r hand.

Don’t rush on the phone

I answer my own phone – using caller ID to say “Hi, Bill, how are you?” instead of something formal whenever I recognize the caller’s name -- and I make it a point to return missed calls the moment I get the message. Of course, I encourage our authors to call during business hours. And I call authors fairly often, for any number of reasons.

Some authors can be demanding, expecting you to drop everything to deal with their problems “Right now!” Calming them with an encouraging word often takes some doing, but it is far better to talk over problems or needs on the phone than via email.

Be where your authors are

As publi

I believe in focusing on the needs authors have as they publish and market their books. But more than that – as a publisher, I believe that spending a good deal of time and energy on communication with and personal service to authors helps publishers keep the ones they have and attract new ones. The tips that follow are based on my experiences and theirs.

Email to authors is not just for announcing the latest marketing tip

Email is the most reliable way to reach most authors on a publisher’s roster. While I spend a lot of time nudging our whole group of authors forward with emails about co-operative marketing opportunities and new ways for them to try punching up their sales, I spend nearly as much time just chatting with them when they seem to need that. Sometimes, it is good to just say, “Hello, how are you doing?” or “Did you have a good weekend?” or “I was thinking about you today, and thought I’d say hello.” If you make your approach friendly and personal, if you’re truly interested in the author’s life and willing to share bits of your own, your thoughtfulness will be repaid.

I answer emails from authors right away or, if that’s impossible, within a couple of hours. I do this partly because it is easier than trying to remember to respond later but also because it shows I care about whatever purpose an author had in writing.

Avoid using all caps and multiple exclamation points in emails to authors, even if they use those things, since they make it sound as though you are shouting. And if you must convey something less than pleasant -- such as news having to do with money, corrections, or slow sales – be factual and give reasoned explanations. Remember, everything you write in an email can be held against you later, but communicating the tougher news is much easier when you have a solid email relationship going.

Send a card now and then – old-fashioned but tried and true

I enclose a handwritten note card with every snail mail piece I send to authors, (except for invoices), with just a few words geared to each author (no fair writing the same thing over and over). I also enclose a hand-written card with new contracts, with CD ROMs of digital proofs, with galleys, with reviews, with royalty payments and sometimes I send one just to say thank you for being one of our authors.

Now that this very old marketing/PR technique has faded into oblivion in the digital world, it actually makes a difference. It says that you are a real human being and that you think the author is too. A card can pave the way to open communications with an author who has not been as responsive as you had hoped. It is hard to ignore a personal hand-written card sitting right there in your hand.

Don’t rush on the phone

I answer my own phone – using caller ID to say “Hi, Bill, how are you?” instead of something formal whenever I recognize the caller’s name -- and I make it a point to return missed calls the moment I get the message. Of course, I encourage our authors to call during business hours. And I call authors fairly often, for any number of reasons.

Some authors can be demanding, expecting you to drop everything to deal with their problems “Right now!” Calming them with an encouraging word often takes some doing, but it is far better to talk over problems or needs on the phone than via email.

Be where your authors are

As publis

eir sales, I spend nearly as much time just chatting with them when they seem to need that. Sometimes, it is good to just say, “Hello, how are you doing?” or “Did you have a good weekend?” or “I was thinking about you today, and thought I’d say hello.” If you make your approach friendly and personal, if you’re truly interested in the author’s life and willing to share bits of your own, your thoughtfulness will be repaid.

I answer emails from authors right away or, if that’s impossible, within a couple of hours. I do this partly because it is easier than trying to remember to respond later but also because it shows I care about whatever purpose an author had in writing.

Avoid using all caps and multiple exclamation points in emails to authors, even if they use those things, since they make it sound as though you are shouting. And if you must convey something less than pleasant -- such as news having to do with money, corrections, or slow sales – be factual and give reasoned explanations. Remember, everything you write in an email can be held against you later, but communicating the tougher news is much easier when you have a solid email relationship going.

Send a card now and then – old-fashioned but tried and true

I enclose a handwritten note card with every snail mail piece I send to authors, (except for invoices), with just a few words geared to each author (no fair writing the same thing over and over). I also enclose a hand-written card with new contracts, with CD ROMs of digital proofs, with galleys, with reviews, with royalty payments and sometimes I send one just to say thank you for being one of our authors.

Now that this very old marketing/PR technique has faded into oblivion in the digital world, it actually makes a difference. It says that you are a real human being and that you think the author is too. A card can pave the way to open communications with an author who has not been as responsive as you had hoped. It is hard to ignore a personal hand-written card sitting right there in your hand.

Don’t rush on the phone

I answer my own phone – using caller ID to say “Hi, Bill, how are you?” instead of something formal whenever I recognize the caller’s name -- and I make it a point to return missed calls the moment I get the message. Of course, I encourage our authors to call during business hours. And I call authors fairly often, for any number of reasons.

Some authors can be demanding, expecting you to drop everything to deal with their problems “Right now!” Calming them with an encouraging word often takes some doing, but it is far better to talk over problems or needs on the phone than via email.

Be where your authors are

As publi

p>Avoid using all caps and multiple exclamation points in emails to authors, even if they use those things, since they make it sound as though you are shouting. And if you must convey something less than pleasant -- such as news having to do with money, corrections, or slow sales – be factual and give reasoned explanations. Remember, everything you write in an email can be held against you later, but communicating the tougher news is much easier when you have a solid email relationship going.

Send a card now and then – old-fashioned but tried and true

I enclose a handwritten note card with every snail mail piece I send to authors, (except for invoices), with just a few words geared to each author (no fair writing the same thing over and over). I also enclose a hand-written card with new contracts, with CD ROMs of digital proofs, with galleys, with reviews, with royalty payments and sometimes I send one just to say thank you for being one of our authors.

Now that this very old marketing/PR technique has faded into oblivion in the digital world, it actually makes a difference. It says that you are a real human being and that you think the author is too. A card can pave the way to open communications with an author who has not been as responsive as you had hoped. It is hard to ignore a personal hand-written card sitting right there in your hand.

Don’t rush on the phone

I answer my own phone – using caller ID to say “Hi, Bill, how are you?” instead of something formal whenever I recognize the caller’s name -- and I make it a point to return missed calls the moment I get the message. Of course, I encourage our authors to call during business hours. And I call authors fairly often, for any number of reasons.

Some authors can be demanding, expecting you to drop everything to deal with their problems “Right now!” Calming them with an encouraging word often takes some doing, but it is far better to talk over problems or needs on the phone than via email.

Be where your authors are

As publi

w words geared to each author (no fair writing the same thing over and over). I also enclose a hand-written card with new contracts, with CD ROMs of digital proofs, with galleys, with reviews, with royalty payments and sometimes I send one just to say thank you for being one of our authors.

Now that this very old marketing/PR technique has faded into oblivion in the digital world, it actually makes a difference. It says that you are a real human being and that you think the author is too. A card can pave the way to open communications with an author who has not been as responsive as you had hoped. It is hard to ignore a personal hand-written card sitting right there in your hand.

Don’t rush on the phone

I answer my own phone – using caller ID to say “Hi, Bill, how are you?” instead of something formal whenever I recognize the caller’s name -- and I make it a point to return missed calls the moment I get the message. Of course, I encourage our authors to call during business hours. And I call authors fairly often, for any number of reasons.

Some authors can be demanding, expecting you to drop everything to deal with their problems “Right now!” Calming them with an encouraging word often takes some doing, but it is far better to talk over problems or needs on the phone than via email.

Be where your authors are

As publi

r hand.

Don’t rush on the phone

I answer my own phone – using caller ID to say “Hi, Bill, how are you?” instead of something formal whenever I recognize the caller’s name -- and I make it a point to return missed calls the moment I get the message. Of course, I encourage our authors to call during business hours. And I call authors fairly often, for any number of reasons.

Some authors can be demanding, expecting you to drop everything to deal with their problems “Right now!” Calming them with an encouraging word often takes some doing, but it is far better to talk over problems or needs on the phone than via email.

Be where your authors are

As publishers, we spend so much time pushing our authors to get out the door and do something to market their books that we would do well to show up when they do (when an event is too far away, I call or email afterwards to see how it went). You probably can’t arrange to shake hands with all your authors but those you can meet will enjoy the attention. When it turned out that two of our authors and I traveled together to New York City for BEA 2005, we had a great time attending signings and events and dining out together. We became colleagues and friends, not just author and publisher.

And I always go to the semi-annual local group book signings we set up for our authors in Barnes and Noble stores in Illinois and Wisconsin. I work with the store managers to get the clients in the door and direct the flow of customers. When I give talks at local colleges and universities, several of our authors return the favor and turn out to see their publisher at work.

What has happened in our case, over time, is that our authors feel they are part of a publishing family, and not just an ISBN, a cover and numbers on a ledger sheet.

The fact is, without our authors, we would not be publishers. So, as human beings in the business of making and marketing books written by sensitive, caring, creative people, it seems smart to keep the human, personal side of the business on the front burner.