How to Win Novel-Reading Friends and Influence Publishers
Do you know how many novels are published every year?
Last year’s numbers for Asia, Australia, Europe and the UK don’t appear to be available yet, but figures for the USA were released last week and I believe they show us the global shape of the industry.
According to Bowker, 50071 new fiction titles were published in the USA in 2007, which reflects a 17% increase on 2006 and an almost-100% increase on 2002.
50000, and that’s only the novels published by the industry in the USA.
50000 averages out at 960 per week.
How do you plan to prevent your novel from disappearing under this landslide of novels?
Hang on a sec. Let’s rewind further back than that, and particularly for the as-yet-unpublished novelists among us:
How can you convince a publisher to consider your novel from among the mountain of submissions that precedes this landslide of novels?
Juliet Annan, founding editor of the Penguin imprint Fig Tree, said last year that the number of novels that don’t get published is “enormous”.
She reads ten, already filtered through literary agents, in any given week. “I turn down almost all of them,” she said, adding that she’d taken on only three or four in the previous eight months. “The general quality of novels submitted to publishers has, it is generally agreed, improved, thanks to creative-writing courses. But courses are seen by some in the industry as no more than a cynical way to bring extra revenue to universities. And the problem is that the market is overwhelmed with competent novels.”
Okay. So, given that we all write the best novels we can write, and many of us are writing novels that are at least as good as successfully published novels: what else appears in the equation that enables some authors to get their work noticed?
How can an author stand out from the crowd?
The key to this question is in the focus on the author, rather than the author’s work.
We’ve all heard the ‘Platform’ buzzword. We’re told the first thing industry professionals will ask about an author is, “What’s her platform?”
So what’s it all about? It’s about status, starting position, credibility, and a whole load of other qualities.
It’s about marketing.
We all know that publishing houses can run publicity campaigns for only a small number of their authors, and it’s easy to understand why. Even if we leave aside the availability of resources, can you imagine what the landslide looks like from a publisher’s point of view? The competitive pressure for them to gain the attention of bookshop buyers and influential reviewers must be immense. Under such circumstances, there are only so many authors they can promote.
It’s a fact of life for most of us that if we don’t promote ourselves, we won’t get promoted.
FinePrint’s Colleen Lindsay addressed this point recently on Nathan Bransford’s blog, when he asked for great promotion ideas:
Well, as someone who came out of publishing from the marketing and publicity side, I can tell you only one thing for certain about what kind of publicity works and what kind doesn’t:
EVERY BOOK IS DIFFERENT.
There’s no golden rule. There’s no quick fix. TV ads? Rarely sell books. Newspaper ads? They exist more or less only to placate authors and agents with large egos. Book reviews? Good or bad, they don’t sell books. Book tours? These can be an enormous success (300-500 people at an event with an 80% sell-through) or a an expensive letdown (four people sitting uncomfortably in folding chairs while an author reads from his or her book). I’ve had authors experience both kinds of events on tour – often on the very SAME tour.
You can’t point to one thing and say “This works!” Because inevitably, it will work for only one very specific book.
Social networking? Online viral marketing? Great if your target audience is under the age of 40 and computer savvy. Not so great for a book geared toward retirees in suburbia, however.
Bookmarks? Fine for the authors who can afford them. Know that more than 3/4 of the bookmarks you leave behind at a bookstore event will be immediately tossed out. The same goes or buttons, flyers, brochures, and even t-shirts. Bookstores don’t waste valuable POS counter-space like that for very long.
I’m not saying that there aren’t good tools for promoting and marketing your book. But each book has to be looked at as a totally new project.
Publishers don’t work this way; they don’t have the time or manpower or money to craft the perfect publicity or marketing campaign for every book.
So authors should always go into a new publishing venture with the knowledge that he or she should be prepared to do the bulk of their own marketing and publicity.
The question you should be asking yourself, because you can bet it’s what a publisher will ask your agent when she submits your manuscript to him, is this: what is your marketing plan?
Mine is to get involved in social media.
What is Social Media?
There are various definitions.
Search Engine Watch says it is, “…a category of sites that is based on user participation and user-generated content. They include social networking sites like LinkedIn or Facebook, social bookmarking sites like Del.icio.us, social news sites like Digg or Reddit, and other sites that are centered on user interaction.”
BatchBook says it includes, “forums, message boards, blogs, wikis and podcasts. Social media applications include Google, Facebook and YouTube.”
The people at Bottle PR talk about, “software tools that allow groups to generate content and engage in peer-to-peer conversations and exchange of content.”
And Wikipedia defines it as, “an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio.”
It helps me to think about the big picture, going right back to Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 and all that nerdery, which calls for another fistful of Wikipedia definitions so we can pin it down:
Web 1.0 refers to the state of the World Wide Web before the Web 2.0 craze, and included most websites in the period between 1994 and 2004.
Web 2.0 is the second generation of the World Wide Web, especially the movement away from static webpages to dynamic and shareable content.
Wb 3.0 is a term used to describe the future of the World Wide Web, introduced to hypothesize about a future wave of Internet innovation.
Well, okay. Except that I think the future is already here.
If Web 2.0 was the development of social media tools and their use by tech-savvy early adopters, I see Web 3.0 as the organic and multi-linked networks of interactive communities that are already active and growing rapidly all over the internet, right now.
It isn’t about tools and technology. It’s about people and people.
Here’s a thought-provoking SlideShare presentation from Social Media Evangelist & Online Marketing Pro Marta Kagan.
Why social media?
Social media is about relationships. It’s a global network of fully-engaged and well-informed interest groups. What better community could there be, for novelists whose best possible promotion is word-of-mouth promotion?
Social media is about friendships. For as long as a reader is immersed in a novel, the author’s world lives her mind. Does any other form of entertainment provide such an intimate form of communication? That’s why, as readers, we like to get to know our favourite authors. And that’s why, as authors, we should make friends with our readers.
They’re out there, you know. Hundreds of thousands of them. And they want to be our friends.
When should we get started?
When is the right time to start promoting ourselves? Should we wait until our book is on the shelves? Or when we have a publication date? Or should we start building a base earlier than that?
My instinct is to start earlier, to give my potential readership the opportunity to share my journey towards publication and to grow with me. In fact, I’ve already started.
I often see newly-published or about-to-be-published authors making promotional posts in reader forums all over the internet, and I’ve read residents complaining about these drive-by posts.
I would rather build a firm foundation and establish real relationships, in real time. Building a social media presence won’t happen overnight and I want to be ready to celebrate my publications as part of a community.
It works, you know, and it really is organic.
One month ago I looked at my blogging network, my membership of two writing communities, and my website, and I asked myself: where should I go to start building new relationships and extending my potential readership?
And that’s how I ended up on MySpace.
I can see your cringes from here!
Yes, I know that some of the shoutiest, scrappiest, ugliest webpages on the planet come from MySpace (but that doesn’t mean every MySpace page has to be hideous, does it?) and I know as well as you that MySpace is all about kids.
Well, I thought I knew that. But it turns out I was wrong. MySpace recently launched a global redesign, and look at these stats I found on their press release:
- The MySpace homepage has a higher 18-34 composition than any other portal
- 45% percent of all the users on MySpace are over the age of 35
- 40% percent of all mothers in the US are on MySpace
- 25% of Americans are on MySpace
- MySpace is the most trafficked website in the US
- 12% of all online minutes are spent on MySpace
- 13.6% of all internet users in the world are on MySpace
- With 15 languages available, MySpace is the most translated social network
- MySpace is the place where bands and artists hang out online (over 6 million world wide) to connect with fans and share their music
- On average 300,000 new people sign up to MySpace every day
Okay, so the press release is US-centric and I’m a Brit, but I also discovered that the MySpaceUK group has over 2 million members. Not bad, considering there are only 58 million of us to start with.
You know what MySpace did for indie musicians? My gut feeling is that it’s going to do the same thing for authors.
A friend told me he questioned the integrity of those stats because they don’t mention all the people who’ve migrated to Facebook and left their MySpace accounts up but inactive.
I think he’s probably correct about that trend, but figures from last month show it isn’t a done deal yet. I’d say it makes sense to keep a foot in both camps.
Anyhow, I joined MySpace and ‘friended’ all of my writer friends who have profiles there. Nothing much happened for a few weeks, but I had a neat page and I’d added to my presence on the net.
Then I joined a new group on Shelfari and mentioned my MySpace page in my introduction, and within twenty-four hours I had eleven new friends on there. And these people aren’t writers networking with other writers. They’re readers! They’re genuinely friendly, lovely people, and they read the kind of novels I write, and they want to be my friends.
And I want to be their friend. And that’s how it works.
Where does this magic take place?
There’s a fairly comprehensive, categorised list of social media and networking sites here.
Yes, there are lots of them, and that can be overwhelming. It also raises a danger we need to keep in mind: that we might get sucked into social media too thoroughly and spend more time doing that than we spend writing.
To make this real, we need to be active participants in the communities we choose; to be genuinely interested in the people there; and to recognise that each community is unique. But we also need to manage our time sensibly.
That’s why I’m taking this slowly and letting it build organically.
The newest concept for me is microblogging. I’d heard of Twitter before getting interested in social media, but had no desire to add my exclamations to what I thought of as graffiti on the internet.
When, finally, I took a proper look at it, I discovered its potential for networking. And on the same day, I read professional blogger Darren Rowse talking about Twitter’s younger cousin, Plurk.
I joined both sites and one week later I’m still taking the temperature. With its timeline and threaded conversations, Plurk feels organic, user-friendly, and more welcoming than Twitter.
As far as target audience is concerned, I think both microblogging sites want everyone to come in and play. It’s what we each do with it that will form our individual experiences.
They’re certainly popular, and both growing fast. This graph from compete.com shows their respective membership numbers.
Here are the places I frequent at present. You’re welcome to add me everywhere.
This Plurk link is an invitation that will take you to my profile. If you join from there, it will automatically link you to me and we can start networking right away.
Let’s network and start making lots of new friends.
Edit: I gave Twitter a month or so, but it never hooked me. Plurk, on the other hand, became even more comfortable and is now my main networking place.
JimBob51 said,
July 14, 2008 at 10:22 am
It is great work – the thing that is changing quickly from my perspective is that if you do not be pro-active interactive then no amount of media is going to work. It is important to understand effort in is the only way to get results out. Most importantly it can be good fun while you are playing. The etiquette of Social Networking is changing. There is no room for sophisticated spammers. They are slowly being weeded out as “Snake Oil” merchants
David Bridger said,
July 14, 2008 at 10:28 am
Thank you, Jim! I agree with you completely. Can’t say goodbye to the snake oil guys quickly enough.
Rebecca Laffar-Smith said,
July 14, 2008 at 11:29 am
Great info, David! It’s true that authors are having to launch their own platforms and getting involved with their readers and potential readers is a great way to do that. That’s not to say Social Media is the only step we should take. I think it’s wise to have eggs in every basket.
As you mentioned, time becomes an issue and it’s important to find a balance that enables you to maximize the efficiency in every moment.
Thanks for the share.
David Bridger said,
July 14, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Thank you, Rebecca!
You’re right about baskets and eggs. I’m showing this one around excitedly because the whole concept of Social Media looks so daunting from the outside, but once we take the plunge it’s organic and wonderful!
Ana said,
July 14, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Great article. I think I’ll give facebook another twirl, the first time I tried it , things didn’t go so well. I also gave hi5 another go a few days ago and just deleted my account, after remembering why I’d quit it in the first place: the interface is annoying and the whole thing ends up being pretty pointless and time consuming.
David Bridger said,
July 14, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Thanks, Ana.
Ah. That’s the first time I’ve heard of hi5. Sounds like something worth a bodyswerve.
the Wandering Author said,
July 14, 2008 at 11:48 pm
I have to say that, while I agree with you in part, I think you’re missing a few points. I write, and I also work on the fringes of social media. I read up on trends in social media, and think about those issues from several perspectives.
First of all, your general premise is absolutely right. The single best marketing tool for new authors is social media. But, there are a lot of factors that should go into planning your campaign. Size of the community is not the only issue. MySpace did a lot for indie musicians – because indie musicians are well positioned to appeal to the kids who made up the bulk of MySpace users at that time.
Yes, you’ll gain a few friends on any of these sites, since people are complex and don’t live stereotyped lives. But you will build the largest, most active following by selecting a few communities that may be smaller, but focus more tightly on the type of members most likely to make up your readers. Those people can tell their friends, whether it be in person, over the phone, or on Facebook, all about your latest, greatest book. By choosing carefully selected communities, you gain several things. First, you get access to the most likely possible readers for your work. Second, these will often be the most active enthusiasts for your work, and the most vocal in spreading your influence further. Say, instead, you meet a businessperson on LinkedIn who happens to like your work. If it isn’t common reading fare for the LinkedIn crowd, there is more chance they will read your book themselves but say nothing of it to their acquaintances, who don’t – after all – share their tastes.
Finally, of course, you save yourself time. It takes time to maintain a presence in any community. The largest ones are those most likely to feature spammers, and even ordinary users, just out to build their “friend” profiles any old way. So you will spend more of your time on meaningless “relationships” with people who will add anyone to their friends list. Instead, you might better spend your time on a smaller site building stronger relationships with people who, as I said above, are more likely to actively spread the word about you. Yes, there are a few authors who might gain from joining the big, obvious sites. But most will gain far more by looking over all the hundreds (or perhaps even thousands by now) of possible communities, and choosing one that will work for them (taking long term viability into account, of course).
Exactly how you choose the communities will depend on the nature of your work. Say you have a strong interest in a specific subject beyond reading and writing, and that subject makes frequent appearances in your work. (It could be music, or horses, or technology – whatever.) Then look for communities that focus on that subject – their members are some of your most likely core readers. If your work isn’t that clearly defined, you’ll need to be more creative in targeting communities that meet your needs. One resource to ignore when choosing a community: official statements by that community offering profiles and statistics. There is a good chance those books are cooked. A huge number of “users” claimed by nearly any site are people who once signed up for an account to look things over, decided they didn’t like what they saw, and left, never bothering to come back even long enough to delete their account.
valerie said,
July 14, 2008 at 11:54 pm
So, David, I’ll post a link over on my blog and see if anyone *body-swerves* over from there to here. Sounds very thorough.
David Bridger said,
July 15, 2008 at 12:04 am
Thank you for sharing your experience, Wandering Author. I’m grateful for your insights.
I think we’re on the same wavelength about MySpace and the indie musicians. I don’t have any evidence, just a gut feeling that the site is going to do the same thing for authors who get involved.
David Bridger said,
July 15, 2008 at 12:05 am
Thank you, Valerie. I’ll add you to the blogroll here, too.
it’s about time» Blog Archive » links for 2008-07-15 said,
July 15, 2008 at 1:32 am
[...] How to Win Novel-Reading Friends and Influence Publishers « How To Get Your Novel Published How do you plan to prevent your novel from disappearing under this landslide of novels? (tags: novel publisher author howto) [...]
Alex Fayle said,
July 15, 2008 at 5:44 am
My thoughts on all this social media stuff is: when do I have time for it? Just following and commenting on blogs takes up 2 hours a day…
David Bridger said,
July 15, 2008 at 7:40 am
I know, Alex. Time management is the most difficult aspect of this, I think.
j3black said,
July 22, 2008 at 3:45 am
Yes, I think the comparison to indie musicians is very interesting. I’ve been curious for a long time now why a bands producing and selling their own CDs is respectable, but when authors publish and/or promote their own work they’re dismissed for doing vanity projects.
My favorite point you make is that Web 3.0 will bring us back to a focus on people. Technology is useful, but it’s never been about the connections; it’s about who we get to connect with.
Great work. Thanks for all the info. Some year, very soon, I’m going to be Number 50072!
James Black
David Bridger said,
July 22, 2008 at 8:32 am
Thank you, James.
Musicians producing and selling their own material are only respectable when they’re good, mind you! There’s a lot of musical dross out there.
That’s why I made the MySpace comparison with regard to promotion, rather than publishing. I don’t think we’ll see the literary world changing its mind about the respectability of self-published fiction very soon, and I understand why. So long as anyone can print anything they write easily, and relatively cheaply, it’s inevitable that we will continue to see lots of dross being printed. But that’s not the same thing as being published.
Here’s to the year when you will be Number 50072!
(Net)Working It | Working Title said,
August 7, 2008 at 6:49 am
[...] while ago David Bridger wrote in his blog about using social networking to help yourself stand out and since then I have been thinking about it more and more.((I meant to write about this before, [...]