greatly.
1 ~ Authors tend to believe the marketing a publishing house does is enough. This is FALSE! No one and no amount of money can make up for author participation. There is a new movement afoot. More and more publishers are requiring authors to submit their books and a marketing plan. Why, you may ask? One, it helps to them to determine if the author has a working knowledge of the industry. Two, there's a less likely chance of losing an investment when the author is thorough enough to have a workable marketing plan.
2 ~ Authors believe that being with a well established name guarantees them higher royalties/advances. While the latter is sometimes true, the first is not. Independent houses are known to be more generous with their royalty rates. They are also more likely to reward a faithful author who is consistently making money for them.
Don't make assumptions. Ask questions.
Montario Hampton, President
Provided care of Still Waves Publishing Company
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2 comments:
Well, there's a corollary here:
No amount of author marketing can replace the money and expertise a publishing house uses to get a book on store shelves.
Regards,
Scott
Great post - I just happened to stop by to see if you had a website up and found you through Living Waters blog. I think the posting should be it is never enough for one or the other to do all the leg work. The authors need the money and expertise of the publishers to get themselves in the stores but the publisher needs the author to get out and the promote themselves and their books like crazy. Actually on one of the forums I belong to, this is what we are doing - trying to establish some great blog book tours and get the authors out there.
I think promotion is definitely a two-way street and that an author needs to be involved as much as possible in the marketing plan. If the author has a weak plan, then the book will not be of benefit for the publisher nor the author. If the author is willing to put in some time and do some "free or low cost" promotional things, then the success rate goes up.
My stories aren't even published yet and I have already established a blog for them to really get myself out there - I want everyone to know that I do have something coming out and so far, everyone I've talked to or told that my series is coming have been thrilled - everyone feels that there needs to be a series out there for what I'm doing.
I've been mulling around this idea for over two years and now I'm going to finally see it come to fruition, and you better believe I'm going to market it every way I can. By the time my series starts coming out, I should have presales way up there - because I know a lot of teachers and everyone of them agree that this is needed and desired and will be used even if only to supplement (put the books in the classes to read outside of the regular curriculum because they are not standard ready (would take years to get them to follow all the standards and be acceptable for educational purposes)) - I want to do my part and will do my part as long as I can get the stories written (not a problem yet) - lol.
So yes, it is both the author and the publisher who have to work together on the marketing plan in order to have a successful book and more to come - E :)
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