Steve Duno and his dog Flavio
Veteran non-fiction author Steve Duno has 18 published books under his belt and offers a seasoned author’s perspective on what it takes to promote your work. His newest book, Last Dog on the Hill: The Extraordinary Life of Lou will be published in May by St. Martin’s Press. Steve is using social media platforms and some very innovative strategies to help readers find his new book so we took this opportunity to ask Steve to share some thoughts with prospective authors, new authors and speakers and entrepreneurs.
RATZLAFF:
Steve, you’ve published more than a dozen books by several different publishers over the years. Have you seen a change in the amount of publicity effort and support supplied by publishers during that time? It feels as though the burden to market and promote has shifted to the authors recently. Is that you’re experience or was it always the author’s job to create the bulk of the buzz and excitement around a book launch?
DUNO:
Publicity efforts on the part of publishers has always depended a lot on the publisher; some have done absolutely nothing, while others have flown me around the country for shows, readings, demos, etc. But overall, today, especially for a midlist author, PR efforts by publishers have tailed off dramatically. It’s almost comical; what other industry can you name where a product, though licensed, manufactured and distributed by a large company, requires its’ inventor to be the sole marketing force? Imagine if you will, that a great new mop is invented, then sold in all the Walmarts in the country. But Walmart, instead of advertising the mop, places no ads anywhere, and doesn’t even display the mop in the stores; they simply hide two or three of them on a shelf in the back, hoping that people will find them. No in-store ads. And, they expect the inventor (who is an inventor, and not a PR expert), to magically become an ad person, with a huge marketing budget. When the mop fails to sell, the inventor and the product are blamed. It’s a wacky business model that no other industry could adopt and survive.
RATZLAFF:
With such a big library of titles already under your belt you must already have a following of readers eager for your next release. How do you reach out and let them know to expect something new from you? Do you have a big database of e-mail names?
DUNO:
The drive for authors to actively interact with and woo their fan bases, is, at least for me, a fairly new phenomenon, maybe only three or four years old in my case. Though I have maintained a steady fan base, the need to go directly to them, to communicate with them apart from the books themselves, that’s a new experience, and a real learning curve. I sold my first book in 1994; from then until now, the burden of self-promotion has increased exponentially; so much so that any author not utilizing Facebook and other social media is going to be left in the dust. Regarding an email database, I probably have over a thousand or so, plus Facebook and Twitter, etc.
The need for me to self-promote has basically doubled my work load; I probably spend more time promoting than writing now. Luckily for me, I’m by nature outgoing and talkative; but writers by nature are intropective people; to force them to break out of that mindset, that creative mindset? I fear it is slowly morphing the definition of what good writing is, and affecting the level of quality of the product. Imagine, instead of having a talented attorney represent you in a felony court case, you suddenly have to do it yourself. That’s what having to be your own publicist feels like sometimes.
RATZLAFF:
Social Media has become the new darling of book marketing. Are you using these platforms to promote your latest work and if so, how?
DUNO:
I use Facebook and Twitter, mostly. I tried My Space but it didn’t seem to generate the responses that FB did. I have a personal page with around 1200 friends, and a group page for my upcoming book, Last Dog On The Hill, my memoir about Lou, a rescued feral Rottweiler mix who became a great hero. The book’s Facebook group page has chapter excerpts, pics, and good discussions about the book and about pets in general. I also have signed book giveaways on the page. I have my Twitter feed synched with my Facebook page; anything posted there pops up on my Facebook page. I try to engage my Facebook friends as much as possible, to keep awareness high. Unlike others, I try to break out of the regular mold of only communicating with 20-25 Facebook friends, and initiate with those who might otherwise get “buried” in the Friends list. It doesn’t do anyone any good to have 1000 friends but talk to only 20.
RATZLAFF:
You’ve just recently begun a very interesting campaign to raise money for a book tour and other promotions using Kickstarter, a fundraising platform used by artists, musicians, designers, filmmakers and other creative types. I haven’t seen this used widely by authors. Can you tell us a little about this idea, what you’ll do if you reach your goal and how you’re feeling, in general, about the campaign?
DUNO:
I discovered the fund raising site, Kickstarter.com, a few months ago; it’s a site for artists, musicians, writers and other creative types to micro-fund their projects, when other funding sources are not available. Here’s how it works: The artist creates a funding proposal for Kickstarter and submits it to them. If Kickstarter accepts it, the artist then writes up an effective presentation, and produces a sales pitch video to post on the site. The objective is to raise funds to produce or promote a project that would otherwise not get funding from orthodox sources. The artist sets a pledge goal- what he or she thinks is needed to properly fund the project- then sets up a reward schedule. Small pledges get small rewards—a letter or email thanks, big pledges get more substantial rewards—DVD copies of an Indy film, signed copies of books, dinner with the artist. Whatever the artist thinks will entice people to donate is offered. Then the artist publishes the project on Kickstarter, and uses email lists, Facebook and other social media to promote the project, which has a finite period of time to generate the funding goal- usually 90 days. If the artist rasies the money, he/she pays 5% to Kickstarter and a small fee to Amazon (which handles the money), then uses the rest to make the project happen. But if the artist falls short of the goal, even by a dollar, he/she gets nothing, and the project and all pledges are cancelled. My project is to raise funds to produce a quality book trailer video, and to fund a national road tour; so far I have raised about a third of the projected $5000.00 goal, with about two months to go. It’s an exciting alternative to carping about the scant PR support from the publishers, and also creates a vested interest for fans. They have an interactive stake in the project’s success. They can make a book succeed.
RATZLAFF:
Your newest book, The Last Dog on the Hill: The Extraordinary Life of Lou, is due out in May 2010. This book is more personal than your how-to and advice books. How does that make it easier or harder to promote?
DUNO:
Most of my books have been prescriptive pet care; how-to stuff for pet owners with behavioral issues to solve. LAST DOG ON THE HILL is a departure for me, a memoir about the dog who changed my life and helped redirect my career. The offspring of guard dogs on a Mendocino marijuana grow, Lou went on to geat heroism. He caught a rapist, saved my life twice and saved hundreds of dogs from euthanasia. He even got me a job and taught sign language to kids. Promoting this book is easier, in that I have a real emotional connection with the subject. And the subject matter is dramatic, almost cinematic- a modern-day Rin Tin Tin. I loved him mightily, so talking him up is easy. And it makes getting on radio and TV easier. The morning shows won’t book you if you’re pushing a training book, but they will if your book tell the story of a hero dog who changed lives. The affective element makes the book easier to promote. The only hard part about it is not crying like a baby every time I talk about Lou, who made my career. I would literally not be here without him.
