Comments on: Publisher to author: Web marketing? You’re on your own http://www.alanrinzler.com/blog/2008/07/20/publisher-to-author-web-marketing-youre-on-your-own/ A veteran publishing insider's views on how to get published in today's marketplace Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:53:12 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: Rita Arens http://www.alanrinzler.com/blog/2008/07/20/publisher-to-author-web-marketing-youre-on-your-own/comment-page-1/#comment-133 Rita Arens Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:15:53 +0000 http://alanrinzler.com/blog/2008/07/20/publisher-to-author-web-marketing-youre-on-your-own/#comment-133 Not only are tweets and Web sites important, pinpointing the online opinion leaders in your genre and making sure they have a copy of the book is key. My first book actually has its roots in the blogosphere, and it is still a challenge to ensure I'm using all the social media tools available. It's time-intensive, and I wish daily for more help. Not only are tweets and Web sites important, pinpointing the online opinion leaders in your genre and making sure they have a copy of the book is key. My first book actually has its roots in the blogosphere, and it is still a challenge to ensure I’m using all the social media tools available. It’s time-intensive, and I wish daily for more help.

]]> By: jason http://www.alanrinzler.com/blog/2008/07/20/publisher-to-author-web-marketing-youre-on-your-own/comment-page-1/#comment-132 jason Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:31:32 +0000 http://alanrinzler.com/blog/2008/07/20/publisher-to-author-web-marketing-youre-on-your-own/#comment-132 When we launched our marketing company for creative pros (writers, artists, photographers, designers, etc.) 6 years ago we thought we'd attract more writers than any other category. What we found was the opposite! Why? Two things: 1. little belief in the online realm on the part of the writers (and publishers who felt that by going digital they were diminishing the strength of print); 2. return on investment on the initial cost. There are so many ways to keep the process simple and affordable. The new belief needs to be an understanding of the market's behavior (people read blog to learn about books, more and more so) and to set a fair expectation (not to expect the become immediately famous from online marketing, but that building that type of audience will help in the long run). I'd love to answer the q's of any writer on the topic, feel free to email me jason at wiseelephant.com When we launched our marketing company for creative pros (writers, artists, photographers, designers, etc.) 6 years ago we thought we’d attract more writers than any other category. What we found was the opposite! Why? Two things: 1. little belief in the online realm on the part of the writers (and publishers who felt that by going digital they were diminishing the strength of print); 2. return on investment on the initial cost.

There are so many ways to keep the process simple and affordable. The new belief needs to be an understanding of the market’s behavior (people read blog to learn about books, more and more so) and to set a fair expectation (not to expect the become immediately famous from online marketing, but that building that type of audience will help in the long run).

I’d love to answer the q’s of any writer on the topic, feel free to email me jason at wiseelephant.com

]]> By: Alan Rinzler http://www.alanrinzler.com/blog/2008/07/20/publisher-to-author-web-marketing-youre-on-your-own/comment-page-1/#comment-35 Alan Rinzler Sun, 03 Aug 2008 19:13:34 +0000 http://alanrinzler.com/blog/2008/07/20/publisher-to-author-web-marketing-youre-on-your-own/#comment-35 Dear Tracy, Yes it's amazing how many smart creative authors are just finding out about the power of the internet to connect to their readers and sell their books in ways far more effective than old-fashioned marketing methods. It's a new world with lots of opportunities for the writer. But from what I'm seeing, publishers need to provide more dedicated staff, just as we do for jacket design and national media publicity. For us, this would mean real marketing budget dollars to hire more experts who know how to help set up web sites and blogs and also help sustain such author efforts. Dear Tracy, Yes it’s amazing how many smart creative authors are just finding out about the power of the internet to connect to their readers and sell their books in ways far more effective than old-fashioned marketing methods. It’s a new world with lots of opportunities for the writer.

But from what I’m seeing, publishers need to provide more dedicated staff, just as we do for jacket design and national media publicity. For us, this would mean real marketing budget dollars to hire more experts who know how to help set up web sites and blogs and also help sustain such author efforts.

]]> By: Tracy Coenen http://www.alanrinzler.com/blog/2008/07/20/publisher-to-author-web-marketing-youre-on-your-own/comment-page-1/#comment-34 Tracy Coenen Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:05:56 +0000 http://alanrinzler.com/blog/2008/07/20/publisher-to-author-web-marketing-youre-on-your-own/#comment-34 Imagine my surprise when I started telling other authors about the website I was creating for my book, and they looked dumbfounded... So many authors have no idea how to market their books, and the publishers aren't telling them what to do. I don't care that the publishers don't do more of the hands-on marketing. I just wish they'd help the authors figure out what needs to be done. Imagine my surprise when I started telling other authors about the website I was creating for my book, and they looked dumbfounded…

So many authors have no idea how to market their books, and the publishers aren’t telling them what to do. I don’t care that the publishers don’t do more of the hands-on marketing. I just wish they’d help the authors figure out what needs to be done.

]]> By: datinggod http://www.alanrinzler.com/blog/2008/07/20/publisher-to-author-web-marketing-youre-on-your-own/comment-page-1/#comment-28 datinggod Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:27:35 +0000 http://alanrinzler.com/blog/2008/07/20/publisher-to-author-web-marketing-youre-on-your-own/#comment-28 typepad.com has great templates too. they have a new feature called "pages" for blogs which gives them more of the flexibility of a regular web site. i use typepad for both my blog and my holistic biz site, and they are easy to use, update, fun to play with a tweak. having a website isn't difficult like it used to be . . . (though publicizing them still takes a lot of sweat equity :) (though twitter is a hoot . . . it's an art form into itself . . . :) typepad.com has great templates too. they have a new feature called “pages” for blogs which gives them more of the flexibility of a regular web site. i use typepad for both my blog and my holistic biz site, and they are easy to use, update, fun to play with a tweak. having a website isn’t difficult like it used to be . . . (though publicizing them still takes a lot of sweat equity :) (though twitter is a hoot . . . it’s an art form into itself . . . :)

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