Publicising Self-published Books
The other day a radio producer complimented me on a book I was publicising. I agreed; it's a great book on a fascinating subject. She then asked who the publisher was. I realised she was presuming it was a big release by a major publishing house. And it had the kind of cover and content that might lead you to think that. I told her the author had published it himself and then gave her the unique name of his publishing company. She was a bit quiet. I then told her that most of my book publicity clients were self-published non-fiction authors. And then I told her why I love it, "They're usually completely independent people, running their own businesses doing something they love and they have strong opinions." It's true...and what more could a publicist ask for! She then asked if the book had been knocked back by a major publishing house. This author has two other books, one published by a multinational. I told her it was very unlikely he had even offered this one to them. He can write it, have it edited, pay for it to be printed; print a few or print a lot, pay a distributor and engage his own publicist; who will give it heart and soul. He feels absolutely in control. It's an old world view that a self-published author has any less authority and credibility than one signed to a publishing house. I run into it all the time. Is it time to run a media campaign about it?
Labels: author publicity, book publicity, books, publicity, Self-published non fiction
posted by KatieMac Publicity at
1:17 PM
7 Comments:
Katie, I found your blog very interesting, but as a publisher, I must add that publishers can and do add value. At Major Street I have worked with several self-published authors who found it all just too hard. It can be a distraction from their main business and they feel uncomfortable in the publishing world (which can be kind of quirky - the whole 'sale or return' system, for example). A good publisher will guide and add value without making authors think they have lost control or that their input is not valued. Finally, a publisher will take/share the financial risk which can be quite an attractive proposition.
Katie, great blog post for your first - well done. I self published and marketed my book, Connection Generation and was more than ably supported by one of the best PR people in the land :)
My view is that it comes down to purpose. If the traditional publisher works for you and your brand, go for it. If - like I did - treat my book as my "baby", then I took the responsibility of how it would be launched and managed to the world.
I'm looking forward to subsequent posts.
Cheers, Iggy
How very true. I must admit that when I was getting my book to the printing stage, I didn't even contemplate a 'publicist' The Marysville Cookbook was only meant to be a self-published gift to the people of Marysville. But it's popularity and demand meant that a second run was organised, with funds going back to the township of Marysville.
Even now the book is mildly successful (in my eyes) for something that was only a 300qty print!
Good post, so true. I would prefer to go with a publisher for the reasons Lesley describes. However I self-published a book on a fairly controversial topic 10 years ago because the publisher I was working with could not get it out on the market for 12-18 months. I saw the book as a market opportunity at the time due to various issues being discussed in the media, and thought that if I waited that long someone else would beat me to it. It's wrong to assume that all such books are self-published because a real publisher wouldn't touch it.
Looks to me, who knows nothing about book publishing, that the times they are a changing in this field as they have been in other media. Surely there is room for both with and without the traditional publisher? I think we will see big changes as/when a self published author has a best seller with sales driven by viral word of mouth publicity. All it needs is for that to happen along with the sales of electronic books booming as they are and we will find ourselves at the beginning of a major change in this area. Fascinating times!
I think the major changes are already happening! To take it a step further, it wouldn't surprise me to see major releases in the near future not being published or distributed as physical books at all, but rather going straight to audio or e-book. You can self publish, and distribute, and market your book for almost no outlay, if you know how to tap into social media and can build an audience.
Welcome all of you to my first blog and thanks for joining in! Jimmy and Tom my thoughts too! The times are a changin' in front of our eyes. Iggy Pintado did a traditional media campaign (which I did) and a social media campaign for his book Connection Generation. Lesley, I agree there is still a role for publishers and a specialist small publisher is great for the kind of authors I am talking about. Heather - it sounds like you both seized the day! Susan has seen both ends of the business and made the big choice to go it alone for one of hers.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home