Re: obviously not

On Jun 28, 2011, at 6:00 AM, [email protected] wrote:

> Obviously not. It _used_ to be for "the ebook community," which  
> seemed to include people like me who buy and read books, but now it  
> appears to be so focussed on people who produce and sell them that I  
> usually restrain myself from commenting.
>
>> But are there, have there been, discussions about how to market e- 
>> books here. i.e. marketing successes by, and shared with, members  
>> of this group?
>
> I would suggest writing good books that people think are worth  
> paying for, selling them at a fair price, and not using DRM. But  
> what would I know? I'm not a marketer, only the market.

I think that readers still have a lot to contribute to discussions by  
publishers -- and I'm an "old hand" from mainstream NYC publishing.

That said, I agree with the OP that this, or any general interest  
group on ebooks, is not a good place to market a particular book. A  
marketing plan should, as I suspect you know, be developed before the  
last draft is written.

Book marketing starts with a very fine-tuned understanding of your  
targeted reader. Who are these people? Why do they look for a book (or  
other media) like yours? What needs are driving them (even if it's  
fiction, there are underlying needs that determine why you think one  
story is better than another, and they vary wildly).

What else are these people doing? Where can you find them in large  
numbers? What other books are they buying? How does yours stack up,  
when it comes to meeting those needs? What do you deliver better than  
the competition? How can you fine tune that (in your last draft)?

In the places (traditional media, new media, traditional clubs and  
groups, or social media) where you can find a large number of your  
target readers, what sort of messages are well received? Are there  
parts of your book that would do well as an excerpt there? Are there  
tastemakers who you could give a comp copy, and maybe ask for a  
review? Could you involve the members of the group in the success of  
your book somehow? Maybe by asking them for advice on the title or  
cover image?

And the list of ideas is literally hundreds of pages long. In fact,  
there are some pretty good books on the subject. Some of them are  
older, and don't do a lot of social media tips, but all of the  
techniques are pretty easily adapted to our new world. And then there  
are the books on using new media and social media to market books.

HTH,


Marion Gropen
Gropen Associates, Inc.
Consulting By-The-Question,  Tools & Classes for Publishers
www.GropenAssoc.com
Her blog: www.GropenAssoc.com/blog



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