The Book Marketing Snowball

In today's guest post, book marketing expert Terry Cordingley shares his wisdom on the process of book marketing. In developing your marketing plan, remember that everything you do builds your platform and momentum and moves you to the next level.

The Book Marketing Snowball

I was recently speaking on the phone with a new author whose first book was just getting ready to go to print, explaining how book signings work, why authors do them, the importance of niche marketing, how distribution works, etc., when I got this question:

"Well, that's all well and good, but how do we get my book into Walmart?  They would sell a million copies of my book!"

I then explained that marketing a book is like rolling a snowball down a hill.  When it first starts rolling, it is a small snowball. As it continues to roll down the hill, it gradually gets larger and larger. By the time it reaches the bottom of the hill, it is significantly bigger than it was when it started. 

When a new, unknown author first becomes published, their book is the small snowball. It may go unnoticed at first, but with persistent promotion it will continue to grow. It may not grow as fast as the author wants it to, but in order to keep the sales and exposure going, the author and publisher must continue to keep pushing it down the hill. If the author stops promoting their work, what happens?  The snowball isn't going to get any larger, and neither will the book sales.

 

Many authors want to begin at the top of the hill with the big snowball, but they only have a big snowball if they have a large platform from which to launch their book. Is the author famous? Are they well-known in their state, region or even across the country?  Do they have a large following in their life or profession?  If not, then they are starting with a small snowball. 

You may have heard of the book The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. The book wasn't published until after the author had died, and it was released in Sweden, Larsson's home country. Nobody outside of Sweden had heard of Larsson prior to his book being published, but it won an award and was well-received in his home country. A publisher in Great Britain took a chance on the book and translated it into English, renaming it from the original title, Men Who Hate Women to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. The book didn't sell. 

The British publisher resorted to giving away copies; leaving them in public places like bus stops where people would find and read them. Like a snowball, word of mouth grew until book sales picked up and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo became a success. Eight years after it was published, the book was a Hollywood movie. 

That is an extreme example of a small snowball rolling down the hill and becoming something very big.  Not every author will have this kind of success, but the journey will almost always begin with a small snowball. If you keep pushing it, it will become something bigger. You just have to keep pushing. 

About the Author

Terry Cordingley has been Associate Director of Marketing at Tate Publishing & Enterprises since 2006. His background includes 20 years as a radio and television reporter, experience he puts to good use in promoting his authors. To learn more, subscribe to his blog and watch for his upcoming book, Your Book is Your Business, a guide to help authors market and promote their books.

Photo Credit: redjar on Flickr via Creative Commons license

Comments

[Tominda Adkins]

Great analogy! I guess my snowball hit a tree about halfway down the hill, but I'm inspired to get it moving again. Marketing feels so hopeless sometimes, but it's always good to be reminded that huge successes--and smaller, niche successes--don't hit their stride overnight. Oftentimes they take a few years and tireless platform expansion, or, in the case of a series, things pick up after book 3 or 4 is out. Here's to bigger snowballs!

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Thanks for your note Tominda. It does take time to build up an audience and a following, but as long as you have a good promotion plan you'll get there. I wish you much success with your books!

[Larissa]

Thank you for the article, more people need to understand that book marketing is a work in progress and it takes a snowball to build a snowman!

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Thanks Larissa, and keep working on that snowman!