{"id":649,"date":"2023-03-14T16:17:54","date_gmt":"2023-03-14T16:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bursucretleri.com\/blog\/?p=649"},"modified":"2023-03-23T08:32:18","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T08:32:18","slug":"book-publishers-need-to-create-more-conversations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bursucretleri.com\/blog\/book-publishers-need-to-create-more-conversations\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Publishers Need To Create More Conversations"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following is a guest post from Christopher Ming Ryan.\u00a0 Christopher is a video producer, writer, director and a principal at Wheelhouse Communications.\u00a0 You can follow him on twitter at\u00a0@chrismingryan\u00a0and read his blog\u00a0The Way We Watch.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m nervous for book publishers.\u00a0 I\u2019m not talking about the pricing of ebooks on the iPad or kindle.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a reason authors\u00a0really<\/em>\u00a0like publishers other than the best-in-class editors and the advances.<\/p>\n

Authors adore it when someone else does the herculean task of selling their books.\u00a0 It takes a concerted cross functional effort, money and time.\u00a0 Publishers have been fulfilling that need (for many) extremely well.<\/p>\n

Will It Change?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When a successful author gains a loyal tribe that they then can interact with on Twitter, YouTube and on blogs- what do they need the publishing company for?<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a Stephen King or Tom Peters fan, do you care if his book is available from Amazon via self publishing or created, marketed, and sold via a major publisher?<\/p>\n

In fact, tell me the publishers of the last three books you read.<\/p>\n

Bet you can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Unless you\u2019re reading a Penguin classic you probably have no clue.<\/p>\n

So if you run a publishing company, what makes your author stay past her contract?<\/p>\n

Confession: now I could be the greenest kid on the block, and maybe publishers make 80% of their money making tie-in books to Transformer-type movies and the business of fiction and non-fiction books is sort of icing on the cake\u2026 I\u2019m hoping that\u2019s not the case.<\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been making book trailers.\u00a0 I\u2019ve collected some of my book trailers and some of my favorite ones at\u00a0Just Book Trailers.\u00a0 The book trailer is a web phenomenon.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t exist before the web, so as a student of web marketing I think they provide an excellent case study.<\/p>\n

Prolific blogger and author, Jonathan Fields wrote on\u00a0The Huffington Post<\/em>\u00a0why most book trailers don\u2019t go viral\u00a0and suggested a bunch of tips on how to get them to go viral.<\/p>\n

He then goes on to make a bigger point that\u00a0even if you try his tips<\/em>, the chances are that the video won\u2019t go viral anyway.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A web user can smell a commercial even through his LCD screen.\u00a0 \u201cEvery book trailer is a pimpfest for a book, \u201d he surmises.\u00a0 But, he adds, make the trailer anyway, \u201c\u2026because it\u2019s fun. And because it\u2019s one element in a vastly larger initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a book trailer producer I wholeheartedly agree.<\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

But what is the\u00a0vastly larger initiative<\/em><\/strong>?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a brilliant speech that Seth Godin gave as part of the O\u2019Reilly Tools of Change 2008 Conference that is\u00a0must see web tv\u00a0for anyone connected to making and selling books.<\/p>\n

Godin\u2019s main thesis: books are\u00a0souvenirs<\/strong>.\u00a0 In the video, he speaks about how a $40.00 hard cover of\u00a0Unleashing the Ideavirus<\/em>\u00a0became a bestseller on Amazon when he had previously given away thousands of copies away for free as an e-book, Godin says, \u201cEveryone knew the idea and the book was the souvenir.\u00a0 And people love buying souvenirs, no matter what the price because a souvenir reminds them of the idea that they were already sold on.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his speech, Godin talks mainly about his bestsellers but also mentions Stephen J. Dubner and Steven J. Leavitt authors of the hit book,\u00a0Freakonomics<\/em>.\u00a0 These guys blog.\u00a0 A lot.\u00a0 They once had a blog on\u00a0freakonomics.com\u00a0but it has since moved to the NYTimes.com as one of Times\u2019\u00a0Opinion blogs.<\/p>\n

Godin believes that if you get hooked by their informative blog \u2013 you\u2019ll want to buy the souvenir (the original book and the sequel) just to see what are the foundations of the blog.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my big question:\u00a0Why isn\u2019t this blog hosted\/presented\/initiated\/ad supported by HarperCollins the publisher of the books?<\/strong><\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

Book trailers have a place when a book comes out.\u00a0 But what happens after the initial promotion?\u00a0 Publishers give a small window of time and money to publicize a new book.\u00a0 If publishers want to keep popular authors past the contract, they need ongoing content .\u00a0 And the long tail of the web can help that.<\/p>\n

Morris Rosenthal on his blog,\u00a0Self Publishing 2.0\u00a0walks the talk.\u00a0 He\u2019s been preaching for years that new authors need a web outpost (perhaps a blog) to engage readers with content and a gateway to selling the books themselves.<\/p>\n

As an experiment eighteen months ago, Rosenthal created\u00a0ifitjams.com\u00a0\u2013 a do it yourself auto repair website that includes articles, flow charts, pictures, and YouTube videos.<\/p>\n

Recently his videos (which takes him minutes to record) hit a total of\u00a0500,000 views.<\/strong>\u00a0In his post on his Self Publishing blog, he offers some good advice on how to title videos, and points out that most of his traffic on YouTube comes from search information from people who are watching related videos (about 2000 people a day).\u00a0 2000 hits a day just from YouTube.\u00a0 Amazing.<\/p>\n

What Rosenthal has to do now is self-publish a book on being a do-it-your-self auto mechanic.\u00a0 If he does, I assume some of those viewers will want the souvenir.<\/p>\n

Morris,\u00a0what are you waiting for?<\/em><\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

Next Steps<\/strong><\/p>\n

Publishers need to get into the content game with video.\u00a0 The big publishers are already spending money marketing books for the web with flashy websites, big tent videos and content marketing to schools.\u00a0 I believe the next step for their resources should be spent making sustainable video content for the web.<\/p>\n

Publishers need to get to know video producers and directors and cross pollinate them with authors.\u00a0<\/strong>The marketing and publicity budgets are there \u2013 they just have to be shifted.<\/p>\n

After twenty years of making marketing video, I can safely say that book authors are by and large the most creative people I interview.\u00a0 Need proof check out\u00a0this video\u00a0I made last year.<\/p>\n

Publishers need to encourage authors to try stuff without levels upon levels of approvals and sign offs.<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s the same reason why reading corporate blogs are like eating nothing but saltine crackers.\u00a0 Adam has been writing that the social web\u00a0needs passion\u00a0to succeed.\u00a0 Corporate sign off is the passion killer.<\/p>\n

It may be impossible for publishers to let writers and film makers fail.\u00a0 But they should.\u00a0 Because without failing and trying lots of things \u2013 they\u2019ll never know what works.<\/p>\n

Book publicity and marketing staffers also need to start understanding the<\/strong>\u00a010 skills all PR pros need to know\u00a0so they can effectively make the most of the content that they will be creating.\u00a0 It\u2019s a new world out there but most new media marketing departments are stuck in dated methods.<\/p>\n

Role Model<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to see an author engage with video with his base, there\u2019s no better example than author John Green who\u00a0creates videos with his brother Hank Green.\u00a0 Get lost in these videos and see if you can figure out why his audience is growing and so are his book sales.\u00a0 His videos routinely get over 100,000 views.<\/p>\n

John Green answers this question from a recent interview at\u00a0indy.com:<\/p>\n

Q: What would you say to a cynic who might label your \u201cBrotherhood\u201d videos as a marketing ploy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong>\u00a0In retrospect, it was a good marketing ploy\u2026. We thought people who read my books would go to my Web site, find out about the videos and go watch them. It never occurred to us that people would watch the videos and then want to read. But it\u2019s proven to be true.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

Publishers, keep your your authors forever.\u00a0 Create digital content so that tribes will want and buy the souvenir.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following is a guest post from Christopher Ming Ryan.\u00a0 Christopher is a video producer, writer, director and a principal … <\/p>\n

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