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My book was published yesterday

maximilian ping said:
It's been a long haul (about three years) but yesterday my book was published. It was great to hold the book in my hands 4 weeks ago, and I'm happy with it, but a day that I thought would be a big one was bit of a damp squib. Surprise surprise the (mainstream) publishers have done bugger all marketing and have a policy of not funding any kind of book launch. Anyone else had this kind of experience and have any tips for DIY publicity?
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I think you're getting the hang of this publicity thing..... Several people already interested and going to buy it.... That's good BTW
 
Sorry, it's Harper Collins that Murdoch owns. But Random House put out Blair's biog, and Campbell's diaries
 
maximilian ping said:
ooooohhhh shiiiit. well its our first book so its not exactly the prettiest labour of love, but its got some good stuff in there, lots of interviews with drug dealers - which are well under-represented in British literature we thought :hmm:
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I'm erm acquainted with such matters, so I should be able to offer an informed opinion once I've read it :)

Well done getting published, that's a great achievement.
 
On the publicity front...

I would try local radio. The description refers to different areas of the UK. Build on this. Make a viable story for any area of the UK. Local radio (especially BBC) are pretty good at supporting community stuff. Obviously, you will have to say more than "Bradford has the highest percentage of crack users per head of population". Get an angle that says your book will help raise awareness, or something along those lines (which it will, if enough people read it).

Journalists are always looking for stories. You just need to present your story in a... erm... presentable way.

The book looks to be very UK centric. Local radio could be a good option. Get in touch with talk show hosts - it is a subject people love to talk about. Even a few emails may get good results. Send them on a Monday night, so they will be read Tuesday morning ;)
 
Stanley Edwards said:
On the publicity front...

I would try local radio. The description refers to different areas of the UK. Build on this. Make a viable story for any area of the UK. Local radio (especially BBC) are pretty good at supporting community stuff. Obviously, you will have to say more than "Bradford has the highest percentage of crack users per head of population". Get an angle that says your book will help raise awareness, or something along those lines (which it will, if enough people read it).

Journalists are always looking for stories. You just need to present your story in a... erm... presentable way.

The book looks to be very UK centric. Local radio could be a good option. Get in touch with talk show hosts - it is a subject people love to talk about. Even a few emails may get good results. Send them on a Monday night, so they will be read Tuesday morning ;)
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Thanks loads SE, good thinking. Up the Villa...
 
artyfarty said:
Mrs Artyfarty has had three books published and I've watched the process over the last few years.
The publishers do bugger all to publicise it really. We had to do all the work, contacts to generate editorial content, launch parties, mail campaigns, all stuff you think they should do, we had to do. They wouldn't even pay for the wine at the launches and these are books that over the next 5 years will sell 50,000 hardback copies each. She got an advance and then a pitiful percentage so it's not really in her interests if they sell 50 or 50 thousand.
Just one review in the national/trade press will work wonders. Also set up a blog/mini site if you haven't already, make sure you get the keywords right. And get people who've read it to post Amazon reviews.
Congratulations BTW, most people never get beyond the dreaming stage, it must have been hard work.
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I really appreciate this. Encouraging. We got our first Amazon review today which was really good. And yes it was 3 years of serious shit (and fun) writing this. What was Mrs artyfarty book? 50,000 is INCREDIBLE
 
maximilian ping said:
ooooohhhh shiiiit. well its our first book so its not exactly the prettiest labour of love, but its got some good stuff in there, lots of interviews with drug dealers - which are well under-represented in British literature we thought :hmm:
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Forgive me for asking, but why isn't that in the blurb?

From reading the description on the random house website, if I'm honest I don't feel as if I get an understanding of what ties your book together - what's the central thrust or (sorry!) in academic terms its original contribution? Is it descriptive, original research of your own, or mostly writing about other people's research? I don't know if my uncertainty is bc there's no single, clear, unifying strand running through it, or bc RH's synthesis was a bit patchy.

Mentioning a load of interviews about drug dealers sounds like a really interesting piece of work, and makes me far more interested - but, for example, that's mentioned nowhere in the blurb!
 
maximilian ping said:
I really appreciate this. Encouraging. We got our first Amazon review today which was really good. And yes it was 3 years of serious shit (and fun) writing this. What was Mrs artyfarty book? 50,000 is INCREDIBLE
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All interiors books, lots of pretty pictures! The text she bangs out in a month, the planning for the photo locations and subsequent shoots takes ages, that's really what she gets paid for.
 
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