by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
I recently received an email from someone
asking what angle he should take in promoting an older release. It was one of those situations where he’d
sold the first book to a big publisher and a year later, sales were
lagging…right as he was wanting to pitch
books two and three to the publisher.
asking what angle he should take in promoting an older release. It was one of those situations where he’d
sold the first book to a big publisher and a year later, sales were
lagging…right as he was wanting to pitch
books two and three to the publisher.
Unfortunately, this is a drawback with
traditional publishing—if the sales aren’t great, then they’re not going to be
keen on buying book two and launching it.
Even though…launching book two can bring book one back to life
again.
traditional publishing—if the sales aren’t great, then they’re not going to be
keen on buying book two and launching it.
Even though…launching book two can bring book one back to life
again.
What do
you do if they don’t buy book two (you’ve probably got a “right of
refusal” clause in your contract that will tell you how long it will be before
they make that decision.) You have,
actually, a couple of options to get your other books in front of readers.
you do if they don’t buy book two (you’ve probably got a “right of
refusal” clause in your contract that will tell you how long it will be before
they make that decision.) You have,
actually, a couple of options to get your other books in front of readers.
You could pitch another traditional
publisher with book two. This pitch
would probably be more successful with a bump in sales for book one (and I’ll
touch on promo ideas below).
publisher with book two. This pitch
would probably be more successful with a bump in sales for book one (and I’ll
touch on promo ideas below).
You could ask for the rights to your
characters back and then self-publish the remaining books in your series. Incidentally, this has been my approach and
the sales for the first book in the series have remained strong for a year
now. This, as a matter of fact, might be
the better option (i.e…this is what I would do.)
characters back and then self-publish the remaining books in your series. Incidentally, this has been my approach and
the sales for the first book in the series have remained strong for a year
now. This, as a matter of fact, might be
the better option (i.e…this is what I would do.)
Let’s say that you’ve chosen one of those
two options above. Exactly how do you promote an older book?
two options above. Exactly how do you promote an older book?
Don’t even
mention that it’s not a recent launch. As
far as I can tell…it just doesn’t matter.
Back before digital books, shelf space at bookstores was fairly
ephemeral. You needed to promote your
book directly after it released…otherwise, they’d send the books back to the
publisher (the dreaded ‘returns’) and free up shelf space for other, newer
titles. Now the books stay up on a
retail cloud as long as you want them to.
Why not promote them a year or
two years later? I see older releases
promoted every day. Yeah, your title
might not be as exciting for book bloggers as the hottest new release, but it
shouldn’t ultimately matter. A good book
is a good book. If it’s undiscovered,
it’s not old news. Consider a blog tour or a Goodreads giveaway. A spike in sales and reviews for the title is
never a bad thing.
mention that it’s not a recent launch. As
far as I can tell…it just doesn’t matter.
Back before digital books, shelf space at bookstores was fairly
ephemeral. You needed to promote your
book directly after it released…otherwise, they’d send the books back to the
publisher (the dreaded ‘returns’) and free up shelf space for other, newer
titles. Now the books stay up on a
retail cloud as long as you want them to.
Why not promote them a year or
two years later? I see older releases
promoted every day. Yeah, your title
might not be as exciting for book bloggers as the hottest new release, but it
shouldn’t ultimately matter. A good book
is a good book. If it’s undiscovered,
it’s not old news. Consider a blog tour or a Goodreads giveaway. A spike in sales and reviews for the title is
never a bad thing.
Write more
books in the series (if you have the rights and if you’re choosing the self-pub
option). This results in higher
visibility for your name and your titles on retailers like Amazon. Then your previous title comes along for the
ride.
books in the series (if you have the rights and if you’re choosing the self-pub
option). This results in higher
visibility for your name and your titles on retailers like Amazon. Then your previous title comes along for the
ride.
Create a
platform where you interact in readers without being strident. Learn which are your favorite social
media sites…are you more of a Twitter person or a Facebook person? What about Pinterest? Would you enjoy blogging? You don’t have to go crazy with it…just have
some sort of consistent online presence in a form that doesn’t drive you
nuts. Interact with others, share things
your followers have shared, make friends, and build a name for yourself.
platform where you interact in readers without being strident. Learn which are your favorite social
media sites…are you more of a Twitter person or a Facebook person? What about Pinterest? Would you enjoy blogging? You don’t have to go crazy with it…just have
some sort of consistent online presence in a form that doesn’t drive you
nuts. Interact with others, share things
your followers have shared, make friends, and build a name for yourself.
My favorite? Definitely continuing a series by
self-publishing it. You have more
control and have the opportunity to have Amazon’s “customers who bought this,
also bought this” algorithm to work in your favor. It’s all a matter of visibility in a very
crowded virtual bookstore.
self-publishing it. You have more
control and have the opportunity to have Amazon’s “customers who bought this,
also bought this” algorithm to work in your favor. It’s all a matter of visibility in a very
crowded virtual bookstore.
How about
a much older book?
What about a book that came out in the 70s or 80s? If you’ve got the rights to those books, they
might as well be available for sale…they have the potential to bring in additional
income. You’ll need some new, updated
cover art (usually the cover art doesn’t revert to the author anyway…at least,
it didn’t in my case for my 2009 book.) You’ll need to hire someone to format
the book for digital release and/or print on demand (unless you want to learn
how to do it yourself…I didn’t.)
Hopefully, the editing was good the first time around at your
traditional publisher. You have the
option of updating the book’s text—or not.
It could be a charming snapshot of life in a different decade. Or you could tweak it to make it appear to
have been set in the modern day. As
author and publisher—it’s all up to you.
You’ve got total creative control.
a much older book?
What about a book that came out in the 70s or 80s? If you’ve got the rights to those books, they
might as well be available for sale…they have the potential to bring in additional
income. You’ll need some new, updated
cover art (usually the cover art doesn’t revert to the author anyway…at least,
it didn’t in my case for my 2009 book.) You’ll need to hire someone to format
the book for digital release and/or print on demand (unless you want to learn
how to do it yourself…I didn’t.)
Hopefully, the editing was good the first time around at your
traditional publisher. You have the
option of updating the book’s text—or not.
It could be a charming snapshot of life in a different decade. Or you could tweak it to make it appear to
have been set in the modern day. As
author and publisher—it’s all up to you.
You’ve got total creative control.
Have you had any success re-launching an
older book?
older book?
Elizabeth – Thanks for addressing this issue. Especially given the fact that publishers may not want to go with more than one or two books in a series, it’s important to know what one’s options are. I think you’ve made such a great choice to do your Myrtle Clover series yourself and for you it works because you’ve already got a platform. It’s one of those situations where self-publishing can be the right choice.
I’ve often thought about this. I mean, Locked Within is hardly an old book or anything, but as I get closer to Silent Oath’s release, I do wonder about how to best to draw new readers to the series as a whole, to give better odds of them being interested in the new book.
Hi Elizabeth .. interesting reading – it’s getting your name out there, attached to a series or single book and then adding to it … I can quite see your approach. The brand is what’s important to ‘sell’ .. ie to keep out front .. your name, your series/type of book ..
Seems like very sensible advice .. cheers Hilary
Paul–Oh snap, I forgot to mention another option in the post (lately, my brain has just wandered around when I’ve tried to focus…sigh.) Another option, and one that Penguin is using for many cozy mysteries, is to have the writer upload a short story to Amazon with all the characters from the series included–in the interim between book one and book two. So that way, the author reintroduces the readers to the characters, reminds them of the series, and keeps some of the momentum going. This is another option…and I guess we have to make sure our publisher is on-board with it before we do it, if it’s a trad published book.
Hilary–Exactly. The brand (ourselves, really), not the individual book. Thanks so much for coming by!
That’s a great idea. I’ve got some short stories planned which I want to release for free, set between books.
Paul–Yes, it’s very popular at Penguin. Interestingly, they seem to have only asked authors who have written short stories previously to release these series shorts (i.e…I haven’t been asked!) Not my thing, and I guess they don’t want to me to be experimenting when I’m representing their series. But if you already have shorts and write them anyway…that’s perfect!
In the mystery genre in particular, I think that old releases are highly attractive to the audience. We’ve been chasing out of print and hard to find books for so long, seeing an “old” book crop up — even if it isn’t one we’re looking — has a subliminal positive for me.
Publishing the rest of the books yourself is the best plan.
Great post, Elizabeth. Thanks for giving me options to consider.
Except for computer instruction manuals, the age of a book is pretty irrelevant to readers. I finally read P. D. James’ “An Unsuitable Job for a Woman” which is 40 years old, and now I’m a confirmed fan.
With a beautiful book, just as with a beautiful woman, age is irrelevant.
Good tips for how to put that into practice.
I think it would be smart to relaunch an older book. It will be new to somebody.
Margot–Exactly. Also, with the Myrtles, I was worried that shopping the series to a new publisher meant the process would take so long that I would lose the readers that I *did* have. Self-pubbing has worked out really well.
Diane–That’s what I think, too.
Alan–Good luck with it!
Joel–I think the cool thing about *current* computer manuals and maybe those career manuals now is that the author can continually update the text, keeping the resource relevant. Yeah, those old Word Perfect and Apple 2E at the library need to be taken out of the stacks, for sure!
Love that book! P.D. James is amazing. I think her recent releases are just as good, too (others will disagree…but I think she’s kept her writing very fresh.)
The Daring Novelist–Yes! I’ve requested Golden Age mysteries for so long…I love having these books readily available now.
Alex–Good way of putting it!
I bought that book of yours in the picture, and almost finished it. I had only 10 pages left when I forgot the book in a Moscow hotel room. I hope the maid found it and read it >:)
Cold As Heaven
CaH: Ha! Oh, that’s too funny. Hope she did, yes. Did you find out the killer before you lost it? If not, you can shoot me an email and I can fill you in. :) elizabethspanncraig (at) gmail (dot) com
I know I’ve bought a few re-releases of authors I enjoy – they’ve been clear about them being older books and they’ve been great buys :)
I have a publisher that gives me the digital rights after the book has been out in hard cover for a year. I exercise those rights immediately and have had some success as readers today (mine, anyway) want the e-books. Another publisher gave me rights back and those books were a little older. I went through them, updated them a bit, and promoted them as “previously published but with new content.”
Jemi–I think it works out great! I think the only problem would be if the reader thinks it’s a *new* book and they’ve already bought a copy of the hardback or paperback.
Terry–Interesting observation–and that’s what I’ve found, too. Readers prefer the digital edition (usually) over the printed book. And I love the way you put it for sale ” previously published, but with new content.” Great idea!
Great advice, as usual. I’m with you, why say it’s an older book? No need. It will be new to someone. I’ve noticed that sometimes we say more than we should for no good reason.
Like I’ve said before, we don’t have to say everything we think.
Thanks for the tips. I get back the rights to my first book in a couple of months and was on the fence about what to do.
It’s not part of a series, but my next book is and I’m hoping I can promote both books with the old, “new series by Elke Feuer – author of —-”
I love this idea. My sons love reading books on their ereaders, and their summer reading is supposed to be To Kill A Mockingbird. It’s not digital, according to my sons, so we had to buy the books. It reminded me that it would be great if the classics were digital as well!
Elke–I love it when we get our rights back! :) And I think that making it available to new readers is a great idea.
That sounds like the perfect plan to me!
Teresa–Right. If we’re *asked*, we can always explain that we’re promoting it because of it’s 5th anniversary celebration, or something like that. Or that we’re promoting a re-release.
Julie–I’ve read a couple of stories about why “To Kill a Mockingbird” isn’t in digital format. Believe it has to do with Harper Lee’s wishes…at least, that was speculated in this article: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/artattack/2012/03/the_top_five_classic_novels_yo_1.php
Excuse this late comment. Your beginning piece here could have been about me. I recent posted a similar thing on Writer Beware site, requesting some answers to the basic question of how to query, or pitch this “re-release” There were a few comments, and while I did learn something from them all, many of the replies were not as specific, nor as positive as your post and the other comments here.