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Posted by: | on March 29, 2012

“I want to sell a million copies”

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I hear this sentence at least three times a day.  A million copies. The magic number.  Just thought I’d throw a few more magic numbers out there….

Here is a brief run down of Stephen King’s latest marketing program for his last book from an October 2011 Wall Street Journal Article.

Mr. King and his publisher, Scribner, face an odd challenge as they unleash an elaborate marketing campaign to promote “11/22/63.” How do you rebrand one of the world’s most famous and successful living authors? Scribner is targeting history buffs with book-giveaway promotions on bio.com and history sites. To reach news junkies, the publisher bought ad time on 11 p.m. news programs in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The 30-second ad, which will also run on the CNN airport network and on the A&E and Syfy networks, shows archival footage of Kennedy’s Dallas motorcade, with a voice-over that says, “What if instead of justwatching history, you could change it?” Mr. King’s book tour will include appearances at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston and at the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, the site Oswald fired from. The Dallas museum is preparing to host 1,000 people.

So what do we take away from this?

Mr. King has a huge following and decades of New York Times Best Sellers behind him.

He was on the road for weeks doing events in high-profile locations.

His publisher purchased ads on CNN, A&E the 11pm news in major markets.

Scribner also launched a multi-platform online campaign that gave away over 3000 books.

The magic number since the book released last November?  According to Bookscan, Mr. King has sold 576,361 copies across all formats.

One of the best-selling authors of all time spent over a hundred thousand dollars on marketing with his publisher and even with eBook sales included, did not reach a million copies.

What is the real magic number?

It starts with the amount of time you spend getting the package of your book right

It is followed by the number of months you spend planning and orchestrating your launch

Right behind that is the number of ads and programs you participate in.

But that last number does not count much unless the ads and programs are in top venues (USA TODAY, PEOPLE, CNN…)

Next up is the number of PR and marketing professionals you are working with.

Then is there are the amount of reviews you get

A BIG number is how many retailers are getting your marketing and PR information to convince the buyers to buy your book.

Finally, there is the elusive “tipping point” number.  How many people have to love and recommend your book before it takes on a life of its own?

So what is the answer to the question “what are the right numbers for my book?”.

It is different for everybody, but start with THOSE numbers and THEN tell the world how many you plan on selling.  If you are going to spend 20 hours and $4000 on sales and marketing, your book will not “catch fire”.  The stories of books that grow from nothing and become huge successes have enormous numbers behind them. Numbers of hours, numbers of dollars, numbers of supporters…. the ratio varies, but the totals are the same.  At least a million….

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Posted by: | on November 4, 2009

What if it doesn’t work?

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I make a living at being helpful.  I am incredibly lucky…  my day to day duties center around showing authors and publishers how they can achieve their goals.  Talking to authors and publishers is not actually part of my job description, but it takes up most of my day.  I love helping people figure out how to best focus their efforts and balance their expectations with the realities of the book world. 

Being of service to clients and non-clients alike is actually written into our mission statement.  Most of these conversations do not result in new business for The Cadence Group, but it does result in the feeling that we are helping others, steering authors away from being taken advantage of and doing some good for our industry.  And during those early conversations, I look like a real hero.  People LOVE me…
But sometimes I spend my day having to tell people that their book is not selling. They did everything right, but it is not working. That all the expense and time invested so far is not resulting in actual sales.  I look less like a hero then.
Once a book is launched, the stores notified of it’s existence, the reviews written and the marketing done… what happens if the book does not sell?
The hard truth is most books do not sell well.  It takes a mixture of time, money, marketing savvy, good word of mouth and, most of all, luck to start a book on an upward trajectory that results in sales. 
What can we do to maximize a book’s chances:
  1. Start with a tried and true, modern, marketing campaign (reviews, online, bookstores, libraries, media)
  2. But not rely on a marketing plan if the plan is clearly not working
  3. Pull back the scope and focus on regional and author-based sales
  4. Send out copies of the books to those who can make a difference (booksellers, freelance writers, bloggers)
  5. But above all else, keep pushing.  Don’t give up.  Keep participating in discussion groups, keep calling book clubs and volunteering to speak to the group, keep contacting local stores and libraries, keep pushing.
Very often authors get discouraged at the first round of disappointing sales.  They see all the money and time spent as wasted and give up or lash out at the bookstores/media.  It is easy to blame a short-sighted media or stubborn book buyer when a book does not get the exposure we feel it deserves, but often we are just being impatient.  Small presses cannot launch in the same explosive way a large book does.  Small presses can’t spend that kind of money and can’t rely on years of good-will from book buyers and the media.
But what can a small do that a big publisher can’t?  Be patient, grow a book organically, give a book a long time to find it’s market… give a book the time to succeed slowly.
Time + Dedication + Luck = Success. 
It is our job to supply the first two… let’s not be short sighted.  But let’s start from the expectation that every book will need a different set of activities to find it’s prime market.  It is with time and dedication that we have the best shot of hitting upon those successful activities.  Authors at small presses have it harder.  It is tougher to launch a book from a small press, but giving things time and constantly trying new things gives a small press book advantages that big house authors only dream of.
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