Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 6, Volume 6 | Page 19

WHY GETTING GREAT REVIEWS IS YOUR JOB
CAROLYN HOWARD-JOHNSON
Excerpted from Carolyn’s new How To Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and
Ethically: The ins and outs of using free reviews to build and sustain a writing
career
YOU NEED THIS ARTICLE! HERE’S WHY:
In spite of a contract or even an advance your publisher may not be a true
publisher. True publishing includes the marketing of a book. Think big names like
HarperCollins and Knopf. They assign a marketing budget to your book and an
actual marketing department complete with actual human-type marketers who are
trained in the specialized field of not just marketing, but marketing books. Except
for those who write only for pleasure, there is no reason to publish a book that
doesn’t get read.
And here’s more: Big publishers are relying on bloggers for their review process
as print journals and newspaper book sections shrink or disappear and as they
begin to understand that grassroots publicity—reviews or otherwise—can produce
a very green crop. Bloggers, you say? Well, that’s a resource pool you can easily
plumb yourself
Some publishers—even traditional publishers—may not respect tradition, be
uncooperative or goof. One of my writing critique partners was published with a
fine press. When she learned they had not sent advance review copies of her
literary novel to the most prestigious review journals before their strict sixteenweek deadline, she was naturally upset. They explained it was a snafu that could
not be fixed. That was no comfort at all. It did help her to know that because
thousands of galleys sent to the important review publications lie fallow in slush
piles, the chances of having a book reviewed by a major journal—even one
published traditionally let alone getting a glowing review—is remote. Because she
had me to nag her, she moved on to alternative marketing and review-getting
strategies found in Chapter Six of this book. Using those methods, she was still able
to schedule several major bookstore appearances that tend to favor established
names and rely on big-journal reviews in their decision-making process.
Nevertheless, it’s not the kind of loss any author wants to face.
These days most small publishers have no marketing department—or marketing
plan. In fact, many admit that when it comes to marketing, you are on your own.
No offense, publishers. I know many of you do a terrific job considering the profit
margin in publishing these days. Let’s face it, you can use help, and you don’t need
to deal with disappointed (irate?) authors. And, authors! We are ultimately
responsible

WRITERS’ TRICKS OF THE TRADE

PAGE
11

CAROLYN HOWARDJOHNSON
AUTHOR, BOOK
PROMOTER
Visit Carolyn’s
website
“Sharing With
Writers”
NAMED TO "WRITER'S
DIGEST 101 BEST
WEBSITES," THIS BLOG
IS A WAY TO CONNECT
WITH HER READERS
AND FELLOW WRITERS,
A WAY TO GIVE THE
TEACHING GENES THAT
POPULATE HER DNA
FREE REIN.
“ I FERVENTLY HOPE IT
WILL ALSO BE A FORUM
FOR THE EXCHANGE OF
IDEAS. PLEASE FEEL
FREE TO SEND ME
YOUR OWN QUESTIONS
ON ALL THINGS
PUBLISHING AND DON'T
FORGET YOUR EDITING
QUESTIONS. FOR
THOSE INTERESTED IN
EDITING AND
GRAMMAR, GO TO
WWW.THEFRUGALEDIT
OR.BLOGSPOT.COM.”

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2016