This is why no -
name authors rarely get published, even if they have the greatest content in the world.
Not exact matches
Some really interesting books languish because their
authors»
names start with later alphabets, and I
rarely get to the later part of my list before something catches my interest.
Rarely do consumer Google an
author's
name and decide to buy a book based on blog posts about the
author as a person (unless they've done something so heinous that it makes news headlines, of course, which has happened).
While this might be a viable option for individual
authors whose readers already know where to search, it can be incredibly difficult for publishers to lure readers, given that many consumers may be familiar with a
name or title, but are
rarely in tune with who launched a particular book.
Book signings for self published books may do little to create buzz in the media since signing events are
rarely on the media's radar except for possibly a BIG
name author.
Although I've been designing covers for a few years, and although I know it's standard, expected, and for that reason essentially mandatory for indie
authors who want to look as mainstream as possible, I
rarely add my
name on my covers.
E.g by promoting both the publishers
name and the editors
name in ebook titles (and refuse to sell to stores where these are not equally as browsable attributes as
author and title - unlike movies currently I only
rarely know the editor / publisher of my favourite books) and redirect remaining marketing spend to fund fan / reader groups to gain «seed knowledge» to push recommendations as to who will like their new
authors (ie feeding «if you liked the books of Charles Stross, why not try Richard Winslade's new opus» into amazon's recommendation engine, but with an eye to maximise the
authors / editor / publishing houselong term brand appreciation rather than short term sales through erroneous linking only to top 10
authors).