How to Market Books

by Alison Baverstock, Susannah Bowen

Over five editions, How to Market Books has established itself as the standard text on marketing for both the publishing industry and the wider creative economy. Industry professionals and students of Publishing Studies rely on the techniques and tactics in this invaluable book. With the publishing industry changing fast, and the marketing and selling of content now delivered worldwide through technology, this much needed guide highlights the critical role of the marketeer, and the strategies and techniques at their disposal. The book’s approach is logical and calming; beginning with marketing theory and moving into how this works in practice. Readers benefit from a blend of practical advice on how to organise and deliver marketing plans – and an objectivity which supports their future management of issues not yet on the horizon. Thoroughly updated, this 6th edition maintains the book’s popular, accessible and supportive style, and now

482 pages, Hardcover

Published May 8, 2019

Reviews

[Natalie]

Yes, textbooks count towards my reading challenge.

[Rachael McDiarmid · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 6th edition of HOW TO MARKET BOOKS has everything a book marketer needs. In fact if every publishing house doesn't have a copy of this book somewhere in their office, I'd be annoyed. It should be required reading. Particularly by people who come into book publishing thinking it's like other industries. It's not. It's unique. It has a language of its own. It has its quirks. And it has its issues. You need to understand the basics and then the industry as a whole. And at 480 pages, this book may just cover everything you need to know to be successful in publishing in an ever changing industry. Because the book publishing industry is changing. Always changing. And marketing has to adjust to these changes.

How to Market Books, 6th edition is very comprehensive. Part 1 covers general principles and understanding - marketing and marketing in publishing; what's for sale?; market research and other sources of marketing information; the role of marketing within the business of publishing. Part 2 covers putting principles into practice - reaching the market (how best to approach your customers); how to write a marketing plan; selling; direct marketing; digital marketing; publicity and PR; working with authors and other vital partnerships; organising events, presentations and other opportunities to share content; techniques to writing effective copy; the layout and design of marketing materials. And Part 3 is specific advice to particular markets.

Some of these chapters could be stand alone books. They would make excellent podcasts and even videos on training sites. They are essential reading.

I'm so overwhelmed by the content in this book that I can't simply put it on my shelf with the rest of my business and publishing industry books. Even though I've been in the industry nearly 30 years, this book is a living, breathing document and one I think I'd like to pick up more frequently so I'm putting it close to me while I'm working. For me, there's very little in here I don't know - but it's great to have the refresher from time to time.

But of course the biggest surprise of the book came in the foreword by David Shelley, CEO of Hachette UK. As I read through it a name jumped out at me. It was my own. Of all the people he could have quoted in this industry, he quoted me.

This is one hell of a book for one hell of an industry. Congratulations to the authors and everyone in the industry who contributed to the book. A five-star reference.

[sam]

There might come a day when the book I’m reading for class isn’t reserved while I’m in the middle of it. Today is not that day.

[Lindsay John Kennedy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The good: it’s quite comprehensive and has something to say about everything

The meh:

- it’s a chore to read, being conversational (verbose) and academic (dry), full of sentence fragments in passive voice with the subject hidden at the end of the sentence, etc. Given that this has gone through several editions, I’m surprised it’s survived this long without some thorough copyediting of the prose!

- it’s mostly describes rather than offering wisdom. The wisdom it did offer was very obvious. This is likely due to being a textbook

- its examples weren’t necessarily stellar! Eg some examples of good cover design or copy were quite poor

- it’s written from a UK/Australian perspective (I’m an Aussie Brit myself but much of the publishing terminology and standards are unfamiliar and/or odd to me)

- it wasn’t an attractive book. For a book about books, I’d expect better

[Elise Belleville · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complet ! ... Et long