Paying Attention to Advertorials Or What Niche Can Do for Your Career


 

I learn amazing things by reading advertising, especially the ones known as advertorials. Advertorials are usually written by experts in their fields and are sometimes a bit arcane, but they can make me rethink what I am doing with my books. You can find them in your local newspaper of in respected magazines like Time. Most media marks them clearly as "advertising" but the headlines usually feel more like great nonfiction topics.
The one I found in December was in a slick magazine called BookBusiness. It was paid for by a short-run printing company called Canon Solutions America. In it they talk about book for niche markets and niche markets have always fascinated me. I write for two of them—writers and retailers.

My point is that this is not a topic that is new to me. But this article made me think. The author (unknown) said “ . . . today you can get the same book with a different cover based on your preference. That’s only going to increase.” The idea of the same book with only one tweak—the book cover—may be slightly overstated, but it fits with what I’ve always said about marketing when I encourage people to read my The Frugal Book Promoter and just substitute the words “books” and “author” for whatever is appropriate in the world of that particular reader. I tell them, “Marketing is marketing is marketing.”

So, I should probably go back and replace those words with something appropriate to almost any niche market instead of expecting my faithful readers to do it for themselves. That might be the ticket to having a whole series of books—very nearly like the Dummy books that have done so well. After making those tweaks, I could slap on a new cover and reword the title and suddenly my “marketing is marketing” mantra makes more sense (and is easier) for a whole range—a whole new niche-- of readers!

The idea sure fits with my advice to plan your marketing campaign so the work you can do can be recycled. We authors are not islands. We can only do so much on our own. After that, it’s either get more mileage out of what we do or start outsourcing like crazy. Actually, I kind of like both ideas.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a Writers On The Move contributer. She brings her experience as a publicist, journalist, marketer, and retailer to the advice she gives in her HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers and the classes she has taught for UCLA Extension’s world-renown Writers’ Program.
The first edition of The Frugal Book Promoter was named USA Book News’ “Best Professional Book” and won the coveted Irwin Award. Now in its second edition, it’s also a USA Book News award winner and received a nod from Dan Poynter’s Global Ebook Awards. Her The FrugalEditor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success was also honored by USA Book News and won Readers’ Views Literary Award. Her marketing campaign for that book won the marketing award from New Generation Indie Book Awards.
Howard-Johnson is the recipient of the California Legislature’s Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award, and her community’s Character and Ethics award for her work promoting tolerance with her writing. She was also named to Pasadena Weekly’s list of 14 women of “San Gabriel Valley women who make life happen” and was given her community’s Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts. 
 

 

4 comments:

Heidiwriter said...

Interesting, Carolyn, tailoring your book cover to a niche market. The idea certainly provokes food for thought! My first two novels are being republished by a new publisher and have new covers. I'll be curious to see if that spikes sales again.

Karen Cioffi said...

Carolyn, this is a great tip and proven book marketing strategy. One writer, an attorney, simply changes the 'state' information and creates a new book for new readers.

Or, redoing the cover can spark more interest.

Thanks for sharing!

Mary Jo Guglielmo said...

Carolyn,
I like the idea of thinking about how you can get more mileage out of the marketing you are already doing.

Magdalena Ball said...

A great suggestion on how to rebrand and sell to different target markets. It pays to pay attention!

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