I was hoping you could help guide me on an academic question. As part of my summer project work with my professor, I am involved in developing a marketing plan for his new book on business management. Your blog has been a wonderful resource to get insights into the publishing world for fiction writers. It seems to me that fiction has an easier time using social media for promotion. Would you say that educational books (which are relevant to audiences outside academic circles too) have a viable avenue in being promoting via social media? Or will that dilute its aura of ‘seriousness’ and ‘authority’? Or does it depend entirely on the direction the campaign takes (which should be what though?)?
Swati
“As part of my summer project work with my professor, I am involved in developing a marketing plan for his new book on business management.”
Hahaha, free labor.
Would you say that educational books (which are relevant to audiences outside academic circles too) have a viable avenue in being promoting via social media?
Yes.
Or will that dilute its aura of ‘seriousness’ and ‘authority’?
This reminds me of a graduate student I used to know. Many years ago – I am old! – when I worked in a lab as a grunt, he was working on his Masters, I think, and he was so concerned with how he looked. He wore jeans and a leather jacket, he kept his hair long, and he had a huge man crush on my professor’s husband, who was a Botany PhD because “you can’t even tell that guy is a scientist.” This dude spent so much time worrying that someone might mistake him for a nerd based on his Biology major.
I couldn’t wrap my head around it. To me, choosing science as your major was about research. About making a difference. It was so much bigger than worrying about your supposed “nerdness.”
Does your professor want to make a difference with his book? Is it important for him to be read? Does he want to be financially rewarded for his efforts? Then he needs to get his book in front of people who might read it.
Or does it depend entirely on the direction the campaign takes (which should be what though?)
Let’s talk about direction. What is promotion? Promotion is making your target audience aware of your product. The key to success of the social media promotion is to identify your audience, find that audience, and then advertise to it. Finding it is the most difficult part.
If you post your advertisement on social media without doing the crucial legwork, it will fail. It’s like screaming into the void. To effectively advertise, you have to understand the social media you are using and learn where to find your audience.
Let’s dissect a failing social media strategy.
If you go on Twitter right now and type in “fans of Ilona Andrews” in the search window, you will come to a slew of advertisements for urban fantasy novels. They go something like this:

And there is always a caption: Fans of Ilona Andrews and Patricia Briggs can’t get enough of this hot, gritty, addicting new series.
These writers have identified their audience. They are advertising to the readers who like urban fantasy and paranormal romance. On Facebook, these would be good, effective ads, because Facebook allows you to target your audience better. It also makes you pay for the ads because it knows it’s at least somewhat effective.
But how do you find these specific readers out of the millions of people on Twitter? There is no Paranormal Fantasy Page on Twitter. Twitter audience self-segregates based on individual accounts. So they choose to “borrow” an audience from someone who already has it, namely me and Patty. The idea is that if you like our books, you will surely love theirs.
BTW, I don’t have an issue with these ads. I’m using them as an academic example of why stuff sometimes seems like a good idea and works on one platform but doesn’t work somewhere else.
On Twitter, this strategy is flawed and if you examine the number of responses, likes, retweets, and clicks these ads generate, you will see that the advertisement isn’t producing a significant response among the targeted audience, namely Ilona Andrews and Patty Briggs followers.
Why?
First, notice that they don’t actually tag the authors. Patricia and I worked very hard to build our brands and obtain our audiences. Popping into someone else’s feed uninvited with the advertisement based on that author’s name might generate negative publicity instead of positive publicity.
But not tagging the author for whose audience they are aiming means that discoverability of these ads is very low. Nobody searches the Twitter for “Ilona Andrews” to find books by other authors. Actually nobody except our assistant searches for Ilona Andrews, period, and she only does it to find ebook pirates. We are not that famous. If anyone does type Ilona Andrews into that search window, they are usually looking for the official account. In the context of reaching Ilona Andrews or Patty Briggs audiences specifically, these ads are basically invisible. Usually they are only seen by the audience of the author who is posting them. That audience is already committed to that author, so saying “Hey, here is my new book!” will be just as effective.
Second, the structure of such advertisements opens the person who wrote them to liability. You never see a commercial advertisement that says, “This is the best toothpaste.” Why? Because someone might take you to court and make you prove your claim. Instead toothpaste commercials say things like “Voted Best by Hot Dentist Magazine” or “Three out of four dentists prefer it*” and the little * is going to point you to fine print where it is explained what study they conducted to back up this claim.
When the author of advertisement states that someone else’s readers can’t get enough, can’t put down, devour, etc., they are stating something as fact. It’s like standing on a legal landmine. This is also why you almost never see an author blurb a book and say “My fans will love Author B.” Instead you say “I love Book X. Author B is a fresh new voice!” You are limiting the blurb to your opinion only. It’s safer that way.
The question then becomes how to ethically and effectively advertise on Twitter? The answer is, you can’t. You can buy ads, but who knows who sees them. Even if you use the tags effectively, you are still kind of screaming into the wind, because most people browse their feed, not particular tags, unless something big happens like RWA imploding.
Just about the only way to advertise on Twitter is this: you create funny content that goes viral, cross your fingers, and hope enough of your people see it, or you can send your book/product to one of the people who have a large audience that matches yours and hope they mention it.
So to reiterate:
- Identify your audience. To whom are you marketing this book?
- Where are these people hanging out? Do they have a Reddit? Do they have a Facebook Group? Learn the particulars of each social platform. Don’t use advertisement designed for Facebook on Twitter, etc.
- Gain access to that specific social media. Can you target your ads toward that specific group? Can you buy ads on the message boards, blogs, or pages?
- Collect endorsements. Who are the particular people prominent in their community or field of study? Do those experts read books? Can you send a book to them and ask for a mention? If I had a history book about Modern American History, I would send it to Heather Cox Richardson and cross my fingers she reads it. If she talks about it, I gain access to 340,000 people who like her page.
- Be memorable. Be funny, be vivid, entertain, and leave a good impression. The best advertisement is a joke that you and your reader get. Show them that you are part of their crowd and you get them. Why did Starbucks adopted weird names for their cup sizes? Because knowing the names meant you were “in.” Or the baby Darth Vader using the force to start a car. These ads made you feel special, like you were a part of a secret club with its own language. That’s what you’re aiming for.
- Above all, make sure your ads and your social strategies pass the ethical sniff test. You don’t want to get your professor into hot water.
Swati, I’m going to tell you something to take some stress off your shoulders. Unless your professor is famous or he knows someone who is famous in the business management community, no matter what you do, you won’t be able to generate significant number of sales. These are people who flock to “millionaire” in the bio. What is most likely going to happen is that the book will come out and then he will make it required reading for every student who takes his course for years to come. So don’t fret too much. He is going to get a certain number of copies sold each semester. 😉
As someone whose job is to manage account sales in a bookstore to educational institutions (both secondary and tertiary) – when Ilona says
“What is most likely going to happen is that the book will come out and then he will make it required reading for every student who takes his course for years to come. So don’t fret too much. He is going to get a certain number of copies sold each semester”
I can only confirm this does indeed happen with great regularity…
Yes, but now she will have something to put into her business plan. 🙂 Complete with what to do, what not to do, etc. That’s my good deed for the day.
Thank you. For the advice. And for the reassurance. This is a professor whose ideas I genuinely admire and he has big hopes. I didn’t want to be the dead weight, but it is good to know I won’t be able to damage his plans too much. Thank you everyone in this community, you make me feel safe to ask these questions.
I admire that you both reached out to someone with publishing experience for advice abour your issue, and that when that advice was probably a bit of a reality check you took with the same respect you had when you asked the question originally.
As an outsider this was a phenomenally interesting blog post, but as someone emotionally invested in the answer it must have been a little disappointing to not have been given an answer that would have been more helpful to solving your dilemma.
As Mrs. Andrews has shown that’s not neither your fault or hers (Their’s? I’m not sure how to properly ascribe credit between them on the blog, even though they usually are pretty clear who is currently posting). You were merely in a situation with unreasonable expectations/hopes.
That was good advice though, it identified the major problem and gave you good direction towards finding your best results, and who knows by guiding your efforts where they can be most efficient your might be surprised at the results!
Once upon a time I worked in academic publishing, the majority of our authors were professors. I cosign on this 100%
My position there was in marketing and I have to say that I never came across a professor that actually made their students come up with marketing for their book, at least not to my knowledge. Holy cow, how unethical.
Ilona Andrews, You can’t know how gratified I am to see an author who really is willing to share their experience and knowledge about the business. So many authors play it close to the vest, with the attitude, “If they’re buying your book, they’re not buying mine, so kiss off.” I have learned several valuable lessons from some of the little quips you casually drop, and I appreciate them like the gems they are. Thank you!
And the library sales, that is a key to academic sales!!!
As for the ads like the one you mention, I find they hurt more. If I take a look at the book, they are NEVER of the same quality in terms of world-building and storying telling as the authors they cite. The disappointment from clicking a handful of times has me ignoring these ads completely.
You’re very kind (and knowledgeable) to take the time to answer marketing questions. ????
I can wholeheartedly agree that the professor will make his book required reading. I had a professor do that when I was getting my Master’s degree. It wasn’t the most scintillating reading (it was on health quality), but I got through it. 😀
10 years later, if the information is still relevant and the professor is still at the school, it will still be required reading. 😉
I’m still laughing to myself at the thought of a “Hot Dentist” mag. Anyone else find that v amusing?
As a licensed dental professional (hee hee!) the cliche “dentists(all dental professionals) are boring” is the fight of a lifetime…if there were such mag it would sell to all the students/new pro’s and be in the reception rooms. But would probably never be seen in the staff room…because we are too busy to care if someone thinks we are HOT or NOT. Except for now, lock down for dentistry is a big concern.
The periodontist I used to go to was a very attractive gentleman. He also had a great sense of humor – all of the posters in the treatment rooms were on the ceiling, because that’s where the patients were looking during procedures!!????????
That’s so clever!
You guys are so smart (and have worked hard at all aspects of your craft), and so kind!
I am not an author, but it is surprising how often I send people to your website for this kind of information.
Happy, safe weekend to everyone,
…and now I can‘t stop sniggering because my mind is making up the most ludicrous images of Hot Dentists…
If there isn’t such a magazine, we could totally plagiarize the idea:
“Hot dentists monthly!”
See if your dentist made the top 100 list. Criteria such as best hands, bedside manner, and least painful could be investigated.
With a free “Hot hygienists” issue thrown in.
Lol! I can’t stop laughing. 😀
Why did it remind me of the “old” days of when Playgirl was still around? If you don’t know what Playgirl magazine was, it was the male version of Playboy.
‘chair side’ is the usual term
Now I have to Google Heather Cox Richardson 🙂
Same here hahaha
So yea, where can I pick up a copy of Urban Fantasy, by Cool Author? That marketing is spot on. 😉
She is awesome. You can find her on Facebook and she also has a blog. She creates daily digestible summaries of the day’s news with historical context and draws awesome connections… I love her pieces. She’s been doing live video lately…
Oh yeah, She rocks history and our current crisis.
She’s awesome!
I did google her and was very impressed by her political savy, broad field of knowledge, and her willingness to speak out against the breakdown of morals and conscience in our government officials.
I did google her and was very impressed by her.
This professor sounds rather strange to me. I hope he gives everyone top marks regardless just for making them help him on his ego project.
Unless this is typical for that type of degree? Business Studies etc, not my area at all (I was all epistemology, bit of linguistics and dabbles in physics) but it sounds quite a strange project choice.
I guess if he’s of such a high calibre in the business field (like Jeff Bezos or Warren Buffet level or something) that doing his marketing campaign would be intrinsically beneficial. Otherwise it really does just sound like he wants cheap labour, and hey, that’s what postgrad students are for, sure, but something about it sounds. . . off. Certainly wasn’t the type of thing I ever did. But then again different fields, different times (it’s been a goodly while) and most likely different countries.
Best of luck on your project regardless.
Really great advice and I think spot on. Thank you for taking the time to respond to this student and give her a serious answer that she can use.
I would now go and buy 6 more of your books as a thank you but I already own paperbacks, hardbacks, audio of most of your work 🙂
You still don’t have the ebooks! ????
That was really nice of you to do and all excellent advice. As a former bookbuyer of a national chain, we received tons of emails like this from new authors. People really don’t understand the scale of competition. There are over 10,000 new books published every month. Btw, I will admit to always increasing the numbers we bought of your books & promoting them at every opportunity. ????
Much appreciated!
You are famous, Ms Briggs also. After all, I tell everyone I know about your great books. I have even loaned one or two (holding the lendee’s favorite something to make sure I get the book back). You’re both in my “hold in my hand, smell the paper” and electronic libraries. Just in case the power goes out and I can’t recharge the kindle.
Your advice was great and hopefully Swati will print your response to keep with her for a long time to come. That was information learned the hard way by you and shared without charge. You are such a good person, even during the Full Flower Moon.
Before I got my Kindle, I bought paper books. These days, with no bookstore within 50 miles, I stick with Kindle. I also own a hand-crank charger with a USB port and I will crank that baby to death to keep my Kindle charged when the power goes out. It’s an emergency radio, you crank it until it’s charged, play it until it’s not, and it’s also an emergency charger for phones or anything that will work with USB. Since I’m *that* close to the tower, if my power is out, the phone tower is out, too, so the phone gets turned off and charger runs my entertainment. The cost of a paperback book went into that charger, and it takes up far less space than all those books I used to buy. Mercy, but I have a garage filled with boxes of books! The Kindle takes up far less space. I’m in the hinterlands, so our power doesn’t come back for days, once it goes out.
You two are the best!
I have zero interest in a professor and his books and yet you produced a post that was interesting, accurate and informative with just the right amount of humor.
I’m warning you right now, never live near me or I’d be dumpster-diving for your grocery list. ????
+1!
“Hahaha, free labor.” – i call grad school work “indentured servitude”
BTW, nice summary. I can confirm this marketing strategy/tactics work for numerous businesses – know your audience, know where they are online, and market appropriately to them.
100100100. Also bad day has me again reflecting on weaponized bricks a la Ryder. In the silly movie hobbs&shaw ryan reynolds has a clever bit about stabbing someone in the chest with a brick. So now after two of my heroes inspiration shall conceal carry a brick.
Yes, I shall place my brick or two in my purse. No one would find it buried under so much other stuff. And with the handles to hold I’d have good reach for swinging????
And you can get through a metal detector with one.
Hmmmm….. I feel like you’ve put some thought into this? (That’s actually a really good point!) ????????
My kids just graduated within the last few years, and most of their professors had some sort of text book of their own as required reading. One even had a stack of text, works sheets and outlines printed up at the school book store. It was unbound and cost $225. What a crock. Fortunately they discovered that they could usually get by without it.
Academic twitter exists, but you need to build that brand. I started following a scientist on Twitter because I was impressed with her work lactation in mammals during my breastfeeding days, and I found the first few posts witty. She uses her platform to promote other female scientists, which I admire and find interesting. Then I found out she actually coordinates March Mammal Madness for schools around the country. Basically she is awesome. People should follow Katie Hinde. She has an academic social media platform that others could emulate, but this is also my long-winded way of saying “I agree” with Ilona.
I think the only other thing I would add to that is to be careful of the tone of the marketing; if a book is scientific and serious, he probably wouldn’t want half-naked cowboys in the ads. (Well, now that I think about it… that might actually work better… ha!)
You are kind, patient, and helpful! I don’t need any of this advice, yet it’s still interesting, and Swati is have your aid.
Nice shout out to Heather Cox Richardson, too, whose daily news summaries are pretty much the only reason I get on FB.
*Swati is lucky to have your aid
While totally unrelated to my life and interests, totally interesting.
Even in answering questions, your style, humor, and generosity shows.
Thanks for being you, and the smile on my face.
Grounded, party of two.
Wow free labor indeed. I work as Social Media Manager for my Parks & Rec dept in my local city, and that professor reminds me a LOT of some of the other City heads, who are afraid of social, ordering random younger people in the Depts to go throw out all the COVID information out there as fast as they can but without any strategic planning or coordination, and yet forbidding staff to engage with the public for fear of repercussions, hence basically committing Social Media Suicide. Too bad they’ve ignored the most vulnerable populations that are not on social and completely left out print media. Anyways that’s my rant.
+1 in regards to the print media.
You are famous ????????????♀️, the post was very kind of you. I promote through word of mouth. Most people who know me, know I’m an avid reader and ask for opinions on authors. I share your books often.
Also keep in mind that you may buy ads on Facebook that the platform then descides who to target (I have jo idea how that works), but posting directly to a group will usually just get you banned from that group.
I am a member of a native plant Fb group and an amphib and reptiles one and neither is receptive to haveing someone join and start advertising their products. Fast way to get banned from the group. However as a group member and enthusiast there would jot be a problem with me sayjng Hey, I just found this freat field guide or whatever and mentioning it. But if I pushed it like an advertisement…. warned and then banned 🙂
And apparently my nots turn jnto jots and great into freat… ugh
“What is most likely going to happen is that the book will come out and then he will make it required reading for every student who takes his course for years to come.”
Here’s how to improve on that model:
When I attended college my university required everyone to take 2 semesters of Theology. Every incoming freshman was required to take the exact same Theology course the first semester. There were at least 12 different sections. The University made the assignments – students had no choice and couldn’t make any changes. The primary textbook was written by one of that university’s Theology professors. This went on for years.
And, no, that book is not, and was not considered to be a seminal work in the field.
Or, you could get a prof who assigned a book because he got mentioned in a footnote on p. 422. There were much better Constitutional Law books available at the time…..
I call grad student “free labor” indentured servitude for the duration of their studies. Thank you for this great advice. Shared with some of my aspiring author friends.
Folks really need to understand where their demographic is. Young folks are on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and sometimes SnapChat. Older folks tend to be on Twitter and Facebook. And some audiences aren’t on any these platforms.
“awesome book with magic and witches! hot werewolves!”
LMAO!!
For what’s it worth, I believe Twitter can be a worthwhile component of an advertising strategy, though I completely agree paid ads on the platform tend to be much less efficient than on Facebook.
1. The platform can be an interesting window into how people are talking about a subject. Searching hashtags related to the main subjects covered in the book could help inform ad strategy for other platforms.
2. Using Twitter to connect with others talking about business management could be a useful long term strategy if the professor isn’t particularly well-known.
Thank you, I will keep this in mind.
Also, can I please geek out over the fact that my favorite authors have used my name in a post?! *Can die happy*
I have a question on Sapphire Flames – is there a obvious reason why Catalina couldn’t use her magic directly on the scorpion ticks when she was attacked at Mr Moody’s Office? Would that be more efficient than shooting them?
So the siren call only works on human minds as the animal mage only connects with animals?
Claudia, this is so wildly off topic for this post, but ok. Read the scene. It’s explained.
“I reached out with my magic, trying to sense his mind. It was there, a weak, pale glow to my mind’s eye. The scorpion ticks streamed over him, each a faint greenish dot of primitive sentience. They buzzed around him like bees. On their own, they wouldn’t deter me, but collectively, they formed a mental veil that wrapped around him, all parts of it communicating, connected, and one. I was looking at an alien hive mind. This was so far out of my frame of reference, I didn’t know how to go about attacking it. I couldn’t even tell if he was human enough for my siren call to work.
Andrews, Ilona. Sapphire Flames (Hidden Legacy) . Avon. Kindle Edition.
What everyone said (excellent advice!), plus a few additional thoughts. (My apologies if I repeat anything.
One: endorsements. Business faculty often work as consultants (and make a lot more money that way, but I digress). This is an easy group to ask for a quote.
Two: endorsement quid pro quo : if your professor has endorsed any books, it’s time for the other authors to return the favor.
Check to see what professional organizations he’s active in, if you don’t already know. That gives you another place to try and get the book reviewed. Most professors have this information on the university website. If yours does not, ask for a copy of his vita. Many university libraries have a database of faculty publications. Also, many universities will promote faculty publications online. It’s a start.
One thing that you can do to help get endorsements is to offer to write up a draft based on your conversation/s with the endorser (if that’s a word.) Whip up a draft and email it. Some people will want to write their own endorsement and others will say “Looks good. I would do this last bit via email. It’s always a good idea to have a paper trail. Writing up a draft of a short article, can also help get a piece on the university website.
Three: get to know your business librarian, if you haven’t done this already. Academic librarians are supposed to be up on all aspects of scholarly communication in their area. These days, scholarly communications cover a broad range of social media as well the more traditional journals, datbases, etc. Professional journals usually have a review section, which is another way of getting some (hopefully) good quotes to use elsewhere.
You don’t say what school you’re at. Depending on size and how the library arranges itself, you may need to work with a couple of people, one who works with collections and one who’s more public service/instruction/ reference.
Librarians are like everyone else. If you get a jerk, try asking at the refernce desk your local public library or another university.
Hope this helps. (Please excuse any typos – I had a shoulder replacement recently and my typing has gone to hell in a handbasket.)
Very interesting post. As a lot of others already said: A topic I wasn’t interested in was made very interesting by your insights. I just love your blog! The things I learn here are priceless.
As for a marketing strategy, seeing that I have an MBA and work in business consulting and therefor probably am part of the target audience, I thought I might add, that Linked In might be a social media platform worth considering for this kind of marketing strategy. Especially if you can start a discussion on some of the topics covered in the book (whatever they might be) and then after a while just say something like “covered in more depth in Professor X. book” or “the examples I put forward here are taken from Professor X. book” or …
Depending on the country you live in, there are other business networks as well (e.g. XING in German speaking countries)
What also gets me interested in a book is actually some of the customer reviews on Amazon (or the like). If they are detailed enough and give me decent reasons why this book would be interesting to read, I might go out and buy it. Just writing “this is great” will not convince me though 😉
This was one of the most interesting blogs about writing I have read. I wonder how History Professor Dr. Deborah Harkness broke through with her All Souls Trilogy?
However she did it, she did it really well. I typically dislike time travel, but I actually really enjoyed her books. (Perhaps her knowledge of history made it more believable than most other books with that plot line?) ????
First of all let me say that your response showed great compassion in providing an answer in great detail and useful information in a very realistic and easy to understand way, I am in much awe at your ability to do this!
Second, I do not know how long it took you to compile the answer and then place in your blog from the moment you received the question, but it is my impression that it was not very long, maybe a day or two? Again you have impressed me with your knowledge and ability to share it.
“ What is most likely going to happen is that the book will come out and then he will make it required reading for every student who takes his course for years to come. So don’t fret too much. He is going to get a certain number of copies sold each semester.”
One of my professors did exactly that…there were no used books in the campus bookstore…the book sucked, and was a cheaply made paperback textbook for $240….And we weren’t allowed to sell it back to the bookstore at the end of the semester. So the next semester no one would be able to get used books either. It felt like the teacher was swindling us and I couldn’t respect him for the whole class (though I pretended I did). I got an A though, so there was that…
Hi Swati,
As an academic librarian working at a major university, I would also recommend that you advise your professor to submit his book to the major academic reviewers such as Choice, BookList, and LibraryJournal. Not knowing more about the book in question I can’t say for certain, but for many academic books, libraries are the largest audience. And we are heavily influenced in our purchasing by the professional reviewers I’ve listed above. Please note that there is a risk in submitting for review – most books submitted do not get reviewed and they don’t return the submitted copy of the book. Of the three I’ve listed, Choice is by far the most influential.
Thank you Rachelle, I will add these to my list.
Ilona, you forgot the main advertising weapon to wield: pictures of kittens and pups.
I jest. 🙂 Good luck with your project, Swati!
Thank you!!
From the reader’s perspective: I find a lot of authors through short story collections. It gives me a taste of how they write without a huge commitment. If I like the short story, then I’ll go the next step to a book. Then, occasionally, I will search out every other book of their’s I can find. In the digital age, I now follow my favorite authors and will look up authors that THEY like (I found you through Patricia Briggs ????). For non fiction I am either searching the topic or something caught my eye (a magazine article, a Science Friday piece, an author interview, something on PBS, etc. and, again, a recommendation by an author I respect. I pay NO attention to “If you like then…” ads.
As a former lawyer, I want to clarify something. We were taught in law school that ads proclaiming “X is the BEST” aren’t actionable because the claim can neither be proven or disproving. Courts have considered such language “mere puffery.” What is actionable are ads that claim “X is BETTER than Y” because that’s specific enough to be proven or disproven. I think of this legal argument as “the Valley Girl” defense: “Ohmigod, you’re the BEST!” is okay, but “Ohmigod, you’re qualitatively better than Suzie,” is not.
Both of my kids in university have to buy professor-authored books, etc. all the time. I actually didn’t think there was any other market for them. I just assumed they were so expensive because only the captive audience would buy them.
“Captive audience” .. no truer words. Gah!
After grad school, I routinely pissed off all my younger cousins muttering in sheer relief, “no more exams for me, no more exams for me!”
I had a lab professor one year who used a different edition of his book every year, so you couldn’t buy it used. Normally a lot of students would make arrangements to share books they couldn’t get used, but the only time we actually used the books was for our exams. Instead of writing up the exam questions, he just wrote out exercise numbers from the book for us to look up and solve. So if you didn’t have your own copy of the book you failed the class.
He should have been reported to an ethics committee! (I don’t actually know if they deal in such issues but they should.)
That has got to be the lowest, most disreputable thing I’ve ever heard of in academia! (And there are many low things going on there.)
This was a really nice thing to do. Stay well everyone!
You are most kind to help Swati and your answer is interesting. I was someone who swore never-ever-ever to read something described as “romance”. I don’t understand how internet search algorithms work, but the way I found your books was by entering “If you like Harry Dresden, you’ll like . . .” in my search engine. (Dogpile is my preferred search engine.) So however you placed yourself in the marketplace that connection was made. Awesome. I’m most grateful.
Just goes to show you should never narrow your choices.
You reminded me of an old TV ad that claimed “4 out of 5 dentists surveyed recommend [brand]” …
I also used to append “… and the fifth one doesn’t work for us anymore”
Also reminded me of the required textbook for my calculus class that was written by a friend of the professor: we *never* used it (found out too late to return it!) because after seeing the book, our professor didn’t actually like it!
Always enjoy reading whatever you post. 🙂 Plus, definitely will Google Heather Cox Richardson.
Other people have said this, but you guys are really generous with your time and experience!
Love the view into the realities of the actual business.
I suggest he find a way to get Baby Yoda aka The Child into any advertising. Perhaps a cover photo of him in baby Yoda socks?
Merchandising! *
*mel brooks, space balls, the movie.
Very interesting information. My eldest granddaughter graduates this month. She’s thinking librarian and really enjoys writing so wants to pursue that also. I recommended she use your business posts for good practical advice on how to be more effective in all the promotion and business stuff. Other than that, put your backside in a chair and write, write, write to hone your skills.
Thank you for the information. I am an indie yarn dyer and this has helped me focus my ad direction.
Stormy, Lavender, and pearl are gorgeous, but Hyacinth is the best. I haven’t worked with tencel before. Looks shiny!
Thank you, Ilona Andrews, for the informative post.
The dog and I are watching it rain and reading as he recovers from the “Trauma!” of going to vet because he was one eye squinting this morning. (He thought it was just a monthly weight check so went happily trotting off with vet tech from vehicle. I declined the cone of shame as I figured it would not stay on longer than a minute.).
Anyway, he enjoys the drama of reading an Ilona Andrews snippet. Also we enjoyed the latest Ryder snippet. Looking forward to next one.
Unfortunately, you are correct about making students buy the professors book into infinity and beyond. One of my nieces has one of those now in Marketing that just refers to page and problem number on tests. Makes me angry as it is not a valid real world test of knowledge just regurgitating.
as someone who – for more than one semester – had to pay $200 for a “book” that was the proceedings of the rubber society, and never opened it once during the semester, because the professor was on the board, this is accurate.
I’ve fallen for that advertising in the past – “Author-I-admire says this is the best book ever!” and because I have like most of that author’s recommendations, I bought it. the book was complete trash. i’ll never make that mistake again. but that’s how I learned you can return electronic books.
You so generous with your time and knowledge, and so nice to offer perspective to ease her mind. I read this whole post despite have no foot or toe in this this world because everything you write keeps my interest and moves me somehow. At the end of this I went awww, so nice!
I laughed as I read the reply. Why in the world would someone hope to use your expertise to help a stranger do what it took you years to learn? I don’t know if your reply was satire but I read it as such and laughed hysterically.
Heather Cox Richardson is AWESOME! I just watched her first post/lecture and I am hooked. THANKS !
I have to wonder why anyone would ask you how to advertise and sell a non-fiction book. It is untrue to imagine that a book is a book is a book. The best thing you said about it is to know and find your audience. I have picked up books of short stories that list you as authors and read the other authors because they’re there, thus finding a couple of authors I’d never have seen otherwise. But if the blurb says you liked it, that means nothing to me. You watch TV shows I’d never sit still for. Your taste is not mine. Your writing is most assuredly to my taste. I can’t seem to get enough of it.
I was shocked that you’re say you’re not that famous. That is untrue. You have a dedicated audience, to be sure, and we suggest you to others. My sister claims that her public library doesn’t have your books. I cannot imagine. I think she must have typed it in wrong in the search box.
As I read your answer to this question of how to sell a book, your sense of humor and kindness came through very loudly and clearly. You explained all the steps, then you admitted that it doesn’t matter, because the book will be required reading and it’ll sell just fine as that. If I had half your patience, I would never grind my teeth. Stay yourself.
Oh, and you’re not old.
I’ve written a few newspaper articles, things of that sort, but will (almost certainly) never write a book nor do I have a great desire to do so. Yet I always read your responses to questions about writing and authorship with considerable interest. I love seeing how things like that work. I don’t take clocks apart, but the inner working of authorship and publishing are much more interesting than clockwork. Probably more complicated too. Thanks for all your efforts and your kindness for bothering to respond so thoroughly.
Reading this post, I kind of regret that I am not involved with neither writing nor marketing whatsoever. I have the feeling if I were, I would progress so much just from reading your blog posts.
Like in your books, you are honest and reasonable with your words and have a sound argumentation. I really love that about your posts and stories.
My first post. I work in software industry. Never assume common sense is common. Knowing your audience (personas) is the beginning of wisdom. When you know them, you can find them.
Also useful, a few concepts from agile marketing such as A/B testing and fail fast.
It is very hard to measure Marketing so I hope that works in your favor. Good luck
Here is a *hopefully* relevant side thought on this. Swatis professor is … a professor. Maybe its a marketable book, but also, possibly not?
So… in academic circles there are certain rules on how to write things. These aren’t necessarily what the general public has any interest in reading, even if the subject ought to be interesting, all things being equal. Academic books are very dry. Because they follow those rules. And by rules I mean there are actual committees that will vet your writing and make sure it passes appropriate academic muster.
That’s why there are different rules for writing and proofreading non-academic publications.
For instance, I helped a friend publish her thesis paper on Amazon. I explained to her that no outsiders were too likely to buy it, this was just so it would be there so people (that were in her circle (which is fairly broad) and had some expertise and/or interest in her general area, and had expressed interest, would have relatively easy access to it.
But she was still disappointed at the lackluster sales.
I read it, it was a great thesis, full of proof of concept and diagrams and professional psychologist terms. The subject matter was potentially riveting, the execution… perfectly academic.
So unless your professor is publishing through a non-academic publisher, I wouldn’t get too excited, regardless of how exciting the material is.
Thank you for the excellent and thorough advice. I am one of the much-reviled college professors who assigns her own book. My first textbook technically just came out, but is currently locked in a warehouse somewhere due to COVID. I have assigned the book for my classes, though, and this is common amongst a number of faculty I know, because my co-authors and I literally wrote the book for that specific class since nothing else like it existed. I taught the course from articles for several years and it was not effective. Also, my royalties come out to something like a nickel a book and it took 3 years to write, so I do not plan to retire on my money pile anytime soon. The publisher has been on us to promote the book on our various pages, but that seems rude to me (and I am on purpose not putting anything here that could be seen as such). However, you have given me much useful food for thought (as always). Thank you!
If you wrote a book because it was an essential text missing from your field of study, then it should get promoted amongst your peers. Save folks from “reinventing the wheel.” I don’t know what your area if expertise is, but would definitely share in groups for that area, at the very least. And, directly to your peers who have expressed interest. And, if they are willing, to review the text book for you.
Useful, witty and to the point, as usual. Thank you. On to Google Heather Cox Richardson because genuine recommendations work.
Yes, well said. That’s my understanding of classic marketing. My major takeaway from my studies is that companies publish their ad in as many channells as they can afford. If it turns out to be suggessful nobody ever knows what channel(ls) was suggessful. No learning can be taken out of it. Marketing can be a bottomless pit and that’s why I never wanted to work in this field.
Happy Mothers Day! Hope you and your family are happy and healthy.
Thank you, this was really eye-opening. We have worked with Facebook Ads for years and I never found a way to use Twitter. Now I know why. Never thought to find professional advice from my favorite author. I am grateful for all the littles escapes to the realm of fantasy you have made possible with your stories!
🙂 your closing paragraph is PERFECT! LOL
Totally off topic, but I have charecter I’ve been playing online for a couple of years named Kate Daniels. I’m not much of a chatter, but about six months ago I went looking for the head of her guild, because my entire time playing no one declared war, and thr leader was Kate. In trued KD fashion she’d been made head of clan – without her knowledge or direct consent. She has since tried declaring war but non of her lazy clanmates ever join.
Great post!
Happy Day of Mothers to everyone out there. Even if your SO can’t treat you to a day of no kids or dinner at your favorite restaurant. Stay safe, stay healthy, and call your mom or mother figure. Because its really hard to do when they’re gone.
Here’s a reply totally not related to the post. I just came accross something I need to share with HA fans…
Ever heard of T. Kingfisher? I’m reading “Paladin’s Grace”. The hero is dedied to the art of war – on guard duty at a reception, he sees an ice swan sculpture and debates with his fellow paladin friend how they could weaponize it. Theorically, of course. Also, he knits, and here’s the passage that made me think of Ilona Andrews:
“He wished that he could break out his knitting, but for some reason, people didn’t take you seriously as a warrior when you were knitting. He’d never figured out why. Making socks required four or five double-ended bone needles, and while they weren’t very large, you could probably jam one into someone’s eye if you really wanted to. Not that he would. He’d have to pull the needle out of the sock to do it, and then he’d be left with the grimly fiddly work of rethreading the stitches. Also, washing blood out of wool was possible, but a pain.” And he goes on for another paragraph about the pain of tangled thread should the need of taking out his sword arose.
War and knitting. Given the image I’ve got of House Andrews, I could totally see Ilona and Gordon having this exact discussion on their porch/deck/whatever????
@Arijo Your comment made me laugh so much! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Thank you, this insight is really quite interesting :).
Wow! What an insightful, extensive explanation. You are so thoughtful and giving to the community. Thanks for being you!