Art/Business - Part 7

On Writing is an art. Publishing is a business. What is the number 1 business rule you want authors or publishers to rethink, or to understand better. Or what is the rule you feel is most misunderstood.

Today's essay by David J. Montgomery who writes about authors and books for
several of the country's largest newspapers. He blogs at Crime Fiction Dossier (http://www.crimefictionblog.com).

Challenging tradition
By David J. Montgomery

I am not an expert on marketing, nor on the business
of publishing. But having observed the industry over
the past five years from my position as a critic, I've
come to believe a few things.

More than most businesses, publishers seem to operate
based on traditions, rather than research or
innovation. "We do it this way because we've always
done it this way." Not necessarily because a
particular way works, and not necessarily because
there is data or evidence to suggest that a particular
way works best.

As a result, there is little in the way of objective
justification for the practices that publishers use.
This is not only inefficient, it's stifling, and it
leads to a lack of innovation when it comes to
changing those practices.

Most notably, publishers tend to rely on the same old,
marginally-effective strategies for promoting books. A
five-city author tour, a random mailing of advanced
copies, a quarter-page ad in the New York Times. (And
that's if the author is lucky.) Money is spent in a
scattershot, almost haphazard way, with little
coordinated, concentrated effort.

Do those strategies work? Maybe, maybe not. Do the
publishers test to see if they work? That's an even
better question. If they do, I've never seen any
evidence of it.

As just one example, publishers need to be open to
spending their promotional money in more innovative
ways. The industry is still mostly ineffective when it
comes to internet-based marketing. They'll spend
$10,000 on an author tour, but might that money be
better spent on a comparably-priced web advertising
blitz? These are the kinds of questions that need to
be researched.

Hollywood test markets everything they do. They screen
films for audiences and make changes based on their
reactions. But in publishing, even something as basic
as a focus group study of alternative book covers
seldom if ever happens. (On the other hand, let the
buyers at Barnes & Noble say they don't like a cover,
and it immediately gets changed.)

Consumers are willing to buy books. The DaVinci Code
and Harry Potter have proven that. But the industry
has to do a smarter job of reaching those consumers.
The demand exists and the supply is certainly there.
Publishers just need to find better ways of matching
the two. And challenging tradition is the first step
in accomplishing that.

Comments

[Lorra Laven]

It is interesting to watch the innovations unfolding in other areas of the arts, like Satellite Radio gradually foisting aside land radio, the growth of electronic music versus using real, live musicians (I'm not happy about that one), PIXAR replacing hand-drawn cartoons and myriad other changes that don't immediately spring to mind.

In my humble opinion, every art form needs to keep up or get left behind in the dust. Since publishing is such a creative field, perhaps it's time those making marketing decisions let their imaginations soar; try something new and daring.

[Lyn LeJeune]

Before I decided to go it alone, I studied the publishing industry long and hard and realized that it would take years to get a book out by a big or medium sized publisher and that marketing was proabably out. I run The Beatitudes Network which helps to raise funds and awareness in rebuilding the public libraries of New Orleans. All the royalties from the sale of my book, which comes out in October, will go directly to the New Orleans Public Library Foundation. Do you think one of the big six will touch that? I go on my own tour this fall and have decided to go where there is a captive audience - churches, library organizations, other writers, lifetime learning organizations, and of course, MJ Rose's Buzz program. I'm trying to think in a new way to help rebuild the libraries of my beloved city. I'm trying it on my own, but with a lot of help from my friends.
Lyn LeJeune
The Beatitudes Network - rebuilding the public libraries of New Orleans at www.beatitudesinneworleans.blogspot.com
and merci mille fois!!