They couldn't be more wrong.
If this happened every time someone wrote a book, everyone would write a book. We could all just buy each others' books and become rich and famous. Where do people get this idea? I blame movies and TV shows which show an idealized version of authors who become instantly famous when their book is released. That is about as realistic as most cop shows on TV.
Authors can, and do, become successful. However, it doesn't happen overnight, and it doesn't happen the way most authors think it does. Many new authors think their publishers and publicists make them successful. The truth is, the author has to do the heavy lifting.
Listed below I have posted actual comments I have received from new authors, along with an explanation of why the publishing industry just doesn't work the way they think it does. Many are marketing requests demanded by authors who have a (false) impression of how publishing and marketing a book works.
I want to become famous as quickly as possible. How can you make that happen?
If fast is what you want you could always become embroiled in a Washington DC sex scandal, like former Congressman Anthony Weiner, or operate a Ponzi scheme and steal billions of dollars worth of money, like Bernie Madoff. The truth is there is no quick path to fame. Nearly every successful author has worked several years to become an overnight success.
I don't have the time or money to market and promote my book. That's why I signed a publishing contract. I'm sorry, then you just aren't going to sell many books. If you have a publicist or are assigned a marketing rep by your publisher, they will assist you with marketing and promoting your book, but they can't do everything for you. If you are a reader, who do you want to talk to, a publicist or the author?
I have a friend who is also an author, and they didn't have to work to promote their books.
If that is what they told you they aren't being completely honest with you. Every author has to work to promote their books. Mary Higgins Clark is currently doing a book signing tour of supermarkets, and I'm willing to bet she has sold more books than your "friend."
My family didn't get to see my TV ads. Can you run them again? First of all, if you have a publisher that will run TV ads for your book, congratulations! Not many authors get that kind of treatment. However, your publisher isn't trying to impress your family. They are trying to sell books. Your friends and family already know about your book. Your publisher is trying to reach the rest of the readers in the country.
My friends tried to buy my book at Barnes & Noble and the store didn't have it. You must do something! It's up to the bookstore if they will carry your book, not your publisher. If the bookstore feels they can sell your book, they will stock it. Demand determines supply, not the other way around. Start working on building demand for your book, and you'll see it stocked in bookstores. Besides, if your "friend" really wants your book that bad, why don't you sell them one of your copies? The real story is the author thinks their friends and family will be more impressed if they walk into a bookstore and see the book on the shelf. However, if that book gets returned because it didn't sell, you won't be impressed with your royalty statement. Build demand and let the market do its job.
Promoting a book is too much work. I'm just going to let the publisher do everything. First, your publisher won't "do everything" so you'll really be in a tight spot. Second, if it were easy, everyone would publish a book. In the words of J.G. Holland "God gives every bird its food, but he doesn't throw it into its nest." Again, I blame movies that glamorize the life of an author. The truth is, it IS a lot of hard work.
I want my book on (fill in the blank) web site. I don't want to tell you why, I just want it there. Your publisher already has distribution agreements in place, but if they feel placing your book on a certain web site will help sell books, they may try to do it. However, if the web site isn't appropriate for the book (example: placing a secular book on a Christian book web site) forget it.
The bottom line is your publisher is concerned with one thing: selling your book to make a profit and stay in business. They aren't in business to stroke anyone's ego or make anyone famous. Fame and fortune are sometimes the by-products of publishing a book, but the publisher is concerned with making a profit, not making you a celebrity. If doing something is a good business decision (i.e. will help the publisher turn a profit, and in turn, pay an author's royalties) then they will do it. If an author simply wants something out of vanity (to become famous or in order to impress their friends and family) and it doesn't make good business sense then your publisher isn't going to be interested.
The purpose of this post is to demystify the publishing industry a bit. Too many people have the idea that publishing a book is the instant road to fame and fortune. It is a job, just like any other, and it does require work. Expecting to sell tons of books just because they are in print is like expecting to lose 100 pounds just because you bought an exercise DVD. You still have to do the work.
5 comments:
Thanks for this post Terry.
It sounds like you have had to deal with many unreasonable authors over the years—I am so sorry.
However, I would like to comment on this most recent blog post with a different point of view.
First, let me say that I am an author who is not looking to become rich or famous by writing; I simply have a message that I think is important that I want to share with as many people as possible. I found the tone of your post condescending and patronizing, hopefully you are not alienating more of your authors than you realize! I signed on with Tate publishing to be part of a team effort. I did not take this on to be scolded by my publisher to do more work.
Underlying your arguments, is this premise that authors who don’t want to work hard marketing are simply looking for easy success. But I would argue that some very reasonable authors are simply looking for a better delegation of responsibility in the team effort. Writing a good book, a successful book, is hard. Marketing and selling a book is not the only hard part—creating and writing the book in principle should be the hardest part. It does not seem unreasonable, then, for an author to desire to focus their time, attention, blood, sweat, and tears, on writing the book, not selling the book. That is exactly why an author seeks a publisher. Otherwise, what value is the publisher really adding? If the publisher says, “No, no, you must also do all the heavy lifting to sell the book,” then why would the author not just self publish? And collect the entire profit, not just a royalty?
Having an author expect the publisher to do the “heavy lifting” when it comes to marketing and selling the book is not unreasonable. It is instead looking for the best value proposition from a team. The author does what he/she does best: write. The publisher does what he/she does best: market and sell. Certainly, an author must cooperate, and do their part. But don’t scold us as authors if we expect the publisher to work hard to sell our books! Tell me if I write a lousy book, but don’t tell me I am a lousy salesman—that was the whole point of trying to find a partner!
Will Tate Publishing be that partner? I hope so.
Thanks Terry. I do appreciate you are trying your best to help us all succeed.
Hi Franz,
First, let me say that the response I have received from this blog post by authors has been overwhelmingly positive. I have received a number of emails from authors, with Tate Publishing and otherwise, who agreed with the points in my post.
I am sorry you feel that I was scolding anyone, or that I was being condescending and patronizing. That was certainly not my intent, nor was that the point of the blog. If you have read the other posts on my blog, you would see where this blog post fits in. My blog posts are concise and to the point, and I am often blunt, but the purpose is merely to convey the information and drive home my points.
There are a couple of common mistakes I see new authors make on a daily basis. The first is giving up too early (I don't think authors should give up at all). The other is unreasonable expectations. This blog post deals with unreasonable expectations. The reason I started writing this blog was to help educate new authors about how the publishing industry really works.
The fact is, ALL publishers expect authors to bring something to the table when it comes to marketing and promoting their book. The large NYC publishers expect their new authors to have a fan base, or platform, from which to launch their book. These authors must hire their own publicists or schedule their own events and media interviews. They don't get opportunities to run radio or TV advertising to promote their books. They must hire someone to build their author web sites, and the list goes on. Yes, writing a good, solid book is a lot of hard work. But, this isn't a blog about writing books. I only deal with the marketing and promotion side of the publishing business.
Self publishing is appropriate for some authors, but for those who are trying to launch a career as an author, and for those who want to be taken seriously, they need a publisher. A publisher provides distribution and opens doors that authors often cannot get on their own. Try to schedule a book signing event at a major chain bookstore if you are a self-published author. It's possible, but so much easier when your book is backed by a publisher, carried by a major distributor, and available for bookstores to order at a discount on a returnable basis.
The fact is, an author's work isn't done when they have finished writing the book. Publishers depend on authors to help promote their books just like author depend on publishers to produce a quality product and distribute it. You don't have to take only my word on this point. I suggest you check out my interview with "Left Behind" co-author Jerry Jenkins elsewhere on this blog. Jerry has sold more than 70 million copies of his books in the "Left Behind" series. In his own words, "Authors are going to do most of the work (to promote their book), and they need to. Publishers count on authors being the Number One salesperson. Nobody knows more about their book and can speak about it with more passion than the author."
Franz, I wish you well on your journey as you work with your marketing representative to seek out the best market and audience for your book. We really do have your best interest at heart. Without the authors, publishers would have no business.
Terry I agree with almost everything you write but I agree with Franz. As a Tate author I knew from day one that I would have to do most of the marketing myself. I have worked at least '8' hours a day on marketing "my book" for months now. Every time I have a question for marketing at Tate I feel as if I am "less than." I did not write my book to become rich and famous. I wrote the book to share a message. I am willing to carry most of the load but I would appreciate more of a team feeling from Tate's Marketing Staff and less of a 'that is ridiculous and you are an idiot...feeling.'
http://www.doreenmcgettigan.com
Hi Doreen,
I appreciate your comments. I'm not sure what experience you had that made you feel the way you do, but I can assure you that in the marketing department in which I work we very much treat the marketing and promotion of a book as a team effort. Usually, when there is a misunderstanding with an author, it's just that...a misunderstanding. Part of the marketing process is ensuring the author has reasonable expectations, and most of the points I raise in this post really deal with unreasonable expectations. We aren't always going to agree with or be able to carry out an author's request, but when we can't there is always a good reason, and it usually has to do with how the publishing industry works as a whole. There is an entire team of people ready and available to assist you, and you can see their photos and names in the staff section of our web site, under Marketing. Most publishers don't provide a marketing representative to assist an author, and if they do, it is for a limited amount of time. You'll always have a marketing representative available to help you. You might be interested to read another publisher's take on marketing, and they are even more blunt than me: http://michaelhyatt.com/four-reasons-why-you-must-take-responsibility-for-your-own-marketing.html The bottom line is the author and the publisher need each other. We can't successfully market a book without you.
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