AAW Writers Helping Writer’s Series: Part 3- The Princess of Guerilla Marketing, Linda Dominique Grosvenor - Page 5
© Dee Y. Stewart
As a new author, you'll probably never get that kind of influence out the gate unless you have an agent that will risk losing the deal if you don't get say on the cover, etc. Most agents would advise against that. I didn't necessarily love all of my covers but as an author the most important thing is to learn how to work what you've got.
What might a new author reasonably expect from a publisher in terms of a budget?
Postcards! There really is no budget for new authors unless you are a former journalist and have made a name for yourself in print prior to the debut of your first book. The budget and risk is in publishing your book in the first place. Not to be bleak however, if the publisher is kind or feeling rather generous you may let them know you have a list of reviewers who are willing to review the book and see if they'll fork over a stack of review copies. I've tried to have reviewers contact my past publisher for review copies on several occasions and found out that once a book is out the door, the publisher is on to the next book so I've taken to requesting review copies in advance because once the review copies are gone they're gone and you really have no way to find out who they've sent them to. In their defense, they have hundreds of releases per year so there is really no individualized attention for new authors. Again, you've got to learn to work with what you've got. No writer/publisher relationship is perfect. None.
If you had one thing you could tell an author about the process, what would it be?
The process of promotion is a fun one and they should embrace it with both arms--they'll have more fun with their books that way and the experience will be a whole lot better. Don't publish or write a book for the money--money is sometimes slow coming and you often have to put out more money promoting the book at first to get the momentum going. There is so much you can do with a book and no two are alike even in the same genre. Authors must stop being afraid to promote. It takes more than having a book on a shelf at a bookstore to sell. I say let your imagination take off, tie that imagination streak to your book and let it fly.
 |
