Mythbusters: The Publishing Edition

One of the big gripes with traditional publishing these days is that due to the economic downturn, it is only a handful of books that receive -any- marketing at all.  That if you aren't Stephen King, you can expect to go it alone.  Here is the good news:  that's not all that true!  Most every book receives some marketing and publicity attention with few exception among all the major trade houses. 

What is true is that only a few books receive money for some of the bigger things such as ads in The New York Times Book Review, and that's okay.  It's only a certain kind of book that benefits from such things.  

Every book receives at least three big things: review galleys, a place in catalog, and attention from your marketing department and sales force at major meetings.  None of these are insignificant.  The catalog is a hugely important sales tools that goes out to booksellers, libraries, and reviewers everywhere to pitch the upcoming season of books.

The thing you should also know is that it is never all or nothing.  Between those big books that get those ads in USA Today and the ten city tours, there are a lot of other tiers.  Some books get a lot more galleys and advertising perhaps in lieu of author appearances due to the budget or an author's schedule and travel restraints.  Some books get a lot more of an online push with little to no print attention because that's just the best way to reach its target audience. 

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