Deliver A One, Two Punch

This morning I was reading Shelf Awareness. If you don't get this free enewsletter about the book trade, I'd encourage you to subscribe. You don't have to read every word (I don't) but I do take a serious look at each issue.

In today's issue, I read the review of this new book, The Customer Is Always Wrong. While I have not read this book since I just learned about it today. The provocative title drew me to read the review. Then I tracked down a sample of the writing at the publisher's website.

What I wanted to point out was the one, two punch that was orchestrated here. The first punch came from creating an excellent title. Too many would-be authors do not put enough energy into that title. It's the first element that a literary agent or editor sees when they begin to read your material.

I understand that some authors can't write the proposal without a title. In order not to get stuck, they throw some words on the page for that title and continue to write the rest of the proposal and sample chapter. If you follow this procedure, just make sure you circle back to your title and put some thought and attention into it before you send it out for consideration. It will pay off in the long run. Don't assume the publisher is going to title your book. Over and over I have seen a good title carry through the entire title process inside a publishing house. The author is the best person to title the book because they are closest person to the contents.

And the second punch that was delivered this morning? It was the review in Shelf Awareness. As I looked at the page for this book on Amazon, I see that it was also reviewed in Publishers Weekly (scroll down because it is there). A PW review isn't automatic. In fact, many books are sent to PW which are not reviewed in this trade journal within the publishing community. Yet, if the book is reviewed in Publishers Weekly, Amazon recognizes the importance of that review--and they keep those PW reviews on the top of the book page--forever. Book reviews are a great way to get the word out about your book. Reviews take effort to get out there--and obviously this author and publisher are investing the effort in this book.

Now let's think about your book and your writing. What are you doing today to deliver a one two punch or even a knockout. Are you actively working to tell people about your book? You'd be shocked at the relaxed role authors take with their book after it is released. If your book is still in print (even if it is not brand new), then you need to consciously be telling people about it. For example, my Book Proposals That Sell has been in print for several years. It continues to receive new customer reviews on Amazon and I continue to send out review copies to people who will recommend and talk about the book.

There are many books in the marketplace. Getting attention for any book is a challenge--and does not happen randomly or without planning. Take a few minutes to make a plan then execute your plan in the days ahead. It will pay off.

Book Title Confusion

I groaned when I spotted the fiction review in a recent issue of Publishers Weekly. The third novel in Melanie Wells series of thrillers from Multnomah Books (a division of Random House) releases next month and bears the title, My Soul To Keep. Why the groan? Because I knew the title would be confused in the marketplace.

Over the Christmas holiday, I read an excellent novel from Davis Bunn called My Soul To Keep (Bethany House Publishers). The Bunn novel came out in August 2007. I loved this novel and believe it is powerful storytelling and wrote a brief review on Amazon.com to support the book.

It’s often said in publishing that you can’t copyright a title. While true, publishers often do lots of checking to make sure they have selected a unique title. Even those people with the best intentions make mistakes from time to time but the result is simply market confusion.

Several years ago, I recall sitting in a title meeting where we were batting around different possibilities for one of our books for the publisher. The group settled on the title, Leap of Faith. I raised the issue that Queen Noor had a new book with the exact same title. These books had different subtitles but who goes into the bookstore and asks for the book with a subtitle? No one.

The objection I raised was quickly dismissed that the Queen Noor book would long be gone from the public by the time the publisher book was released. (It wasn’t and even came out in paperback with roaring success.). In fact, if you search on Amazon for “Leap of Faith,” you will find a number of books including a novel from Danielle Steel with this title.

Do publishers make mistakes in this area of publishing? Absolutely and because in traditional publishing, the publisher selects the title, often it is outside of the author’s control. Here’s another little bit of information I remember from when we selected Leap of Faith for the title. This particular author did not propose a “must have” title. She threw some words on the paper of her proposal without real strong reasons for that particular title. It sent the team into a search for the perfect title instead of rallying around her pre-selected title.

The best course of action for an author is to create the best possible title for their book along with several alternatives of equal attractiveness. It will give your book title the best possible chance of making it through the various stages of the publishing process. It’s unfortunate when two books have the same title because in my view it confuses the market.

An Attention-Getting Book Title

Over the years, I've seen many book titles and most of them are not memorable and easy to forget. Then I was reading the Soapbox called "Shock and Yawn" by Jeff Gomez in Publishers Weekly. His new book is called Print Is Dead. He is definitely stirring some discussion in the publishing community. Here's one paragraph from his excellent article:

"The cold shoulder is especially evident at work (I'm employed at a major book publishing house). One co-worker, after I got into the elevator with him and a female colleague, said to her as we started to rise to our offices, "Don't talk to him, he's writing a book called Print Is Dead." The tone of his voice was that I'd betrayed them by writing a book that went against everything they stood for (or, at the very least, called them obsolete and put into motion an idea that would cost them their jobs). A second later, of course, he started to laugh, adding, "Just kidding." But his initial comment was telling. This was six months ago, before anyone had seen a galley of what I was writing. He was reacting purely to the title, to the idea."

Gomez is senior director of online consumer sales and marketing at Penguin Group U.S.A. so he is daily involved in working for a major book publisher. His book title is stirring discussion--which for any book author is a good thing. With a tiny bit of online research, I dug a bit deeper into Gomez and his efforts. I located his PrintIsDeadBlog. Also I was intrigued to see that he is podcasting some of the content of his forthcoming book (about a third of it according to Gomez). Here's the first of three excerpts. The technique reminds me of another wise book marketer Greg Stielstra and his PyroMarketing audio.

It's critical for writers to put energy into getting the right title for their book. As the author, it begins in your hands.