What If Marketing Believed In What It's Selling?

Well, a miracle has happened. One of the gaming videos my husband watches sparked a blog topic for me.

[Emphatic Disclaimer to Husband: This does not mean I will start watching Twitch gaming videos. There’s a reason the channel is called “Twitch” – it’s because that’s what a non-gamer’s right eye starts doing when she has to listen to gamers talk about gaming.]

There’s been a lot of talk in the gaming world about the seemingly terrible decisions Blizzard has been making since they merged [read: were taken over] by Activision. One of the Twitch vloggers venting about it played a short video interview with Steve Jobs from years back, and that’s where my idea for this blog post was spawned.

Steve Jobs noted that, in a lot of companies, the sales and marketing people are the dynamic force, always repackaging and coming up with creative ways to sell the product. Whereas the product people, focused on manufacturing that same product to the best of their ability, don’t have the same type of change dynamic. As a result, over time, the sales and marketing people get all the promotions. And then one day, the sales and marketing people control the company. That’s when everything goes to hell.

Why? Because the product is the heart of the company. It represents the original dream, the mission, the core offering to the customers. When product people are not managing/controlling the company, there’s no one to remind sales and marketing of a very important thing. And what is that thing?

The saying used to be “In order to sell the product, you must believe in it.” That connected sales people to the mission and the dream. But when the sales people are only connected to sales numbers and stockholder reports, they start to package it whatever way is needed to meet sales goals. Substance is no longer important, and respect for the customer is lost as well. It could be a great book or a pile of manure – they’re going to figure out a way to dress it up, disguise it, throw it on the coattails of the trend of the moment, etc, and make money. What they’re selling is no longer relevant; only that it sells.

So why am I going on about this? How does this connect to books and writing?

In a publishing company, the editors are the product people. They’re the ones who love the books, read the books. They want to see really good books put out to readers. When they hold the reins in a publishing company, their charge to sales and marketing is, “Here’s why this book is wonderful. Now, figure out a sales campaign that communicates THAT to the target readers.” They remind sales/marketing people that the product is the mission and marketing is as much about that mission as selling the product.

I am tired of reading books that have a great hook at the beginning and then no substance for the rest of the story. I am tired of plot lines that were spawned by copycatting the latest blockbuster. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind that part, if the character development wasn’t “shallow as a teaspoon.” (Thank you, Emma Watson/Hermione Granger.) I am tired of being told if I loved “this author,” I will love this new author’s book. Tell me what it is about this new author’s story I will love. In short, connect with me, the reader, and respect me. Don’t blind me with flashy lights and bait-and-switch tactics.

To my way of thinking, the saying these days needs to be: In order to sell the product, you SHOULD believe in it.

One of my pet peeves is elected officials who spend half of the time on the road campaigning for the next election, when they are supposed to be working, serving their voting population. I came up with an idea some time ago where every politician would be given a certain amount of time of free public cable air time, during which they (not their marketing people) would stand on screen and talk about their positions on key issues. One rule – they would not be allowed to talk about what the other politicians do or don’t do. He/she would have to speak about their vision, their plan, and how they are going to execute it, and why they think it’s important. No rhetoric, just serious substance. Those spots would be run on cable a certain number of times, made available for streaming, what have you, starting three months before the election. And that would be the extent of allowed campaigning.

Needless to say, no one has picked up my brilliant idea, lol. However, in developing this column, I realized my motivation for the suggestion is my desire to see “marketing”--whether it be a person or book--to be a true representation of what the product is. It’s not millions of dollars overnight, but it’s something that endures. That’s something of worth.

Now, I have a business degree, so I understand the realities of business. Publishing has always been about selling books, but I think in the past it was similar to being a writer on a deadline. I know I have to make those deadlines, but at the same time, I balance that with a focus on writing the best possible book within that timeframe, and pushing myself to create something worthy of my readers’ time. I never lose sight of the fact that my customer, the reader, deserves my best effort. Even as my editor and publisher deserve my best effort to make that deadline and my respect for the business of getting that work out there.

In the modified words of Samuel Jackson’s character Nick Fury from Avengers, “Maybe it’s an old-fashioned notion.” But once the zombie apocalypse comes, maybe that will hit the re-set button and we'll remember important stuff like this again.

* * *

NOTE: Two of my Knights of the Board Room books, Controlled Response and Honor Bound, and three of my Vampire Queen series books, Beloved Vampire, Vampire Mistress and Taken by a Vampire, are currently not available in ebook, we believe because the rights are being returned to me. So we are in the process of getting new covers and reformatting the manuscripts to re-release them, as soon as we get the official word and can get them back out there for you. Stay tuned!