Friday, April 8, 2011

Whose Job is it to Sell the Books?


When I googled  publishers in India last year, my search engine threw up many names, several names I had never heard of. As I waded through the  publishing houses: some new and few old, I was taken aback to see that  one publishing house had a form writers had to fill before submitting their manuscripts online. “What are the things you are going to do to publicize your book?” was the question. It was followed by a condition that the writer had to pick half the books that were printed.

 Assuming that the first print run was a 1000 to 3000 copies for a new author, that would make it  anything from 500  to 1500 copies that  writers had to sell on their own. That’s way too much  to give away free to family, friends and acquaintances, because no one will buy books from the writer, everyone would expect a free copy.

Many times I have seen writers trying to sell books on their own, I would always wonder why. As writers we can and should talk about our books, spread the word around, but carrying the books everywhere we go to dispose of the copies dumped on us by publishers somehow doesn’t feel right to me. In such cases we may as well sit at the street corner and sell our books. 
 
Selling books should be a joint effort,  with the publishing houses undertaking major portion of the work ( most publishing houses, with the exception of very small ones, have a wide network of distributors and retailers). Most writers have blogs and websites, so they are already in the marketing/building a platform game. Writers can chip in by attending events organised by the publishing houses, having book discussions  and interactive sessions with readers who attend the events  many large book shops conduct on  a monthly basis. Publishers can even give writers a list of libraries and book clubs in their towns, I am sure most writers would grab the opportunity to publicize and discuss their work.

I have seen atleast in India, that when these events are organized by publishers it carries more weight, than when a writer does it all by himself/herself. At events arranged by the writers, only family members and close friends turn up. Very few people, unless we have a personal connection with the people  in authority,  will  go out of the way to plug  our books.

Do you think its right for publishers to demand that the onus of selling books should fall on  a writer’s weary shoulders. Writing a book is a demanding job, getting it published more demanding, and on top of that expecting writers to take responsibility for selling them is asking for too much. It’s  like asking a sick man to donate blood. Would you  take  the responsibility of selling  half your books? To what extent would you go to help your publisher? Please share your views.



21 comments:

  1. Completely agree with you on that one. A writer cannot be responsible for selling half the books. Most people will look suspiciously at writers trying to sell their own books. Writers can pitch in, be actively involved, but cannot carry the books and sell them like door to door salesmen.

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  2. I agree with you on the point that it must be a joint effort with more from the publisher and less from the writer. Writer is a creative person who may or may nor possess the quality of marketing. On the other hand, a publishing house is complete bunch of people from various departments working together.

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  3. We have to be involved more than ever now. The internet can be a huge help. Here the bookstores help a lot, Rachna. The publishers are less involved, at least they were in the case of my writing partner and her book debuted #7 on the New York best seller list. Great post.

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  4. That's just the trend for publishers these days. Me, I love the promotinal aspects. Book signings and events are fun. I love walking up and down the aisles and talking to peoplee about my book.

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  5. Nowadays I don't know anymore what is expected and what not, what is reasonable and what not... I struggle with it from time to time.
    Great post, thanks fro sharing your thoughts!

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  6. While these days most writers are expected to be very active in marketing their books, I've never heard of a mandatory 50%. That may be a little much. But, I think stirring up the excitement for the book is going to fall on the writer most of the time. We can do that through our blogging and other social networking.

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  7. yep, things have changed from the way it used to be in th epast. Publishers used to take on all of the marketing and the writer would just show up when needed. Now the writer does a lot of the work. I guess it's part of the deal now. 50% seems a bit much though.

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  8. I can see your point Rachna and I'd like to think that publishers shouldn't need to ask authors to tout their wares like that :O)

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  9. @ Sameer, yes writers should and must assist the publishers, but they cannot be responsible for selling half the copies. That's expecting too much from them.

    @ Rachit....publishing houses have fantastic marketing teams, and nowadays they are getting aggressive and innovative in publicizing books.

    @ Robyn....agreed that we have to be involved, but not to the extent of literally selling them door to door.

    @ Stephen...I loved my book signing event too, and I look forward to interactive sessions with readers.

    @ Marja...same here. I am also confused, when I see other writers going all the way to plug their books, I feel I am not doing much.

    @ Alexia...social networking sites are a great tool for writers to market their books and give them visibility. Many writers are doing that.

    @ Lynda....writers are pitching in a lot now, but not to the extent of selling 50% of the books.

    @ Madeleine..you hit the nail on the head "touting their wares" should not be expected from a writer by publishers.

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  10. I really wish that authors had nothing to do with plugging their books and the publisher could do it all. Alas, it's not what happens nowadays. Great post Rachna.

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  11. I understand writers needing to help publicise a book with whatever means they have available to them (blogs, facebook, twitter etc), but I really don't think actually selling them is a writers job. I wouldn't want to!

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  12. Half the books? That's quite shocking. And, as you say, family and friends will expect free copies!

    Ellie Garratt

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  13. Selling half sounds daunting and depressing. I'd definitely want to do my part, for sure, but I know there are limits to my reach.

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  14. Ah, do I ever relate to this post! I self-published a book (and have been assured by readers that it is really good -- everyone who has read it likes it), but after the first thrill of passing out bookmarks and post cards and letting everyone know and selling some of them first hand, well... the whole enterprise of marketing is a pain, because my real inspiration is in the writing of books. Having said that, it has been great fun to a point, but I am working hard to be commercially published for the very reason that I would rather write than market. So I avoid those markets that ask you to lay out in detail everythinbg you are going to do to market the book. I have a "platform" that most agents and publishers urge (twitter, FB, blog). After that, sure, if I get a publisher, I'll do everything I can to contact newspapers and the like, but I sure don't plan to trudge around with 500 to 1500 copies in the back seat of my car, hoping to make personal sales wherever I go.

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  15. @ Lydia..I too wish authors had nothing much to do with plugging their books, but its not like that nowadays.

    @ penandpaints..I too would not like to be actually lugging them all around, trying to sell them to readers.

    @ Ellie..family and friends think we authors are flooded with free copies by the publishers.

    @ Julie, I was very depressed when I read that condition....I don't think I would have been capable of selling half the copies.

    @ Elizabeth...I have read your book and I loved it. I agree with you, I try to help my publishers as much as I can....but I really don't think I can carry the books around like a travelling salesman. I would prefer to concentrate more on writing than selling the books.

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  16. It was only after I had a contract that I realised just how much a writer is expected to do, particularly if you're published by a small outfit. It seems to me is that the publishers don't do a whole lot to plug their writers. I've even seen websites where there are questions about whether you have a platform and like you mentioned here, what you (the writer) plan to do about promotion. And let me tell you, a rank beginner trying to promote a book is akin to being thrown off the deep end of a pool without having a clue how to swim.

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  17. I doubt I could sell half:( I know here we are to help in anyway we can and that is hard for many if we aren't marketers or sellers etc.
    Good to see you again!

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  18. Oh how I WISH it would just magically happen, but alas, it doesn't work that way. I think I'm cut out to be a writer, but a marketer? We shall see....

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  19. This is actually one of the reasons why I'm in no rush to get published. I was at a conference last summer where this selling your book was a big theme, and though I'm not totally against it, it just wouldn't work for me at this stage (I have small kids that need my priority).

    I think one strategy I would do is send my books (free, obviously) to book bloggers and anyone else who would get the word out! But I am sure there are tons of other strategies (you've mentioned some). In fact I wouldn't mind sitting in a library or book store all day - it would be fun chatting with people even if they didn't buy the book. And in between visits, I could read :) Unfortunately, my town only has one library and two bookstores. So I wouldn't get very far with that stategy!!!

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  20. I always thought that one of the perks of being published was that the publisher was the one with the skill, experience, and connections to market the books. It is disappointing to see the trends change. I am not opposed to some promotion, etc. as an author, but I don't think it should all fall on our shoulders.

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  21. Hi Rachna! I love to hear your opinion. You have such a fresh way of looking at things that makes me smile- even when you are expressing your dismay at the prospect of selling your own books! So cute!

    I'm not the best salesperson... so I don't know... selling half is quite a lot of books; I'm afraid they'd all end up in my garage!!

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