Okay, I'm not a fan of all of these ideas, but here's what came to mind.
1. Have you thought about the Kindle yet? I'm sure having it be an anthology and not your own original work will complicate things, but as I understand it getting a book into the kindle marketplace is fairly straightforward. Also, you could be very competitive on the price. Again, I have to wonder if it's not too late for this, and the likelihood that you're involved in the actual sales side of the book is slim, but a thought is a thought.
2. Ebook pre-release. It might be too late in the game for this one, but I really enjoy the way that Baen works with its pre-release ebooks. You pay a little bit more (at least, compared to the paperback), but you get the book several months before anyone else does, which somehow makes it seem infinitely cooler. I know I did this with Monster Hunter: Vendetta by Larry Correia, and I'll do it again when another exciting book comes out.
3. Interviews with other fantasy blogs. Don't sweat doing all the pimping yourself. There are plenty of people out there (myself included) that would be happy to do an interview with you to help you promote the book. Check with Pat, Adam, Ken and a few others and I'm sure you'll be able to get so much publicity it makes you sick.
4. Make sure the authors that are in the anthology are blogging about it (if they have blogs). Again, this is just another "spread it all around" idea so that you don't have to work so hard in promoting it yourself. Besides, I'm fairly certain they're invested in selling copies of the book as well
5. Local TV spot? This is a bit of a stretch, but every copy sold is a good thing, right? If the smaller towns near where you live have as lousy a morning news as mine does, then it shouldn't be hard to get a quick 4 or 5 minute spot on one, peddling the book.
6. Autographed copies/other personalizations. If there's a way to get the books personalized, that's always a strong selling point. There are many people who are willing to pay ahead of time if they know that will include autographs from some or all of the authors involved. Also, this is another great thing that the author would be able to blog about on their blog. I know that Howard Taylor of Schlock Mercenary fame does a LOT of signed stuff with personal artwork, and makes a fair amount of his yearly take-home from it.
7. Conventions. IF (and it's a capital IF) there's a way to get some of the authors together at a convention right around the time the book is set to come out, that's a great place to sell them. People love it any time they feel like they're getting something early ( even by just a few days) and this one also uses the author personal touch thing.
8. Release Parties. I'm not sure if this book is going to end up in a Barnes and Noble or other bookstore, but a release party, if possible, is always a good way to get a few copies out the door.
So yeah, there's a few random ideas.
1. Have you thought about the Kindle yet? I'm sure having it be an anthology and not your own original work will complicate things, but as I understand it getting a book into the kindle marketplace is fairly straightforward. Also, you could be very competitive on the price. Again, I have to wonder if it's not too late for this, and the likelihood that you're involved in the actual sales side of the book is slim, but a thought is a thought.
2. Ebook pre-release. It might be too late in the game for this one, but I really enjoy the way that Baen works with its pre-release ebooks. You pay a little bit more (at least, compared to the paperback), but you get the book several months before anyone else does, which somehow makes it seem infinitely cooler. I know I did this with Monster Hunter: Vendetta by Larry Correia, and I'll do it again when another exciting book comes out.
3. Interviews with other fantasy blogs. Don't sweat doing all the pimping yourself. There are plenty of people out there (myself included) that would be happy to do an interview with you to help you promote the book. Check with Pat, Adam, Ken and a few others and I'm sure you'll be able to get so much publicity it makes you sick.
4. Make sure the authors that are in the anthology are blogging about it (if they have blogs). Again, this is just another "spread it all around" idea so that you don't have to work so hard in promoting it yourself. Besides, I'm fairly certain they're invested in selling copies of the book as well
5. Local TV spot? This is a bit of a stretch, but every copy sold is a good thing, right? If the smaller towns near where you live have as lousy a morning news as mine does, then it shouldn't be hard to get a quick 4 or 5 minute spot on one, peddling the book.
6. Autographed copies/other personalizations. If there's a way to get the books personalized, that's always a strong selling point. There are many people who are willing to pay ahead of time if they know that will include autographs from some or all of the authors involved. Also, this is another great thing that the author would be able to blog about on their blog. I know that Howard Taylor of Schlock Mercenary fame does a LOT of signed stuff with personal artwork, and makes a fair amount of his yearly take-home from it.
7. Conventions. IF (and it's a capital IF) there's a way to get some of the authors together at a convention right around the time the book is set to come out, that's a great place to sell them. People love it any time they feel like they're getting something early ( even by just a few days) and this one also uses the author personal touch thing.
8. Release Parties. I'm not sure if this book is going to end up in a Barnes and Noble or other bookstore, but a release party, if possible, is always a good way to get a few copies out the door.
So yeah, there's a few random ideas.
Formerly Dark Prophecy, now I'm just me.
Strong proponent of a Writing Section here at RAFO.
Strong proponent of a Writing Section here at RAFO.
Fun, imaginative exercise on bookselling
11/06/2010 12:25:07 AM
- 606 Views
post it somewhere then get a lot of people to write really good reviews about it? *NM*
11/06/2010 12:30:54 AM
- 170 Views
Change the name to "Buy this Book or Die a Fiery Death in Forty Days" *NM*
11/06/2010 12:33:55 AM
- 179 Views
And then start a chain letter e-mail. But are the increased sales really worth selling your soul? *NM*
11/06/2010 01:06:13 AM
- 204 Views
Re: Depends. How much is your soul worth? One brother? One bestseller?
11/06/2010 11:39:58 AM
- 423 Views
Not likely
11/06/2010 01:07:28 AM
- 410 Views
"Best American Fantasy" sounds like "Regular Detergent"
11/06/2010 02:03:57 AM
- 423 Views
It's based on Best American Short Stories
11/06/2010 03:18:47 AM
- 456 Views
BASS? You mean THE BASS? Never heard of it. Sounds like "Potato Chips".
11/06/2010 05:49:37 PM
- 404 Views
A few (probably bad) ideas.
11/06/2010 05:32:31 PM
- 616 Views
Tell everyone that this book will be what the book club is reading.
12/06/2010 02:33:51 PM
- 488 Views
Keep the authors in it a deathly secret, start an ARG for people to figure out who will be in it
12/06/2010 05:47:10 PM
- 408 Views
Ideas
14/06/2010 06:59:22 AM
- 516 Views
Put Ellen on the cover. Runs risk of suit, but probably gets you on her show either way. *NM*
15/06/2010 10:27:57 PM
- 196 Views