Mark Terry

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Marketing For Writers--A New Column

February 1, 2007
My friend Gregory Huffstutter has begun a new column on marketing for writers over on MJ Rose's blog, Buzz, Balls & Hype. Check it out.

Roadblocking is obtrusive. You risk annoying potential customers who were trying to avoid your commercial in the first place. But in advertising, sometimes it’s better to get noticed than be nice.


Furthermore, Roadblocking can help legitimize your message. Consumers get inundated with a daily flood of commercials, banners, logos, sponsorships… seeing the same message BAM-BAM-BAM shocks your brain into saying, “Huh, that’s popular. Maybe I ought to pay attention.”


And I just wanted to add my reaction to the announcement that the 7th and final book in J.K. Rowling's series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" has been announced for publication July 21, 2007. I'm really looking forward to it and saddened that it will end. And I'm also a little aghast--they're predicting that the hardcover will retail for $34.95.

$34.95????!!!!!

Best,
Mark Terry

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I can't WAIT!!! OMG, I really can't wait. I want to read the whole series again, starting from the first book before I read the new one. I go to Borders at midnight and stay up until four to get my copy. Then I read until I can't help but fall asleep. I take the following day off of work to finish it.

$34.95?? Please, please, please say it's going to be the longest one yet! I wish the series didn't have to end.

9:05 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

The roadblocking thing is essentially what we do with the Wednesday Christian Fiction Blog Alliance tour. There's something like 60 blogs ivolved in that now. It's working so well that one publisher had us post a survey on our blogs. MWA could easily do the same thing.

9:12 AM  
Blogger Mark Terry said...

Spyscribbler,
I can't wait, either. I recently re-reread "The Order of the Phoenix" and plan to re-read "The Half-Blood Prince" in the next month or so. Can't wait for the next movie, either.

Ron,
I know. This seems rather obvious, but it's nice to have it pointed out. When it comes to marketing, sometimes I feel a need to be dope-slapped.

10:07 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mark,
You'll be happy to know that I'm totally dragging today, because last night I was up until 1am finishing 'Devil's Pitchfork.' I told myself I'd stop at 11:45p, but couldn't put it down and at a certain point just accepted my sleep would suffer.

Great yarn -- you should be very proud of it!

Felt like a full world, with lots happening off-scene, not just localized around your protagonist. Kept escalating, kept escalating... and I absolutely howled at your line when Stillwater's at the DC dump site: "Derek knew he wasn't a bad guy..."


Ron,
Glad to hear you're putting 'Roadblocking' into effect. My contention is that it's more aggregating than aggravating.

1:07 PM  
Blogger Mark Terry said...

Greg,
Glad you liked it. Very glad to hear that. And yeah, that's actually one of my favorite lines in the book. I told someone that Derek was a troubleshooter for Homeland Security and he teasingly asked me, "So is he a good guy or a bad guy?" I had to kind of hesitate and say, "Welllllll, let's just say that Derek knows what his top priority is and doesn't pay a lot of attention to things like building a court case and, uh, civil liberties."

Yeah, and he feels guilty about it, too. :)

1:29 PM  
Blogger Rob Gregory Browne said...

I have one word for you:

Library.

7:21 AM  
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