We suppose we must begin with a question: has there ever been a point in publishing history where every book released into the wild came accompanied by an unlimited promotion budget? We ask because we are not certain if the large number of books being released truly means that authors need to be more creative with marketing, or if authors have always been required to exercise ingenuity and guile.
Marketing is our biggest fear. It goes back to kindergarten and playing the fat lady in the school circus. This was before the point in our life when we discovered food — according to the mother, our portrayal was supposed to be ironic or funny or something. We wanted to twirl a baton, so didn’t buy her logic. Next public performance: tree. Things have not improved much since.
That being said, someday we will face the inevitable. We will gleefully enter into co-marketing ventures with major retailers. We will sell our little soul to sell a book. And, hopefully, we will not encounter confusion:
For retailers, the association with writers makes them seem like a patron of the arts, and ideally, it sells stuff, too.
. . .
On Thursday, few in the audience seemed to know [Wendy] Shanker. A representative from Macy’s explained at the outset that anyone who bought $50 worth of merchandise would get a free copy of “The Fat Girl’s Guide to Life.” This brought on a lot of blank stares that said, “Book? Who said anything about a book?”
