2017
May April February2016
June May2015
October September June April March2014
August JulySEE ALL ARCHIVES
October 31, 2005
Who’s Minding the Store?
I’ve been reading and thinking a lot lately about book marketing and readership. I’ve come across lots of soul searching and hand wringing, lots of great advice, some of which I even subscribe to, about the virtues of author tours and creating buzz instead of reliance on dwindling—in both space and impact—reviews and on advertising and branding. I’ll admit to the hand wringing myself, if not to the soul searching.
Really, Unbridled Books is in the business of publishing books we love. And trusting that if we do it well enough, we can reach enough like-minded readers to make our venture a success. The goal is to find ways to put each book in front of the right readers. I continue to believe that the best books, the kind of books that Unbridled publishes at any rate, still get sold the old fashioned way: by the author and through word of mouth. Interestingly, the internet may actually have become the old fashioned way. Regardless, we expect our books to build slowly and get discovered a reader at a time. That means a reader has to find the book and mention it to a friend, who must mention it to another friend, and so on . . .
Which means that first reader has to have some way to cut through the boggling cacophony of all those many, many books when he or she walks into the bookstore, where these days even browsing the front tables can be daunting. It’s not only an overwhelming problem to decide how to choose (I can hardly do it myself). But how are you to discover a wonderful book you don’t already know about—that you haven’t specifically gone into the store, on a mission, so to speak, to track down and buy—when but a single copy or two is hidden away, spine out, at the back of the store along with who knows how many others simply because the author isn’t a household name or hasn’t the advantage of a huge print run and marketing campaign ginned up for whatever reasons (this is a topic for another day) by the Island mill?
In the early 90s there was also a lot of talk about “literary” publishing—never mind the definition—as there periodically seems to be in this business. This was not a great time for independent bookstores, many of which were severely threatened or going under, but Fred and I both could see an unserved niche for the quality fiction we care about and believe in, for novels of high literary standards that can also appeal to a relatively broad audience of engaged readers. If only they could find them.
Great, dedicated handsellers were crucial then. They’re even more essential now. Without their support, novels like the ones published by Unbridled Books have no chance, and publishers like us are doomed. They are the ones who have to pay attention first, and they can’t be distracted by Island hype or too overwhelmed by dire circumstances. And it isn’t enough now, as it wasn’t ever, to just think good thoughts about deserving books. Booksellers must find those quality reads by little known authors, care about them and take care of them by, well, hand selling them. In the dark days of the early 90s, these great handsellers gave rise to the Book Sense lists. They were able to make a difference, to create successes by virtue of their energies and discernment. These handsellers represent the grassroots word of mouth, the front guard, the keepers of the keys, the guides through the staggering maze of so many choices, without whom we’ll all be eaten by the Minotaur.
Greg Michalson
Posted in: Publishers Blog, | Keywords: publishers blog
Previous Entry: The Quick and the Sharp | Next Entry: Is Fiction Necessary?
Comments
Dear Mr Michalson,
I read your comments with a sense of gratitude — the implication being that the public ranking of a book has much to do with who is publishing it and the strngth of the promotion behind it. Nice to find that I am not alone in thinking that it is the massive promotional excercises of the big publishers that ‘make’ authors and not their ability to write. It’s amazing how a less than competent author can become a literary God overnight just because he or she has the power of a big publisher behind them. I have never understood the inability of the public readership to abandon critical awareness and vote with their wallets. They always fall for the same ‘out of context’ extracts from reviews and the glossy ads and piles of paperbacks stuck at the front of the bookstore. Discerning they are not! As you say — the really good material generally disseminates by reputation — a reputation slowly acquired and lovingly reinforced.
Hope you don’t mind but I am tempted to submit some of my work to you.
——-
Submission guidelines?
——-
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) 10/31 09:48 PM