Is There a Smarter Way to Publish?

Rudy Shur of Square One Press thinks so, as do Robert Rosenwald of Poisoned Pen Press, travel writer and marketing expert Pam Swarz, and a growing number of other publishers.

The old publishing style is the one with which we’re all familiar: sign a great manuscript, pour everything you can into national pre- and postpublication marketing, announce a huge release, watch the book hopefully fly off bookstore shelves and out of Internet store warehouses for a few months, give it a few more months to a year to die a quiet death, and relegate it to remainders or out of print (OOP) status within 24 months.

But unless you happen to be sitting on top of the eighth Harry Potter book, this approach just isn’t costeffective—or very smart, according to Shur—for most independent publishers.

So what is the smarter way to publish?

There are two types of publishers, Shur explains. The old publishing style is the frontlist publisher, focusing only on the new releases. Backlist books, if not taken out of print, are stuck in small print in the back of the catalog. The smart publishing style is the backlist publisher.

The backlist publisher is focused not only on new releases, but also on backlist titles continuing to sell well over years. Certain types of books, such as children’s titles, fiction, history, biography, and memoir among others, rarely become obsolete. They will always be new to someone, to children growing into the target reading age or to adults discovering interests in your subject matter. The backlist publisher doesn’t relegate backlist titles; the backlist publisher re-energizes them and continues to sell them successfully for years.

But how? There are four basic areas to consider:

Catalog

First, don’t put older books in the back. Provide a photo of the cover and author, the author’s bio, all of the information you’d provide for a newer release except the pub date. The point is to not draw attention to how old the book is, but to present it in a new way, to attract the interest of people who haven’t seen it before. It’s a new book to those people.

Second, consider a series of similar type books or related topics. Or create a mini catalog tailored to a specific holiday, time of year, topic, or other niche and send it out to your regular mailing list, promoting all books in the mini catalog equally, no matter how old or new.

Marketing

It’s most important to get creative. Use non-selling books as promos. Create a book of the month club for your readers and use older books interspersed with newer ones. Consider from the onset of publication how you might market that book years from now, including a revision and update schedule. Develop strategic partners.

Use technology. This can mean having the author submit articles on a related topic in both online and print journals and magazines. Help your author(s) build a platform, including increasing their credibility and speaking opportunities. Build an optimized website. Write a blog and offer spots for guest writers or interview other authors. Write book reviews.

Take advantage of secondary markets such as book fairs, conventions, excerpts in related magazines, and well-placed advertising.

Readers

The first rule is to know your audience. Build a base of readers, not only of your books but also of your website and/or blog. Attend conventions that your readers attend. Offer promotions such as bundling older books with newer ones, especially in a series or from the same author. What can you give your readers that will have them coming back? Nurture those relationships;
they may wind up helping you in the future.

Editions

Sometimes the book is just old. Outdated, obsolete. In that case, depending on what is appropriate, consider a new cover. If it was published in hardcover, release it as softcover or vice versa. When you first go to print, anticipate these possibilities by writing the copyright page to include hardcover, softcover, perhaps even ebook or audio ISBNs. This way you don’t have to reprint the copyright page or the entire book.

Use newer technology such as digital printing to maintain stock between print runs, or to keep a slower-selling book in print. And if the content itself is old, release a new edition.

The bottom line is to continually find new and creative ways to offer older books to your always-changing readers. Just because the titles are old to you does not mean they’re necessarily old to everyone. And think long-term. Start small and work on growing your business, growing your readership, and aiming for a backlist that will support your company even as you prepare for newer frontlist releases.

---

This is the first in the "What I Learned at PMA-U/BEA" series by Sheyna Galyan of Yaldah Publishing. Stay tuned for future entries in this series, which will run through spring 2008.