Is giving away an unpublished book a good marketing idea?

I have two novels represented by my literary agent. He's been pretty good at getting them to editors -- We the Enemy, a speculative thriller, is at several publishers/imprints. And the wait goes on. It's been at one place since last August.

I am poised on emotional running blocks, eager to spring forward the second the contract gun sounds to do whatever it takes to get my book into the hands and minds of readers.

The wait, the hope, the fear make me nuts. Is there anything I can do to tighten an editor's finger on the trigger? This leads us to an idea I'm formulating.

I'd really like your input.

Really. Please.

What if I offered a FREE e-book version of my unpublished novel? The only requirement would be that readers give me feedback.

Or maybe offered the e-book for $1 and begged for feedback? But wait, there's more.

I'm thinking about a full-disclosure offer here, not just a blurb and a cover. What if an author tells potential readers about the "real" book instead of just lathering up a high-concept pitch that titillates with sensational story elements?

For example, this novel began (and finished) as a novel of ideas. Try telling that to an agent or an editor. Just the label alone, I suspect, provokes thoughts of ewwww, gonna preach at me, get thee behind me, dullard!

But, you see, I wrote this particular novel with the following idea in mind -- no one will be interested in reading a diatribe from me about my ideas for how the world ought to be. Nope, not gonna work.

So what might work? How about creating characters that could benefit from my ideas but would resist them, and then let those characters "experience" a world in which those ideas are operative?

And then put those characters in a suspenseful, action-filled, page-turner firecracker of a good read? So what if the foundation is "ideas" if they're wrapped in a damned good story?

That's what I wrote. I, of course, think it works on both levels. Readers think it works on both levels. My agent may think it does, but I only know that, for him, it works on the story level, and that's good enough for him. And that's how he pitches it to acquisition editors. (Even though it's a "tough market" out there for thrillers in particular and for fiction in general, and I keep wondering if the novel-of-ideas-wrapped-in-suspense aspect of We the Enemy wouldn't work to separate it from the crowd and catch the eye of thoughtful editors.)

So, am I interesting you in the book with this kind of insight? Here, let me try a blurb out on you…

What if the President of the United States is so fixated on winning his re-election that he will stop at nothing to remain in the White House for a second term? What if he hires a former CIA operative who is now a deadly gun for hire to stop his political adversary?

We the Enemy is a story of vision and scope told in the style of a thriller, and it delivers on a premise that touches each of us -- how can we prosper in this troubled world?

What if the blurb included this:

We the Enemy is a speculative thriller that tackles crime and guns with action & ideas.

Does that add or detract appeal?

What if my in-depth pitch included this from a draft for a preface…

Frustration wrote this book, with powerlessness as inspiration.

Like you, I could do nothing about the assault on us by madmen (and madchildren) and criminals with guns.

Like you, I could do nothing about the revolving doors in our justice system that spit criminals back into our faces almost as soon as they are arrested.

I felt increasingly isolated in our society of chaotic differences, a fragment in the midst of increasing fragmentation.

But hope had a part, too, because human beings can be powerful when they ally, and can do prodigious good.

That's what We the Enemy is about.

Too much? Better?

On top of that, I'll throw in a sample chapter or two.

So tell me. Let's say I create a .pdf version of the book that can be read with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software, and even printed out. It can be emailed to you in a flash.

I set up a web page with stuff like the above and give you a link on this blog.

Seriously now…

1. Would you ask for a copy?
2. Would you promise to give feedback?
3. Would it deter you if I asked for $1 through PayPal?
4. What of the above stuff would you NOT include in my offering copy?
   

The marketing angle: Here's where I would hope this to go -- if a sufficient number of people asked for the book, maybe my agent could use that to kindle extra interest in an editor. If word spread and a few thousand copies were requested, I'm thinking that adds name recognition and buzz to the novel's appeal. And maybe that would be the push that gets the manuscript over the hurdles at a publishing house.

What do you think?

C'mon, talk to me. If you would, include where you're coming from -- writer, reader, editor, agent, Martian visitor, whatever.

Thanks,

Ray

Free edit in exchange for posting permission. You send a sample that you have questions about and of which you'd like an edit. I won't post it without your permission.

© 2005 Ray Rhamey

Comments

[Chrys*]

Ray,

First time I've stopped by. I like the blog. As for the free book, I have a question. Wouldn't this be like "shopping around?" You know, the big taboo that all Editors, Publishers, et.al. discourage? I'm all for generating interest in your book. I think that's wonderful. I'd give my eyeteeth for an agent LMAO. But why would they pay more than $1 if it DOES get picked up? I'm all for promotion, but I hope some unscrupulous so-and-so doesn't take advantage of your openness. Do you have other people you could ask to look it over?
Grins*

[Heather McCutcheon]

Actually no, I wouldn't. And the only reason is this: I do not like reading ebooks. I read my books ensconced in the warmth of my duvet and not stuck in front of my computer. As for printing it off? No. I'd rather pay for the actual book than pay the $5 in printer ink that it's going to cost me to print out the book. Just my 2 Canadian cents as a reader and as a writer. But does your blurb about the book interest me? Yes, it does.

[Doug]

I'm a reader first, writer second, because I do more of the former and am far more successful at that, too. I love the idea of creating buzz outside the scope of reviews, et al.
Reactions...
(1) Love the extended blurb with a nod to the writer's intentions. It would generate interest in a book for me.
(2) Giving away an e-book version seems like something that could backfire in a bad way.
(3) Wouldn't an excerpt in a magazine create a more industry-friendly buzz while offering the chance to get paid?

[M. B. S.]

There's enough spam out there to make me very, very leery of paying $1.00 to read anyone's unpublished manuscript. That has "scam" printed in flashing red neon script in my mind.

I really don't see the harm in posting chapters of your book on your website and allowing others to comment on it. Hell, it does seem like a quick way to get feedback, and a quick way to publish.

That being said, I'm no marketer of the offspring of flogged quills. At this point, I'm merely a brave new blogger.

[C.J.]

Cory Doctorow has said that distributing free ebook copies of his work has resulted in more dead-tree version sales - which makes perfect sense, really, because word-of-mouth really is key. I am an ebook reader - I read them on my PDA and actively resisted reading ebooks until I got one. (I agree with the poster who said they don't want to sit in front of their pc to read a book. My PDA goes with me to the sofa, or even to bed.) If I read a free ebook and like it, I'm going to recommend it to x-number of friends who *don't* read ebooks, who are going to go buy the non-pixel version on the strength of my recommendation, and you just gained a couple of readers/buyers. For what it's worth, my husband won't read a dead-tree book, but is completely absorbed by his ebooks. You won't make any money off of him, but when he recommends it to his mother, the librarian...

I hate PDFs in general, and have never considered printing an ebook.

Distributing the ebook *before* it's published? Is that a good idea? Will it harm the chances of it being published? It's a bit like self-publishing, which I've heard (maybe eroneously) can take a book out of the running with the real houses. Is it analogous to publishing short fiction on the web, which negates First North American Serial rights?

I have more questions than answers on that one, sorry. I hope that they'll be helpful questions.

Great blog, it's been tremendously helpful to me. Best of luck.

[Jade]

Like the first blurb, iffy on the second, hate the preface. Everything you said about starting from an idea and then creating characters who'd have to live with that idea's consequences resonated for me. The preface, on the other hand, is straight telling. At best it'd make an OK afterword, but don't stop the reader by assuming he or she agrees with you before even starting the story. The idea is that both the characters and the reader might agree with you after *finishing* the book.

I'm a reader, I don't normally read thrillers, but I'd consider requesting a copy and giving feedback (based on what you've posted later about the story, since the thriller pitch isn't my genre and doesn't grab me). I wouldn't pay you a dollar through PayPal because I won't touch PayPal, but I'd throw a couple bucks your way through the Amazon Honor System. Effectively you're trying to recruit (1) a critique circle and (2) a couple thousand early adopters. (1) no one could have a problem with, but (2) is much more questionable. A couple thousand readers is a pretty large fraction of a normal first novel's sales. If you told a publisher "3000 people have read my first novel as an ebook and I have their email addresses," I'd expect the publisher to say, "Well, I'd rather publish your second novel than republish your first."

[ally]

i'm a writing my first novel and its a thriller i am the age of 14 and if you have any pointers or past experiences you would like to share with me i would love to hear your view
please help me im stuck in my story.
ally

[Ray Rhamey]

Ally, the best advice I have is mostly already in the archives of Flogging the Quill. I admire your effort, and don't be frustrated. It's a long learning curve, and everything you write will move you further along it.

As for being stuck in your story, step back and see what your character(s) want/need the most, then figure out a way to block them from getting it so they have to try harder with a new approach. Maybe that will unstick your story.

[Danie]

I'm a little late responding only because I discovered your blog only recently and I'm still reading years of posts.

The subject matter of "We the Enemy" interests me. E-books don't put me off. I've often taken my laptop to bed. And I'm already a fan, as you probably know.

I'll gladly send you a Paypal $ or $$ for it. I've been trying to "tip" you for a few days, but when I hit the donate button, I get an error message.

Danie