No one loves your beautiful face more than your book fan.
Knopf, the publisher behind "Giving," the new book by former president Bill Clinton, spent beaucoups of money on advertising the new book. Clinton also received the best media outlets, appearing on all morning shows, Larry King, and Oprah.
First printing was 750,000.
A month after release, how many copies sold? According to Nielsen BookScan (estimated to include about 60-70% of book sales), just over 50,000 copies were sold.
What happened?
The importance of an author's involvement was underestimated. Though Clinton did an initial flurry of media events, when he left, the interest nose-dived.
"The same thing happened with my titles. When my authors are actively involved in the success of their book, they sell. When their involvement falls off, so do their book sales. Regardless of celebrity, we must make sure that we choose authors who are invested in the success of the book. A passive involvement will yield mediocre results most of the time," says Jay Brown of Freedom Publishing.
This seems to be an eternal lesson. Noted publicist Bella Stander details how Charles Dickens and Olaudah Equiano built their audiences, with an unrelenting commitment to cultivating audiences. www.readingunderthecovers.blogspot.com/
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