As a debut author, I’ve always heard and assumed that giving away lots of 
stuff generates buzz. You know, bookmarks, mugs, trinkets, and… books. Conventional wisdom says that a new author should do everything they can to get their name out there. And what better way to force people to look at you than to give them free stuff.
Lately, however, I’ve been bumping into some un-conventional wisdom.
For instance, Kiersten White, author of the NY Bestseller Paranormalcy, gives this advice in her post Recommendations for Debut Authors:
I got so many requests to send free things to people that I’m really glad I never got anything made. The amount of time and effort it would have taken for me to mail things out, not to mention the cost of creating and mailing the materials, would have been ridiculous. In the end I figured no one was going to buy my book because they won a free bookmark. Having an “I don’t send anything out for any contests, ever” policy was one of the best choices I made. (emphasis mine)
Hey, I’ve entered my share of contests. Even won a couple. I’ve also staged a few on this site and elsewhere. (And, for the record, will continue to do so.) However, some of the advice I’ve received lately has forced me to rethink… The Biggest Book Giveaway in Web History.
From the consumer’s angle, knowing that an author (or publisher, as the case may be) is kind (or smart) enough to give stuff away, scores brownie points. But what is the ultimate takeaway… other than the product being raffled?
Of course, that may be the point. Giveaways get your product into people’s hands. And if some of those winners turn into “influencers” or “buyers,” then the freebie has done its job. However, that metamorphosis must occur. Giveaways work when they turn a “contest winner” into an actual “consumer.” But in the long run, there’s really only one thing that will do that.
A good book.
As Kiersten concludes,
In the end, it’s word of mouth that sells books. So you want to get as many mouths talking about your book as you can. And really, the best thing you can do for your career? Be working on your next book.
Funny, but my agent said the same thing.
So do contests and book giveaways really generate buzz for an author? Or is there more giveaway than takeaway?
Giveaways do not equate to sales to me (I’m not published yet so am speaking from the reader’s perspective). How many blogs do I visit that offer free copies of books? In the first place, I almost never participate in such giveaways and do not respond when they say something like “leave your email in the comments, blah blah blah”.
I can only think of 2X I participated in such a thing, and it was when some non-fic title was in the offering (say a writer’s market guide for example).
Nor have I ever been induced to purchase a book based on a bookmark, free book, etc. At most, I’ve seen an author’s info on a bookmark and been moved to check out their webite, but that’s it.
Word of mouth and my own research into the available offerings into the market are the only things that pursuade me to buy books. All this other stuff is a waste of money (my opinion only, I’m sure others feel differently).
Word of mouth as the best marketing…hmm. It stands up to reason. Preferences for books are configured through complex formulations, and reading a review or even a chapter probably doesn’t deliver enough data to conclude if it’s the “right” book for you. Trusted friends/readers/bloggers can supply more accurate readings (har har) because, having similar preferences to yours, they make the same intellectual/emotional connections you would.
Outside of that, you won’t really know if you like a book until you read it. It’s a risk…it’s reading as a sacrifice.
Yeah…but, awareness is a critical component of sales. I think it is important to at least make some effort in what you might call “ancillary” marketing so that you can show that you are doing your level best at making sure that everyone who might be interested in your book is aware that it exists.
More importantly, the author needs all the evidence he can produce for the sake of marketing himself _to his own publisher_. In other words, if I’m a decision maker at, say, I don’t know, Realms and I’ve got two future projects to make some decisions on, this sort of stuff _if you can show your work_ might make a difference.
Say both projects are equally solid and both seem like a good bet, but only one of them will get the attention and resources available. Author A has written a stellar work, and his last book was profitable, despite the fact that he can’t articulate the steps he took to market his book. Author B’s book is good, too, but he can show that his last book’s profits might have been tied to the fact that he did “1 giveaway per month for three months, 6 guest posts at high profile blogs, 12 local signings, plus a self-funded “book tour” to a neighboring state” and that he intends to do 2 giveaways, 10 guest posts, 20 local signings, and a two mini-tours this time around…the decision-maker may want to bet on author B.
I’m just thinking aloud here. I could be way off base.
BTW, it was a giveaway that made me a fan of my favorite author, who was not yet established at the time. Would never have known about the book without that promo.
Freebies are mostly for readers who hope to gain a free book. If they don’t win and really want the book, they’ll buy it. If they don’t win and are ambivalent about said book, they won’t purchase it.
Word of mouth IS the best means to sell a book, BUT it can take a long, long time for that word of mouth to catch fire. Most readers have no idea how influential their praise of a book can be. They don’t realize they can be the catalyst for a bestseller or even for a better seller. They read a good book, smile, think about it, and move on to the next one. Some (few) use books for a book club atmosphere. Others mention the book to reader friends or relatives. Only a few go out and buy another copy for a gift, for a purpose, to share because it affected them that strongly.
I have a lot of reader friends so if I read a novel I know they’ll like, I buy it for them on birthdays or for Christmas or some special occasion.
I see nothing “wrong” with giving away a few free books or trinkets to draw attention to the product, but the conclusion of the cited writer is correct, I think. Doesn’t spur sales. In our worldview, any real and honest success is that “good and perfect gift” coming down to us from the Father however He chooses to make it happen–and hard to quantify.
Interesting discussion, Mike. I actually just posed this question to my publisher yesterday: How much “giveaway” is enough? Bethany House is incredibly generous with their book giveaways, for ARCs, Influencers, and author copies. And in my case, I truly do believe the generosity helped with the initial buzz of my book.
I chalked up the time I spent doing giveaways to the marketing time I needed be willing to put forth toward my book. The same way I decided that writing interviews was my small part in the scheme of marketing. Not sure if either generated actual sales. But it’s like the snowball effect I blogged about this week.
For example, one lady who won my book ended up doing a blog review on it. The people who commented on her blog review expressed interest in getting it. Will they buy it? I probably won’t ever know. And I probably won’t know how many other people that one giveaway influences. But it could potentially have far-reaching effects. Or it could have little. It’s just hard to measure.
Thanks for getting me thinking!
Jody, I do think there’s a lot of “incremental” elements to book sales and we must be cautious about looking for some magic marketing bullet. Just because there is no measurable gauge of the success of giveaways, that doesn’t mean they don’t play a part on some overall “snowball effect.” Thanks for commenting!
I agree that word of mouth sells harder than anything else. I would think that the “who” is important as well. If you get a bookmark or mug into the hands of a book enthusiast with a good website, they may blog about your contest or your book. That could boost sales. It’s a shot in the dark, but then, luck always is.
I always figured that the most important giveaways are review copies. Now, you can send review copies to unconventional reviewers–bloggers for instance–but I think it’s more effective when you call it a review copy. I’ve only been offered a review copy of a book once. When I was, there was no mention of an obligation to actually do a review, but simply because it was a review copy, I felt that I should do a review.
That’s really smart. That’s how the people I review and interview for my website get my attention. And when they get my attention, I wave their book at my readers! Every little bit helps!
From one newbie author to another, I’ve had a number of people who’ve won my book in contests do a major happy dance online (which is way cool, in and of itself) and then either written a review (on their blog or on Goodreads or on Amazon) or just been supportive. One of the coolest things for me has been the fact that, over time, I’ve actually gotten to know a lot of the winners. We’ve become friends on FB and Twitter and now many of them are excited about my next book. That’s been one of the best parts of the publishing journey for me–getting to know my readers.
Also, one thing I do during my contests is I allow people to earn extra points (points are a good thing) by posting about the contest and linking, either to my site or to Amazon or to the contest itself. I have a contest running right now where several participants have posted the cover and back cover copy for my next book on their blogs. I’m thrilled that they are willing to help spread the word about my work.
Before my first book came out, one of my fellow authors at HarperCollins told me that the best promotional item she has ever purchased (and yes, after our allotment of free books is gone, we authors have to purchase the books that we give away) was her own book. So I haven’t done bookmarks or T-shirts or buttons, even though I’ve been tempted. I’ve just given away my book. And a few Amazon gift cards.
It’s a tough decision, Mike, trying to figure out the best way to promote your work. But I do agree that writing your next book is really the best way to spend your time. And, for me, writing is where my passion lies, so anytime I get too far away from it, I stop enjoying the journey.
Merrie (or Mike) –
I may be way off base here, so please correct any misinformation I possess, but am I correct in thinking that books purchased with the author discount do NOT count toward your BookScan numbers? So the advantage of the discount is, well, the discount and it lowers the authors direct marketing costs for giveaways.
However, wouldn’t there be an advantage in buying your giveaway and resale books at retail from a BookScan source (like Amazon, or your local bookstore?) That advantage would be that you would directly impact your BookScan numbers, which gives you better “indirect” marketing leverage with your publisher, yes?
I feel like I’m blowing smoke here, so I guess my real question is, what business practice do you recommend? What’s the best method for an author to purchase resupplies of his/her book?
Dan, if I’m not mistaken, ALL purchases of the book count toward BookScan numbers, even author discount copies. However, purchases of author discount copies DO NOT count toward royalties. This would be double-dipping. I could be wrong on the former, but I know I’m correct about the latter.
So, if author-discounted books are included in BookScan numbers, what is the “point of sale” where BookScan reports it? In other words, where do your author-discounted books come from? Directly from the publisher (who then presumably reports them to BookScan) or from a third-party distributor?
I’m so curious about the business machinations of this weird little career you guys have, but I know these sorts of esoteric questions have wide general appeal to your audience! 😉
I hope I’m not derailing your greater (and far more interesting) points.
XD Paul,
I purchased a box of my books (a total of 48) through an online site called Author, Author. They work directly with the author to purchase his or her own books. You still get them at a considerable discount (not as low as my author discount with my publisher), but that purchase should count toward your royalties, since it is actually made by Author, Author, not you.
I honestly don’t know if books I purchase directly from my publisher would qualify under a BookScan report. I’m still trying to figure out that report, like most authors, since that is a service that up until recently was only available to publishing insiders, but now is available to authors (through the Amazon author page). So we authors tend to huddle together and try to figure out which source is most accurate. But most of the time we scratch our heads.
Still I’ve heard that BookScan is pretty darn close to the actual numbers.
BTW, here’s a link to the Author Author site, if anyone wants to purchase their own books: http://www.author-author.net/
Dan & Mike,
Bookscan includes only certain retailers. There are MANY kinds of sales that aren’t tabulated by Bookscan, including any sold direct by the publisher (which includes author-purchased copies). People whose books are primarily sold through some kind of direct sales like book clubs, and people who sell large numbers of books at Christian retailers, will not find their Bookscan numbers to be accurate. Your publisher, however, has the exact number of books sold through any outlet at any given time.
You could certainly try to increase the number of sales that come through Bookscan-reported retailers, but buying 100 of your author copies at retail rather than at your author discount really doesn’t make sense. It won’t inflate your Bookscan numbers enough to make much of a difference, and it will cost you a lot more. However, it’s certainly up to you.
From my blog post of Dec. 10:
BookScan combines sales reported by participating retailers, including Borders and Walden, Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, Target, and Buy.com. Some retailers do not participate, including Wal-mart and Sam’s Club. These data do not include Kindle or other eBook sales, used books sales, wholesale purchases, or sales to libraries.” Many Christian retailers are also not reported on Bookscan.
Uh-oh. I should have known my meddling would arouse the Keeper of the Font of Wisdom. I better watch my step. 😉
Thanks, Rachelle, Merrie and Mike!
Oh, jinkies, I thought of another question. I’m becoming Oprah.
Do author discount purchases directly from the publisher count towards sell-through? Or is that a contract-by-contract sort of thingy?
(Pretty sure “thingy” is a technical publishing term.)
Great question. And if we knew the answer, we’d all be rich.
I download a lot of free apps for my phone. Some of them I don’t use and I delete them after a month. Others I do use and I stay with the free version. Others I use and I pay for the upgrade. Depends on how much I use them and how helpful the full version will be. It’s smart for apps makers to give them away, I think. Apps, once they are developed, are free. It doesn’t really cost anything more to give away a hundred than it does to give away ten.
I find with free e-books, I download them all as soon as I hear they are free. But most of those free books I don’t read. I didn’t buy them in the first place because I didn’t want them. Most of them, I read the first page and I don’t go on. A few I do read the first page of and then I go on and on and on and I finish the book and that author has a new fan. I will review the book and I will buy the next book. The authors with books I didn’t read aren’t hurt by giving me the book free. I don’t like them less than I did before. I just don’t care enough to buy them and I didn’t care enough to buy them in the first place.
So I think fee e-books, a few months after release of the book, is a good way to go. Readers who were going to buy, have already bought, and readers who didn’t care enough to buy may be won over. The publisher and author don’t lose in this, I don’t think.
Free bookmarks and swag? I could care less. That stuff won’t influence me to buy a book at all. I need the first page. And then the next page. And the next. If you have your first chapter on Amazon and you hook me, I’ll be buying your book. If you don’t hook me I’ll pass.
Giving hard-copy books away is expensive. You have to print and ship the book. I think if I were published my book giveaways would be limited to friends and family—people I wanted to thank for help they’d offered during the writing, perhaps. And I’d send books to certain key reviewers (print and online) and the rest of my giveaways would be not my books, but my time. I’d do guest blogging, interviews, free chapter critiques (because writers in your genre are also readers in your genre) and perhaps dinner with an author if you want to run a local contest. For me, because I write for children, I’d do talks at youth groups and schools. For writers of adult books, you could still speak to large church singles and college-age groups about what God has taught you on the journey or something relating to the content of your book.
I believe that time spent making a friend, connecting personally, is better than money spent sending out a book. I know we all have limited time, but it takes time to go to the post office, too. And think about how much more fun dinner with an author would be. We can do something we enjoy there. Eat good food, drink good wine, and talk about ourselves and our books all night. heh heh (I’m kidding. But we could talk books—other people’s books—and that’s always enjoyable.)
I’ve experimented with both – contests run from blog and through organizations (Goodreads Giveway). With those run through my blog, can’t says as if it made much of a difference, or if I say any outcome.
However, with the Goodreads Giveaway, several of the folks who won copies went and reviewed it on Goodreads. That was a plus. How helpful in the long run, I’m not sure.
In the end, my conclusion? Word of mouth. That’s the only reason why I buy stuff, anyway…
I don’t know about giveaways, but I do know I’m excited to BUY your new book!!! It’s almost here! 🙂
For me, I’ve usually gotten free items from authors I’ve already purchased an item from or were going to get something anyway. I have no need for items advertising something I’m not going to get unless it was my job to help promote it (like when I worked at CompUSA and used to get all sorts of t-shirts, posters, hats, and other paraphrenalia junk that most of which I looked at once and when I got home would either toss or give to someone else).
As far as a book giveaway goes, I only enter for those that I intend to purchase otherwise and if I win the contest it just means it’s one less book to actually have to purchase. Sometimes I win, sometimes I don’t. In either case, I’m usually at the blog or contest because I was already following the author and they had told me to go there through a general post to fans.
If a blog I’m following happens to do a giveaway, then if it’s a book I am unaware of I see if I like the author being interviewed and if the book’s description was interesting. Then if I win, it just means that I get to try something I wouldn’t have known about otherwise, but if I don’t, then I don’t sweat it. Winning a free book isn’t top priority for me. 😉
There is one reason publishers gladly send me ARCs and pub copies of every book I review and at times offer multiple pub copies both for Unveiled and FictionAddict.com. I give them away to readers, many of whom in particular are new to CBA suspense and speculative. A novel is read, on average, by six different people in it its life time.
I’ve given away novels at least two of you here have written and in both cases you were unknown beforehand to the person who received your novel. Word of mouth can’t happen until a book is in hand. It’s a simple marketing principle used for centuries.
Oh yeah – David, I think I owe you a free book but for the life of me can’t remember which one it is.
Hmmmm……I can’t seem to think of which book that is either. Was it from when I posted a comment on FictionAddict? I know I haven’t commented too much there as I have wanted, so it could be from there. Contact me on Facebook to talk further. 🙂
The primary advantage I can see for bookmarks or something similar is at book signings and the like. An interested reader may look at the book and for whatever reason, even if he/she appears interested, not able or willing to buy at that moment.
What that means for the sale of your book is that he/she will likely never see it again or think to buy it when they do have the cash on hand. Giving them a reminder of some sorts can potentially spark and “Oh yeah,” moment and they go do it. Certainly not a guarantee, but if they use the bookmark in a book, it puts the odds in your favor.
But just to give out stuff to give out stuff is going to have a low percentage of results. The only exception to that is one’s book. One has to budget the process, and have rules, but getting your book into reader’s hands and before their eyes is the first and primary goal. For word of mouth to work, that has to happen. The word-of-mouth pump has to be primed.
There is another author that would agree with your discovery, Dean Wesley Smith. I recall him saying that his entire marketing is putting the book on his website and blog, and posting on Facebook. Beyond that, he doesn’t do any further marketing. Instead, you guessed it, he works on writing the next book.
In marketing it is called shelf space. Most of our shelf space is virtual, but even that can bear greater results. Product manufactures, like Coke, know that the more variety of Coke they have, the more shelf space retailers will devote to it. The more customers will take note, and the more likely they are to buy it.
When someone does a Google search on various things, how many entries come up with your book’s name on it, or your author name? If they go to Amazon and search there, how many of your books will show up on a given topic or key word? That defines and author’s virtual self space. The more your name or book pops up, the more people are going to take notice. And the only way that will happen is if you write more stuff.
The other side of that is to write good stuff. For word of mouth to work, there has to be something to word-of-mouth about. An author’s success will be developing repeat buyers because they like the stories they get from the author. To do that, once you get enough visibility and someone buys a copy to try out a new author, the story will be what creates buzz and word of mouth snowballing.
But the only effective way to get that going is for people to get the book and read it. Either through buying it or getting it free. So out of the giving away free stuff, I would suggest the most productive is to give away a free book. Preferably an ebook as that is much less costly, but also physical copies if you feel the person is worth the expense, might give a good review, or has an audience that any review would probably increase visibility.
But I agree with the premise and focus of the “unconventional” wisdom. Writing that next book is the best marketing one can do, and making it a story that will sell not only itself, but the author.
I think the mugs, pens, tee shirts and the like were considered good promotion before the Internet showed its promise as a force. I’ve heard that a shopper has to hear the product name something like seven times before becoming a buyer, so the goodies got book titles and author names in front of potential readers.
I tend to think giving the book away is the best promotion possible, and something used in a number of other industries. Baskin Robbins gives away samples of ice cream when they develop a new flavor. Sees Candy used to give a free sample simply for walking through the door of their store. Grocery stores often have promotional taste and coupon give-aways on the floor. The concept seems to be, we have faith in the product and consumers simply have to find out for themselves that it really is good.
With books, how can that happen unless some readers get a sample of the product.
Some with think that means a free chapter. That may be enough for some. I rarely read those simply because I don’t want to get sucked into a story I can’t finish. Plus there’s that lingering question—will the story live up to the promise?
I think new authors have to gather some kind of a following that says, Yes, this book does live up to the promise—people who are believable and who have a following of their own who will listen to what they say.
I can think of one author in particular who published four books, the last one the best, but who did little to let potential readers know about his work. He’s a brilliant writer, but you wouldn’t know it by his sales. People don’t know about him because they don’t know about him.
I know that sounds circular, but for there to be word of mouth, there first has to be someone who talks. That someone has to be a satisfied reader. To get beyond the handful of friends and family who will fall into that category, I think a writer needs to give books away. Lots of books.
Becky