The Ad Man Answers #45

Thursday + Gregory Huffstutter = The Ad Man Answers

Advertising Make-Over #2

Continuing our series, the Ad Man has chosen the next “winner”… Lisa Hendrix.

Here’s the back cover copy from Lisa’s soon-to-be-released paranormal historical romance IMMORTAL WARRIOR (Berkley Sensation, Nov 2008):

He came to England in search of treasure. Two hundred years later, he’s found her…

Ivar Graycloak is a brave warrior, a man known for his strength and integrity. He is also a man with a terrible secret. Long ago he was part of a Viking crew cursed by an evil sorceress to live for eternity as were-creatures. An eagle by day and a man by night, Ivar has lived a solitary existence for over two centuries. Then the king orders him to marry.

Lady Alaida is everything a man could want in a bride-intelligent, spirited, and beautiful–and their wedding night is a balm to Ivar’s lonely spirit. Then a seer brings him word of a dark vision, one that makes Ivar vow to stay away from his lovely wife forever. But now that Ivar has sampled Alaida’s passion, her humor and warmth, he is enthralled. His traitorous body-his very heart-longs for that which he can never possess.

Lady Alaida may surprise him yet, though, for she has a power of her own-a power that will either destroy everything they hold dear or ultimately set them free…

The Ad Man confesses to not being well-versed in the “paranormal historical romance” sub-genre, aside from repeated viewings of “Ladyhawke” as a youth (thank bubbling hormones and Michelle Pfeiffer).

Who knew there were multiple websites (#1 and #2), and even a blog devoted to “paranormal romance” aficionados?

Lisa does, because her website has partner links to sites like this, which shows she’s already making inroads into her potential fan base.  Speaking of Lisa’s homepage, the Ad Man gives kudos for several nice touches… a background that shifts from day to night (mirroring her novel’s theme of duality), a contest with appropriate prize (midnight raven wineglasses), a punchy bio that has just the right mix of information and personality.

This author is clearly on the right track, and by using services like AuthorBuzz to create a web banner campaign aimed at FF&P Romance book buyers, she could pick a lot of low-hanging fruit.   The question is, how far outside Lisa’s sweet spot of hard-core “paranormal romance” readers should she go?

Should she inquire about becoming the official sponsor of IMMORTAL, a black metal band from Norway?   They share the name of her book, but probably not a lot of cross-over fan base.

Should she buy commercials on re-runs of “Highlander” or “Angel”, the closest mainstream TV gets to this sub-genre?  Expensive, and not a perfect fit with her book’s themes.

The Ad Man’s recommendation is that Lisa consider three additional venues to extend her advertising reach.

1)      Google AdWords and Search-Engine Optimization (SEO).  Currently, if you do a search for “paranormal historical romance,” you get other authors at the top of natural and sponsored listings.  Bidding on search terms in order to guarantee higher placement – and optimizing her website with appropriate keywords – would help fans of this sub-genre find her website.

2)     The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA).  The Ad Man’s hypothesis is that people who are into reenacting medieval life would be predisposed to enjoy historical romances.  According to Renaissance Magazine, the SCA has over 40,000 members, and 4.5 million people attend Renaissance faires every year.  Advertising opportunities may exist on SCA kingdom websites, booths at Ren faires, or magazine ads in their publications.

3)     Videogame Advertising.  The Ad Man’s second hypothesis is that people who enjoy multi-player, fantasy videogames like Everquest would be predisposed to enjoy a novel like IMMORTAL WARRIOR.  Advertising can now be placed inside videogames by companies like Massive. Everquest boasts 325,000 active players, so the potential audience is significant.  The downside to this advertising platform, however, is that about 62% of all videogamers are male, whereas the vast majority of romance readers are female. So you'd have a lot of wasted impressions, making this a lower priority compared to the other options.

As far as the actual ads are concerned, Lisa already has a solid tagline with “Some beasts aren’t meant to be tamed.”  That and the Fabio-esque Viking on her cover make it clear that her novel has a romantic bent.  She can stick with that as her headline, or use something like: “No greater curse than love denied.”

If Lisa decides to advertise a limited-time offer, or another contest, she could use the line:  “He may live forever.  This offer won’t.”

Speaking of limited-time offers, we’re going to do three more of these book advertising make-overs over the next month and a half.  It’s not too late to enter… if you’re interested, leave a book description and homepage URL in the comments section.  I’ll draw the next “winner” from the pool of all entries.

 

Gregory Huffstutter has been punching Ad Agency timecards for the past decade, working on accounts like McDonald's, KIA Motors, and the San Diego Padres. He recently finished his first mystery, KATZ CRADLE and is currently on submission. The first 100 pages of his novel are linked here. For general advertising questions, leave a comment or send e-mail to katz @ gregoryhuffstutter dot com with 'Ask The Ad Man' in the subject line.

Comments

[Lisa Hendrix]

Greg -- Thanks for the make-over. Despite your admitted lack of familiarity with the romance genre, you managed to hit some good notes. I didn't have the budget for Author Buzz this time, but I am working with a publicist to set up a virtual book tour (blog tour) and do some website optimization and keyword linking that I hope will move my site up in the searches for "paranormal historical romance." I do intend to study your other recommendations, though, to figure out what I can put in place both for IMMORTAL WARRIOR and for IMMORTAL OUTLAW, which comes out June 2009. Author Buzz is definitely at the top of my wish list. Again, thanks a bunch.

[Pump Up Your Book Promotion]

Hi Greg, great advice to give to Lisa. She just sent me over here to read as I happen to be the one who is sending her on a virtual book tour which is going to help Lisa in the respects of helping her gain higher status in the search engines for her "buzz" words and you've nailed it - paranormal historical romance. Before the tour even starts or not much further into it, she will come out predominantly on the first page of google, if not first, for her key "buzz" words. It's a system I happen to find out about quite by accident, and I can do it in 24 hours if need be. To pay someone to get you there is ridiculous...when if you knew the pattern to use, it could happen overnight and you wouldn't have to pay a thing. I call it The Power of Multitudes and a virtual book tour is perfect for this. I would like to touch on the buzz words on one's website. This is great and helps, but websites are static and those buzz words will go down the totem pole as more people update with those same buzz words. Blogs are better as they are updated more frequently. But there is a better system than that and that is what we incorporate into our virtual book tours. Sorry to run the mouth, but I love this stuff and Lisa is quite excited to see if this stuff works. I won't let her down.

[Angie Fox]

Great advice, Gregory. It's so interesting to get your take on things.

I'd like to enter the contest too. I have an offbeat book about a preschool teacher forced to run off with a gang of geriatric, Harley-riding biker witches. It's another paranormal, but with a slightly different bent, and a different setting - the modern day south.

The first book, THE ACCIDENTAL DEMON SLAYER was released in August and the second book, THE DANGEROUS BOOK FOR DEMON SLAYERS, will be coming out in May '09. So I'd be interested in building on the first book, while doing advance marketing on the second. My website is www.angiefox.com

Thanks!
Angie

[Jessa Slade]

My book, SEDUCED BY SHADOWS, is also a paranormal romance, though more toward the urban fantasy end. It doesn't come out until October next year, but I'm starting my marketing now. Considering the way the world is going, I suppose my apocalyptic themes are a good start to my promotion effort :)

I'm amazed that the publishing industry doesn't seem to have a better grasp on how to reach out to its audience. When I talk to people in the retail biz, they have a solid sense of who their people are and how to reach them. So I'm interested to read more ideas focused on books.

Please enter me in the contest too: http://jessaslade.com

[Ms. Melvin]

How do I know what to charge for an ad (full and half) in a booklet with the following information:
1. 300,000 viewers

2. Cost to print:
a. 50,000 = $12,000
b. 100,000 = $18,000
c. 150,000 = $21,000
d. 200,000 = $24,000

3. Booklet:
a. full page ad: 3.3375 wide x 8.5 high, plus .125' bleed all around.

b. half page ad: 3.375' wide x
4.125' high , plus .125' bleed all around.

back of booklet price ____?
inside front price _____?
inside back price ______?
middle ad price ________?

4. About 150 small ad spaces
2.875 wide x 1.125 high approx.

5. Ad good for a year

Hope this makes sense!
Thanks!
Melvin