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Feature

Rock and Roll Book Marketing

Make it a Steamroller of a Year

by Jim Barnes

Let's start the year off with a song, shall we?

 

Well, I'm a steamroller, baby

I'm bound to roll all over you

Yes, I'm a steamroller, baby

I'm bound to roll all over you

I'm gonna inject your soul with

some sweet rock 'n roll

And shoot you full of rhythm and blues



Well, I'm a cement mixer

A churning urn of burning funk

Yes, I'm a cement mixer for you, baby

A churning urn of burning funk

Well, I'm a demolition derby

A hefty hunk of steaming junk



Now, I'm a napalm bomb, baby

Just guaranteed to blow your mind

Yeah, I'm a napalm bomb for you, baby

Guaranteed to blow your mind

And if I can't have your love for my own

Sweet child, won't be nothing left behind

It seems how lately, baby

Got a bad case steamroller blues

As James Taylor sang in his 1970 song, Steamroller, sometimes it takes transforming yourself into "a churning urn of burning funk" to get your lover's -- or your customer's -- attention. It's now 2024, and it's a new, noisier world we live in, with a competitive bookselling climate that requires a new, steamrollin' attitude.



I suggest you turn your book marketing plan into that "churning urn" and get the notice your work deserves.



Churn

These days, you've got to be constantly churning out ideas, coming up with new methods of reaching out to customers and creative ways of having your message heard. In the rock music business they do it with concert tours, greatest hits collections, boxed sets, live albums, and lately, new media like sattelite radio, YouTube and Spotify. Take the English band Radiohead, who offered music from their In Rainbows CD two months prior to its release as a "name your own price" digital download. They weren't just giving away their music; they were giving people a reason to buy the $80 deluxe "discbox" package, released over the holidays, that included the new album on both CD and vinyl, an additional CD of seven extra songs, and a bound book of photos, artwork and lyrics. According to TechDirt.com, it showed the band doing exactly what the economics suggested it should be doing: "using the infinite goods (the music) to help make the scarce goods (CDs) more valuable."

Learn

You've got to churn, but to do that effectively you also have to learn. As current technology becomes more complicated, online marketing strategies need to be more carefully planned and executed. Especially because of the constantly changing media choices, you must continually educate yourself. You can do so online, but there's still plenty to learn the old-fashioned way, in books and magazines. The current issue of Book Business, for example, is totally devoted to "Business Tips" in categories like "18 Tips for Environmentally Conscious Publishing," "25 Effective Blogging Tips," and "7 Tips for Utilizing Social Media." Great stuff.



The best book about book marketing I've seen in awhile is Steve Weber's Plug Your Book!, that I described in a review as, "fresh, concise, and full of useful information that hasn't been delivered a dozen times before" by an author who's got the talk and the walk. Read his book and visit his website and blog, as he shares info gained by making his living selling books online since 2001.



Burn

It's the New Year and we're supposed to be in resolution mode, so here's one I'm going to concentrate on, and use that "churning urn" as a burn barrel to incinerate some of my life's clutter, along with some bad habits and time-wasters that trip me up and slow me down. Have you noticed the proliferation of "get organized" books, websites, stores and businesses? I just Googled "get organized" and got 8.6 million hits! Being organized is a pretty vital part of good a marketing plan, as you really must find time to actually SELL yourself and your books, and the time to create new products and content. In a great article about self-discipline, John McArthur says, "Learning self-discipline in the little things of life prepares the way for big successes. On the other hand, those who are undisciplined in small matters will likely be undisciplined in more important issues. And when it comes to a person's integrity and credibility, there are no small issues."



Return

It's not all about innovation and renewal - don't forget to keep doing what works. Compile your hits, remember your fans, keep in touch with repeat customers, and do what you do best. One of the most important parts of being organized is being able to reuse and repeat the things that worked well. After all, the point of all this work is to...



Earn!

It's not an easy business, but it's a noble one, and making a living as an artist, with your words and your wits is well worth the effort. Sometimes it takes a little improvisation to earn enough. Here's a quote from the article, Surviving as an Artist: Making a Living While Making Art. "For example, a poet may never make a living from poetry, but he can certainly make a living as an advertising copywriter. A visual artist may have trouble selling artwork, but can get a job designing graphics for video games or as a graphic artist designing book covers. A novelist may spend years honing the well-crafted novel, but can pick up a steady paycheck (along with health insurance and a 401K plan) working as a journalist."



Through it all, pick yourself a steamin' good soundtrack, and have a productive and successful 2008.

 

So start churnin! (bumpety-bump!)

And keep learnin! (bumpety-bump!)

Do some burnin! (boom! with flames)

Keep returnin! (bump-bump!)

And you'll be earnin'! (cymbal crash!, wild applause!, slow fade out...)

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