Michelle Rowen
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Miley Cyrus, pens, and guerillasI haven't been blogging too much lately. There is a ton of stuff I need to get through in my real life, including my sister's wedding this Sunday, as well as some writing stuff. I'll be back a bit more next week.
Here's a post I wrote for The Midnight Hour yesterday but I forgot to post, so I'm posting it here instead...
When I went to RT, one of the most educational things to see, in my opinion, is what is known as Promo Alley. Tables and tables of promo material from all the authors in attendence for anyone to walk by and pick up as many as they liked.
Some things that were there:
Pens
Notepads/Sticky notes
T-Shirts
Cover flats
Postcards
Bookmarks
Candies
Emery boards
Excerpt booklets
Stress balls
And much more. The first time I went to a convention, I picked up bags of this stuff. When I got home, I threw most of it away. Except the pens. I must have about five hundred pens around my condo right now.
The question is... did I buy any books based on the promo material?
Not that I can think of. Although, the T-shirt is pretty cool. I feel like I owe Lisa Jackson a sale based on such a cool giveaway.
This year I had cover flats and postcards. The cover flats I got for free, the postcards I paid about $90 for 500 of them. I'm running low on pens. It costs about 50¢ per pen if I wanted to get some more. Is it worth it? When the average royalty rate on a paperback novel is 50¢, are pens that good of an investment? I've never bought a book based on a pen. It's not advertising, I consider it, however, a nice perk and giveaway and will probably get a bunch more in the future.
So what works for promo?
To me, it's a couple of things. Word of mouth and guerilla marketing.
Let's use Miley Cyrus as an non-writing example of these two things.
A confession: I do not watch Hannah Montana. Nor do I have any interest in starting. I do not look up to a 15 year old superstar. I have avoided anything to do with her since my interest in her and her fandom is nil.
But.
Her freaking song "See You Again" is currently stuck in my head. I just downloaded it so I can listen to it whenever I want and possibly "use" it on the pseudo soundtrack for my next book.
She's everywhere. I couldn't avoid her. I couldn't avoid her song. Enough exposure has made her unavoidable in my life.
That's guerilla marketing. Then again, Miley has the entire Disney army backing her.
Bottom line, people won't buy your book if they have never heard of you. The only way they'll hear about you is if you get your name and your product out there.
Face-to-face promo is difficult for me because I'm not naturally prone to the schmooze (despite giving a workshop on that subject earlier this year). Which is a roundabout way of saying that I'm mortifyingly shy (depending on how much alcohol I've consumed, of course). Conventions are difficult because every now and then I find that I've suddenly transported back into my room and away from the maddening crowd.
My best option is internet guerilla marketing. I have this blog, a couple group blogs; I put up several chapters of each release for potential readers to sample; I am a member of a blog-circuit (Out of the Blogosphere). I do what I can. I could do more.
Word of mouth marketing will take you places, but it's not controllable or predictable. I have bought books based on somebody raving (in a seemingly genuine way) about the book on their blog.
Oddly enough, the number one way I will typically buy a new author I've never tried before? Reading a bad review. I am more likely to buy a book after a bad review than a good one. The bad reviews are so much more intriguing and sometimes what the reviewer despised is exactly what I'm looking for in my next read.
I'm curious what prompts you to buy a book by an author you've never read before. Promo materials? Good buzz? And does anyone else have that pesky Mylie Cyrus song in their heads right now?
