I’m meeting with a man next week to discuss editing and proofreading a biography he’s written. He asked for my advice about marketing, too (he wants to self-publish). I know you’ve written and published several biographies and I was wondering if you had any nuggets of wisdom that I can pass off as my own. grin
I’ll throw this open to the rest of the Teeming Millions, too. Advice?
I’m allowed one bump to get this in front of Eve’s eyes in the daylight, right?
It’s unlikely a self-published biography is going to be anything more than a blip (there are exceptions – the guy who founded Marriott hotels self-published his autobiography and it sold well, especially when a certain hotel chain put a copy in every room).
He’d have better luck querying agents and publishers and see if there’s interest.
Why is he even meeting with you if you have to ask for advice the internet? Amateur hour here?
I found this a very annoying question, but objectively I can see it’s a legitimate one, so I’ll clarify. He’s not hiring me for my marketing expertise, but for my skill at editing and proofreading (which is considerable - and don’t worry, I won’t charge you for editing your post). The marketing question is something he tacked on just because he’s curious.
Oh, very well played! 
Pfft. Then tell him to consult someone who knows something about marketing, why dick him around with something you scarfed off the internet?
Yeah, enable him.
Are you having a rough day, or are you always like this? Would you like a comforting hug?
Hmm, k, some guy has knocked himself out writing a biography, and asked an ignorant fellow for advice on a particular area, who then turns to an anonymous internet message board for to fill him in at the last moment instead of telling the guy he has no idea – and that is ok with you? Are you always like this?
If the author himself wants to self-publish, chances are he’s not expecting to make a fortune here. I took it to be kind of a hobby or pastime for him, based on the OP. And besides, the meeting is “to discuss editing and proofreading”, and “He asked for my advice about marketing, too”, which implies the guy knows it’s not the OP’s main stream of knowledge. So chill.
And by the way, you got PWNED in Post #5.
Nope, turns out all your base are belong to us. Sucka.
The OP asks if Eve has any nuggets of wisdom to pass on in an area he is unfamiliar with. Admittedly, this is only made crystal clear after your first crabby comment, but also after RealityChuck makes a useful and pertinent contribution in the third post in the thread, a post which makes essentially the same points as yourself, albeit politely (and shock-horror it’s all done anonymously on the internet). Your subsequent description of Chef Troy as an “ignorant fellow” reveals rather more about you, and your reading comprehension, than anything else. Not that my contribution has been stellar, but I thought that Chef Troy’s comeback was worthy of an appreciative comment, nicely barbed as it was, and richly deserved.
My mistake, I thought ignorant meant lacking in knowledge or training, here specifically about marketing. Unlearned, if you will. My apologies.
Especially considering that Troy has some experience working professionally in the publishing world, which is exactly the reason that his associate is meeting with him in the first place. The marketing thing was only brought up between them in passing…it’s not the primary reason they’re meeting.
I was going to write another paragraph concerning Operation Ripper, then remembered this is CS, so deleted it…
The guy wants to pass along “nuggets of wisdom” gleaned off an internet message board as his own advice, instead of just telling the fellow he doesn’t know anything about marketing. Who gives a damn if its “not the primary reason they’re meeting”? Him having “some experience working professionally in the publishing world” has nothing to do with it. If you aren’t qualified to give an opinion on a subject, just say so. What’s wrong with that?
What are you? A fool?
The OP gets an editorial gig. Well and good. The author asks him a question outside of his area of expertise. The OP knows someone here at the Dope who HAS expertise in that area and asks for her advice.
How is that different from calling a colleague and making the same request?
I do publishing. Even own a couple of pubs, including a newspaper. I, from time to time, have come here to ask advice regarding questions outside my skill set. This is because I know we have certain people who frequent this place who have that knowledge and can give solid advice.
Again, how would that differ from me opening my rolodex and calling a contact who has that knowledge? I believe it doesn’t.
This is a land of the knowledgeable (each contributing at different levels). If you can’t see that I suggest you find another place to hang out on the 'Net. The simple fact is the OP came here to dispel ignorance and you are promoting it.
No wonder it’s taking longer than we thought.
And yes, you got slapped.
No, I’m the guy when someone asks me for advice about marketing I tell him I don’t know a damn thing about it and he should ask someone who does.
Because it is different. He’s not calling a known colleague, he’s asking for professional advice from strangers on an internet message board.
Well, then I guess you are the fool. You don’t really know anything about the posters here. This a freakin’ (generally) anonymous internet message board, why not simply consult with real-life professionals who you do know that can give “solid advice?”
Well, good luck with that. Why do you think this board actively discourages medical / legal advice? Are you cognitively able to extend that reasoning to the present matter?
No, he is potentially spreading ignorance if he doesn’t consult real life professionals on business matters. This message board is entertaining and thought provoking, but noone should rely on it solely for professional advice. Christ. Why don’t you stick with craigslist.
I need to start by saying that I have never understood why people keep asking advice, especially about books, without providing any details at all. It’s like asking, doctor, I have a pain: what should I do next?
At the very least we need to know who the biography will be about. A local celebrity? A national celebrity? An international celebrity? A historic personage? A local hero? A war hero? A veteran? A disgraced politician? A magnate? An inventor? An athlete? An artist? Somebody in religion, in politics, in science, in show business, in education? Living or dead? Is the book aimed at adults, young adults, or teens? Men or women? Christians or seculars? Gays or straights? Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Arabs? It is someone whose story has been told before or not? Somebody who cooperated with the author or was against the book being published? Somebody whose name would be known to to average person? Somebody who is the subject of an enormous controversy/scandal/mystery? Somebody with web sites about them? A fan club? People who buy their collectibles?
The person who advises you has to know the answer to all these questions and a thousand more. Same with the author. Is he a recognized authority? A fan? Obsessed about the person? A relative? An academic? Does he have media contacts, church groups, parents organizations, fraternities/sororities, message group pals, Tupperware societies, anybody or anything he can network and exploit? How much time and money and personal effort is he willing to put in? How does he expect to get a self-published book into bookstores? Does he live in a city with a number of bookstores/newspapers/media outlets? Does the subject of the biography?
Really. A thousand questions. Can the author come up with one sentence that would make people buy the book? Can he get blurbs from famous people? Can he write?
Nobody is going to steal the idea, which is the reason most people decline to give specifics on the net. The book is already written; we can’t get it out first and steal his thunder.
Generically speaking, you need to wring him dry of every possible hook that the material has, every possible connection that he can make use of, every possible audience that would be interested in the subject of the bio, and then work them all simultaneously to try to generate even a tiny bit of buzz. If he is willing to drive around to every group, conference, book club, book store, school, club, society, classroom, and church within 100 miles he may get some awareness if he also works the other media angles at the same time.
And then he needs to ask himself what he defines as a good outcome. 100 copies? 1000 copies? 10,000 copies? Most self-published authors get no further than the first. A real go-getter might make the second. Only a very few people with special circumstances that happen to hit the zeitgeist ever make the third.
A marketing plan for a self-published individual has to be completely and totally customized to the book and the person. Generic advice is mostly worthless because it will be inadequate. Either you have to pump him dry with questions or find someone who knows what questions to ask. Either way it’s a long, and usually painful, process.