I have a novel coming out in January with a traditional publisher. It's my 9th book of fiction, a standalone sequel to my last book, which came out in 2021. It's a shorter lead time than I'm accustomed to, as it's not yet available for pre-order and I don't yet have ARCs to send out for blurbs.
I'm not very active on Instagram but feel that I probably should be. The new novel is set in Paris, while the previous one was set in the California suburbs. Question: should my focus be on reviving interest in the first book in the series to lead up to the pre-order window for this one? Or should I perhaps focus on Paris content, which would probably have more traction for potential readers who have never heard of my books? Or should I be doing both? (I've made one instagram post that tries to tie the two together, pinned at instagram.com/michellerichmondsf, and one post pinned to my author Substack).
If I am being honest, since it's been 5 years since the last book, I'd treat the new one as a standalone. Saying it is a standalone sequel can be confusing to readers because of the ambiguity about whether they should read the previous book. I would focus on content about the new book, so yes, Paris content.
The other thing you should do is figure out who the audience is for the new book. Your primary audience is probably people who read the first one, and the secondary audience is people who have not read you but are interested in spy novels set abroad. Then narrow it down to people who like spy novels set in France.
Something interesting to try on Instagram: start posting about the characters in the book so people get to "know" them. You want to give people just enough so the book isn't ruined for them, but they still want to read it.
It is concerning that you do not yet have ARCs for blurbs. If you get to 5 months pre-publication and still don't have them, that is a problem. The book should be up on online retailers' sites by now.
Thanks, Kathleen. This is really helpful. I also find it concerning that I don't have an ARC. For previous books, including my last book with this publisher, I had ARCs 9 months before publication. I'm wondering if I should ask them to push back the publication date.
My question is about how to reposition my book online in order to bring more attention to it.
My novel The Good War came out last year. It has received some positive reviews, most notably from Publisher's Weekly. Set in the summers of 1948 and 1964, it is a story of a mother and a daughter seeking autonomy in art, work, and life and wrestling with the fallout of WWII and related family myths and secrets. Trying to get get it "out there" has been hard. Like many a writer I'm not the best at self-promotion and I was disappointed by the efforts of a publicist I hired. Recently I realized that on Amazon The Good War is categorized as LGBTQ+ Family Life (Fiction), LGBTQ+ Historical Fiction (Books), Historical World War II & Holocaust Fiction. The first two categories are too limiting I believe—the 1964 narrative features a lesbian awakening, but "family life" is incorrect in my view and overall I think the LGBTQ+ designation is too narrow. The third category is simply incorrect, the Holocaust is not in any way the book's subject. At my request, my publisher Regal House is working with our distributor IPG to change the Amazon categories to FICTION / Literary, FICTION / Historical / 20th Century / Post-World War II, and
FICTION / Women. I hope that may help. I'd welcome your thoughts on that, but my specific question to you is about aligning my novel with one that has a larger audience. One of my (apparently too few) reviews on Amazon likens The Good War to Kristin Hannah's The Women. What might be a good way to influence the algorithm to tell Hannah's readers that they might also like The Good War? Would buying some Google ads, for example, be a way to do this? I look forward to your response. Elizabeth Costello elizabethscostello.com
Unfortunately, you can't influence Amazon's algorithm. What I do know is this: By the end of this year, Amazon's algorithm will favor author pages that have A+ content (these are graphics you see on pages for certain books) and video. That means you should talk to your publisher about creating A+ content for the book's Amazon page.
The second element: customer reviews on Amazon. You need over 25 for it to make a difference in Amazon's algorithm.
Google ads are largely ineffective now due to AI. I wouldn't spend money on them. I believe that if you have an Author Central account on Amazon, you can run ads for your book. That is probably more effective than Google ads, but you need to budget at least $500/month for them. I would research best practices for Amazon ads.
Hi Kathleen. I am planning a virtual book launch event scheduled for October 15. My prescriptive non-fiction book is called “When People Throw Wrenches: Navigating the Emotions, Politics and Power Plays of High-Stakes Change.” Research to date suggests a 40-minute duration, including a variety of activities (e.g., a launch video, a poll, an expert panel, and a book giveaway). Please share your perspectives on what makes a successful virtual book launch experience. Thank you, as always, for your guidance.
It varies for every book. You want an engaged audience, so I'd say a panel might work best. If you could find someone to moderate it, even better. I wouldn't do too many different things because I feel the book then gets lost. You want to entice people to buy the book, so make that easy for them by providing links in the chat area of the virtual panel. Book giveaways don't get people to buy books, nor do polls. A launch video needs a strategy behind it--people will not watch it just because you posted it. I haven't coordinated a virtual launch since the pandemic. People seem to want in-person events these days.
Thank you for sharing your experience and insights. I chose a virtual format to attract participants beyond my city. I'm considering taking on the moderator role, facilitating a discussion among three colleagues about situations that illustrate the pain points my book addresses (self-interested behavior that derails workplace change). My panellist experienced these events — "They were there." My goal is to provide realistic, human perspectives that reflect my readers' environments. Does it make sense for me to moderate instead of being a panellist? I appreciate your thoughts on the poll and book giveaway. Keep it simple is great advice.
Hi Kathleen. Thanks for you informative newsletter. My question is about the market in the US for books set in other countries. I'm working on a queer coming of age romance set in Australia and I'll be pitching to UK and US agents. In your experience is there anything that makes a novel set in another country more appealing to a US audience, do you think? Have you ever had to publicise a book set in Australia and what was that experience like?
I haven't worked on a book set in Australia, but I can tell you plenty of books are set outside of the U.S., and some of them do quite well. I would just make sure references in the book are universal and not overly specific to Australia. I think there is a pretty big swath of readers here who love books set in other countries.
Hi Kathleen,
I have a novel coming out in January with a traditional publisher. It's my 9th book of fiction, a standalone sequel to my last book, which came out in 2021. It's a shorter lead time than I'm accustomed to, as it's not yet available for pre-order and I don't yet have ARCs to send out for blurbs.
I'm not very active on Instagram but feel that I probably should be. The new novel is set in Paris, while the previous one was set in the California suburbs. Question: should my focus be on reviving interest in the first book in the series to lead up to the pre-order window for this one? Or should I perhaps focus on Paris content, which would probably have more traction for potential readers who have never heard of my books? Or should I be doing both? (I've made one instagram post that tries to tie the two together, pinned at instagram.com/michellerichmondsf, and one post pinned to my author Substack).
Thank you!
If I am being honest, since it's been 5 years since the last book, I'd treat the new one as a standalone. Saying it is a standalone sequel can be confusing to readers because of the ambiguity about whether they should read the previous book. I would focus on content about the new book, so yes, Paris content.
The other thing you should do is figure out who the audience is for the new book. Your primary audience is probably people who read the first one, and the secondary audience is people who have not read you but are interested in spy novels set abroad. Then narrow it down to people who like spy novels set in France.
Something interesting to try on Instagram: start posting about the characters in the book so people get to "know" them. You want to give people just enough so the book isn't ruined for them, but they still want to read it.
It is concerning that you do not yet have ARCs for blurbs. If you get to 5 months pre-publication and still don't have them, that is a problem. The book should be up on online retailers' sites by now.
Thanks, Kathleen. This is really helpful. I also find it concerning that I don't have an ARC. For previous books, including my last book with this publisher, I had ARCs 9 months before publication. I'm wondering if I should ask them to push back the publication date.
I don’t think that is a bad idea. Even if it is just February.
Hi Kathleen,
My question is about how to reposition my book online in order to bring more attention to it.
My novel The Good War came out last year. It has received some positive reviews, most notably from Publisher's Weekly. Set in the summers of 1948 and 1964, it is a story of a mother and a daughter seeking autonomy in art, work, and life and wrestling with the fallout of WWII and related family myths and secrets. Trying to get get it "out there" has been hard. Like many a writer I'm not the best at self-promotion and I was disappointed by the efforts of a publicist I hired. Recently I realized that on Amazon The Good War is categorized as LGBTQ+ Family Life (Fiction), LGBTQ+ Historical Fiction (Books), Historical World War II & Holocaust Fiction. The first two categories are too limiting I believe—the 1964 narrative features a lesbian awakening, but "family life" is incorrect in my view and overall I think the LGBTQ+ designation is too narrow. The third category is simply incorrect, the Holocaust is not in any way the book's subject. At my request, my publisher Regal House is working with our distributor IPG to change the Amazon categories to FICTION / Literary, FICTION / Historical / 20th Century / Post-World War II, and
FICTION / Women. I hope that may help. I'd welcome your thoughts on that, but my specific question to you is about aligning my novel with one that has a larger audience. One of my (apparently too few) reviews on Amazon likens The Good War to Kristin Hannah's The Women. What might be a good way to influence the algorithm to tell Hannah's readers that they might also like The Good War? Would buying some Google ads, for example, be a way to do this? I look forward to your response. Elizabeth Costello elizabethscostello.com
Hi,
I think changing the categories is a good idea.
Unfortunately, you can't influence Amazon's algorithm. What I do know is this: By the end of this year, Amazon's algorithm will favor author pages that have A+ content (these are graphics you see on pages for certain books) and video. That means you should talk to your publisher about creating A+ content for the book's Amazon page.
The second element: customer reviews on Amazon. You need over 25 for it to make a difference in Amazon's algorithm.
Google ads are largely ineffective now due to AI. I wouldn't spend money on them. I believe that if you have an Author Central account on Amazon, you can run ads for your book. That is probably more effective than Google ads, but you need to budget at least $500/month for them. I would research best practices for Amazon ads.
I hope this helps.
Thank you for the reality check! This is helpful.
Hi Kathleen. I am planning a virtual book launch event scheduled for October 15. My prescriptive non-fiction book is called “When People Throw Wrenches: Navigating the Emotions, Politics and Power Plays of High-Stakes Change.” Research to date suggests a 40-minute duration, including a variety of activities (e.g., a launch video, a poll, an expert panel, and a book giveaway). Please share your perspectives on what makes a successful virtual book launch experience. Thank you, as always, for your guidance.
Hi Phil.
It varies for every book. You want an engaged audience, so I'd say a panel might work best. If you could find someone to moderate it, even better. I wouldn't do too many different things because I feel the book then gets lost. You want to entice people to buy the book, so make that easy for them by providing links in the chat area of the virtual panel. Book giveaways don't get people to buy books, nor do polls. A launch video needs a strategy behind it--people will not watch it just because you posted it. I haven't coordinated a virtual launch since the pandemic. People seem to want in-person events these days.
Hi Kathleen.
Thank you for sharing your experience and insights. I chose a virtual format to attract participants beyond my city. I'm considering taking on the moderator role, facilitating a discussion among three colleagues about situations that illustrate the pain points my book addresses (self-interested behavior that derails workplace change). My panellist experienced these events — "They were there." My goal is to provide realistic, human perspectives that reflect my readers' environments. Does it make sense for me to moderate instead of being a panellist? I appreciate your thoughts on the poll and book giveaway. Keep it simple is great advice.
Since it is your event, you can certainly moderate the panel.
Thank you, Kathleen. This is good to hear.
Hi Kathleen. Thanks for you informative newsletter. My question is about the market in the US for books set in other countries. I'm working on a queer coming of age romance set in Australia and I'll be pitching to UK and US agents. In your experience is there anything that makes a novel set in another country more appealing to a US audience, do you think? Have you ever had to publicise a book set in Australia and what was that experience like?
Hi James,
I haven't worked on a book set in Australia, but I can tell you plenty of books are set outside of the U.S., and some of them do quite well. I would just make sure references in the book are universal and not overly specific to Australia. I think there is a pretty big swath of readers here who love books set in other countries.