Good post and advice, but one point I will gently counter. I am a reviewer and if an author told me how to start their review, I would be very annoyed.
The great small presses need a separate review with lead titles and best of the year. On a personal note, i am looking for some advice as a book publicist. Let me know if you could spare 20 minutes and cost?
The one exception I will offer is children's books will not sell without reviews. Libraries and schools won't order books without trade (Kirkus/SLJ/Booklist) reviews, and a star can be an automatic buy.
That said, so much of what you said applies to kid's books as well. Trade reviews are a minimum barrier of entry, and the KidLit world is full of creators (authors and illustrators) who have fantastic platforms where they interact with librarians, educators, booksellers, parents and other fans/gatekeepers who buy books for kids.
I wish I'd had this post a year ago! It's helpful to hear insights into the symbiotic relationship between the two. I went after reviews during the pre-sales period (ARCs, Kirkus, BookLife, etc.), which helped. Social media is still frustrating and feels like a time-sink, though Facebook ads have helped grow sales at a steady rate.
Thank you Kathleen. I'd love for you to do a similar post on whether awards have any effect on sales. It's gotten expensive to submit my book to awards and I wonder if it's worth it in terms of sales. Thank you.
Soooo many awards are "Schmawards." Savvy readers and bookbuyers are not impressed by "award-winning" any more than "best-selling." Be very judicious about what awards you're submitting for.
I think it depends on what happened for the book before it won an award. It also depends on the award. Some books that win awards were already well-received while others are more obscure. If I had access to Bookscan, it would be easier to write a post about it. I feel like anything I write about awards needs to be backed by data.
I'm wondering about this, too. It's nice to have something to talk about on social media, and it validates that your book is of good quality and worth buying.
I had great reviews but limited sales for my first novel, which led to a low advance and limited push (from the publisher) for my second. I had no inkling of the amount of promotion and connection I needed to be doing; felt embarrassed about that. But here I am building a platform and actually enjoying myself.
This is super helpful, as always . I think sometimes the message to fiction writers is “wait” to build a platform for yourself until you actually have a book deal and the publishers decides how they want to brand you- but what I’m hearing you say is the opposite , and that fiction writers should have a platform regardless of where their book is in the publishing process. That’s something I definitely needed to hear and it gives me some action steps to take
That is such terrible advice. Your platform should be authentic to you as a writer/person and not subject to the branding/positioning of your book.
I had an author from a small publisher referred to me for marketing/publicity work who had just done a podcast interview. The podcaster had asked her for her social links, and... she didn't have any.
I was flummoxed that a publisher would publish a non-fiction author with no social following, and of they did, that they hadn't been working with her for months to build her platform.
I basically told her, "It's almost worse to start now and have 2 followers than to not have any social presence at all."
Building a following/community/voice/credibility on social takes time, often a lot longer than the year or two you'll have between your deal and publication.
I can tell you as a fiction writer I have been told on more than one occasion by people “in the business” (workshops,etc)that as a fiction writer one should focus on selling the book, not the author and that social media can be a waste of time. But now in retrospect it seems like of course stupid me how could it hurt and it might even help. So I feel a little bit like I’ve wasted time but I can still take action now.
if I can ask a follow up question - why don’t some agents/ publishers light that fire with fiction writers and instead kind of shrug or curl their nose up at the idea? Doesn’t everyone want sales ?
One of the reasons I write this newsletter is because I know these things are not being communicated to authors. I don't know why everyone is so afraid to tell the truth!
I'm with a small indie press and had few reviews, but my book is doing OK in sales (mainly through local independent bookstores here in Canada and the UK). I'm not sure I'm doing very well in the US market yet, but I'm continuing to seek out opportunities and build my platform. As you say...it's the long game! I would SO much rather sales than reviews!!
I really appreciate this post. The question, sales or reviews?, clarified my motivation instantly and made the work ahead feel practical, doable, and purposeful. 💖
Good post and advice, but one point I will gently counter. I am a reviewer and if an author told me how to start their review, I would be very annoyed.
I don’t think I wrote anything like that. It’s a big no-no. A reviewer is different than your friend Bob who doesn’t know where to start.
Thanks! This is helpful.
Thanks for this advice! My first novel comes out on Tuesday so your post is very timely for me!
Thank you for this post! It makes a lot of sense.
The great small presses need a separate review with lead titles and best of the year. On a personal note, i am looking for some advice as a book publicist. Let me know if you could spare 20 minutes and cost?
And this is why in part when I’m curating the monthly book club selection I support backlist books and authors too!
Thank you for once again telling SO. MUCH. TRUTH!
The one exception I will offer is children's books will not sell without reviews. Libraries and schools won't order books without trade (Kirkus/SLJ/Booklist) reviews, and a star can be an automatic buy.
That said, so much of what you said applies to kid's books as well. Trade reviews are a minimum barrier of entry, and the KidLit world is full of creators (authors and illustrators) who have fantastic platforms where they interact with librarians, educators, booksellers, parents and other fans/gatekeepers who buy books for kids.
I wish I'd had this post a year ago! It's helpful to hear insights into the symbiotic relationship between the two. I went after reviews during the pre-sales period (ARCs, Kirkus, BookLife, etc.), which helped. Social media is still frustrating and feels like a time-sink, though Facebook ads have helped grow sales at a steady rate.
Thank you Kathleen. I'd love for you to do a similar post on whether awards have any effect on sales. It's gotten expensive to submit my book to awards and I wonder if it's worth it in terms of sales. Thank you.
Soooo many awards are "Schmawards." Savvy readers and bookbuyers are not impressed by "award-winning" any more than "best-selling." Be very judicious about what awards you're submitting for.
I think it depends on what happened for the book before it won an award. It also depends on the award. Some books that win awards were already well-received while others are more obscure. If I had access to Bookscan, it would be easier to write a post about it. I feel like anything I write about awards needs to be backed by data.
I'm wondering about this, too. It's nice to have something to talk about on social media, and it validates that your book is of good quality and worth buying.
See above.
Excellent advice. Thank you for posting this!
I had great reviews but limited sales for my first novel, which led to a low advance and limited push (from the publisher) for my second. I had no inkling of the amount of promotion and connection I needed to be doing; felt embarrassed about that. But here I am building a platform and actually enjoying myself.
Preach! I feel like a broken record sometimes repeating this advice to authors. It helps to have it come from other voices than just mine.
Thank you! Solidarity!
This is super helpful, as always . I think sometimes the message to fiction writers is “wait” to build a platform for yourself until you actually have a book deal and the publishers decides how they want to brand you- but what I’m hearing you say is the opposite , and that fiction writers should have a platform regardless of where their book is in the publishing process. That’s something I definitely needed to hear and it gives me some action steps to take
That is such terrible advice. Your platform should be authentic to you as a writer/person and not subject to the branding/positioning of your book.
I had an author from a small publisher referred to me for marketing/publicity work who had just done a podcast interview. The podcaster had asked her for her social links, and... she didn't have any.
I was flummoxed that a publisher would publish a non-fiction author with no social following, and of they did, that they hadn't been working with her for months to build her platform.
I basically told her, "It's almost worse to start now and have 2 followers than to not have any social presence at all."
Building a following/community/voice/credibility on social takes time, often a lot longer than the year or two you'll have between your deal and publication.
I can tell you as a fiction writer I have been told on more than one occasion by people “in the business” (workshops,etc)that as a fiction writer one should focus on selling the book, not the author and that social media can be a waste of time. But now in retrospect it seems like of course stupid me how could it hurt and it might even help. So I feel a little bit like I’ve wasted time but I can still take action now.
Yes, the idea is to build your platform no matter where you are in the process.
if I can ask a follow up question - why don’t some agents/ publishers light that fire with fiction writers and instead kind of shrug or curl their nose up at the idea? Doesn’t everyone want sales ?
One of the reasons I write this newsletter is because I know these things are not being communicated to authors. I don't know why everyone is so afraid to tell the truth!
Thank you so much. It’s so appreciated.
I'm with a small indie press and had few reviews, but my book is doing OK in sales (mainly through local independent bookstores here in Canada and the UK). I'm not sure I'm doing very well in the US market yet, but I'm continuing to seek out opportunities and build my platform. As you say...it's the long game! I would SO much rather sales than reviews!!
Great advice for all authors, however we’re published!
I really appreciate this post. The question, sales or reviews?, clarified my motivation instantly and made the work ahead feel practical, doable, and purposeful. 💖
And seconded: The English Teacher is a blast!
I love it.