About all that self-promotion

[I. J. Parker]

So you are back from Bouchercon, having gone there to work and promote and spend a good deal of money. I don't think my two Bouchercon visits generated more than a handful of sales. The second time, I had at least a good time. Chicago.

The man who has promoted himself more than any other living crime author, J.A.Konrath, has been dropped by his publisher. I was shocked and sad to see it. It seems like such a cruel thing to do to an author who tried so hard to help his publisher. Joe plans to get back at them by making his money in the future via electronic publishing. I hear this reaction over and over again: traditional publishing will not last. They have dug their own grave. Authors are flocking to new publishing models.

But however you look at this sad news, it means that I don't have to blame myself for not being J.A.Konrath, for refusing outright to do all those miserable book tours, signings, telephone meetings with book clubs, expensive mailings of freebies, etc. And conventions. None of that saves an author from being dropped by the publisher. Presumably because none of it generates the sort of numbers they like to see.

Consensus among comments to Joe's announcement was that success in traditional publishing is a matter of luck. It takes that one person who can change the picture to read the book and decide to support the author. And that doesn't happen very often.

[Jon Loomis]

I did kind of pick on that nice lady from Nashville about naming her female cop "Taylor." "What's wrong with Candy?" I said. Shut up, Loomis.

[Dana King]

I've traded blog comments with JT Ellison for well over a year. I doubt she was offended. Based on her response, I think she took it as a conversation starter.

[EDWARD C MORGAN]

JT Ellison is a nice lady. I caught a panel of hers at the Southern Festival of Books a week or so ago.

[Jon Loomis]

I hope you're right, Dana.

[I. J. Parker]

I have a big problem with masculine names for female cops or P.I.s. It always sounds like penis envy to me.

[EDWARD C MORGAN]

Haha!

[Daniel Hatadi]

"Shut up, Loomis."

Is that what the voice in your head always says? ;)

[Jon Loomis]

Unfortunately, no.

[Daniel Hatadi]

Not to worry, it makes for more fun this way. :)

[EDWARD C MORGAN]

I am curious about a couple things and some of my questions/thoughts are posted under the other string starting up.

First, of authors being cancelled, and I hated to see Ingrid lose her publisher, how many of these dropped authors are recessionary?

The reason I ask - and I'm going to go out on a limb here - IF a publisher is akin to a product line with, say a car manufacturer, then a hard recession can take that sales of a product line and drive them from acceptable to well below acceptable. Then the company must make a decision to drop, alter or sell off a product line. Mercenary when it comes to people in creative pursuits, and unfortunately, that is what happens when you mix creative (writing the book) with business (publishing and selling the book).

The e-editions allow authors to take matters into their own hands with a fairly minimal investment of actual cash.

Concerns:
Sales - I've seen only a couple of authors who are not "name" authors whose sales figures are impressive. How will an author drive sales to a level that generates an "acceptable" income? Doesn't this come back to self promotion?
Junk - As self-publishing of e-editions becomes more and more prominent, how do you make certain (assuming you aren't a fairly well-known name author) your book rises above what is surely to be an influx of crappy books that will flood the market? Doesn't this come back to the need for self promotion?
What if - Publishers exercise muscle and demand the e-rights to your already published e-books in exchange for print contracts? What if they muscle into - and take control - of the market, taking you back to paying royalties on e-editions? If they are notorious for not promoting, doesn't that drive you back to the need for self-promotion?
Self-publishing - Is there a self-publishing mix that might allow an author to offer a print or e-edition?

My own experience is limited to newspapers. We had quite a scary drop in revenue and in sales the last couple of years, but that trend is reversing, and now two economists, not with the industry, are stating that the drop in ad revenue is due far more to recessionary and cyclical issues than to the internet.

I would argue we have not lost readers. They have merely shifted from print to online. I think it is important to note that if newspapers calculate in their online readership, then readership sustains. Getting them to pay for it is a different story.

At the two newspapers I publish, we just finished our circulation audit. One paper had an increase in paid, print circulation of 38. Yes, 38 subscribers. The other actually increased 10 percent. However, our web sites' unique visitors tend to outnumber print subscribers by about 25-30%. Interestingly enough, our fastest growing category of circulation revenue is - electronic editions of the papers.

I think the fact that people are willing to buy and read an electronic edition of the paper speaks well for the future of e-publishing...in terms of the public's willingness to buy and read electronic documents.

But doesn't it come back to something simple - the hometown newspaper is familiar, comfortable, trusted. Therefore, there is no "junk" to sort through before deciding to buy an e-edition...we have 90 years of history behind us to prove we're legit.

I'd not hesitate to buy one of Ingrid's Akitada books as an e-edition. But then again, I know her through here and have read her books. It's familiar, comfortable, trusted.

But achieveing those three words may be more difficult. And require that pesky self-promotion thing. Or am I off base?

[I. J. Parker]

Thanks, Clay. You always manage to make me feel better.

As for some of the points you raise above:

I have no idea how big an impact the recession had on my sales. Publishers generally decide on non-renewal based on pre-orders. In my case, the publisher had to make another print run at release time (which meant there were more orders than they expected). My sales numbers have climbed slowly. Would they have climbed more quickly if there hadn't been a recession? Probably.

As for print contract negotions: the author can refuse to sell the e-rights. It depends on how badly he wants the print contract.

For me, going to electronic format is fairly easy because I already have a following and Amazon sales pages with reviews etc. That is where Amazon comes in as a big help.

Almost all the big sellers had a lucky break. That is if you don't take into account the fact that they produce books tailormade for the buying public. It is possible to get sales by catering to those interests. Of course, you don't get much respect that way. It's a question of priorities.

[Jon Loomis]

In my case, the publisher had to make another print run at release time (which meant there were more orders than they expected).

They did a second print run of the last book and they still dropped you? Holy crap. What was the rationale?

That is if you don't take into account the fact that they produce books tailormade for the buying public. It is possible to get sales by catering to those interests. Of course, you don't get much respect that way. It's a question of priorities.

I think it's possible to write well and still be commercially successful on a large scale; tapping the zeitgeist doesn't have to mean you can't write a decent sentence. They're two distinct talents, though, and hardly anyone possesses both.