Publicity Neepery Part Three: Prepublication.
(yesterday’s neep about technical terms is right here.)
For a long time after an author signs a book contract, she might hear very little from the publisher about the publicity plan. That is because the publicity team is focusing on other books ahead of her book on the schedule and not because they aren’t interested in her book. They are very calendar oriented. They also work very, very hard. My publicist called me at 6:00pm yesterday and when I commented that she was working awfully late, she laughed and said she worked at least that late every night.
Depending on how the publishing house does things, the author might get an overview of the publishing plan right when she signs the contract, and she might get an idea of what the publicity team plans to do six months or more before the book comes out (if you have experiences with this you're willing to share, please add a comment!). These plans can change, sometimes at short notice, as the publisher assesses and re-assesses; the author should try her hardest to remain flexible. The author might fill out a questionnaire for the publicity team about her book, her press contacts, her ability to talk in front of a group of people, and so on. About two months before the book comes out the book gets “on the grid,” as a friend of mine puts it, and things start to happen.
Caveat! This is where my experience becomes less typical.
My book, The Magic Thief, is two months from publication. It is what’s known as a lead title, which means it gets a certain kind of push--or publicity effort—from the publisher. I’m very lucky to be in a situation where my book is being pushed hard.
I suspect most lead titles are pre-determined because of the book or author’s standing. If you look at the lead titles from HarperCollins this spring, in addition to mine you’ve got the next title in the insanely popular Warriors series (my son is sitting next to me reading a Warriors book as I write this), the fourth book in the successful Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage, the sequel to Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely, Jenna Bush’s latest, the sequel to Anna Godberson’s The Luxe, and so on.
(An aside: I have a theory about how my book got to be a lead title, which I will explain some other time. It wasn’t one, originally. It’s partly about luck.)
So anyway, at this point, two months before publication, for any book the purpose of the publicity effort is to generate pre-publication buzz. Or getting people who are gateways to many readers--teachers, librarians, booksellers--reading the book and talking excitedly about it. It’s also to get people who have access to the author's book’s specific readership aware of the book, which may mean people in her region, or with a special interest, like fishing, or website design, or lighthouse keeping.
This is partly the purpose of a group publicity effort like the Class of 2K8 or ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif)
debut2009--to get books by new authors on the radar of those gateway-to-readers people.
So anyway, how does the publisher generate buzz? In different ways for different kinds of books. As far as I can see, for a lead title they might do a combination of the following at varying times leading up to the book’s publication date. Books that aren’t lead titles might get pushed using some of these things, too:
--Send out ARC’s (advanced review copies) or galleys. The ARC is like a bound paperback, vs a galley, which is often stapled. ARC’s are sent to reviewers, to book buyers, and to potential blurbers (well-known authors who will put their name to a short sentence like, “I couldn’t put it down! And not because of the glue on the cover!”).
--Place ads in online and print industry outlets like Publishers Weekly or Shelf Awareness (but see Barbarienne's comments yesterday about the purpose of print and online advertising).
--Send the author to an industry convention like BEA (Book Expo America) or ALA (American Library Association) to schmooze with booksellers and sign books.
--Put up a microsite (a book site linked to the publisher’s website). My book’s microsite is http://www.magicthief.com. Note that it is geared now toward gateway people; closer to publication it will change into a reader-oriented site with games, wallpaper, contest, etc.
--Make the book part of an early reader program like Harper’s First Look.
--Put info about the book into the seasonal catalogue (this actually happened about six months out).
--Send the author on a pre-publication tour (more about this tomorrow).
--Include the book or information about the book in a white box mailing. Publishers have to pay to do this.
--Probably other things I don’t even know about (if you know more, feel welcome to share that info in the comments).
My assessment of this is that the publicity team is truly expert at finding every possible avenue for getting word out about the book. They do this to generate buzz, which results in lots of pre-orders, which results in a stronger start for the book.
Tomorrow, part four: the prepublication tour, with a special guest who recently completed her own tour.
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sarah_prineas) wrote,
