Let’s get right to it, shall we?
How much does an author’s platform matter?
It matters very little to me initially. As long as the author is willing to work on things like creating a website, Facebook, etc, leading up to pub, then I really don’t care if you have it when I contract your manuscript. I only look at websites or Google you once I’ve already fallen in love with the manuscript, to make sure you don’t seem totally wacko (I have yet to see something that made me not buy the manuscript). If I don’t find anything, that’s fine. Better than finding lots of negative things.
Bottom line: I’ve bought lots of awesome manuscripts where the author’s platform is nonexistent. I’ve NEVER bought a mediocre manuscript because the author’s platform is great. It’s all about the manuscript.
What would you like to know? :]
Good Morning Megan!
Thanks for answering questions!
I read a while back that some Kensington authors pub in different genres or multiple books a year but need to do this under different pen names (I guess first question is – is that accurate?).
If so, do those authors work with one editor on all projects or did they go through different submissions with a different editor each time?
Do you work with any authors in this situation?
This system really caught my curious eye and I hope I wasn’t too jumbled in asking. : )
Thanks again!
Bonnie
Yes, it is common for authors who write in different genres to have different pseudonyms (JD Robb/Nora Roberts, Sherrilyn Kenyon/Kinley Macgregor, etc). At K the ones that come to mind are Shelly Laurenston/GA Aiken and Jacquelyn Frank/JAX. They work with the same editor for all their books…it would be too confusing to do it otherwise!
And just to play devil’s advocate, we also have several authors who write in more than one imprint, yet use the same name; notably Kate Douglas and Richelle Mead. Every author’s situation is different. It comes down to one question: “How do we maximize the sales potential of this book?” Sometimes the answer is two names, sometimes the answer is one name.
Right now, none of my authors are in this situation. I do work with both Shelly and Jacquelyn though, as their editor is my boss :]
Wow! Thanks so much. Great answer!
Hi, Megan & happy Friday!
Which promotional tactics seem to do best for an author’s sales? i.e. Conventions, book signings, twitter, blog tours, etc. ?
If only we knew! We can make educated guesses, but if we knew for certain what worked, believe me, we’d use that strategy on every book, and every book would be a raging success. I’ll tell you what I personally feel has the most impact.
Conventions: I feel these are mainly useful for networking within the industry. Sure, you’ll probably gain a few readers, but conventions are expensive, and if you are attending as a way of directly impacting your sales, I think you have better options. (I’m not downplaying networking here, because that’s very important. But networking is a bit more roundabout way of helping sales…for example, meeting someone who’ll give you a quote for your next book, and that will help sales.)
Book signings are great for connecting with your readers, but they can take a lot of time and energy, and might not be worth it for smaller authors. However, you ABSOLUTELY should go around to your local bookstores and sign stock. (This being that they take you to the back room and sign all your books that they have in stock. Usually no setup is required for this, you can just go in and ask the manager.) Make friendly with the managers. Leave bookmarks.
Twitter/Facebook/blog: I feel that it is important these days to have at least one medium where the readers can interact with you. But that doesn’t mean you need ALL these things. If you don’t like Twitter, okay, don’t use it.
Blog tours: I think these are genius. It exposes you to readers who may not have heard of you before, but are still your target audience. I encourage doing this both ways: inviting authors to blog on your blog, and touring other authors’ blogs.
So after all that rambling, I really didn’t answer your question. Best I can say is, do what works for you.
Actually, that was very helpful, thanks! Conventions are likely not in my budget anytime soon, but I can totally rock twitter, local bookstores and blog tours!
Thanks so much!
I’ve heard that being previously published, and mentioning that in your query, will make the editor you are querying check your sales on your previously published books to see how you did. How do they go about getting that information? For instance, if I was published with Pocket Books and I queried Kensington, would Pocket Books be peeved that I’m going to another editor and not want to give up my sales numbers? Or do you have a way to get those numbers without asking my old publisher?
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions!
Jenny
Yes, we would want at least an estimate of sales numbers. Ideally, we would get them from you or your agent (while we don’t require an agent, most big houses do, so we’ll assume you have one for the purposes of this example). If your agent is being cagey (or we think they will artificially inflate the numbers), then we ask our contacts at the other house. Or, depending on the book and retailer, our sales team can look up the history for a particular store.
Your question about the other house knowing is a bit more complicated. Most likely, you would have had an option clause on your contract. That option clause would say that Pocket, etc, had first rights to see your new work. They’d review it, and either make an offer or say no thanks. If they make you an offer you aren’t happy with, then you are allowed to turn them down. But in either case (them turning you down or you turning them down), the house is perfectly aware that you are leaving.
Let’s say you want to query K for something that doesn’t fall under your option clause. If you have a good working relationship with your current editor (or even a tenuous one), your agent will tell your editor that you are going out with another project. That’s just common courtesy. Plus, it’s really to your benefit to tell your current editor. Communication is key if you want to make two simultaneous contracts work anyway. What if you are slammed with edits for one house, and consequently miss your deadline for the second house? There will be a lot of tension if you haven’t managed the situation correctly.
What you have to realize is that we aren’t asking for numbers to be annoying. We are asking because we have to know what we are up against. The second our sales team tries to sell your new book, the book buyer will pull up numbers for your old book, and base his order off of that. If the numbers are bad, we have to be able to convince the buyer that this new book will do so much better, and have solid reasons. But we can’t prepare those reasons if we are blindsided by the fact that the numbers are bad.
Also realize that bad numbers are not the end of the world. Publishers have picked up people with bad numbers and done well with them. Your new editor might suggest a name change, or suggest that the cover be dramatically different from your old packaging. We just can’t properly address the situation unless we have all the facts.
Oh, and for the record, if you refuse to even give vague numbers, we pretty much assume that they are awful. So you aren’t really protecting yourself at all.
I realize that publishers only have so much money to spend on marketing, and that those dollars are allocated differently among authors depending on various factors. Can you give us a general list of marketing efforts Kensington does on behalf of its authors? If possible, please include things done for bestsellers as well as things done for first time authors and midlisters (no need to specify which efforts go to which kind of authors).
Thanks again!
Jenny
Making a list like that would take me a several days! I can tell you that K is known for its innovative marketing strategies, and we are currently putting a lot of emphasis on digital marketing (Facebook ads, Twitter promos, online bookclub outreach, book trailers, etc).
Hi Megan,
I’m curious to know if Brava plans to re-release its front list in Mass Market 6+ months after its initial trade paperback release.
We do release the books in mass market, but there is no set time period for re-release. It’s also not guaranteed that books will be re-released. The formula they use to choose which titles will come out in mass is secret and magical…
To Helenkay Dimon
Your latest boojk – The Big Guns. Page 188 – error in last paragrapgh, last line which reads “She’d never find the write words or she went with the honest ones.” Shouldn’t the words be “right words” and not “write words”? At times Spell Check is just not good enough, ha, ha.
Every so often I find such errors along with words being left out. Maybe I should be hired to proofread the books!!
I guess I’m as bad. Small print failed to let me see that I did a typographical error ‘ hit the “j” when typing book!!! Back to the drawing board for me. Sorry.
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