Sales and Marketing Support
Sales and Marketing Support
publish, promote and sell your books using traditional and online channels
In This Section
Sales and Marketing is an integral part of the overall publishing process. After all, you want to get your book into the hands of paying readers, don’t you? You also want to recoup your investment in the soonest possible time and, hopefully, make a return on it.
Our Author-centred Approach
At The Manuscript Publisher, we offer sales and marketing support that is based on an author-centred approach to publishing. This means that you own the stock of books and materials that are produced, once they have been paid for. You also retain copyright and all future publishing rights to your work. This is important because, as a self-published author, the right to profit from your work belongs to you and you alone. It is different with traditional publishing (i.e. the publishing house route). Here, you are signing over the right to profit from your work to someone else, usually for a defined period and in return for a payment of royalties on future sales (depending on circumstances, you may also receive an advance).
Marketing – the active and the passive approach
Our role in the sales and marketing process is to assist. We work mostly on a commission basis, taking a percentage of the sales that we generate, also providing sales and order fulfilment. We do not operate complex ‘package deals’, which tend to benefit nobody, least of all the author, who is also the publisher in this case.
It is usually in the marketing aspect of the publishing process where publishing package deals fall down. Sales and marketing support, such as is offered, tend to represent the passive approach and do not entail much of a commitment – e.g. creating a web page for your book without explaining how it is intended to drive traffic to the site. For publishing to succeed, ongoing attention to marketing and promotion is required, not just during the first flush of enthusiasm.
What is generally the case with the vanity presses and the publishing package providers is that they make their money from getting you to ‘publish with them’. Publishing here, is defined in rather narrow terms – the task of producing your book and often at unnecessarily inflated prices. Publishing however, cannot be reduced to mere aspects or components of the process, whether we are talking about design, printing, distribution and so forth. It actually involves a complete cycle: from completing your manuscript, turning it into a professionally produced book, getting that book into the hands of a readership that is willing to pay, collecting the money and putting it in the bank.
Sales and Order Fulfilment Service
At The Manuscript Publisher, we take an active interest in the sales and marketing of your book. We do so because we want you to succeed but also because we have an interest in sales generation from the point of view of a retail seller of your book:
- We sell books through our retail division, TMP Publications, which operates both online and print catalogues, as well as through other channels, such as Amazon, eBay, etc.
- We buy books from you on a sale or return basis, at 40% trade discount (55% in the case of trade orders) and provide order fulfilment
- For sales of digital content, including e-books and print-on-demand, we take 50% of income from sales but also undertake all the necessary administration, marketing and promotion using Kindle Direct Publishing, Smashwords, other e-publishing platforms
- We issue you with twice-yearly sales reports, in June and December. Payments are issued within 28 days by cheque, bank transfer, PayPal.
We actively promote your book throughout the year, including at peak times, holidays, anniversaries, historic milestones, any occasion that offers opportunities to ride the wave of publicity and so on. We do this through creative advertising and promotion techniques that include direct marketing, e-mail, social media, direct mail, print catalogues, festivals and other events.
The fact that your book is part of our catalogue can enhance sales too – readers often stop by to purchase a particular book and end up buying two or several.
Marketing and Campaign Management
We also provide services to help you to sell your book through your own channels, keeping 100% of the profit. Examples of how we can help you in this regard include but are by no means limited to:
- Listing with Nielsens Book Data, accessible to bookshops, wholesalers and distributors, libraries and their suppliers, publishers worldwide
- Listing on Amazon, eBay, other online bookshops and retailers; assistance in setting yourself up as an Amazon Seller, selling on eBay and so on.
- When your book is published, we will announce it to the world and to your target audience via press releases, e-mail circulars, social media campaigns to book buyers, book clubs, bookshops, wholesalers and distributors, book clubs, libraries, newspapers and media outlets, writing and literary groups across Ireland and the world
- We continuously promote books through both popular and niche social networking and social media websites, such as Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, LinkedIn, etc
- Setting you up and helping you to Managing your Web Presence as an an author, writer, independent publisher
- Advertising and sales copywriting service
- Press, publicity, PR services and advice
- Crafting of press releases with targeted delivery to local, national, international media
- Online advertising and marketing – search engine marketing, pay per click advertising, social networking tools, etc.
- Integrated campaign management including direct mail, e-mail marketing, social media, advertising, PR, etc.
- Design and printing of posters, leaflets, fliers, business cards, bookmarks, etc.
- Web design, video editing, slideshow presentations and preparation of other audio-visual materials
- Help with preparing and hosting your own book launch
- Other opportunities specific to your project.
Managing Your Web Presence – your home on the web
For authors, writers, independent publishers the worldwide web is an invaluable tool – one that you can hardly do without in today’s writing and publishing environment. In addition to being a publishing platform in itself, it also allows you to connect directly with your readers and reach a target audience. It can also be used a sales platform, with direct means of payment, thus eliminating many of the obstacles, barriers, inefficiencies that used to confront self-published authors and independent publishers.
Building and managing your online presence as an author, writer, independent publisher is something that The Manuscript Publisher has invested a lot of time in and devoted a lot of attention to. We have devised services and solutions directly related to the needs of authors operating in today’s exciting yet challenging world of publishing.
Find out more about how we can help you take to advantage of the opportunities that the worldwide web has to offer you, as an author, writer, independent publisher. Specifically, find out how you can have your own dedicated author website at competitive rates that include design, domain name registration and web hosting. Further information …
Directory of Writing and Publishing Resources
This is a free, online directory of resources related to writing and publishing today, which we provide in co-operation with our partner website, Writing for Publishing. It is an unsurpassed resource and is constantly being added to. Listings of writers groups, literary competitions, festivals and events, libraries, bookshops, book distributors, media and publicity resources are included.
We encourage you to avail of this resource and to add to it too, by helping us keep it up-to-date or by informing us of other products, services, resources that may be considered for inclusion. You can submit details online.
Business Mentoring and Support
Publishing is slow and steady work and this is just as much the case where self-publishing or independent publishing are concerned. Time, effort, patience and perseverance really are the key ingredients. There are few, if any, examples of ‘get rich quick’ schemes in publishing. You would do well to be suspicious of anyone who is attempting to sell you just that. If in doubt, talk to us: we strongly believe in properly appraising you of all important facts before you commit.
Learn More
Talk to us today about our Sales and Marketing support services. Even if you have already published your book, we are interested in hearing from you and appraising us of our Sales and Order Fulfilment service.
Explore this website for further information about all of our assisted publishing services and download the free brochure, Publish, Promote and Sell Your Book the Modern, Professional and Affordable Way.