Book Advertising. The Hackiest of the Hack.
Copyranter has a rant on book advertising that is a long on anger and short on content, however, it does raise an interesting question. Does traditional advertising sell books? In New York, you see book ads in the subway, and also at the MTA train stations, which makes a lot of sense to me. I don't pay much attention to book ads in newspapers, however, I do know that when a publisher puts in a print ad in USA Today or NYT, it's a Very Big Deal for the author.
I like the idea of a new concept in book advertising, but I'm not sure how to reach readers. I'm a big believer in book teasers at back of books because I like hearing about new titles. If it's interesting, I'll probably take a look.
I don't think a visual ad like a commercial is much use, however, I do think it would be interesting to hear an author read from their work, or maybe read outtakes from their work. Kind of a spoof on the writing process, and might make the book seem more approachable. I've often thought about trying to do a podcast or MP3 of a reading on my site, but time and fear of recording quality kept me from it, however, maybe I will give it a shot....
Opinions on advertising?
I like the idea of a new concept in book advertising, but I'm not sure how to reach readers. I'm a big believer in book teasers at back of books because I like hearing about new titles. If it's interesting, I'll probably take a look.
I don't think a visual ad like a commercial is much use, however, I do think it would be interesting to hear an author read from their work, or maybe read outtakes from their work. Kind of a spoof on the writing process, and might make the book seem more approachable. I've often thought about trying to do a podcast or MP3 of a reading on my site, but time and fear of recording quality kept me from it, however, maybe I will give it a shot....
Opinions on advertising?
posted by Kathleen at 12:14 PM
4 Comments:
Hmm...there's book advertising that's designed to saturate your consciousness so you recognise it even if you don't really know what it's about. I think this probably only works with lots of hype, which reinforces that sense of recognition. I'm thinking of Dan Brown, of course.
In genre fiction, I think book buyers are less likely to be adventurous because they're armed with quite specific expectations. So for those books, I think word of mouth and indirect and targeted advertising (e.g. media "chats" with the author, library readings, interviews on genre newsletters, etc.) work better.
Yes, back of book excerpts are great, as are anthologies and series collaborations by various authors. I love when authors post extra stuff on their sites (that's how I became obsessed with JR Ward's BDB series) but I think that only reaches a certain subset of readers. I'm also a fan of the "bonus short story by new author" in a book, or as freebies in women's magazines.
Of course I don't work in advertising so really, what do I know?
BTW, I'm getting your latest book next week. *g*
Good points about the saturation factor. Something that sticks into the subconscious. There was an article on neuro-marketing in Time this week which was fascinating. People actually get mentally attracted to the concept of a brand.
Thanks for getting the book. I hope you enjoy it! How's the bambino???
Keeping me busy, Kathleen! :-)
Jack's story was great. I particularly love the subverted heroine stereotypes. Hehe.. I read it on the plane. Just as I got to the sexy bits, the cabin lights were turned off so I turned my light on and was so paranoid the guy next to me was reading over my shoulder. *lol* As we were disembarking, I told him, "It's a trashy novel." And, bless him, he grinned and said, "Sounds like a great book, then."
Yay, Kat!
Sorry for the slow response, just got back from the New Jersey Romance Conference.
Thank you for the nice words. I started out with the original idea of a librarian-type, but then I realized that I needed to have a heroine who was stuck in a life that she didn't want (and thus, couldn't be a librarian-type), but didn't know exactly how to get out, and thus Gabriella came into being. I like having the heroine and hero having parallel problems, don't know why.
Thanks again. We turned in the anthology with the devil's daughters a few weeks ago, and I really liked that story, too. That one will be out in June.
Did you buy in Oz? I wasn't sure what the foreign distribution would be from Berkely.
Kathleen
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