Marketing & Promotion Archives » Page 17 of 27

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Authors

October 2, 2010

During a recent discussion on NPR, Heather Fain, marketing director for the publisher Little, Brown and Co. said that “the greatest marketing tool we have in publishing — and probably will never change — is word of mouth.” This means not only literal friend-to-friend and bookseller-to-buyer hand selling, but also online forums, reviews, blog comments, and social network discussion. For the most part, authors have little control over this. One aspect authors can control: the old fashioned website. Optimizing a website so that it can be more easily found by readers is to most authors, I would assume, a foreign concept. Not that I am discrediting authors; I simply hope that most of you aren’t as nerdy as I am. Having a platform (re: a stable of willing buyers) is becoming more and more important to publishers. Optimizing your web presence is an important way to grow that platform. Many…

Jonathan Franzen: “The whole culture of selling has become personalized”

September 23, 2010

Mr. Gordon Highland and I took in a Jonathan Franzen reading this evening at the Kansas City Unity Temple (presented by Rainy Day Books). Franzen read from the same stage on which I met (re: awkwardly shook hands with) Chuck Palahniuk a few years ago. I bring these two authors together here not just because of their temporal-turned-spacial bond, but because the association allowed me to ponder their very different approaches to the live author reading. Via a video posted on August 14th, Franzen noted his “profound discomfort” in having to make promotional author videos, basically, to me, implying that any promotional discussion taken place off the page stands in contrast to the intimate nature of a novel… I get that. In fact, I may even sometimes agree with that. So I was glad when one of the audience members during the night’s reading asked a question that allowed Franzen…

White covers and isolated imagery: Why the trend?

September 6, 2010

I have noticed that over the past decade readers have been subjected to a trend in non-fiction book cover design. I am referring to the use of a white background to frame a single, striking element. For example: I understand the appeal from a marketing perspective. As online book buying grows in popularity, the book spine is becoming less important to shoppers. Instead, the idea with white-framed covers is to create as much visual distance and isolation with a book so as to set it apart from its surrounding mosaic. An added benefit for non-fiction books in particular is the sense of authority that comes with a single image. This says, "I am an expert on this topic. I am not going to stray into superfluous details. Prepare to learn." I like the look, but I dislike the trend. I am a grump, though, and dislike most trends. I…

Coming early 2011: Stranger Will (the book, not the creepy old man)

September 2, 2010

Just when you thought you had over a year before getting offended by a book from me (I Didn’t Mean to Be Kevin, November 2011), I go and do something crazy like sign with another publisher to release a novel in March 2011. Stranger Will, a noir story of apathy and abortion, is coming early next year from Otherworld Publications. Otherworld Publications is a young publisher, but one with an impressive drive to promote its authors. This fact is not the sole reason I signed with them, though. This press seems to have acknowledged something that I, and the below authors, have known for a long time: The Velvet and The Cult are cesspools of untapped talent. Of the 11 current Otherworld authors (some noted on the Otherworld site, others not yet public knowledge), 5 have grown up at The Velvet and/or The Cult forums. I think we have Mr.…

This Day In (Made) History

August 20, 2010

Today is my birthday. I'm not much of a celebrator of this, or any, traditionally celebrated day. I'm not a scrooge, a prude, or a buzkill. I'm just lazy. But my dis-affection hasn't stopped others from wishing me all the best on this day. From family, to Facebook, to forums, virtual and physical friends alike have been fantastic. Below is an especially warming well-wish: This day in history (courtesy of Mr. Nic Young) 1775 The Spanish establish a presidio (fort) in the town that became Tucson, Arizona. 1833 Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States, is born (d. 1901) 1858 Charles Darwin first publishes his theory of evolution in The Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, alongside Alfred Russel Wallace's same theory. 1890 H. P. Lovecraft, American writer, is born. (d. 1937) 1907 Alan Reed, original voice of Fred Flintstone, is born. (d. 1977) 1920…

Coming late 2011: I Didn’t Mean to Be Kevin (the book, not the apology)

August 16, 2010

It's official. Negotiations have been negotiated. Signatures have been signed. Bells have been sleighed. I Didn't Mean to Be Kevin will be published in late 2011 by Black Coffee Press. I'll keep this announcement short and tidy; there is plenty of time for me to drone on about how proud I am of this book. For now, just make sure your nutting pants are clean. Perhaps not coincidentally, I do drink my coffee black. Black Coffee Press has a quite a list of books lined up for 2011-12. Some I am especially looking forward to are: A Shiny, Unused Heart by J.A. Tyler (2011) This guy is everywhere. J.A. Tyler is one of those names that materializes on every lit site, from the smallish to the giantish. Sometimes I theorize these appearances are simply to make me feel inadequate. Well done, sir. Code for Failure by Ryan W. Bradley (2012)…

The Velvet Podcast, Episode 007: INTERVIEW with Blake Butler

August 2, 2010

Episode #007 of The Velvet Podcast is now live! "If I made it I might as well destroy it by eating it" - Blake Butler In this interview episode of The Velvet Podcast, I interview Blake Butler, author of Ever (Calamari Press), Scorch Atlas (Featherproof Books) and the forthcoming There is no Year (Harper Perennial). Blake and Caleb discuss the impact of eReaders on visual-dependent literature, the novels vs. movies fallacy, and the importance of humility in a predominantly stuffy industry. Please, give it a listen. Subscribe via Feedburner, Podcast Alley, or iTunes.