If a debut author gets only a modest advance, and so can expect only modest marketing support from the publisher (and doesn't have the $ to hire an outside publicist), what might the publisher actually DO in that kind of situation? Obviously, they're not paying for any tours (haha) or for any expensive media promotions (hahaha), so what would they most likely do?
(In case it makes a difference, my book will be historical fiction set in an asylum during the American Civil War.)
Hi Zena. The first thing you should do is have an honest conversation with your publisher about what you can expect from their publicity department. Be clear about your goals for the book. In these situations, publishers sometimes leave authors hanging, which is not great, but that's what happens. It's super important to be really up front with them about what you can expect.
Thanks, Kathleen! So there's nothing in particular to *expect* in advance of talking with the the publisher (in the kind of situation I mentioned)? It really varies what they might do?
And, sorry, I'm also not sure what you mean by my goals for the book. My goal would be to get copies of my book into as many readers' hands as possible, given the budget available. ;) What more specific goals of mine would be relevant? Which goals could make any difference to the publicity the publisher gives the book?
Thank you so much for your answer. It's a contemporary adult adventure rom-com (comp titles: Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura or Something Wilder by Christina Lauren). Currently, it's far from its release date. I'll look into digital marketing. Thank you again.
Hi! Thanks for doing this. I’m hoping to begin querying a YA fantasy within the next couple of months, and have been thinking about how to increase my marketability. My question is, how essential is an author social media platform for querying? I’m a psychologist by day so fairly private on social media right now, and although I have a bookstagram I haven’t had much time to do anything with it so don’t have many followers. Will this impact my chances at landing an agent and (hopefully) selling my book? Thank you!
Hi Kate, I feel that publishers are far more forgiving of fiction authors who don’t really have social platforms than nonfiction authors. YA Fantasy is a popular genre, but a crowded one, so make sure your query is top notch. In my experience, marketing is key in this genre, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to trade in your privacy. Explore some YA Fantasy Facebook groups, Bookstagram, and search the hashtag n TikTok just so you can see what’s happening in that space on social media. It’s a good idea to have that knowledge prior to querying in case an agent brings it up.
I am nearing completion of a novel (not querying yet) and appreciate your advice responding to another post-to begin curating and connecting with people who might read the book. Mine is a historical novel based on a true story with romance, royalty, and politics set in Sweden in 1815. Kind of a cross between Bridgerton and Medici. I have an account on X with 500 followers, many of whom are people interested in historical fiction or Swedish history. They are not necessarily readers. At this point, my ideas are to begin to engage on other social media (Facebook groups, maybe) and learn to post on instagram to find readers. I have a large collection of translated letters from the characters in the book and much information about the places they lived. Some of the characters in the book have been the subject of novels and a movie, so the subject is not completely unknown. Rather than posting about my book, I am considering posting about other books in the genre, Swedish royalty and scandals, and a little bit about the history that underlies my story. Do you think Facebook and Instagram are a good place to start to find readers of similar books? I am interesting in planning content and working on my time management to begin learning and building something.
Hi Kelly, first and foremost, you’ve got to refine your description of the book to 3-4 sentences. What you’ve described sounds super interesting, but doesn’t truly tell me what the book is--which makes it tough to give a specific answer. That said, I’d spend the least time on Twitter, more on Instagram. You might even want to try out Threads (it’s connected to Instagram & is the best alternative to Twitter). I’d say find historical fiction Facebook groups & join them. Groups are where most of the engagement occurs on Facebook. Above all, make sure your query letter is an excellent pitch. Publishers are more forgiving of fiction authors for having modest platforms than they are with nonfiction authors.
Thanks, Kathleen, I am going to work on focusing the pitch. When I get to the end of the book, I think a developmental edit and rewrite will help refine the pitch. I am doing the Deep Dive class with the TSNOTYAW team beginning tomorrow and my goal for the course is to come out with a better pitch. It will require gritting my teeth, but I will be brave and begin creating content for social. I look forward to reading your newsletter every week, it has been an eye opener for me. I hope the Jersey floods have subsided. I grew up near the Passaic River in North Jersey and remember leaving my house in a boat several times with the dog and my passport.
Without knowing what kind of book it is, I can’t really say what specifically to spend it on. If you are far enough out from publication, explore hiring someone for digital marketing or PR that your publisher is *not* doing. If its post-publication, it is important to look at why the book didn’t get a lot of attention when it was published and be cautious about where money is spent.
It truly depends on the book. The View sells books for sure, as do CBS Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes. Those are tough to get unless it’s a super compelling story or a high profile author. Morning Shows generally don’t sell books except for their book club picks. Online it’s really a grab bag of things depending on the audience for your book. Podcasts: Pivot, On with Kara Swisher, Jay Shetty’s podcast, Pod Save America--that kind of stuff. The caveat here is that each podcast looks for very specific topics. I’m of the belief that curating the audience for your book and connecting directly with them is even more important than media.
Not really because the segments are so short & they truly want big names. It’s really competitive to book someone because of that. Social proof + sales are two different things.
Kathleen - I come into PR from the perspective of a 3x best-selling author and National TV personality. My last book was published by Hachette. When my last book came out we did a morning show tour and I told a ton of books through Hoda and Jenna, Fox & Friends, and the 700 club. In the mind of book PR, I think I come at it from the perspective of both selling books but also from a branding perspective. My agency only works with entrepreneurial authors and we often work alongside the big 5 publishing companies. Their PR budgets seem very swayed towards only what will sell books, instead of thinking of the author as a whole person and brand. Coming from my perspective as the author, this was always very frustrating to me because I wanted my PR person to do everything they could for me and the book even if it didn't sell a ton of books. That's been our strategy from the beginning at our agency, to sell books, but also to look at the author as a brand and not skim on bookings. We get a lot of out clients on GMA, Today Show, etc and yes it's VERY competitive and hard to get. But the credibility it gets those authors for future segments, speaking engagements which sell more books in the long run, and other opportunities is very fruitful. What is your take on the current model of book PR vs our model?
Hi Kathleen! Is it ever a good idea to publish with a print-on-demand only publisher? In my limited research, it looks like it’s an option to publish quickly and make sure your book never goes out of print, but most bookstores won’t pick up books that can’t be returned and are “print on demand.” I’m afraid it would be so hard to find readers (and thus sell any books) if I go that route but would like to learn more about it as an option. Thanks!
Hi Alice. This is a great question. It’s a bit complicated because it depends on the book, but overall, print-on-demand can be a good solution for some publishers who don’t want to absorb warehouse costs, etc. Some of them use it to see if they get enough interest to do a 1st printing. I don’t feel like it’s great for individual authors yet. It’s not cheap! As for finding readers, that’s something you need to start doing prior to publishing the book. If you’re self-publishing in a genre, it’s a bit easier to do that. Regarding distribution: it’s overrated. Most of the orders come from Amazon. B&N passes on SO many titles & indies are a crap shoot. I wouldn’t get hung up on that part.
I'm sorry to be greedy but I thought of another question for Kathleen and the group. I've been on Substack for about 6 months and not while actively promoting a book (I have a book coming out in 2024, exact release TBD.) I'm wondering if you've seen any book-promo best practices authors have employed on Substack.
It’s still early days for book promo here, but one thing to do is to balance your content so it’s not only about the book. Other things: create a footer for your newsletter with the book cover & embed a link to order it. I’ve found Substack to be a very “you get what you give” platform. I subscribe to a lot of newsletters, share them, comment on them, etc. When you’re building a readership it’s important to participate.
How would you recommending handling promo for fiction that's loosely—ahem—"inspired" by a real-life scandal? Like if you (hypothetically) wrote a rom-com about a Sam Altman-esque CEO getting ousted by his board, except you used to work for him. Asking for a friend 🫣
Indie romance debut under my real name, definitely with a happy ending. I’ve got a minuscule platform of fewer than 3,000 followers across all socials. It’s got plenty of tech satire to be understood as parody, but it won’t be exactly subtle to anyone who’s worked with me. I mean my friend ;)
If it makes a difference, I have a background in marketing, PR, and journalism, so I’m comfortable with promo as long as it’s more tongue-in-cheek than tacky.
Hi Kathleen! When promoting your book pre-launch and trying to drum up pre-orders, where is the best place to link people to? I want to support indie stores so maybe bookshop.org? But Amazon is so easy... Or create a landing page with all buying options? Is it better to zero in on one channel if you want to try making a big impact in pre-orders or is just as effective to cast your net across all channels? Thank you!!
I believe in giving readers all choices, so creating a Linktree with all the options is the best route. Publishers tell authors to offer all the options because it can't look like you are playing favorites. It's also important to remember that consumers don't like to have to click through several times to get to the book, so having one place where those links live is key.
Could you shed some light on what in the world is going on with nonfiction acquisitions? In preliminary and really illuminating conversations I’ve had with big-shot agents, everyone tells me buyers are really risk-averse to nonfiction these days. Are they off?
I am hearing this a lot from authors. Nonfiction sales have been softer than fiction, so publishers are being cautious. They want people with big platforms who can promote the book to their followers--even though algorithms are wonky. They're also looking for people who are big on the speaking circuit, high-profile journalists, political figures, and celebs. The issues begin at the retail level: if nonfiction isn't selling on Amazon or in B&N and indie bookstores, they are less likely to place orders for those books and therefore publishers won't take risks.
Of the tasks that either a publicist or an author can do--not major long lead media, of course, but efforts like setting up bookstore events, pitching essays to niche outlets, outreach to (non-celebrity) book clubs--where would you recommend an author step up first? Or is that a question only an author’s assigned publicist can answer based on their own contacts and preferences?
Not sure if this is helpful, but when my publisher has been hesitant to help with scheduling events, I've done my own stock signings, either with my agent's help communicating with the store in advance or completely spontaneously--just walk in, introduce yourself, sign what they've got. I find this works really well because it also generates content for you and the bookstore if you tell readers on socials where to go; it's a positive feedback loop, and it has the added benefit of encouraging booksellers to handsell your work when you foster a good relationship with them. (Sometimes publishers are also more willing to set up stock signings than actual events because it's much less effort/expenditure.)
You should always coordinate efforts with your publicist. An in-house publicist probably won't pitch essays for you, but they will schedule bookstore events (in most cases). Some marketing departments do outreach to non-celeb book clubs, so you can ask your agent/editor if that is being done for your book. It doesn't mean you shouldn't reach out to book clubs--just make sure you aren't doubling up. The areas of focus for an author should be anything that elevates their profile, which is what essays/opinion pieces do. The other thing I tell clients is that if they are not going to actively participate on a social media platform, they should find what I call "digital surrogates." A digital surrogate is someone who has a robust social following and can post about your book. This way, you don't have to feel like you are being forced to do social media when you don't want to.
First off, thank you so much for offering this book therapy thread! Very generous of you! I've been querying my first novel (upmarket fiction) for the past few months to mixed feedback. I think I need to do another edit on the book before sending out another round, but wow, the traditional publishing route is so intense. My question is around self-publishing. I've been reading many of the "publishing predictions" (including yours, which was amazing) and it seems like self publishing may soon surge even more. Do you think this is mostly around genre fiction? Or do you think we will start to see more upmarket/book club fiction self published and do well? I ask because my goal is readers in my target audience, not necessarily money. (I've come to terms that I'll have to have another main source of income as a writer). But given that traditional publishers are spending less and less on marketing, I'm wondering what path is best? I have a background in content marketing, so could theoretically apply those skills to my own work. Everything just seems to be at a juncture (although maybe that's still a ways out?) Sorry this was long-winded (need more coffee!), but thank you in advance for your thoughts!
Great question! Here's my honest opinion: Self-publishing lends itself well to genre fiction. I hope to see that change, but I'm not sure when it will. My prediction is within the next 5 years. If the traditional publishing route isn't working, you might want to think about hybrid publishing or small presses. What you need to remember about going the hybrid route is that you'll have to hire something resembling a team to do marketing and publicity. You'll also need to put up a financial investment to get the book published. I'd work on another edit of the book and see how that goes before considering other options.
Is there a way to get a book deal for a “normal” book? No major concept, not dystopian, not fantasy or sci fi. For example, a book about a woman who is dealing with her elderly mothers health issues and her teenage sons problems at school. Or a woman who is burnt out and goes on a weekend painting retreat to rediscover herself
These are very general descriptions, so it would be tough to say yes or no. What I do know is that something with a high-concept is more likely to catch an agent or editor's attention. There are millions of books published every year, so whatever you are writing has to be excellent and not the story that someone can read elsewhere. Both scenarios you described have been done in various books one way or another, so those would be tough to sell.
I am in the process of writing a history of the late 1920s. I hope to be at the stage of having enough edited material to seek an agent to help me find a suitable (I.e. interested) publisher by early this summer. What is the best resource to search for an appropriate agent who specializes in U.S. history.
A subscription to Publisher's Marketplace or use Query Tracker (it is free). Make sure you look at who the agents were for your comp titles because that is a good place to start.
If a debut author gets only a modest advance, and so can expect only modest marketing support from the publisher (and doesn't have the $ to hire an outside publicist), what might the publisher actually DO in that kind of situation? Obviously, they're not paying for any tours (haha) or for any expensive media promotions (hahaha), so what would they most likely do?
(In case it makes a difference, my book will be historical fiction set in an asylum during the American Civil War.)
Thanks for doing this Q&A!
Hi Zena. The first thing you should do is have an honest conversation with your publisher about what you can expect from their publicity department. Be clear about your goals for the book. In these situations, publishers sometimes leave authors hanging, which is not great, but that's what happens. It's super important to be really up front with them about what you can expect.
Thanks, Kathleen! So there's nothing in particular to *expect* in advance of talking with the the publisher (in the kind of situation I mentioned)? It really varies what they might do?
And, sorry, I'm also not sure what you mean by my goals for the book. My goal would be to get copies of my book into as many readers' hands as possible, given the budget available. ;) What more specific goals of mine would be relevant? Which goals could make any difference to the publicity the publisher gives the book?
Thanks! And sorry if I'm being dense.
Thank you so much for your answer. It's a contemporary adult adventure rom-com (comp titles: Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura or Something Wilder by Christina Lauren). Currently, it's far from its release date. I'll look into digital marketing. Thank you again.
Look at Leo PR. They do Christina Lauren’s publicity.
Thank you! :)
Hi! Thanks for doing this. I’m hoping to begin querying a YA fantasy within the next couple of months, and have been thinking about how to increase my marketability. My question is, how essential is an author social media platform for querying? I’m a psychologist by day so fairly private on social media right now, and although I have a bookstagram I haven’t had much time to do anything with it so don’t have many followers. Will this impact my chances at landing an agent and (hopefully) selling my book? Thank you!
Hi Kate, I feel that publishers are far more forgiving of fiction authors who don’t really have social platforms than nonfiction authors. YA Fantasy is a popular genre, but a crowded one, so make sure your query is top notch. In my experience, marketing is key in this genre, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to trade in your privacy. Explore some YA Fantasy Facebook groups, Bookstagram, and search the hashtag n TikTok just so you can see what’s happening in that space on social media. It’s a good idea to have that knowledge prior to querying in case an agent brings it up.
Thank you so much!!!
I am nearing completion of a novel (not querying yet) and appreciate your advice responding to another post-to begin curating and connecting with people who might read the book. Mine is a historical novel based on a true story with romance, royalty, and politics set in Sweden in 1815. Kind of a cross between Bridgerton and Medici. I have an account on X with 500 followers, many of whom are people interested in historical fiction or Swedish history. They are not necessarily readers. At this point, my ideas are to begin to engage on other social media (Facebook groups, maybe) and learn to post on instagram to find readers. I have a large collection of translated letters from the characters in the book and much information about the places they lived. Some of the characters in the book have been the subject of novels and a movie, so the subject is not completely unknown. Rather than posting about my book, I am considering posting about other books in the genre, Swedish royalty and scandals, and a little bit about the history that underlies my story. Do you think Facebook and Instagram are a good place to start to find readers of similar books? I am interesting in planning content and working on my time management to begin learning and building something.
Hi Kelly, first and foremost, you’ve got to refine your description of the book to 3-4 sentences. What you’ve described sounds super interesting, but doesn’t truly tell me what the book is--which makes it tough to give a specific answer. That said, I’d spend the least time on Twitter, more on Instagram. You might even want to try out Threads (it’s connected to Instagram & is the best alternative to Twitter). I’d say find historical fiction Facebook groups & join them. Groups are where most of the engagement occurs on Facebook. Above all, make sure your query letter is an excellent pitch. Publishers are more forgiving of fiction authors for having modest platforms than they are with nonfiction authors.
Thanks, Kathleen, I am going to work on focusing the pitch. When I get to the end of the book, I think a developmental edit and rewrite will help refine the pitch. I am doing the Deep Dive class with the TSNOTYAW team beginning tomorrow and my goal for the course is to come out with a better pitch. It will require gritting my teeth, but I will be brave and begin creating content for social. I look forward to reading your newsletter every week, it has been an eye opener for me. I hope the Jersey floods have subsided. I grew up near the Passaic River in North Jersey and remember leaving my house in a boat several times with the dog and my passport.
Hello,
If an author has some saved money to help their book succeed, how would you recommend that money be used? Thank you.
Without knowing what kind of book it is, I can’t really say what specifically to spend it on. If you are far enough out from publication, explore hiring someone for digital marketing or PR that your publisher is *not* doing. If its post-publication, it is important to look at why the book didn’t get a lot of attention when it was published and be cautious about where money is spent.
What would you say are the best mediums for book sales? TV, podcasts, online? What are the TV shows that sell the most amount of books?
It truly depends on the book. The View sells books for sure, as do CBS Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes. Those are tough to get unless it’s a super compelling story or a high profile author. Morning Shows generally don’t sell books except for their book club picks. Online it’s really a grab bag of things depending on the audience for your book. Podcasts: Pivot, On with Kara Swisher, Jay Shetty’s podcast, Pod Save America--that kind of stuff. The caveat here is that each podcast looks for very specific topics. I’m of the belief that curating the audience for your book and connecting directly with them is even more important than media.
Thank you - The social proof of a morning show to jump start a tour is good though for social media proof. Don't you think?
Not really because the segments are so short & they truly want big names. It’s really competitive to book someone because of that. Social proof + sales are two different things.
Kathleen - I come into PR from the perspective of a 3x best-selling author and National TV personality. My last book was published by Hachette. When my last book came out we did a morning show tour and I told a ton of books through Hoda and Jenna, Fox & Friends, and the 700 club. In the mind of book PR, I think I come at it from the perspective of both selling books but also from a branding perspective. My agency only works with entrepreneurial authors and we often work alongside the big 5 publishing companies. Their PR budgets seem very swayed towards only what will sell books, instead of thinking of the author as a whole person and brand. Coming from my perspective as the author, this was always very frustrating to me because I wanted my PR person to do everything they could for me and the book even if it didn't sell a ton of books. That's been our strategy from the beginning at our agency, to sell books, but also to look at the author as a brand and not skim on bookings. We get a lot of out clients on GMA, Today Show, etc and yes it's VERY competitive and hard to get. But the credibility it gets those authors for future segments, speaking engagements which sell more books in the long run, and other opportunities is very fruitful. What is your take on the current model of book PR vs our model?
Also thank you! This is a terrific service.
Aww, thank you! I'm really happy by the response it got today!
Hi Kathleen! Is it ever a good idea to publish with a print-on-demand only publisher? In my limited research, it looks like it’s an option to publish quickly and make sure your book never goes out of print, but most bookstores won’t pick up books that can’t be returned and are “print on demand.” I’m afraid it would be so hard to find readers (and thus sell any books) if I go that route but would like to learn more about it as an option. Thanks!
Hi Alice. This is a great question. It’s a bit complicated because it depends on the book, but overall, print-on-demand can be a good solution for some publishers who don’t want to absorb warehouse costs, etc. Some of them use it to see if they get enough interest to do a 1st printing. I don’t feel like it’s great for individual authors yet. It’s not cheap! As for finding readers, that’s something you need to start doing prior to publishing the book. If you’re self-publishing in a genre, it’s a bit easier to do that. Regarding distribution: it’s overrated. Most of the orders come from Amazon. B&N passes on SO many titles & indies are a crap shoot. I wouldn’t get hung up on that part.
I'm sorry to be greedy but I thought of another question for Kathleen and the group. I've been on Substack for about 6 months and not while actively promoting a book (I have a book coming out in 2024, exact release TBD.) I'm wondering if you've seen any book-promo best practices authors have employed on Substack.
It’s still early days for book promo here, but one thing to do is to balance your content so it’s not only about the book. Other things: create a footer for your newsletter with the book cover & embed a link to order it. I’ve found Substack to be a very “you get what you give” platform. I subscribe to a lot of newsletters, share them, comment on them, etc. When you’re building a readership it’s important to participate.
How would you recommending handling promo for fiction that's loosely—ahem—"inspired" by a real-life scandal? Like if you (hypothetically) wrote a rom-com about a Sam Altman-esque CEO getting ousted by his board, except you used to work for him. Asking for a friend 🫣
Tell me more. Does it have a happy ending? Do you have a platform? First book?
Indie romance debut under my real name, definitely with a happy ending. I’ve got a minuscule platform of fewer than 3,000 followers across all socials. It’s got plenty of tech satire to be understood as parody, but it won’t be exactly subtle to anyone who’s worked with me. I mean my friend ;)
If it makes a difference, I have a background in marketing, PR, and journalism, so I’m comfortable with promo as long as it’s more tongue-in-cheek than tacky.
Hi Kathleen! When promoting your book pre-launch and trying to drum up pre-orders, where is the best place to link people to? I want to support indie stores so maybe bookshop.org? But Amazon is so easy... Or create a landing page with all buying options? Is it better to zero in on one channel if you want to try making a big impact in pre-orders or is just as effective to cast your net across all channels? Thank you!!
I believe in giving readers all choices, so creating a Linktree with all the options is the best route. Publishers tell authors to offer all the options because it can't look like you are playing favorites. It's also important to remember that consumers don't like to have to click through several times to get to the book, so having one place where those links live is key.
Could you shed some light on what in the world is going on with nonfiction acquisitions? In preliminary and really illuminating conversations I’ve had with big-shot agents, everyone tells me buyers are really risk-averse to nonfiction these days. Are they off?
I am hearing this a lot from authors. Nonfiction sales have been softer than fiction, so publishers are being cautious. They want people with big platforms who can promote the book to their followers--even though algorithms are wonky. They're also looking for people who are big on the speaking circuit, high-profile journalists, political figures, and celebs. The issues begin at the retail level: if nonfiction isn't selling on Amazon or in B&N and indie bookstores, they are less likely to place orders for those books and therefore publishers won't take risks.
Of the tasks that either a publicist or an author can do--not major long lead media, of course, but efforts like setting up bookstore events, pitching essays to niche outlets, outreach to (non-celebrity) book clubs--where would you recommend an author step up first? Or is that a question only an author’s assigned publicist can answer based on their own contacts and preferences?
Not sure if this is helpful, but when my publisher has been hesitant to help with scheduling events, I've done my own stock signings, either with my agent's help communicating with the store in advance or completely spontaneously--just walk in, introduce yourself, sign what they've got. I find this works really well because it also generates content for you and the bookstore if you tell readers on socials where to go; it's a positive feedback loop, and it has the added benefit of encouraging booksellers to handsell your work when you foster a good relationship with them. (Sometimes publishers are also more willing to set up stock signings than actual events because it's much less effort/expenditure.)
You should always coordinate efforts with your publicist. An in-house publicist probably won't pitch essays for you, but they will schedule bookstore events (in most cases). Some marketing departments do outreach to non-celeb book clubs, so you can ask your agent/editor if that is being done for your book. It doesn't mean you shouldn't reach out to book clubs--just make sure you aren't doubling up. The areas of focus for an author should be anything that elevates their profile, which is what essays/opinion pieces do. The other thing I tell clients is that if they are not going to actively participate on a social media platform, they should find what I call "digital surrogates." A digital surrogate is someone who has a robust social following and can post about your book. This way, you don't have to feel like you are being forced to do social media when you don't want to.
A deep dive into digital surrogates (how to find and reach out to them, criteria, examples) would be fascinating to read!
I’ll think about how to write that.
First off, thank you so much for offering this book therapy thread! Very generous of you! I've been querying my first novel (upmarket fiction) for the past few months to mixed feedback. I think I need to do another edit on the book before sending out another round, but wow, the traditional publishing route is so intense. My question is around self-publishing. I've been reading many of the "publishing predictions" (including yours, which was amazing) and it seems like self publishing may soon surge even more. Do you think this is mostly around genre fiction? Or do you think we will start to see more upmarket/book club fiction self published and do well? I ask because my goal is readers in my target audience, not necessarily money. (I've come to terms that I'll have to have another main source of income as a writer). But given that traditional publishers are spending less and less on marketing, I'm wondering what path is best? I have a background in content marketing, so could theoretically apply those skills to my own work. Everything just seems to be at a juncture (although maybe that's still a ways out?) Sorry this was long-winded (need more coffee!), but thank you in advance for your thoughts!
Great question! Here's my honest opinion: Self-publishing lends itself well to genre fiction. I hope to see that change, but I'm not sure when it will. My prediction is within the next 5 years. If the traditional publishing route isn't working, you might want to think about hybrid publishing or small presses. What you need to remember about going the hybrid route is that you'll have to hire something resembling a team to do marketing and publicity. You'll also need to put up a financial investment to get the book published. I'd work on another edit of the book and see how that goes before considering other options.
Extremely helpful insights, thank you!
Is there a way to get a book deal for a “normal” book? No major concept, not dystopian, not fantasy or sci fi. For example, a book about a woman who is dealing with her elderly mothers health issues and her teenage sons problems at school. Or a woman who is burnt out and goes on a weekend painting retreat to rediscover herself
These are very general descriptions, so it would be tough to say yes or no. What I do know is that something with a high-concept is more likely to catch an agent or editor's attention. There are millions of books published every year, so whatever you are writing has to be excellent and not the story that someone can read elsewhere. Both scenarios you described have been done in various books one way or another, so those would be tough to sell.
I am in the process of writing a history of the late 1920s. I hope to be at the stage of having enough edited material to seek an agent to help me find a suitable (I.e. interested) publisher by early this summer. What is the best resource to search for an appropriate agent who specializes in U.S. history.
A subscription to Publisher's Marketplace or use Query Tracker (it is free). Make sure you look at who the agents were for your comp titles because that is a good place to start.