Marketing Critical Mass

I once went to a book signing of a prominent author (someone quite famous and established, but I won’t name-drop). As the last one in line to get his signature, I was surprised and pleased when he said, “Looks like you’re the last one. Tell you what, I’m starving, let’s go get a bite to eat and I’ll sign your book there.” This was at the now-closed Cherry Creek location of the Tattered Cover when they still hosted the restaurant on the top floor (excellent food, I still miss it).

I enjoyed the meal and the conversation immensely, in spite of the occasional interruptions by other diners who recognized the author and wanted an autograph or a picture, and he was only too willing to seriously consider and answer any question I had about writing, publishing, etc. Near the end of the meal, he said, “There’s one thing about the business you haven’t asked me yet.” To my raised eyebrows he answered, “Marketing.” He then laughed as I scowled.

“I know, I know,” he said, “all upcoming writers hate that part, up until they hit their first bestseller list. But I’m going to tell you something no one else will. I don’t know if it’s because they never really thought of it this way or if they don’t want to admit it, but it’s true. Marketing is hard…until it isn’t anymore. You work your ass off trying to do book signings and interviews in print and broadcast, only to see your sales snake up at a snail’s pace.”

I didn’t point out his mixed-species metaphor. He continued, “Then there comes a point, a sort of critical mass, where suddenly they’re calling you. They’re booking you. You’re suddenly filling up your calendar and travel points on your credit card and asking yourself questions like, Can I make it from the New York meeting that ends at noon to the Chicago appointment that starts at 4, or is that cutting things too close? Suddenly, the sales graph becomes scalable, suddenly it moves noticeably in the wake of your profile in the LA Times. It’s as if Sisyphus finally got that damn rock to the top of the hill and now it’s rolling all by itself down the other side.”

That short little speech stuck with me, especially the words critical mass. Sometimes, I’ll be honest, it has filled me with despair: How am I ever going to reach critical mass in my marketing efforts? Other times, hope: If I can just get to that point, it won’t seem like work anymore. In the end, more often than either extreme, I think it doesn’t really matter. Either you will reach that critical mass point or you won’t. Whether you drive for it or not, the work is still the same. Much as we’d like it otherwise, writing the book is only half our job. We still have to market and sell ourselves in order to sell our books.

And so I bite the bullet, and I do that work.