4:34 PM inkpop_editor : Welcome to inkpop's Live Chat with Leigh Fallon and Christina Colangelo 04:34 PM inkpop_editor : The

topic today is How to Market Your Book 04:46 PM Leigh Fallon : Hi Carol *waves* 04:47 PM Jack : Hello 04:47 PM Carol Matthews : Hi! 04:47 PM Leigh Fallon : *waves at Jack and Carol* LOL. *Drums fingers on keyboard waiting for 5pm. 04:47 PM Me : Hi all. Thanks for showing up early We'll start in ten minutes 04:47 PM Leigh Fallon : You know me... always on time. 04:47 PM Me : Hi Leigh! 04:48 PM Jack : Too early hey sorry about that 04:48 PM Me : Shhhh...it's suppose to be a secret that you're here! 04:48 PM Jack : Hahaha 04:48 PM Me : We always like to unveil the author at exactly 5 p.m. EST 04:48 PM Leigh Fallon : Don't worry Jack... we can tell jokes while we're waiting. Why did the Chicken cross the road? 04:48 PM Jack : ok righto 04:49 PM Leigh Fallon : Okay inkpop, I'm going back into my little box. LOL!! See you at 5pm *titter* 04:49 PM Jack : later 04:54 PM

christinacolangelo : Oh man, I'm early too! 04:54 PM John : now the waiting begins... 04:54 PM Me : Hold tight everybody! Just five more minutes until the chat 04:55 PM Leigh Fallon : Who is on for a cyber conga line while we wait? Oopsie, I'm meant to be quite and mysterious. 04:56 PM christinacolangelo : ::Leigh fades away into the mist:: 04:56 PM inkpop_editor : You guys are funny! 04:57 PM Leigh Fallon : LOL! I'm imagining my fade out music. 04:57 PM christinacolangelo : Only behind a computer screen. I'm horribly boring in real life. 04:57 PM John : ready for great advice, esp. for those who write. 04:57 PM inkpop_editor : Alright inkpoppers! It's almost time for the chat. Just want to lay out a few ground rules: #1: Please Do Not Answer Questions. Questions are being addressed to Leigh and Christina. It's most helpful for everyone if they answer for themselves #2: Please no excess chatting. It's difficult to keep up with all the question. Excess YAYS, THANX and Emoticons can clog up the chat Other than that, thanks for coming. We're excited to have you here and can't wait to hear all of your questions. Now I would like to present Leigh Fallon and Christina Colangelo! Hi Guys! Thanks for coming 05:00 PM Leigh Fallon : Hello everyone! 05:00 PM christinacolangelo : Hi Inkpop peeps! 05:00 PM wheadee : hello 05:00 PM inkpop_editor : Lets start with a pre-posted question: The Green Rose wrote on 08.07.2011: Leigh: Do you think being on inkpop was given you more exposure and popularity? Christina: Do you think creating book trailers are any good when promoting a novel?

05:01 PM John : Ms. Colangelo, in a query, is it right to market my dystopian novel by using comparison titles like The Hunger Games and Divergent? 05:03 PM Bella : Hello Leigh and Christina, two questions- One, would you say swapping is the most efficient way of getting your story read? And two, would you recommend getting an agent or going straight to a publishing house once you've finished your novel and would like to get it published? 05:03 PM christinacolangelo : The Green Rose: This is definitely the topic of the year for a lot of us in book publishing. You hear some people saying theyre the greatest thing since sliced bread (when did this become the thing we judge all other great things by?); then you hear other people saying that they dont even know what a book trailer is. My opinion is that they can be a great toolbut I also think this is a trend thats still growing hence the wildly differing opinions. If a trailer is well-executed (and that doesnt have to necessarily mean movie-studio quality) and well-placed, I think its definitely an opportunity to reach people who may not have otherwise heard about your book. There have been at least 5 books in the last year that I heard about strictly from the trailer that was linked to from blogs I read. 05:04 PM Leigh Fallon : I don't think swapping is the way to the top. I'm a firm believer in reading what you like and giving advice. Forcing people to read something they might not be interested in won't gain you rewards. I was never into swapping though if someone wanted to, and I liked there work I would. Green Rose Bella I totally recommend getting an agent. You need one to get your work under the noses of publishers (unless you're doing it here on inkpop). They are full of wonderful advice to help you get that manuscript into shape before letting a publisher see it. 05:06 PM christinacolangelo : Hey John: I'm not as big an expert on query letters as my friends in editorial. However, marketing-wise, I feel that people sometimes need a comparison to even get them to pick up a book. Don't sell your own stuff short though! It's always best to highlight what's unique about your own story. 05:06 PM Alana : Ms. Colangelo, did you market Leigh Fallon's book (an inkpop acquisition) in a different way than you would have other, similar titles? 05:06 PM inkpop_editor : Christina: MichelleMarks wrote on 07.21.2011: Will a good book generally be successful in the market, or do you no matter what always have to constantly market it? Leigh: Bella : And two, would you recommend getting an agent or going straight to a publishing house once you've finished your novel and would like to get it published? 05:08 PM Carol Matthews : Not sure if this is a relevant question, but it does pertain to authors trying to market their work on inkpop:How often do inkpop editors use inkpop as a way to find new talent (other than the top five). I have read some excellent texts that aren't even close to being in the top five. I think this is a great avenue for peer review, but do editors scan the other writing out there?

05:08 PM Leigh Fallon : Bella - Yes, get an agent. Agents are your dotted line to the publishers and they will fine tune your manuscript before an editor gets to see it. You only get one shot at submitting your manuscript to an editor, so you need to make it perfect first time. 05:09 PM Alana : Hello, Leigh! What advice would you give (or perhaps you already have!) to Wendy Higgins, the next inkpop acquisition that will be published? Any big surprises or great lessons learned between acquisition and mere months away from publication? 05:09 PM inkpop_editor : Christina or Leigh: MichelleMarks wrote on 07.21.2011: How long does it take for a book to become popular by word of mouth? Christina Alana Asked : Ms. Colangelo, did you market Leigh Fallon's book (an inkpop acquisition) in a different way than you would have other, similar titles? 05:09 PM christinacolangelo : Alana: Definitely--that's an awesome question. Leigh's book has the unique and awesome Inkpop connection going for it. We knew from the beginning that it was a great story--but not every debut author has such an engaged community attached to it from the start. You guys knew how awesome Leigh and her book was before we even did. (But now we're very much caught up on that fact. She's awesome) 05:10 PM John : Ms. Colangelo, is it true that a novel's marketing budget is 5% of the entire advance the author gets? 05:10 PM Leigh Fallon : Carol - Not sure if this answers your question, but it's food for thought. When I went to get an agent she came here to inkpop to read my work instead of waiting for my manuscript to be sent to her. ALSO a production company who is interested in movie rights to Carrier of the Mark came here to inkpop to read what I had posted!! (They loved it by the way... stay posted!) 05:10 PM inkpop_editor : lterry wrote on 07.21.2011: Christina: Have you ever come across an author that was not very marketable? I mean, personality shows through in Twitter, facebook, and blogs, so I'm sure it can't always be easy. 05:11 PM wheadee : How do you write an eye catching summary or synopsis for your novel? 05:11 PM inkpop_editor : NicoleSometimes wrote on 07.21.2011: To Leigh: Do you think your book having been found on InkPop will help with the marketing (since there is already a large pool of people that have already fallen in love with it)? What part of the marketing process have you enjoyed? 05:11 PM Leigh Fallon : MichelleMarks - Ugh, that is such a difficult question. Word of mouth is fickle, it can go viral and be everywhere in days, or it can be snails pace. It's in the hands of the pop culture gods.

05:12 PM christinacolangelo : MichelleMarks: I like to believe that a great story will get noticed by readers no matter what. However, a lot of books get published in a year--sometimes it's hard to break through all the noise. Marketing is all about finding tactics to help with that. But you need a great story to start with! 05:13 PM inkpop_editor : Christina lterry wrote on 07.21.2011: What new marketing tools do you see coming in the future and would you welcome them? 05:13 PM Leigh Fallon : NicoleSometimes - Yes I do. A lot of people have followed me from inkpop to twitter, facebook, and my blog etc etc. It's great that people have stayed with me and are acting as my cheerleaders on these social networking platforms. The more people cheering, the more people listening. 05:13 PM Ethan Dempsey : What is the first step in the marketing process that you see as the most crucial to take advantage of? 05:14 PM inkpop_editor : Leigh Alana Asked: What advice would you give (or perhaps you already have!) to Wendy Higgins, the next inkpop acquisition that will be published? Any big surprises or great lessons learned between acquisition and mere months away from publication 05:14 PM Kyle : Have you used traditional marketing to draw attention to your social media campaign? 05:14 PM Leigh Fallon : Wheadee - You have to stand out for the crowd. Hit them with something different and exciting. Something that will have the sit up and take notice. Shock and Awe! 05:15 PM John : Ms. Colangelo, how would you market a misogynistic novel to publishers or agents? 05:16 PM Leigh Fallon : Leigh Alana - I'm good friends with Wendy. I've been sharing my experiences with her as I've been sampling them. I've been encouraging her to stay active on twitter and the likes. It's the first step to getting your name out there. 05:16 PM christinacolangelo : @Iterry: Wow, if people were just judging my personality from social media, I think they'd just think I was a boring recluse (So, they'd be half right lol) To answer your question, I think that authors are just marketable in different ways. If youre judging them simply on the basis of whether they have a well-followed Twitter, well then yes, you will find authors who either dont tweet at all or not frequently. However, those authors that arent all about social media networks could also be brilliant at tour events or speaking engagements. Everybody has their strengths. (But yes, Leigh is awesome and the whole package!) 05:17 PM inkpop_editor : Ethan Dempsey Asked :

What is the first step in the marketing process that you see as the most crucial to take advantage of? 05:18 PM christinacolangelo : @wheadee: Editorial is usually behind those acts of brilliance. (Props to them!) Our bag is trying to come up with short and sweet taglines that we can use in advertising, etc. That can be really tough--especially for a wordy gal like me! 05:19 PM Leigh Fallon : Ethan Dempsey- I'm not an expert, but name recognition is vital. Before you even have a book to market you can be marketing yourself. You can do this in so many ways nowdays with social media. Get marketing yourself guys. 05:20 PM inkpop_editor : Christina: MichelleMarks wrote on 07.21.2011: How long does it take for a book to become popular by word of mouth? 05:20 PM christinacolangelo : @Ethan Dempsey: I think the first step that's the most crucial is determing your target audience. From there, you can start to figure out the best plan of attack to reach that audience--where you might go to advertise, for instance. 05:20 PM inkpop_editor : Leigh: Kelseyleigh wrote on 07.17.2011: Blogging can obviously be a very useful tool in marketing a new book, but in order for it to work effectively, one needs followers. By what means did you go about developing an active group of followers and how do you continue to increase your amount of followers? 05:21 PM Leigh Fallon : Kelseyleigh - Getting blog followers is one tough business. Youre competing with so many other blogs and a lot of them are high profile and established. Im a big believer in being yourself and biding your time. Theres no point in copying somebody elses style / ideas. If you are, youre just regurgitation something thats already been done. If youre selling something that is not the real you, you wont be able to sustain the illusion. Ive kept my blog very light and leaning towards the humorous side of things. I found the blog world to be chock full of writers dishing out writing advice and dos and donts. Im not a preacher type, I dont feel Im really in a position to tell people what they should and shouldnt be doing. So my blog is sort of like a funny memoir of the road to being a published author. I try to get my readers involved in my blog by putting questions out there, let them join me in some elements of the publishing business, e.g. getting them to help me pick a name for Carrier 2. I also run lots of fun competitions, again, ones where they get involved and they actively promote my blog. Win win. You cant force people to follow you, but with time and patience and a little consistency, people will find you. Posting links on Twitter and Facebook is always helpful in generating traffic, but one of the best ways to get people to a fledgling site, is to read and comment on other peoples blogs. Believe it or not, people do read your comments that you leave, and they tend to follow links to those people to see who they are. Youll be very surprised how many follows youll get from curious comment readers! 05:22 PM christinacolangelo : @MichelleMarks: That's a really tough question! I don't think there's any hard and fast rule when it comes to word-of-mouth. It's the Holy Graille of marketing--and something that's almost entirely uncontrollable. However, a lot of the biggest books in publishing took a few years before they became tremendous success stories.

@John You do realize you're in a chat with two women right? 05:23 PM inkpop_editor : Leigh Confused Emotion wrote on 07.17.2011: What have you found most difficult when it came to marketing? 05:23 PM Leigh Fallon : Confused Emotion - The most difficult thing about marketing for me is the amount of time it takes out of my limited writing days. To be honest, Id much prefer to be writing. Marketing and writing books are two very different mindsets. I cant flick from one to the other, so on the days Im doing marketing I find it near impossible to write, which is incredibly frustrating. 05:24 PM inkpop_editor : @John That is really an editorial question and the simple answer is, you can sell anything as long as you make it sympathetic. Just think about books like Lolita. Your job is to make your characters empathetic. The marketing will come based on the success you have accomplishing that first goal 05:24 PM John : Ms. Colangelo, how did HC market Serj Tankian "Glaring Through Oblivion" compared to fiction-writing authors? 05:26 PM christinacolangelo : @John That would actually be a great question for the adult group as I don't have much insight into that title. Strictly tween and YA titles for me! But it seems like it would be a very interesting campaign. 05:27 PM inkpop_editor : @John not to interrupt, but that's an adult book and from an entirely different department. We don't really share marketing plans with adult and vise versa, so it's hard to say really. Every campaign is different, but Glaring Through Oblivion had the advantage of having a celebrity attached. Name recognition is key in marketing Arakawafan wrote on 07.10.2011: Leigh: Is it ever a bit awkward to boast about your own work, or is it kind of fun? 05:28 PM Leigh Fallon : While you guys are talking serious books, I'm over here writing a snogging scene. Oh great! A question for me. Arakawafan - Honestly, I cringe a little every time I tweet something promoting myself. But its getting easier. Its about changing your belief in yourself. At first youre thinking this is horrible and blatant self-promotion, but as time goes by, Carrier gets more popular, and I gain a loyal following, Ive started to realize its not really boasting, its more about giving your supporters information that they want. They want to read the reviews you post, they want to hear information about new deals and foreign sales, they are even interested in the things going on in your life, they want you to share. So as people have become interested, its become great fun. 05:29 PM inkpop_editor : Either: How much does the author do in comparison to the marketer? Who has it worse, as far as marketing a book goes? LostInBooks wrote on 07.11.2011: 05:29 PM christinacolangelo :

I heart the word snogging. Just needed to say that. 05:30 PM Ethan Dempsey : Leigh: How much have you been involved in the marketing? 05:30 PM Leigh Fallon : LOL! Snogging is a great word. So is oboxious. 05:30 PM inkpop_editor : LostInBooks wrote on 07.11.2011:How much does the author do in comparison to the marketer? Who has it worse, as far as marketing a book goes? 05:31 PM Carol Matthews : Leigh: That is a question that has been on my mind. How far are scenes of snogging and perhaps violence taken in YA. Again not really a marketing question-- BUT I can add, how would you market to different YA audiences? There are YA books out there for young teens and then there are those for "older" teens. Just wondering, I am new to this... 05:32 PM Leigh Fallon : Now Ethan Dempsy - I have been involved in my marketing campaign, but what Christina does and what I do are very different, she gets on the high end fun stuff. I'm on the ground flogging myself to death (kidding) 05:32 PM Alana : Thanks, Leigh and Christina for answering my questions! =) 05:33 PM inkpop_editor : LostInBooks wrote on 07.11.2011: For Christina: How do you determine how to market a book as to appeeal to the right audience 05:33 PM christinacolangelo : @LostInBook: Aww, who has it "worse"? You're going to hurt my feelings. Lol jk. It really depends though. Some authors, like Leigh are really hands-on and ready to get right down in the dirt and really shine when it comes to self-marketing. Other authors aren't as comfy with social media so the bulk of the marketing would rest on us. 05:34 PM Leigh Fallon : Carol Matthews - How far snogging and violence in YA is allowed to go is really down to your editor. If your editor is leaning towards the edgy side of things, you'd be surprised where they could go. My editor is what I call a 'gentle editor' she likes to keep things at a moderate level, and that suits me, I'm not into violence or rough stuff. 05:34 PM inkpop_editor : J.M. Soto wrote on 07.10.2011: For Leigh: How much of your day do you spend marketing about your book online? What techniques do you use? Do you think the marketing that has been done so far will be enough to make your book a best-seller? 05:35 PM Leigh Fallon : JM Soto- It depends on the day. Most days about 3 hours intermittently. Other days would be substantially more. It depends on whats on my schedule. 05:35 PM

inkpop_editor : Tracy Michelle wrote on 07.10.2011: Christina: Why did you decide to go into marketing? What advice to you have for others who may be considering a job in book marketing? 05:36 PM Leigh Fallon : JM Soto - There is a lot more to making a best seller than marketing. Id love to say yes, but the competition is humongous. Timing, format, industry support, print run numbers, pricing, and perception all play a factor in creating a bestseller. A lot of bestsellers are almost predetermined. Though there are always those few that surprise everyone and become a runaway success. I like to think that maybe, just maybe I could be one of them. If I can get enough support from people like all my inkie friends and Facebook and Twitter followers, and get the word out about Carrier to the world, we might just make itmaybe. 05:36 PM inkpop_editor : Nana_Hassan wrote on 07.09.2011: Question to Leigh: As an author, how did you market your book so people knew to buy it as soon as it hit bookstores? 05:36 PM Leigh Fallon : Nana_Hassan - Well, Im still figuring that one out. It wont hit the stores until the 4th October 2011. People dont want to be told to go out and buy a book. You have to make them want to run out and buy it, so its all about subtle building, and steadily feeding out the right information to build anticipation. I wont know if Ive been successful until the sales numbers start coming in. *crosses fingers* 05:37 PM christinacolangelo : @LostinBooks: Once you know who your audience is exactly, that's half the hurdle. With that knowledge, you can start researching which bloggers are right to reach out to, which sites would be the most effective to advertise at, whether a social media campaign would be worthwhile, etc. There are so many different methods to choose from--it's all about narrowing down the scope. 05:38 PM inkpop_editor : Silver Phoenix wrote on 07.08.2011: For Leigh: Do you get final say on marketing things, or does Christina make most of the decisions for you? 05:39 PM Leigh Fallon : Silver Phoenix - Well, the marketing campaign is decided upon at the very beginning and a budget is set for it. So I know whats in the pipeline as we work towards the release. Most of what Christina does goes on in the background and has very little to do with me. 05:39 PM Kate : For Leigh: Have you found attending conferences such as BEA and SCBWI a good way to market your book? 05:40 PM christinacolangelo : @Tracy Michelle: I came into this field in a sort of backwards sense. I minored in marketing in college but I majored in journalism. My first job out of college was actually an editor at a tween/teen magazine. I loved my time there but after a few years, I figured out the things I REALLY enjoyed doing: writing, working with the YA/teen culture, and engaging in social media. I was over the celebrity/entertainment

scene though. When it was time to figure out what to do next, book publishing was an obvious choice (because Ive loved books from the womb) but I knew with 100% certainty that I wanted to deal exclusively with the tween/teen age group that I grew to love so much. After much deliberating, I decided that a job in marketing would play to the strengths and the skills Id learned at my previous job. (Plus I dont think Id honestly be able to market anything except booksit makes my job worthwhile!) I was lucky enough to land a job at HarperCollins, dealing specifically in YA and the rest is history, as they say (I'm using a lot of cliches today). In terms of advice, I would say to just be sure you're passionate about books (clearly everyone here is!) because you're going to be living and breathing them. That's why I wouldn't be able to market, say, calculators. Doesn't really evoke the same passion, ya know? 05:42 PM John : How does the demise of Borders affect the marketing of books? Are there less print-runs? 05:43 PM Leigh Fallon : Kate - That depends on the conference. Some conferences like BEA or RWA are great for getting your book out there, Book Expo America in partinicular. It was amazing, bloggers go there in huge numbers and they are excellent for getting new books and authors into the public domain. But some conferences are more about marketing yourself as an author. Getting our name out there is as important as your books. You have to look forward to the future, you need to market yourself for your next book, and the book beyond that. You have to build a career for yourself. The other thing to remember is that as an author you will move from publisher to publisher and from editor to editor. You'll be doing yourself a favor getting to knows these people before your manuscript lands on their desk. So yes, conferences are brilliant (and so much fun too). Sorry about the typos guys - I'm typing really REALLY fast here. 05:44 PM inkpop_editor : Fifteen minutes left in the chat get your questions in 05:47 PM Lauryn : Is it better to self-publish? 05:49 PM Leigh Fallon : Lauryn - I'm sure self-publishing works for some people, but in general, having a publishing house behind you is the most amazing feeling of all. They have years of experiences and connections, not to mention some of the most talented people in the business (yes I'm puckering up here, but HarperTeen are worth it *smooches*). I would recommend going the traditional route before selfpublishing. 05:50 PM Lauryn : Thank you! 05:51 PM Legacy Pen : (I'm not sure if this question is a little off-topic or not, but it is writing related) 05:51 PM Kate : For Christina: Is YA easier to market than MG? 05:51 PM christinacolangelo : @Lauryn: Leigh answered that beautifully. Of course, I'm a bit biased (HC

employee and all) but I agree that it can work for some people. I think there's a level of support that a publishing house can provide (and not just from the marketing department) that you might miss with self-publishing. 05:51 PM Legacy Pen : Leigh, how much did you edit Carrier? Did you rewrite anything? 05:52 PM John : How does a publisher market a posthumous novel if there will be no book tour? 05:53 PM Leigh Fallon : Legacy Pen - I ripped it apart, put it through the shredder, jumped on it a few times, deleted chapters, gave it to the dog to chew and then when I'd done all that, I revised some more. A good book is all about the editing. And BTW I LOVE editing. It's a fantastic feeling watching something good turn into something brilliant. Hummus? Did someone mention hummus *hands out the pitta bread* 05:55 PM Legacy Pen : Thank you so much for your answer! I really appreciate it 05:55 PM inkpop_editor : Alright guys we're going to wrap up the chat thank you so much for coming out. Hope it was informative 05:56 PM christinacolangelo : @Kate: I think it's just really different. The one thing I will admit is easier with YA in comparison to MG is social media marketing. With COPPA laws, you're not allowed to directly market to children under the age of 13. So that means you're not going to be able to create FB pages that are meant to directly reach the readers you want for an MG title; same with Twitter. It also create issues when building out websites as well. It just requires looking at things from a different angle--such as using social media to reach out to the teacher and librarians who might be interested in this MG title. Mmm...hummus 05:56 PM Leigh Fallon : Thanks for your questions guys. It's been fun. Talk again soon. 05:56 PM Kate : Thank you so much, both of you! 05:56 PM Leigh Fallon : Did someone put garlic in this hummus? 05:56 PM christinacolangelo : Thanks for having me on here! It was great to chat with all of you fabulous folks! 06:00 PM Ethan Dempsey : Thanks so much!