Get Creative and Don't Forget Marketing

Happy Thanksgiving! I do hope you'll be enjoying good food and fellowship this holiday.

Book opportunitites abound. The opportunities are not determinded by the format--printed or electronic but rather on whether there is a market for the content. It is simply not true that a new book cannot be successful in today's world.

This was recently confirmed by our new Meet Me At imprint which was launched last year and is currently being expanded.  Our Meet Me At Opryland Hotel just placed a rush order for 2,000 more copies after going through an initial order of 5,000 books earlier in the year. And this re-order is just to get them through their immediate needs.

Another beautiful book in this series is Meet Me on Jekyll Island and projections say it will be in a reprint mode by May of 2012. 

Now, there are many books already on the market about Opryland Hotel and Jekyll Island. So why would someone publish another title? Because the Meet Me At books are in a creative format and design which also provides interesting information that appeals to consumers. These books are currently in a printed version but I can see a day in the not too distant future where there will be a niche for an electronic version as well.

Book selling is about creative content and a strong marketing effort. More books have failed due to a poor marketing plan than vice versa. If you decide that you have a good book idea by all means pursue it; just don't forget that if you want it to sell well you cannot scrimp on the marketing efforts.

E-Book Format Now Available

Southwestern Publishing Group and its imprints are happy to announce that we are now offering both print and e-book formats for our customers. Ebooks sales have soared and the book industry reports that e-books now outsell printed books in some categories. For the cooking category, e-books are just now making their entry and we have seen a very limited number of regional cookbooks available in this format so far.


Moving forward we see this as a growing segment of the publishing industry and therefore are making it available as a publishing strategy for our clients. For existing books that were originally produced using digital files rather than film the conversion cost and set up is inexpensive and fairly simple. We will convert the digital files to the various formats necessary for the different e-reader devices. The books will then be promoted on Apple, Amazon (Kindle) and B&N (Nook) as well as other major sellers of e-books.
For older titles that were developed and printed using film rather than digital files there is another step necessary that makes the conversion a bit more expensive. A solid marketing plan should be developed to justify the expense and create sales. This could include repackaging the book to include updated material, additional recipes and any other ideas that might bring additional value to an older book.

In terms of marketing it will be imperative that all steps in a promotional plan include the e-format availability. Neither time nor technological advances stand still. Even though today approximately 94% of consumers say they prefer a printed cookbook we can predict that the percentages will change as time moves on.

What are your thoughts on cookbooks in an e-format?

The Value of Early and Ongoing Marketing

These are interesting times in the publishing industry. There is a perception from some people that book publishing is dead. Nothing could be further from the truth. It isn't that consumers aren't buying books but rather how they are buying that has changed. Consumers are still buying books but they aren't walking into bookstores to make their purchases, they are turning to the Internet (e-readers, blogs, other forms of social media) to make their purchases.

To adjust to this shift, today's publishing strategy should include a number of activities even before a book is released. Once an "author" (this could include one individual or a group) has decided to publish a book they should start to develop a "community" of individuals who would be interested in knowing about the book, the purpose of the book, the target audience, etc. Facebook and Twitter are necessary tools to utilize and launch for an effort like this.

It is also important to keep this community engaged along the way with updates, photos, requests for recipes (if it is a cookbook) or short stories that might be included and are applicable.  Details such as the format, retail price, release date and how to order should be sprinkled in along the way.  In addition, you should be working to "grow" the community.  One tool to assist you would be to create a blog and ask your followers to spread the word as well as interact via comments. 

All of these strategies should continue through the life of the book because the marketing function never ceases. It is imperative for future sales that the life of the book be extended by aggressive and regular marketing efforts. I have witnessed more failed books due to a lack of marketing than due to bad content.

In my next post I'll discuss blending e-books into the mix. If you were thinking about publishing a book who is your audience and how could you reach them?

Regional Fare on Vacation--Conclusion

One of the great things about vacation is trying local or regional recipes.  If you've read my previous posts you are aware that my wife and I love the Florida Gulf Panhandle. We vacation in the San Destin area each October for several days and thoroughly love it. Between the beach, the tennis, the gorgeous weather and the food it is idyllic.

As in most years we hit a local family oriented restaurant Bayou Bill's. We started going to Bayou Bill's when our daughters were still in school and we had to fight the spring break crowds. In October, the place is busy but it is fairly easy to get seated quickly. Bayou Bill's burned down several years ago but they rebuilt and the restaurant is very nice and spacious. 

We like this restaurant because there are several meals we can split and still have plenty of food.  We usually get a Grouper meal to split but this year we went twice so we split one meal and had separate entrees the other.  As is the case with all of our favorites in the Panhandle the seafood is FRESH and purchased from local fishermen.  Patrick Matthews and his family do a great job at Bayou Bill's providing quality food which is consistently good.

We also found one new restaurant on this trip which we enjoyed in Baytowne Wharf called Acme Oyster House.  This restaurant is actually part of a small chain (about 5 locations) out of New Orleans. The original was started on Royal Street in the French Quarter in 1910.  We have tried several places in Baytowne Wharf but this was the best yet. It is a bit unusual for a chain to be this good but we will be going back annually because the food was great, the service excellent and the atmosphere fun. In fact, during my next trip to New Orleans I will visit the original store since I enjoyed the FL location so much.

Wherever you travel, try the local fare and also don't forget to seek out the local regional cookbooks which stocked full of regional recipes, and, more often than not, are better than trade cookbooks and raise funds for a local non-profit.