Jan Nathan On Marketing Together

Every wise independent publisher takes full advantage of the Publishers Marketing Association.  Jan Nathan, executive director of the PMA, was kind enough to share a few words in this e-mail interview.

1. What sort of services does PMA offer to the new publisher?

We focus on helping the new publisher avoid costly mistakes through education (our 48-page newletter, which has years of useflu info archived on our website; and through seminars throughout the year in various areas of the U.S.) We also offer cost-shared marketing opportunities to our member publishers so that they can tell their story to the trade at greatly reduced costs.

2. What do you think is the biggest mistake new publishers make and what can we do not to make it?

One of the biggest mistakes is in not doing enough research before entering the book publishing community to understand what is currently on the market and how your title will be radically different from anything else out there (and being "better" is not a reason). The other is in thinking that the computer and offered software programs can turn a person into an editor, designer, etc. These programs are just tools to be used by professionals.

3. Can you give several hints for how to be successful?

Research the market and read as much as you can before entering the book publishing community. Books such as The Self-Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter and Publishing for Profit by Tom Woll should be total read and digested before you leap into this world. Pride in your product and persistency in marketing are the two traits that can lead you to success as long as you have a good product. And, check out our website and look at the 10 Steps (ed. note: see upcoming post) you must take if you want to be a publisher. If you don't want to do one of these, then reconsider and ask yourself if you want to be a publisher or an author. Both are good. But, it's better to define what you want to be before investing time and money into something that will frustrate you in the end.
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These are the folks who are going help you market your book. If you can't go to the big publisher conventions, for a small fee, you can send your book and PMA will try to sell it for you. If you can't afford to send flyers to all of the many libraries, you can be part of a shared mailing. All of this needs to be part of your marketing strategy.