World Famous Comics: The Complete Guide to Book Marketing
The Complete Guide to Book Marketing
By: David Cole Publisher: Allworth Press Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Allworth Press Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 256 Publication Date: February 01, 2004
Book Description: With an intense focus on strategy that won't be found in any other guide, this invaluable resource will be of immediate help to publishers, authors, and most anyone who wants to succeed in the publishing industry. Completely updated and expanded with an enhanced focus on selling outside traditional channels, The Complete Guide to Book Marketing features systematic, results-oriented approaches to reaching the largest amount of readers for the least amount of money. Readers will find no-nonsense advice for building a publishing identity, cultivating feedback from your audience, and implementing an effective publicity campaign. This new edition also features a brand-new section on marketing to the lucrative education market, as well as new information on e-book marketing, print-on-demand, and marketing backlist and reprint titles.
A strong foundation The book industry is changing so fast it takes some moxy to even try summarizing publishing, distributing, and marketing tactics, knowing that much of what is written will be somewhat out-of-date by the time the book is published (or shortly thereafter). The Complete Guide to Book Marketing offers a strong foundation of information concerning the more traditional aspects of book distribution and marketing. When read with a companion book, such as Plug Your Book: Online Book Marketing for Authors, Book Publicity through Social Networking (which does just the opposite), the more comprehensive picture is revealed. The importance of a strong foundation cannot be stressed enough and that is where this book shines. Brent Sampson, author of Self-publishing Simplified: Experience Your Publishing Dreams With Outskirts Press
A good guide on book marketing written for a non-author publishing company. I purchased this book about a year ago as a result of walking the aisles at Barnes & Noble and noticing its beautiful cover and stellar table of contents. At the time I was reading mostly books about how to prepare a business plan, and this book seemed to cover the marketing plan topics I expected to include in a business plan I was hoping to write. I finally got around to reading the book, but I have yet to write the business plan. Oh well.
As of late I have been reading books on how to profitably self publish. The books I have been reading say it's a waste of effort to try to get signed up with a publisher if you are writing nonfiction. They also say not to aim at bookstores as a distribution channel. They say to use the Internet and the Amazon site to sell a self-published book.
This book is clearly dated. It is written for a publishing company executive who promotes her authors' books and tries to make a living selling books the old fashioned way. And the author even admits that the old fashioned way of doing business is not going to last all that much longer. I didn't really see any helpful hints in the book that would be economically feasible for a self-publisher to do to sell her tome.
But the book is well written and informative. And its audience is broader than just publishing company executives. I think anybody who has a consulting or coaching practice would learn a great deal about marketing their practice by reading this book. The author includes solid content on word of mouth marketing, networking, publicity, public relations, and the need for a written business plan and marketing plan. I would have liked the book a lot more if it had not included the material on direct mail, advertising, and serial rights. But that's because I wanted the book to be geared toward self-publishers.
Even if you are interested in self-publishing like me, you will get a lot out of this book regarding how traditional publishing functions. And as I write this review traditional publishing still exists and competes against self-publishers. To win the race you've got to understand your competition. And this book will help a self-publisher plan to win when it comes to selling her books (and marketing her consulting practice). 4 stars!
Great for Writing or Publishing Newbies David has written a great book for those like myself who need a little hand-holding.
He is also an engaging and helpful speaker for your writing group. He came to a Redwood Writers meeting last fall and gave generously of his time and expertise.
All-Around a Good Book This book was helpful with sparking new ideas. It provided a well-rounded description of publishing, the interaction of distributors with sales reps, bookstores, chains, special sales, etc. It one thing it didn't really provide, at least not enough to my liking, was a detailed description of what goes into a press kit, how to write a press release, etc. If I gave this book to an entry-level person in publishing, I would feel like they need another resource to show them how to write a press release and marketing copy, how to put together a press kit, etc.
Good book promotion strategies Basic book marketing information from a man who has thirty years experience in publishing and marketing. Gives you all the strategies you need to promote your book and gain results. The chapter entitled Book Publicity Basics is very informative - in this chapter he points out an interesting thought to keep in mind, "There are so many media outlets - both general and specialized - that almost every book and author can attract some attention."
Rene' Jackson RN BSN MS Co-author with Alberto Righi MD The Death of Mammography Caveat Press 2006
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