Posts: 1,313
Threads: 193
Joined: Apr 2006
Reputation:
4
Since the place is packed with authors...I have never done this before but I'd like to promote a history book of a friend of mine which I think to be so good that it deserves international attention and recognition. It's in English, a hardback costing over 100 Euro.
All resources I have for this are my computer and internet access. I started by referring to it in WP, improving search tags in Amazon, little things like this. It needs a few hundred more copies to be sold so that is has a fair crack at a paperback version.
What else can I do? How did you increase your sale numbers?
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
Posts: 13,279
Threads: 102
Joined: May 2006
Reputation:
3
Get scantily clad women to hold copies at fairs etc..... :wink:
Visne partem mei capere? Comminus agamus! * Me semper rogo, Quid faceret Iulius Caesar? * Confidence is a good thing! Overconfidence is too much of a good thing.
[b]Legio XIIII GMV. (Q. Magivs)RMRS Remember Atuatuca! Vengence will be ours!
Titus Flavius Germanus
Batavian Coh I
Byron Angel
Posts: 4,223
Threads: 176
Joined: Mar 2003
Reputation:
171
Quote:What else can I do?
Telling us the title might be a good start :wink:
Otherwise - for a book that price (!) you're looking for a very specialised market, I would think. Getting reviews is the most important thing - know any friendly academics?
Nathan Ross
Posts: 1,513
Threads: 210
Joined: Aug 2008
Reputation:
1
Yes, get people to talk about it. Who is the market? Academics? Then perhaps get academics to review it in school newspapers, department newsletters, personal blogs or even social network pages.
Perhaps the author can volunteer to write related articles for newspapers or journals for free, with the caveat that the book is mentioned.
The author can volunteer to be interviewed as an expert for other media, again with the caveat that the book is mentioned.
The author could offer to give talks to student groups, conferences or any other gathering of the target market.
Posts: 554
Threads: 183
Joined: Jun 2003
Reputation:
2
I agree with everything Epictetus says, the author needs to get out as much as possible and be seen.
Also look at specialist book sellers, a lot of the books I get on ancient mosaics cost over £100 and I get them all from Buckland books. I know if he's got them in then they are worth the money. Dealers like this are invaluable for expensive specialist publications.
Posts: 4,318
Threads: 127
Joined: Jan 2004
Reputation:
6
A review in Ancient warfare might also be interesting.
Posts: 1,313
Threads: 193
Joined: Apr 2006
Reputation:
4
Quote:Yes, get people to talk about it. Who is the market? Academics? Then perhaps get academics to review it in school newspapers, department newsletters, personal blogs or even social network pages.
Perhaps the author can volunteer to write related articles for newspapers or journals for free, with the caveat that the book is mentioned.
The author can volunteer to be interviewed as an expert for other media, again with the caveat that the book is mentioned.
The author could offer to give talks to student groups, conferences or any other gathering of the target market.
All this has been done by the author, although there can always been done much more. I think I'll try to establish some contacts with the press. I am not at all well-connected there, but hopefully the topic as such attracts enough interest.
What is the market? The main target group are, as you can tell from the price, academics and it is published in an publishing house with a strong academic reputation, Brill. It is a scholarly work through and through, with hundreds of references and input from ten years of research, but at the same time its implications are also strongly political. And that is also the point where I started to offer my help, as it certainly faces a steep uphill struggle in the country of its origin strongly, since it opposes the received orthodoxy there. Therefore, (some) people might choose to ignore the book unless it becomes so visible that they feel they can no longer evade a debate.
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
Posts: 1,513
Threads: 210
Joined: Aug 2008
Reputation:
1
Well, maybe if there are political implications then editors, think tanks, political action committees (or their local equivalent, if any), political bloggers, NGOs (if relevant) and even sympathetic politicians themselves could be approached.
Posts: 329
Threads: 22
Joined: Jun 2007
Reputation:
2
Quote:Epictetus post=292232 Wrote:Yes, get people to talk about it. Who is the market? Academics? Then perhaps get academics to review it in school newspapers, department newsletters, personal blogs or even social network pages.
Perhaps the author can volunteer to write related articles for newspapers or journals for free, with the caveat that the book is mentioned.
The author can volunteer to be interviewed as an expert for other media, again with the caveat that the book is mentioned.
The author could offer to give talks to student groups, conferences or any other gathering of the target market.
All this has been done by the author, although there can always been done much more. I think I'll try to establish some contacts with the press. I am not at all well-connected there, but hopefully the topic as such attracts enough interest.
What is the market? The main target group are, as you can tell from the price, academics and it is published in an publishing house with a strong academic reputation, Brill. It is a scholarly work through and through, with hundreds of references and input from ten years of research, but at the same time its implications are also strongly political. And that is also the point where I started to offer my help, as it certainly faces a steep uphill struggle in the country of its origin strongly, since it opposes the received orthodoxy there. Therefore, (some) people might choose to ignore the book unless it becomes so visible that they feel they can no longer evade a debate.
And the title is?
Ian (Sonic) Hughes
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides, Peloponnesian War
"I have just jazzed mine up a little" - Spike Milligan, World War II
Posts: 4,483
Threads: 634
Joined: Aug 2005
Reputation:
0
Quote:How did you increase your sale numbers?
I wish I knew. Yet, I am increasingly getting the impression that when I am writing a book that I believe to be good, it sells poorly, and vice versa. This seems like a joke that has been made too often, but I am really sure that quality is the least important factor contributing to sales.
Factors that seem to influence the sales are: TV and academic titles. If a book has been discussed on TV, it really helps. As to academic titles: because no one can judge the quality of a book, the title is considered to be a guarantee.
As to the book you are trying to promote: what is the title? who is the author? Have you considered writing a review? I am convinced Jasper will publish it in AW (as long as you mention that you know the author of course). Livius.org can as well publish it, when the webmaster will have time, which he expects to have in January 2013.
Jona Lendering
Relevance is the enemy of history
My website
Posts: 1,313
Threads: 193
Joined: Apr 2006
Reputation:
4
It's not about ancient history only but about the entire history of Western culture, its roots and achievements, and the terminal threat which poses the recent trend of multiculturalism to it. He is a sharp and unafraid thinker, the book's style is academic and its scope vast and erudite, so I suspect it presents a challenge to the dominant multiculturalist academia in North America and Europe which may be tempted to ignore it as long as they can.
Quote:Well, maybe if there are political implications then editors, think tanks, political action committees (or their local equivalent, if any), political bloggers, NGOs (if relevant) and even sympathetic politicians themselves could be approached.
Yes, I have decided now to give it a try and start contacting these institutions.
Quote:Factors that seem to influence the sales are: TV and academic titles.
TV sounds good, but there is also the language barrier to be considered. I am not based in North America where I could have supported him.
What strikes me odd is how contemplative Brill is in promoting the book. The presses of the University of Oxford and of Cambridge seem to be much more agile in this respect.
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
Posts: 1,313
Threads: 193
Joined: Apr 2006
Reputation:
4
Thought about Jona's T & T again (titles and TV). The curious thing is I rather cultivate a preference for academics with 'only' a doctorate. Professors have IMO often a conformist view and most certainly their work suffers from their particularly tight time budget.
I'd also prefer older historians over younger ones. History is one of the very few disciplines where you actually get better the older you are. I love reading those books from historians like David Landes or William McNeill when they were already way over 70 years old.
However, the very best scholarly works may still be dissertations. Reliably dry, but the immense effort required make them singularly and from a scholarly point of view far more learnt than later works when the career takes its time toll. And newby academics often still have this sting: They just hop on the podium and say Whatssup? I am the NEW and I'll send the dusty theories of the establishment straight into the dustbin. I like that - if they are good.
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
Posts: 1,313
Threads: 193
Joined: Apr 2006
Reputation:
4
The book has now reached the threshold of 100 entries in Worldcat and is doing quite well.
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
Posts: 204
Threads: 31
Joined: May 2011
Reputation:
0
Depending on the title/subject of the book I may be able to help you do something along these lines
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PYiw5vkQFPw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
, cool animations tend to find their way across a variety of different sites and do make people aware of things they would love, but wouldnt normally know exists
(disclaimer, I didnt make this  )
Damian Laurence Zamprogno
|
