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Yvonne Eve Walus - Articles |
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Promote or Perish (first published in Red Herrings, CWA, issue 588, November 2005) When Mark Billingham was in New Zealand promoting his latest book, I asked him whether he begrudged his writing time being “wasted” on compulsory publicity events. His reply was delivered in typical Mark stand-up-comedian style: “I write for 9 months a year and spend the remaining 3 touring the world, staying in luxurious hotels… and as a bonus I get to talk to people about my books. I’d say I’m ok with that.” Phrased like that, it’s a writer’s dream come true. But we’re not all Mark Billingham, and some of us hate the idea of coming out of our writing shell to promote our books. “I’m a writer, not a marketer,” we say. Be that as it may, if we want to be best-selling authors, not just best-writing authors, we need to get involved in the marketing process. I discovered that the hard way when my own murder mystery, “Murder @ Work” was published by Echelon Press in 2004. Echelon Press is a small publisher who works closely with the authors and consults us on the cover artwork, blurb contents and advertising options. For example, I was delighted when one of their suggestions for a promotion was a competition to win an aromatherapy hamper of essential oils (the modus operandi in my book is ingestion of an aromatherapy oil) - how’s that for innovative? They have colourful catalogues, they take our books to book fairs… but they expect us to pull finger and match them in their efforts. My situation is unique in that I live in New Zealand, the book’s action takes place in South Africa and the publishers are based in the USA. In theory, it would seem that we have the opportunity to promote the book on three continents, which can only be a good thing. In practice, however, the logistics are proving tricky. The American-published authors have a process in place to book their author events at Borders. No such process exists for the overseas authors, and so I took it upon myself to contact David, the events person at my local Borders store. David promised to look up my ISBN and get back to me. Five months later, I am still following him up… all the while wondering how many calls a week constitute stalking and criminal harassment. I honestly think part of the problem is the New Zealand culture. We - they - are the ones who invented the Tall Poppy Syndrome. In New Zealand, it’s cool to be mediocre, to blend in with the crowd, to not stand out. You wrote a novel? Good on you, mate… but don’t expect me to buy it. What could you possibly have written that I couldn’t have written better if I wanted to? Now, Mark Billingham, on the other hand, he as a foreigner just might have something interesting to say… perhaps I’ll buy that instead. So what do I do? I give out bookmarks and pens advertising my novels to anybody who’ll take them. I write to Starbucks managers trying to talk them into a book-signing evening. I leave copies of my book in bookstores and massage clinics (together with boxes chocolates), I leave colourful advertising fliers in chocolate boutiques (the owners love me because of all the chocolates I buy for promotion purposes). I have a web site, I blog, I belong to groups, I have mini-stands at conferences. What really gets to me is that murder mystery is actually damned hard to sell outside of bookshops. You can’t very well ask the minister to advertise it from the pulpit, now can you, or ask your children’s day-care centre whether you could leave your brochures next to the sign-in sheet. You need a context in which to promote your book, and I’m seriously considering marching into Auckland’s central police station and checking out the waiting room for potential advertising space. I know my book is good: I’ve read the independent reviews. But in the eyes of my publisher, the only books that are good are the books that make a profit. And so, if I want a chance to be published again, I’ll have to sell. One day, I will be like Mark Billingham. I will write for 9 months and spend the remaining 3 being wined and dined and flown around the globe by my publisher. For now, I think I’ll check the balance in my bank account and see how it compares with the specials on tickets to South Africa. Last time I heard, they liked Tall Poppies.
http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/download.asp?id=111 http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/download.asp?id=31) |
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Crime Writers' Association (CWA) http://www.thecwa.co.uk/). |
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