NMN recently spoke to Benjamin Myers, author of books such as ‘Richard‘ and ‘The Book of Fuck‘, about his DIY approach to marketing and PR, in particular online promotion and social media.
He decided to put it in his own words – he is a writer after all – so here goes:
My new novel Pig Iron concerns a young man from the travelling community called John-John who has spent the best part of his teenage years in a Young Offender’s Institute for an unspecified crime. He is freed in the summer of 1999 and obligated to return to the north-east town where he grew up. In his absence much has changed: people keep talking about this mysterious “internet” and everyone seems to have a mobile phone glued to their ears. Some of the phones even double up as cameras. No-one knocks on each other’s door any more: all communication is through the airwaves, down the wires.
But all John-John wants is a simple life in the woods and fields. He seeks solace in the rural landscape that he calls his “green cathedral” away from the noise and clutter of modern life. In many respects Pig Iron is an anti-technological, anti-digital novel. It considers the redemptive powers of mud and the changing of the seasons.
Yet the promotion of the book has involved utilising as much modern media as possible. Published by the independent Bluemoose Books, myself and publisher Kevin Duffy have co-ordinated a slow-burning campaign of publicity across print and digital media, all on zero budget. Not because there is no money available, but because in the 21stcentury effective marketing favours ingenuity and tenacity over grand spending. If this sounds like horrendous PR speak then I can only apologise profusely – the word marketing makes my blood run cold too.
We began by printing up advance copies of the novel and sending those to friends, readers and journalist 8 months before publication. Because ultimately it is the book that counts – not the author, not the cover image, not the ‘back story’. The novel is key. If it is unmitigated rubbish then no amount of marketing will save it. Fortunately a couple of respected novelists responded by offering quotes for the back cover, which we were able to send to retailers like Waterstones, who then invited me to do some instore signings.
Then the online promotion began. A photographer friend very kindly offered to take some promotional photographs, which then turned into a second day of activity in which we made a series of short films. Each clip was offered to a number of websites to run exclusively; the clips manage to combine an extract from the novel against a backdrop that hopefully gives potential readers an impression of its setting. At the same time we started spreading the word about the local (to the north-east of England) nature of the book by speaking to some journalists at newspapers, student publications and culture magazines across the region, who conducted some interviews with me. The Guardian asked me to write an article about Northern fiction. Any such print coverage was relayed via my Facebook page, an online Pig Iron group and both mine and Bluemoose’s Twitter accounts.
Although the novel is not out until May 31 2012 Amazon have sent out pre-ordered copies which some people have read and reacted to. This has subsequently lead to a series of correspondences with readers and bloggers, who seem to understand the independent nature of the book’s publication and have responded with goodwill. At the time of writing the only tangible promotional cost aside from postage has been to print some art postcards of the book cover, which have been sent to reviewers, bookshops and even sneaked into books in libraries. Even then I managed to negotiate a deal with VistaPrint’s HQ in Holland, who kindly doubled the print run for no extra cost. Total price £38.
Benjamin Myers, author of Pig Iron
Finally I wrote a piece for New Media Now. You’re reading it now.
If this all sounds like a lot of work, it is. But I think it is worth it. It has been estimated that 15 million ISBN numbers will be issued in 2012 – each book is fighting to be heard. And it is nothing compared to the three years of writing, re-writing and editing a novel, which still remains, for me, the most satisfying aspect of being a writer. Writing fiction requires a monastic-style existence, but the internet at least facilitates communication direct from the writer’s digital monastery. Theoretically, it should make the writer’s life easier.
That said, fresh air, mud and the smell of fecundity wafting on the breeze is still preferable to me any day.
Pig Iron is published May 31 by Bluemoose Books.
Benjamin Myers can be found here: www.benmyers.com
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