I have known two exceptionally
astute senior editors. Back in 1991, the Crown editor gave me the word relationship that led to the publication
of A Cat’s Life: Dulcy’s Story. In
2012, the Wayman senior editor gave me the phrase Dulcy’s Companion Book that led to the final cover for A Cat’s Legacy. Both these women have
been a blessing in my life.
Recently,
I spoke with that same Waymen editor about A
Cat’s Legacy and why it may not be selling. She believes the new cover,
which I introduced to you in last Sunday’s posting, will help. As perhaps the
purchase price will. However, she also believes that readers, before deciding
to order a book, look not only at the cover, title, and price but also at the
number of reviews it’s received.
As
of today, February 3, 2013, A Cat’s
Legacy has only eight reviews. Wayman’s senior editor thinks it needs more before
prospective buyers will consider it a book worth buying.
How
many more? Well, that’s debatable.
A Cat’s Life: Dulcy’s Story
has twenty-two reviews from its first publication in 1992 in hardcover and its
second publication in 2012 as an e-book, and yet it isn’t selling well either. Perhaps
it, too, needs more reviews.
Of
course, reviews may be only a part of this. Publicity is probably the major
influence in the sell of any book. In years past, the publishing company did
the publicity. And surely Wayman has done its part in publicizing both of
Dulcy’s books.
However,
unlike 1992 when Crown published A Cat’s
Life, today’s large, contemporary publishing houses demand that writers
have a “platform.” That is, a means by which they themselves can get word out
about the book. This platform may be any or all of the following: blog, Facebook,
Twitter, web site, radio show, PBS series, seminar or conference given around
the country. That is, any writing or personal appearance that puts the author
out in front of a large audience that might buy the book.
Last
week, a fellow blogger and author of several well-received and read books sent
me an e-mail response to my comment on her blog. Given her past success, her
words about platform stunned me. Right now, she is writing another book, and
her agent has explained to her what’s necessary in today’s publishing world:
Publishing
has changed so very much. Even with all my experience, I feel like a beginner—not
in terms of writing, but in terms of the business. Book proposals are now 75%
marketing and 25% content. It used to be the opposite. And last year, I read
somewhere that you couldn't claim your blog as a decent "platform"
unless you were getting 10,000 page views a month. I felt so discouraged as
that seemed such an impossible number. But in the last two months, I've been
averaging 12,000+ page views a month! Still not a whole bunch of Followers, but
a good number of page views.
Dr. Kathleen McCoy went on to explain that a series of postings she did on
parents/adult-children relationships changed the number of page views she began
to receive per month.
So
I’m left wondering if perhaps my blogs simply don’t appeal because of what I
write about. I have two. One is an on-line memoir on which I post a story of my
life each Wednesday. The other is the one you are reading right now. It is a
memoir of my life as a writer seeking publication.
For
the first, I have 205 followers and fewer than 2,000 page views a month; for
this second one, I have 25 followers and fewer than 200 page views a month. So
you see, I literally have no platform.
Dr.
McCoy believes that a platform may be necessary only for nonfiction. So perhaps
the novel I’ve written—The Reluctant Spy—won’t
need a platform. We’ll see. All I’m sure of right now is that for each of the
past three months, neither of Dulcy’s books has sold more than five copies.
The
bottom line to this lengthy posting is that I’d greatly appreciate any help you
can give me with the following:
- Writing a book review on Amazon or Goodreads for A Cat’s Legacy and/or A Cat’s Life if you haven’t already done so.
- Asking those to whom you’ve given the book(s) to write a review.
Thank you. And peace to you ever
and always, pressed down and overflowing.
