Marketing & Publicity Services
OK, so you've poured your heart and soul into writing your book. Your book is professionally designed and packaged, you have chosen a method of manufacturing that makes sense and doesn't cost you an arm and a leg, you have set up your distribution channels, and you are sure that your book could be a best seller if only people knew about it. The reality of book publishing is that you have done all of this work but your work has really just begun!
Unless you are getting published by one of the major publishing companies, chances are that your book won't be on the front table at Barnes and Noble. More likely, your book will be one of the other 150,000 new titles that are published every year. But there is good news. If your book contains valuable ideas, and you have done a good job developing, designing and producing it, then you already have a leg up on most books-with or without a "real" publisher.
Despite cries from the publishing industry about the shrinking literacy rates and falling skies, the truth is that if your book contains something of value, there is a market for it. All of the doom-and-gloom prophecies about the demise of the book business are just excuses for poor publishing.
Tip Sheets
Whether you have a sales force working your book or you are your sales force, a solid tip sheet goes a long way toward selling it. A good tip sheet will get at the heart of the value of a book in a way that resonates with retailers. A tip sheet should detail what the book is about, provide compelling talking points, a marketing & publicity summary and analysis of the competition. All of this should be done on one page. It is no easy feat.
City Desk has developed tip sheets for dozens of books that have enabled a national sales force to bring the books to retail shelves all over the country. Access to insider publishing reports allow City Desk to intelligently analyze comp titles. City Desk tip sheets resonate with sales people, wholesalers and retailers.
Marketing Plans
Marketing a book can be an overwhelming experience. There are so many opportunities to explore that it is easy to drown in a sea of them. A well-constructed marketing plan is your life preserver as you navigate the ocean of bookselling.
City Desk marketing plans get to the heart of the matter, identifying the book's primary market as well as any secondary and tertiary markets. Working closely with the author, and using an extensive media database, City Desk's marketing plans include a list of suggested print, TV and radio media to approach to promote the book. The plan also provides three different "pitches" that can be applied to the appropriate media outlets.
Publicity
Publicity is the key to any book's marketing plan. City Desk can help you put together a publicity approach that will suit your book and your budget. Using our media database and our experience writing press releases, we can orchestrate a print publicity campaign for you. If you are on a tight budget, we can also simply supply you with the tools (press release and targeted mailing list) to orchestrate your own print publicity campaign. If your sights are set hire, we can help you put together a team of publicity professionals to help get your book attention across all media platforms.
Web Presence
One of the most exciting and innovative services City Desk offers is developing a book's web presence. This service goes beyond designing a unique site for your book to developing a strong web presence for your book across multiple websites. Please visit the Web Marketing section of this site for more details on this unique service.