Thursday + Gregory Huffstutter = The Ad Man Answers
Today, we bring you Part 2 of our Q&A with Louise Ure, an ex-Ad Gal who worked at
Ogilvy & Mather and Foote Cone & Belding before penning the novels: Forcing Amaryllis, The Fault Tree, and Liars Anonymous.
If you missed Part 1 of our chat, you can find it here.
So, Louise, did you tap your old advertising contacts to design your excellent website? Was that created before or after your book deal? If after, who funded it, you or your publisher?
That gorgeous website is entirely the brainchild of the talented Madeira James at xuni.com. Because I write standalones and don’t have an ongoing character to feature, she’s tweaked the design with each new book launch, to focus on the new release but still keep the look consistent for all my work.
I asked her to develop the site once I had sold my first book and we had a cover to play off. A nd yes, I funded it all myself.
Your cover art has strong, consistent design elements: the face in the background, striking image on lower half, similar typefaces. Was that something you had a hand in -- or did that come from St. Martin’s?
Sometimes serendipity just finds you, and this is one of those cases. The first cover was done by Mysterious Press. The next two – The Fault Tree and Liars Anonymous – were done by David Rotstein at St. Martin’s Press.
You’d think, based on looking at them, that Rotstein had intended a family look all along, and that he’d built those last two covers based on my debut book. Wrong. His first efforts with both covers were hugely different, including one that I described as “a ransom note written by Helen Keller.”
When you don’t have a series character, I think it’s doubly important that your books have a certain “branding” that’s easily recognizable for readers. I’m delighted with the “brand” these three covers have given me, but it was more a happy accident than purposeful planning.
By the way, that St. Martin’s designer, David Rotstein, is the creator of three of the five Anthony-nominees for Best Cover this year, including one for The Fault Tree.
On YouTube, you've posted book trailers for 'Fault Tree' and 'Liars Anonymous.' Do you feel like those videos were worth the effort? How were they commissioned, and how did you use them in your marketing push?
They’re cool, aren’t they? (Click here and here to see them if you haven’t already.) My husband (a television commercial producer from way back) went to his old friends, those wizards at Mind Over Eye, to put them together.
I’ve made significant use of them at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, as well as a host of blogs and video collection sites. But I think it’s had the biggest impact on the sales team at St. Martin’s as they can use them on their website or during sales calls to feature the book. A short video can make a much more compelling case to a store’s book buyer than simply a dry listing in a catalogue.
Do they work as online advertising to encourage sales? I’m not sure. But if there wasn’t some power in using sight, sound and motion in making a sale, I wouldn’t have been recommending television to all my clients – for bleach, or cruises or long distance phone service – for thirty years.
What branding advice would you give both new and established novelists? Do you see common mistakes in establishing one's 'brand position'?
This may sound like heresy, but I’m not sure that an author needs a brand.
Sure, you want those “instant identifiers” in cover design that help remind readers of your other books. Continuity in color, graphic treatment and typeface can go a long way in creating a family look.
And if you’re writing a series (and especially if you’re writing more than one series), it’s a no-brainer to let the reader know that it’s “A Sookie Stackhouse mystery.” But if you’re doing everything right, the author’s name should soon supplant the character’s name as the key brand. (Lee Child, are you listening? I think you’re safe taking “A Reacher Novel” off your covers now. Honest.)
James Patterson is the ultimate example; his name alone is the brand. He doesn’t even have to write the books anymore.
At the end, the author’s name is simply a promise of what the reader can expect to find in that book. And that works fine … until you want to give them something else.
Did you watch TNT's ''Trust Me'? If so, did you think it accurately represented agency life? Why do you think it never attracted enough audience to avoid the cancellation axe?
Sorry, I never even tuned in once to watch it! In my experience, shows that revolve around an ad agency are either stultifyingly boring or so over the top they become caricatures. (I’d say McMann & Tate, Darren’s ad agency from Bewitched belongs in both categories.)
The exception to that rule, of course, is Mad Men. My New York advertising days were not so long after the 1960’s era Mad Men celebrates, and I can relate to many of the storylines. They even got Nemo’s, the after-hours bar right across the street from Ogilvy & Mather, right.
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Thanks again for the time, Louise… and congratulations about your latest, Liars Anonymous, being named one of the Ten Best Crime Novels of 2009 by Booklist!
Gregory Huffstutter has been punching Ad Agency timecards for the past dozen years, working on accounts like McDonald's, KIA Motors, Suzuki Automotive, and the San Diego Padres. His first mystery, KATZ CRADLE is on submission while he's working on the sequel. 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.
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