Authors Are Retailers Too!
On Taylor Swift, Perfume, and Your Book
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By Carolyn
Howard-Johnson
I can’t tell you how
often I’ve thanked my lucky stars for my retail experience now I’m an author.
My husband used to say (Ahem!) “Retail is 90% attention to detail!” If he’s
right—and he always is—then the other 10% is marketing.
To reinterpret this,
you need a great product—that’s the attention to detail part—whether that’s the
store itself or the merchandise you sell. They’re both your “products.” (For authors
the product is our book or books.)
But all the detail,
product, merchandise or anything else—all that other stuff we’ve poured our
little detail-oriented hearts into—goes for naught if we don’t do the
marketing.
So how does Taylor
Swift fit into this? Well, the LA Times reports on her products (the way
she is branding herself which is part of marketing). She has a signature
fragrance, a poster by Peter Max (That’s
Peter-the-Greatest-Artist-Marketer-Of-All-Time-After-Warhol!), a back to school
package, a limited edition combo of a CD single and a souvenir T-shirt,
headbands, a songbook, a tin box of guitar picks, boxed greeting cards, a
keychain, and a journal. Yes, I’m out of breath!
So, we can learn a lot
from her about branding, a big part of marketing. Each of these products fits
with her image. But we can also learn that we just need to do it.
Your book proposal, as
an example, might include a list of products (other than your book) that could
be spun off from your book. Taylor’s journal idea is a good one for memoirists.
T-shirts work for just about everyone. But each author’s list of possibilities
will be different, just as the list would differ for different businesses on
Main Street USA.
One of our stores was
in Palm Springs and we had adorable little souvenir pin boxes made with
“Carlan’s, Palm Springs” and palm trees hand painted on them. They worked
because they were more personal and specific than the usual souvenir with only
“Palm Springs” machine stamped on them.
My poetry partner
Magdalena Ball and I might someday have art posters of the covers of our poetry
chapbook series featuring our collaborating artists Jacquie Schmall, Vicki
Thomas, and May Lattanzio. Framed, of course! Learn more about how we promote
that series (including a special holiday card offer for the Christmas chapbook)
at www.howtodoitfrugally.com/poetry_books.htm.
So, what do you do with
your product idea? Well, the obvious first choice would be to get a
manufacturer with a HUGE customer base to make your product; they, in turn, get
their sales representatives to sell them to retailers who then sell them to the
general public.
But what if you're eager
to get started now? Try these ideas.
- Use your products as thank you gifts.
- Use your products as souvenirs or parts of promotions
like gift baskets or contests.
- Use your products as walking, talking advertisements.
As an example, every time someone compliments you on your rose-scented
cologne, that's an opportunity to mention your romance novel and maybe
give them a bookmark. Your T-shirts are walking billboards. So are your
totes.
- Use your products as part of the media kits you leave
in the press rooms at tradeshows.
- Use your products as an integral part of parties and
events you plan, like a store opening or a book launch.
- Offer your products to charities for their drawings or
other fundraisers.
So, put your thinking
cap on. What kind of a “Seller” can you be? What fits with your product, your
store, your title—whatever that is?
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson
is the author of the multi award-winning The Frugal Book Promoter (now
in an updated and expanded second edition!), www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo. Also part of the HowToDoItFrugally series is
the booklet The Great First Impression Book Proposal booklet, www.budurl.com/BookProposals, that helps authors convince agents or
publishers of their understanding of spin-offs, retailing, and marketing in
general. She also is the author of a series of books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Events
(www.budurl.com/RetailersGuide).
