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Author's Guide to Marketing With Teeth
Author's Guide to Marketing with Teeth is a collection of essays and interviews on marketing and advertising for authors and books. Michael Knost has spent more than a quarter of a century in marketing, working in the radio, television, and newspaper industries, as well as serving as marketing director and chief marketing officer for several large companies, including those in the automotive industry. Mr. Knost has taken the lessons he's learned from his extensive experience and captured the best tips and advice for authors (or anyone in the publishing industry) who hopes to increase sales and/or name brand recognition. Each chapter covers a different subject with tips on theory and execution. And let's not forget the interviews. Michael is also including several with successful authors to learn about their personal marketing strategies-from when they began their careers to now. You'll hear from superstars such as Charlaine Harris, Diana Gabaldon, Jonathan Maberry, Kevin J. Anderson, Lucy A. Snyder, and Dan Poynter.
246 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2015
15 people want to read
About the author
Michael Knost
41 books35 followersBram Stoker Award-winner Michael Knost is an author, editor, and columnist of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and supernatural thrillers. He has written many books in various genres, helmed anthologies such as the Bram Stoker Award-nominated Barbers & Beauties. His Writers Workshop of Horror won the 2009 Bram Stoker Award for superior achievement in nonfiction. His critically acclaimed Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy came out in early 2013—a writer’s guide with works by Neil Gaiman, Orson Scott Card, Ursula K. Le Guin, and many others. His latest novel is Return of the Mothman. To find out more, visit www.MichaelKnost.com.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 1, 2017
There are a lot of great marketing ideas and suggestions in this book, both for those who are good at the business part of being a writer, and those (like me) who shy away from such things as public appearances and aggressive sales tactics. While many of the recommendations in this book go way beyond my current needs and comfort zone, there is great value to be had in heeding Mr. Knost's (and his interviewees') recommendations. Isn't it better to learn from someone else's experience what works and what does not work? The overwhelming take-away, for me, about this book can be summarized in eight simple words: Write good books and don't be a jerk!!
October 14, 2018
I found this book to be very informative, and reads as if Michael is just sitting there talking to you about marketing. I think this book has excellent practices to employ to anyone marketing any business. I had been doing a few of these techniques, but he was able to add further value to my perception of how to accomplish them. 10/10, will read & consult this book heavily in the future.
January 12, 2016
I don’t have a novel of my own coming out, but I’ve been shopping one around to agents and I’m almost done cleaning up another novel. Not to mention a novel that I’m writing and a couple others that are finished rough drafts. Point is, I’ve been pretty productive in the last few years. I’ve been thinking about what I would do if one of my novels is published, because I want to be prepared ahead of time.
I found Michael Knost‘s Author’s Guide to Marketing With Teeth very helpful, and very encouraging. Also, it wasn’t boring. The book held my interest and was quite entertaining in places. I laughed out loud at the part where Mike was running in his astronaut Halloween costume. You’ll have to read the book if you want to know what that was all about.
I’m hard of hearing, to the degree that I can barely understand anyone when communicating with them in person. Often we just have to give up, because I can’t hear them. This is why I’ve been uncomfortable with the idea of doing book signings (I have been asked to participate in a book signing event for an anthology I’m published in.) and TV or radio interviews, or anything that would require me to hear what people are saying.
I felt like I was limited, that there are things that I just would not be able to do to promote my work. Although Mike didn’t have anything about hard of hearing or deaf people in Marketing With Teeth, some of the things he said has me considering some possibilities. I guess he opened my mind to the bigger picture.
As I read, I came up with ideas on how I could make book signings, radio and TV interviews, etc, work out for me and everyone involved. I want to tell you all about these ideas, but I’ll do it in a separate blog entry.
The book covered things that I otherwise would not have thought of. I really liked the idea of letting my fictional characters write blog entries. That sounds like fun. I might start doing that. It would give me more topics to blog about. I agree that blogging is a good way to build a platform. I try to keep a steady flow of entries, but often I just don’t know what to blog about.
In his interview, Kevin J. Anderson said he likes to talk about his work in progress. Talking about my work in progress is something I’ve always been uncertain about. On one hand, I feel that I want to, that it could be fun and spark interest in the project, as well as give me more topics to blog about. But on the other hand, I was never sure it was a good idea. In the last few years, I’ve been saying very little about my work in progress, refusing to even give the titles. Now I think I’m going to start opening up a bit about my projects.
And then there was Jonathan Maberry. Like me, Maberry writes several genres, so I felt that his advice was most appealing to me. He also admitted that he used to be a negative person, which was one of my flaws too, and I still fall into that trap occasionally.
Mike asked Maberry, “What marketing mistakes have you made?” Maberry’s answer made me think I’m going to be okay. I’ve made some mistakes over the years. While they were not necessarily marketing mistakes, I often worry that my mistakes will effect my career. It was comforting to hear that Jonathan Maberry had made loads of mistakes himself and still managed to rise.
Also, Mike answered a question for me. One of my ideas is I would use book trailers to promote my work. However, I didn’t know how to go about having trailers made and what to expect. I’ve poked around the internet a bit, but never found very satisfying answers. Mike has had some pretty cool trailers made for his books and he would know what comes with the territory. I appreciate him answering my question. It was a well-detailed and satisfying answer.
I’ll keep Author’s Guide to Marketing With Teeth on hand so I can look to it when I need to.
I found Michael Knost‘s Author’s Guide to Marketing With Teeth very helpful, and very encouraging. Also, it wasn’t boring. The book held my interest and was quite entertaining in places. I laughed out loud at the part where Mike was running in his astronaut Halloween costume. You’ll have to read the book if you want to know what that was all about.
I’m hard of hearing, to the degree that I can barely understand anyone when communicating with them in person. Often we just have to give up, because I can’t hear them. This is why I’ve been uncomfortable with the idea of doing book signings (I have been asked to participate in a book signing event for an anthology I’m published in.) and TV or radio interviews, or anything that would require me to hear what people are saying.
I felt like I was limited, that there are things that I just would not be able to do to promote my work. Although Mike didn’t have anything about hard of hearing or deaf people in Marketing With Teeth, some of the things he said has me considering some possibilities. I guess he opened my mind to the bigger picture.
As I read, I came up with ideas on how I could make book signings, radio and TV interviews, etc, work out for me and everyone involved. I want to tell you all about these ideas, but I’ll do it in a separate blog entry.
The book covered things that I otherwise would not have thought of. I really liked the idea of letting my fictional characters write blog entries. That sounds like fun. I might start doing that. It would give me more topics to blog about. I agree that blogging is a good way to build a platform. I try to keep a steady flow of entries, but often I just don’t know what to blog about.
In his interview, Kevin J. Anderson said he likes to talk about his work in progress. Talking about my work in progress is something I’ve always been uncertain about. On one hand, I feel that I want to, that it could be fun and spark interest in the project, as well as give me more topics to blog about. But on the other hand, I was never sure it was a good idea. In the last few years, I’ve been saying very little about my work in progress, refusing to even give the titles. Now I think I’m going to start opening up a bit about my projects.
And then there was Jonathan Maberry. Like me, Maberry writes several genres, so I felt that his advice was most appealing to me. He also admitted that he used to be a negative person, which was one of my flaws too, and I still fall into that trap occasionally.
Mike asked Maberry, “What marketing mistakes have you made?” Maberry’s answer made me think I’m going to be okay. I’ve made some mistakes over the years. While they were not necessarily marketing mistakes, I often worry that my mistakes will effect my career. It was comforting to hear that Jonathan Maberry had made loads of mistakes himself and still managed to rise.
Also, Mike answered a question for me. One of my ideas is I would use book trailers to promote my work. However, I didn’t know how to go about having trailers made and what to expect. I’ve poked around the internet a bit, but never found very satisfying answers. Mike has had some pretty cool trailers made for his books and he would know what comes with the territory. I appreciate him answering my question. It was a well-detailed and satisfying answer.
I’ll keep Author’s Guide to Marketing With Teeth on hand so I can look to it when I need to.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews