Advances - The New Marketing Budget

BB&H is taking a survey:

It's harder to find an author who isn't spending some/all of their advance to supplement their publisher's marketing efforts, than to find one who is.

I'm hearing everything from mid list authors using their entire advances, to bestsellers doubling their publisher's efforts.

What's worked for you? What hasn't? What's the best use of your own money? What was the most ineffective effort? How do you feel about it?

Just use the comment box below or write me at MJRoseAuthor at AOL.com

Comments

[JA Konrath]

Investing in yourself does two major things. First, it compounds your publisher's efforts in getting your name out there, establishing a brand, and selling books. Second, it shows your publisher that you're willing to invest your own time and money into building a career.

I invest between 1/3 and 1/2 of my income on promotion. Most of it goes toward travel. I think conventions are essential in my genre (mystery/thriller). So are the several dozen indie bookstores that specialize in mystery. These should be visited.

I spend a lot of time and money doing online promotion, have an extensive mailing list, and am always running contests on my own dime.

I was fortunate that my publisher sent me on an eight city tour. While they set up 8 events in 11 days, I used the time to sign stock at 97 other stores in the areas they sent me.

Were they impressed? Yes.

The single most important thing an author must do is to make sure their publisher is happy. That means earning out your advance, being gracious and easy to work with, and making an effort promoting and marketing.

It's hard work, and I'd rather spend the money on bills, but at this early stage in the game I have to show my publisher what I can, and will, do in order to succeed.

I know too many mid-list authors who are wondering why their careers are stalled---or finished.
I don't want to be one of them.

[Jozef Imrich]

One of my mates once observed that as soon as Amazon river started ranking people as if they were swimmers on a metaphorical Olympic block, everything in human nature that’s associated with being competitive came out ... sink or swim mentality is all around us and the not that many winners are not always made of filet mignon ... Hans Magnus Enzensberger said it all: 'As far as I can tell, book production is the only business in which a hamburger costs as much as a filet mignon and a portion of French fries as much as truffle pate.'

The Book Standard has a buzzy feature on Mary Roach's career. Everything she touches seems to work for her and somehow Roach manages to creat buzz where it matters the powerful word of mouth way: Anatomy of a Buzz: 'Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife'
http://www.thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/news/author/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001009392

On a lighter note: most English speaking people are aware that the richest surname on the Amazon is Imrich ;-) Even though creating investment odds or getting across the Amazon river has proved deadlier than the Iron Curtain crossing Amazon ;-( Weeding out phony praise http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=57&aid=61022
Incestous, catty, galaxy of book reviewing
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/14/technology/14AMAZ.html
Amazon Epidemic...
http://www.observer.com/pages/covers.asp

The five-star review on Amazon, one of the world's biggest online booksellers, was attributed only to 'a reader from Chicago'.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/news/0,12597,1148620,00.html

[Barry Eisler]

Totally agree, Joe; probably 90% of the value of any self-promotional efforts are found in the chance to better recruit your publisher. I'm going to talk about that on Tuesday, when I'll be guest-blogging here, and I hope you'll weigh in because you are one of the savviest people I've met in the biz.

Jozef and everyone else, Mary Roach's Stiff is a wonderful book. I'm sure the buzz the book got can be attributed to a variety of factors, but surely one of them is Mary's writing. I've never read anything else that I would describe as simultaneously reverent and irreverent, fascinating and laugh-out-loud funny. The book is a joy.

Cheers,

Barry

[Jozef Imrich]

I agree Roach' books are a joy to digest, Barry ...

Look forward to your post next week