A Business of Writing

As with any other merchandising business, the publishing industry functions much the same way a business in the fashion industry functions.

1. Someone designs a product (for writers, books),
2. Someone else manufactures and packages the product (a publisher),
3. Within the packaging company, a department will market and promote the product (publicists provide publicity programs for books),
4. After the buzz is created and the products are packaged and ready for selling, the company warehouses goods to be sold (distributors such as IPG, Consortium, B&N accept books to sell to bookstores)
5. The marketing continues until the manufacturer deems the product obsolete—this can take months to years and it’s called the lifecycle of a product (the sales department gets involved placing orders for stores so they have product to sell).

First of all, I’ve described these steps in the broadest of terms. But, so someone outside the publishing industry reading this will know, the book business is very much regulated by how the product moves through its manufacture and distribution. After that, it’s all about selling. If you have any doubts about that, think about the last TV commercial you saw advertising a big name author’s latest release. I bet you think of James Patterson.

James Patterson, for those of you who don’t know, was an ad man before becoming an author. He made his name known first before his books ever really took hold with the public. This was no accident. And, now look at him. His name is recognized much like Kleenex and BandAid. He’s become a household name.

That’s called “branding.” To Patterson’s credit, brilliant branding.

So, when you see we authors splashing our goods across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace and all the other sites ending in “Ing”, you’ll understand why we do it. We’re trying to sell our books. It’s how some of us make our livings.

Which brings me to this, my award-winning novel, DROWNING (released May 2011), is being featured on FreeBookFriday.com tomorrow! Friday, January 20th, 2012.

The people at FreeBookFriday will be giving away 5 signed copies of DROWNING but you’ll have to go to their site to figure out how you can get the book. I’m not being coy, here, I really don’t know how they intend to select winners.

You can click on: http://fiction.freebookfriday.com/2012/01/drowning-by-susan-wingate.html to get there.

And, remember, you can always get the PAPERBACK EDITION at: http://www.amazon.com/Drowning-Susan-Wingate/dp/0615448127/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327006141&sr=8-1

• And, the eBook for your Nook at: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/drowning-susan-wingate/1100542146?ean=2940012459695&itm=1&usri=drowning+by+susan+wingate
• Or, the Kindle at: http://www.amazon.com/Drowning-Winger-Family-Drama-ebook/dp/B004YTFE2M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1327006141&sr=8-2

When you get your copy, I’ll personalize the signature (if you wish) to reflect your name and any other designation you want, such as, “To Bob, My biggest fan! Always, Susan”

I can say that because Bob is my husband and we’re both each other’s biggest fans!

As always, thank you for reading my post. Blessings to you, Susan.

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• Free eBook of TREBOR! A Children’s Christmas Story by Susan Wingate (susanwingate.wordpress.com)