1. The background information
Two of the words in the title of this book are not natural bed-fellows. I refer to marketing and author.
‘Marketing’
Marketing as a term is becoming more acceptable all the time. New generations of students happily enrol on university courses that bear its name, convinced that an understanding of the subject is key to their future employability, and the wholehearted embracing of marketing by political parties has convinced many otherwise sceptical individuals that attempting to communicate with your market, and persuade them to your point of view, can be highly effective. But whilst the onward march of marketing’s impact is beyond doubt, there is still at least an association in the public mind between ‘marketing’ and the foisting of goods and services that are not really required onto the gullible and unsuspecting; a lingering perception that if things were any good, they would sell on their own.
This is partly culturally specific. British society is notoriously conservative about selling things – hence the attempts to disguise the ‘s’ word in job titles, such as ‘information manager/executive/ customer-facing staff’, rather than saying that they work in sales; certainly this is the case in comparison with North America. But how much marketing is desirable, is also an issue that applies with particular force in the selling of cultural commodities. Should individual voices and viewpoints need to be marketed, rather than simply be noticed for their own intrinsic merit? Don’t most of us harbour a nostalgia for the writer or musician whose work we enjoyed in isolation, or the companionship of a few other insightful cognoscenti, before they became ‘popular’?
‘Author’
The term author is similarly loaded; it’s seen as a calling rather than a job, and a term that many writers are reluctant to apply to themselves too soon, for fear of risking bad luck or ridicule. Many writers keep their calling to themselves until they have reached a certain point of success. Scribes producing words for advertising campaigns tend to call themselves ‘writers’, or ‘copywriters’, and journalists refer to themselves as such, or as ‘hacks’. Somehow being an author is perceived as (or is, given that the author is usually required to produce more words for each selling unit) a slightly higher calling, requiring more devotion to the writing art, and certainly years of rejection, low income, commiseration and patronage (whether in resources or in attitude) from friends and colleagues.
Hence the awkward collision of these two words in the area of author marketing, the subject of this book. A large number of authors find it distasteful. They want to write – not to have to talk up their book or do book tours or signing sessions, at which they feel uncomfortable and risk humiliation. Why, after all, should those who communicate through words on a page necessarily be articulate when placed in front of a microphone or large crowds? This is a completely different skill. Many writers feel awkward with the very concept of marketing, and believe that attempts to sell (or popularise) their ideas compromise their artistic integrity. Their work should be appreciated on its merits rather than be tweaked to suit the needs of commercial marketing plans that feel artificially imposed, or of an increasingly fickle market.
Few writers find that they can support themselves by their writing straight away, and so must juggle jobs. This is easier in some fields than others. Within academia, for example, whilst a determination to share learning can be seen as an ethical responsibility of the teacher, based on Christian ethics (‘To whom much has been given, much will be expected’ [Luke 12; 48]), ironically the desire to communicate can be seen as a vulgar seeking of popularity that is incompatible with academic status. Alain de Botton has written that ‘…hostility to anyone attempting to communicate ideas to a broader public is a staple of academic life. You can either fight for academic status or you can address the world at large. But in the current British climate it’s very difficult to succeed in both fields.’
Are you ‘promoteable’?
Whilst I understand the reluctance on the part of authors to get involved in the marketing of what they write, increasingly those who distance themselves from the selling process place themselves and their work at a disadvantage. Publishing decisions about whether or not to take on specific new authors are made at regular meetings, and the most commonly used word when discussing them is ‘promoteable’; an author’s willingness and enthusiasm for getting involved in the process does make a difference. It does not replace the need for a good manuscript or writing idea, but it does help – whatever is being written about. In some areas, the author’s saleability matters more than their ability to write; when commissioning a celebrity biography, for example, the skill is in selecting a ghost-writer who can create the voice of someone the public genuinely wants to hear from.
In defence of publishers, whilst some writers may react negatively to this information, it is true that the market place is very crowded today. Potential customers have a much wider range of choice of entertainment than was available to their parents’ generation, and the contribution made by the author is often crucial in getting books noticed:
‘I think there is a real tendency to think, “Once I get published, I’ve
done it,” and then you watch your book go nowhere. You can’t just
be a writer – you’ve got to be your own cheerleader.’
Jodi Picoult, interviewed in The Telegraph Magazine, 2nd September 2006
Significantly, this is nothing new:
‘Every great and original writer, in proportion as he is great and
original, must himself create the taste by which he is to be relished.’
William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
« Back | Chapter Home | Next section: ‘What this guide is for’ »
-
Buy the 2010 Yearbook
The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook 2010 is now available from our online bookshop. Get all the facts, figures and advice you need to develop your creative career.
-
On camera: Julie Myerson
The novelist and journalist Julie Myerson tells us how she writes, what inspires her, and how she got that all-important lucky break. Click here to view the video » 