Tis the season for evaluating the year gone by! Over the next few weeks youll see plenty of articles summing up the successes and failures in industries all across the board: television, movies, automobiles, retail. Its no different for the publishing industry. Already the New York Times has run an article examining publishings good, bad and ugly decisions of 2005. There are many tidbits here and there in Publishers Weekly as well. While the overall message can seem daunting for an aspiring author (sales down, even some celebrity books didnt do well), there are a few choice nuggets you can pluck from the dust and use to energize your publishing process for 2006.
Beware of Mixed Messages
Yes, sales are down. Both the Association of American Publishers and the American Booksellers Association reported a drop of 2 percent in adult hardcover and overall bookstore sales. This continues a trend thats a few years old. However, the USAs major bookstore chains (Barnes & Noble, Borders and Books-A-Million) are planning to open about 80 new stores in 2006, ten more than this year. And were talking HUGE stores, with the B&N ones topping out at nearly 30,000 sq. ft.!
Obviously, somebody is making enough money to justify these openings. Granted, such stores do sell more than books these days. Music, DVDs and expensive cups of java figure prominently in the sales ledgers. But I dont see Books-A-Million changing their name to Cups-A-Million! Bottom line: as long as the big guys think its profitable to be in the book business, it can be profitable for you to be in the book business.
When Celebrities Fail
It seems like Martha Stewart had a banner year, doesnt it? She got out of prison, launched a couple of TV shows, made a spectacular return to the cover of her magazine and she wrote a book, The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success as You Start, Build, or Manage a Business. Despite her huge successes elsewhere, though, things didnt turn out so well for that book. The New York Times reports that after Rodale Books signed Ms. Stewart to a $2 million contract and planned a printing of 500,000, the book has sold just 37,000 copies since its October release.
I asked around about this and one editor wondered whether Ms. Stewart had crossed a line into overexposure land. But lets be clear about this and get the lesson right: this isnt just about seeing Martha Stewart everywhere and being too tired of her to want to read about her in a book. This is about whether Ms. Stewart had anything left to tell us that we dont feel we already know.
Understanding this nuance is important because in this time where having a platform is the it thing, you have to be quite savvy in how you put yourself out there. If you give away all your tips, secrets, strategies, life story, connections, etc., each and every time youre in front of people, you wont have anything left for them to look for in a book! Of course this only pertains to non-fiction authors and only for certain subjects. Im sure Ms. Stewarts audience, for example, will never tire of getting new recipes and new household tips from her!
Classic Winning Move: Speaking Truth From the Heart
Im a fiction writer, so it pains me to say it, but right now in the publishing industry non-fiction is king. And the stuff that people want to read includes thoughtful, heartfelt stories and essays from noted voices such as Joan Didion (The Year of Magical Thinking), Jimmy Carter (Our Endangered Values) and go to this web-site Kurt Vonnegut (A Man Without a Country). The lesson here is a simple one: be true to yourself, write what you feel and at some point your audience will find you.
I know that can be hard to believe when it seems you cant get anyone to read a query letter let alone a manuscript, but this is an industry that rewards persistence. There are many ways to get your story out there and in a few weeks youll have a whole new year in which to find the one thats right for you. The choice is yours. Good luck.
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Online Marketing: How To Make The Web Work For You
Internet marketing is a vital skill for the online businessman or woman. It has evolved rapidly as the internet has grown and now it is a great deal different from more traditional forms of marketing or advertising. Read on to learn about some of internet marketing's unique properties and how they can be capitalized on.
To learn more techniques, you should pretend to be a customer and see what other sellers and marketers are doing in the niche you are interested in. Subscribe to other email lists, and analyze what attracts you and what makes you not want to buy the product. Adapt these techniques to your product.
Make sure that you avoid gaudy colors on your website. The more vibrant your website is the less professional it looks. The more it will take away from your customer's attention of what you can offer to them. Stick with conservative colors to keep your reader's attention and maintain your integrity and credibility.
If you are interested in marketing your small business on the internet, it is important to first think about the purpose of your website. You want to increase business, but you need to figure out how you are going to accomplish that. Pick one goal and work from there, making sure to create a system to help you measure your goals.
Make the ordering process clear and simple. Include pop-up text in case anyone needs to know where to find the card validation number or wonders whether P.O. Boxes are allowed for delivery. Offering drop-down boxes for card expiration dates or state of residence helps ensure correct entries. Be sure that the final page gives an order number for reference, and follow-up with an automatic email to confirm the order.
If anything, these tips should help you to simplify the marketing process a little bit. It's still not going to be a piece of cake, but nothing worth doing ever is. Apply these tips correctly, focus on what you're doing, and you will watch happily as your business begins to grow and profit.
