By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Excerpted from Carolyn’s How
to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically: The ins and outs of using free reviews to build and
sustain a writing career
You need this article! Here’s why:
In spite of a contract or even an advance, your publisher may not be a true publisher. True publishing includesthe marketing of a book. Think big names like HarperCollins, Knopf, and Writers’
Digest, the publisher of Nina Amir’s books like Creative Visualization for Writers. They assign a marketing budget to your book and an actual marketing department complete with actual human-type marketers who are trained in the specialized field of not just marketing, but marketing books. Except for those who write only for pleasure, there is no reason to publish a book that doesn’t get read.
Even sadder: Those big publishers need their authors’ help,
too. No matter how they are published, authors can’t count on a free
lunch when it comes to the marketing their book. That’s especially true when it
comes to the getting of reviews—the kind of reviews that keep a book alive.
Some publishers—even traditional publishers—may not respect
tradition, be uncooperative or goof. One of my writing critique
partners was published with a fine press. When she learned they had not sent
advance review copies of her literary novel to the most prestigious review
journals before their strict sixteen-week deadline, she was naturally upset.
They explained it was a snafu that could not be fixed. That was no comfort at
all. It did help her to know that because thousands of galleys
sent to the important review publications lie fallow in slush piles, the
chances of having a book reviewed by a major journal—even one published
traditionally let alone getting a glowing review—is remote. Because she had me
to nag her, she moved on to alternative marketing and review-getting strategies
found in the flagship book of my multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series
of book for writer, The Frugal Book Promoter, third edition
from Modern History Press, using my backdoor review-getting method.
Soon after my writing-friend’s experience, I realized that
what authors need to know about reviews deserved a full book. I knew early on
that reviews are the meat and potatoes of marketing for books. What I didn’t
know is that reviews are a magic ingredient from beyond the launch to reviving
a book that should by now be a classic but sadly isn’t! That resulted in
my How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically: The ins and
outs of using free reviews to build and sustain a writing career, a
real tome of more than 300 pages of easy reading. It covers everything an
author needs to know about reviews—their easy-to-do and do-it-by-yourself
powerhouse for successful writing careers.
These days most small publishers have no marketing
department—or marketing plan. In fact, many admit that when it comes to
marketing, you are on your own. No offense, publishers. I know many of you do a
terrific job considering the profit margin in publishing these days. Let’s face
it, you can use help, and you don’t need to deal with disappointed (irate?)
authors. And, authors! We are ultimately responsible for our own careers.
Sometimes when we wait to take responsibility, it is too late in the publishing
game.
Some publishers charge the author an additional or separate
fee for marketing. Many who offer marketing packages do not offer a
review-getting package. If they do, the review their authors get is a paid-for
review, which is definitely not the route you want to go. More
on that later in a complete chapter on getting ethical reviews in , How
to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically. You know, the kind
of reviews that influencers like librarians and bookstore buyers respect.
Many publishers do not even have lists of people to contact
who might help your marketing with endorsements or reviews. Further, many big
publishers are relying on bloggers for their review process more and more as
print journals and newspaper book sections shrink or disappear and as they
begin to understand that grassroots publicity—reviews or otherwise—can produce
a very green crop. And bloggers? Well, that’s a resource pool you can easily plumb
yourself.
My first publisher supplied review copies only upon written
request from individual reviewers. They did not honor requests generated by
their authors’ initiatives. This meant that I could not count on them to supply
books to reviewers I had successfully queried for a review. Unless the reviewer
accepted e-copies (and many reviewers don’t!), I had to order copies directly
from the publisher and then reship them to my reviewers. This method is slow,
cumbersome, unnecessarily expensive, unprofessional, and discourages authors
from trying to get reviews on their own.
Publishers should offer review copies to a
list of reviewers—even unestablished grassroots bloggers—who have been
responsive to their authors in the past. And they certainly should not charge
an author for review copies. Publishers have a profit margin and publicity
obtained by their authors (including reviews) affects their bottom line, too.
They should send their author a thank you (or a red rose!) along with
encouragement to keep up the good work
And about the idea that the very definition that
“publishing” includes marketing: That means that even if they are too small or
underfunded to have a marketing department, they should have a list of
reviewers to query for reviews, a list of influential people to provide blurbs
for your cover, access to book cover designers (not just great graphic
designers) who know what sells books, and a whole lot more. Ask potential
publishers about their marketing process before you sign, but—even if you feel
assured after having that conversation—it’s best to assume you may be on your
own.
So, the marketing part of your book that includes finding
the right reviewers to read and comment on your book will—in most cases—be up
to you and well within your skill set after reading this book.
And even when you have the luxury of a marketing department behind you, those
authors who know how to get reviews on their own can keep a book alive for an
infinite amount of time after their publishers relegate their books to a
backlist or their contract expires.
Note: If it is too late to apply this information to the
process you use in choosing a publisher, tactfully take hold and guide the
publisher you have through the review process. There are lots of ways to do
that in this book. I love Nike’s advice to “Just do it!” only I add “yourself”
to the motto. Many publishers are in your employ. You may be paying them for
services. At the very least, when your book sells, it makes money for the
publisher. You don’t have to ask for permission (though it never hurts to
listen to their reasoning before you make a decision).
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson 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 many classes she taught
for nearly a decade as instructor for UCLA Extension’s world-renown Writers’
Program. The books in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers have
won multiple awards. That series includes both the first and second editions
of The Frugal Book Promoter and The Frugal Editor won awards from USA Book News, Readers’ Views Literary
Award, the marketing award from Next Generation Indie Books and others
including the coveted Irwin award.
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 “Fourteen San Gabriel Valley women who make life
happen” and was given her community’s Diamond Award for Achievement in the
Arts.
The
author loves to travel. She has visited more than ninety countries and has
studied writing at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom; Herzen
University in St. Petersburg, Russia; and Charles University, Prague. She
admits to carrying a pen and journal wherever she goes. Her website, https://howtodoitfrugally.com,
includes a media room. Yours should, too!
Cover
Photo by Joy V. Smith
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