Broken Frontier

Last week’s column really got to me.  I went from getting ready to shop around projects to self-publishing magnate over the course of one column.  Magnate is a bit of an exaggeration.  My company decided to add a second book to our schedule.  It’s the oft mentioned “Elk’s Run”. I’ll leave it to you to step over in the FI forum and follow the link to see what it’s all about.  In other words, the promised “Con Season” column is pushed off till next week, because I got some stuff to get off my chest.

So, we decided to publish. And I haven’t slept a full night since.  The interesting thing about my situation is that I have already built a small reputation, thanks in part to the critical (and to a point commercial) success of my first book. BUT, it was an anthology and while I contributed to it, my primary role on the book was organizational and choosing content.  Having my own project, scripted by me, with another (supremely talented but) unknown art team, in a lot of ways puts me back into the “First Impressions” stage again.  And it’s REALLY important that that first impression is a good one.

The first thing we’ve done is try to solicit other pros for “blurbs” for our advertising and packaging of the book.  If you have a good product and can write a genuine and graceful e-mail then it shouldn’t be a problem.  I’ve heard plenty of stories of guys with nothing up their sleeve getting big name professionals to do quotes and sometimes even forwards.  This is an industry of guys who were once all you and me and who know what it’s like to try to break in.  Use your passion for the creator’s work, but try not to embarrass yourself. 

I had a great conversation with a pro this weekend about taking around one of his friends to meet other professionals.  The friend wanted to bring along books for the creators to sign and was all giddy at the prospect.  These things are no can dos.  It’s fine to let someone know how much you respect their work, but anything above that can really make them feel uncomfortable at the least.

Alright, so let’s say you can’t get good quotes. What should do? We’ve had a bit of success using a very non-traditional method.  Once we get approval from Diamond that our book will be listed, we looked at the average numbers for a book like ours.  Then, using that estimate, we pre-printed the book.  Now, with those books in hand BEFORE the solicitation hits stands, we sent out copies to retailers through Diamond’s retailer distribution channels (which cost a nominal fee considering the spread you get) and sent copies (not photocopies or PDF’s, but ACTUAL HARD COPIES) out to every single critic, website, print outlet, etc., we could find.  This helps get the word out on a book and lets the retailer see it’s “not just some independent piece of crap” (which is how many of the retailers responded to our pre-ship.)

If you’ve already pre-printed the book, the other truly excellent way to promote a book when you’re unknown is by going to conventions.  Not the local shows, so much, but the big ones.  The Wizard shows, San Diego, APE, SPX, etc.  Now, sure, it costs a small fortune, but, number one, if you actually have profit and you’re smart about how you do the shows, you can actually make your money more or less back, and it gets word of mouth going about your book.  More on this stuff next week.

The bottom line, much like Val Staples states in his latest column, self-publishing isn’t going to make you a fortune, but I’ve found that doing the right steps on the promotion and marketing side will help you not lose money and it showcases that you really are ready to “play with the big boys.”

See you in seven.