Kibbe on Marketing: No Books or Bloody Axes

I remember years ago when I was shopping my novel to literary agents (like who hasn’t?) and hearing all sorts of stories of gimmicks to get an agent’s attention: a crime writer who sent a bloody axe, someone who sent a bottle of champagne “pre-toasting” to their mutual success, money (aka a bribe)…

While as an editor I never received anything quite so interesting as one of these, I did get my fair share of marketing trinkets which were supposedly to catch my eye and inspire me to write a story. Unfortunately, I don’t think they ever worked. They were the wrong topic, wrong audience, wrong coverage area or a combination of all three.

I received plenty of unsolicited press kits. Most included logo tchotchkes, CDs, DVDs, even a few thumb drives. Now, not only did I have to deal with junk, and I’m risking a computer virus.

The most vexing of material pitches were unsolicited books or manuscripts. Sending a book isn’t cheap. I knew someone out there spent a good deal of money to pique my curiosity. More often than not, the work was just a bad fit for the publication. I had no choice but to toss the book into the recycle bin.

The sad thing is most of the marketers or authors simply never did their homework to find out if the paper I worked for was the right vehicle for their message. Usually it was flat wrong. Moreover, we almost never printed book reviews, even when it was on-topic. We couldn’t sell advertising around it. And if you can’t monetize the page an article is printed on, it’s not going to happen.

The books were often some business subject, so they got that much right, but the topic was way off (e.g. a get-rich-quick scheme), not specific to the coverage area or – more times than not – were a vanity work that was poorly executed. (I could write several columns on vanity press projects but I won’t. Simply said, unless you’ve hired a bona fide editor and production staff to make your book a professional work, don’t go the self-published route.)

I really felt so sorry for those that spent a lot of time and money sending me something I didn’t ask for and couldn’t use. Perhaps the only way I would have considered writing an article about the book was if the author was based in the publication's coverage area AND was getting some notoriety because of who he/she was or because the work was really taking off. Was the author a well-known local business owner? Were people really talking about the topic or the book itself? Was there something really unique and helpful to our readership?

The lesson here once again is target, target, target. Press kits are great, and I liked them – when the topic or message was spot on. Books, I feel, are a no-no unless they’ve been requested. Few editors have the time to read them anyway. A press kit about a book is fine, but again, the topic must match the publication.

So before marketers or business owners go through the time and expense of shipping big packages of goodies to editors, they should do some research or simply ask first to see if what they’re selling editors are buying. Write an email (please no “Press Release” subject lines) or pick up the phone.

Remember editors want news, so we are eager to find the next Big Story. But we seldom publish stories just because somebody sent us a book -- or a bloody axe.

Cindy Kibbe, an editor for a New England business publication for nearly a decade, can be reached at cindykibbe@comcast.net.