Tor books

[pwalker8]

I get the Tor books news letter every week. IMPO, Tor is a great example of how a publishing company should publicize themselves. I like getting the news letter and frequently read the articles. One little problem. There are very few Tor books that I enjoy reading. I read Scalzi's books, but I most get the audiobook versions because Wil Wheaton does such a good job of taking a pretty good book and making it really good.

I love SF&F, but I simply have different taste in books than their editors do. So, when I get the feedback surveys I'm sure that they get a very mixed signal from me.

But the real point of this is why don't more imprints put out news letters and publicize their authors and books? It just baffles me.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

But the real point of this is why don't more imprints put out news letters and publicize their authors and books? It just baffles me.

I think that at least for some of the big publishers and their imprints that the thinking of book stores and their buyers as the publishers customers and not the end consumer still prevails to some extent at least at certain levels of the industry. The attitude I've heard from more than one publishing exec in the past is that the book store is the publishers customer and the consumer is the book stores customer (over simplified, but the point they were trying to make) & they'll leave it up to the stores and the author's to do most of the heavy lifting on getting the word out. It's crazy, but...

[leebase]

And....why aren’t more authors doing the same thing.

[John F]

Originally Posted by leebase

And....why aren’t more authors doing the same thing.

I just checked two "big name authors", and they both having mailng lists, as well as FB, Instagram, ...

The third one I checked, his site was down.

[latepaul]

A list of newsletters

This was just the first link I found with a quick google. If you search for "<publisher name> newsletter" there are more. "publisher newletter" however will get you lots of howto's on making a newsletter in MS Publisher

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by John F

I just checked two "big name authors", and they both having mailng lists, as well as FB, Instagram, ...

The third one I checked, his site was down.

Author mailing lists are a bit weird. A number of authors say they have them, but don't really use them that much. I've signed up for a couple and have occasionally gotten "new book out" emails, but that's about it.

It's kind of like the author web sites. It's a lot of work, so many will start one up and then either turn it over to someone else (David Weber and Jim Butcher come to mind) or just update it sporadically.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by latepaul

A list of newsletters

This was just the first link I found with a quick google. If you search for "<publisher name> newsletter" there are more. "publisher newletter" however will get you lots of howto's on making a newsletter in MS Publisher

Yes, I did the same search before I ever posted. Some of those are defunct, one lead to a website that prompted Firefox to warn me that I might be going to a hijacked site. I did sign up for the SFWA newsletter which claims to list new books. I haven't gotten anything from them though. I get the impression that more than a few have set up something but never really followed through like Tor.

[frahse]

Since the internet, many smaller authors (even occasional ones) do have personal mailing lists/web sites that they faithfully update as occasion warrants. It takes minimal cost and effort compared to writing a story.

I can attest to that personally.

About $7 for the domain name and maybe $50 for the hosting as I remember, but I have other interests there as well, so there is some dilution. Truthfully, I will have to ask my wife for the numbers because she handles the accounting. I have noticed that 1&1 has changed their name so other things probably have changed as well. ... I have a note to check.

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I get the Tor books news letter every week. IMPO, Tor is a great example of how a publishing company should publicize themselves. I like getting the news letter and frequently read the articles. One little problem. There are very few Tor books that I enjoy reading. I read Scalzi's books, but I most get the audiobook versions because Wil Wheaton does such a good job of taking a pretty good book and making it really good.

I love SF&F, but I simply have different taste in books than their editors do. So, when I get the feedback surveys I'm sure that they get a very mixed signal from me.

But the real point of this is why don't more imprints put out news letters and publicize their authors and books? It just baffles me.

I have to admit, I feel the same as you. I always skim their newsletters, and most times I get sucked into one story or another. But for whatever reason, I rarely am interested in the particular books they're listing.

Some of the authors I follow do occasional newsletters. But quite a few moved all that to Facebook, which I despise.

[Raphi'Elohim]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I get the Tor books news letter every week. IMPO, Tor is a great example of how a publishing company should publicize themselves. I like getting the news letter and frequently read the articles. One little problem. There are very few Tor books that I enjoy reading. I read Scalzi's books, but I most get the audiobook versions because Wil Wheaton does such a good job of taking a pretty good book and making it really good.

I love SF&F, but I simply have different taste in books than their editors do. So, when I get the feedback surveys I'm sure that they get a very mixed signal from me.

But the real point of this is why don't more imprints put out news letters and publicize their authors and books? It just baffles me.

Doesn't the New York Times and Washington Post (and perhaps other Newspapers) put out their own lists of best sellers with reviews ? It sounds like that is promotion enough for quality books as it sounds like most of the books that are being promoted via Tor and SF&F you don't actually like.

Also, the new B&N Nook has a bluetooth and audio capabilities because they are going to be putting out podcasts by interviewing authors, in the future, so you can listen to it from your eReader. That is pretty good promotion too.