After 15 years at Random House and Crown, current vp, digital and marketing strategy as well as publisher, Crown Group digital Philip Patrick is “stepping down” and leaving the company at the end of the year. President Maya Mavjee writes that “Philip and I have had ongoing discussions about how best to grow and shape our rapidly emerging digital business. After much reflection and evaluation, we have agreed that, for a division as broad and wide-ranging as Crown, the most effective way to serve our authors is for each of our individual publishers to manage and oversee digital product development […]
Marketing
Random’s Client Marketing Service, Plus People Updates
Random House’s distribution unit announced a new marketing service that provides their clients with “a range of robust tools for pursuing online marketing opportunities.” Manager, digital and paperback marketing at Crown Jay Sones will move to RH Publisher Services, where he will be senior online marketing manager, in charge of the new program. That tool set includes “marketing strategy development, online advertising campaigns; online media tours with authors; consultation on back-list opportunities on-line; and single-title campaigns for key front-list titles.” President of RHPS Jeff Abraham says in the announcement “our experience shows that these online marketing efforts, whether via Facebook, […]
And a Different Paid, Pre-Publication Online Book Club Idea from WowOwow
Women’s website WowOwow, co-founded by former agent and publisher Joni Evans, is trialing an “early access” book club that sells pre-publication galleys of selected books in limited quantities. The coverage at Forbes says the site “believes they’ll pay a substantial fee for that privilege and for the various other perks associated with membership, such as author chats”–but the current test is charging from $15 to $30 a copy, which seems at odds with the first statement. The trial offer underway is for Jodi Picoult’s March 2011 release, SING YOU HOME. Evans tries to pitch a few different paradigms. “The concept […]
Typical Starbucks Fanfare Hides Some Real Book News from Libre Digital and Others
Starbucks is one of those companies the media loves to over-cover (consider, say, free wifi at the coffee shops, versus free wifi at McDonald’s) and today they announced yet another complicated promotional entertainment offering. Traditionally these initiatives are great for free media, and then tend to fizzle away after a couple of pops. (The roster includes: their dedicated book picks; CD racks; Oprah book club sales; their music label; Starbucks Entertainment; their film adventures; their audiobook promotion; and so on.)The announcement introduces the Starbucks Digital Network–kind of AOL from the early 90s, reinvented for today in partnership with Yahoo, providing […]
Film Partner Will Help Promote Sparks’ New Novel, Well in Advance of Any Movie Version
The WSJ reports on a promotional twist for Nicholas Spark’s September release SAFE HAVEN. Film rights licensee Relatively Media will promote the book, even though they won’t have a film version ready until late next year at the earliest. Plans include ads in US and Entertainment Weekly as well as “creating a social community” around the work and working with publisher Grand Central on a joint Facebook page for the new novel. (Relativity’s Facebook community for their successful DEAR JOHN movie adaptation has over 2 million enrolled fans.) It’s in Relativity’s interest to nurture interest in the work, though the […]
Think of a Number (or Price) that Can Make Your eBook a Bestseller
While most big publishers have forsaken ebook giveaways as a business-effective way to establish new frontlist (with thanks to Chris Anderson for helping to prove the limits of FREE), price experimentation is gaining adherents as a way of highlighting new authors in a crowded marketplace while still driving at least some revenue. Crown has experimented with a promotional price window to highlight novelist (and former ad executive) John Verdon’s debut effort THINK OF A NUMBER, acquired at auction in a major three-book deal last September. For two weeks right after publication they offered the ebook edition at a digital list […]