I’m blessed to live within an hour of Tyndale House, the publisher I’m working with. Not that I think it’s a good idea to take advantage of that proximity very often! I know how busy everyone is these days, especially in this business. So, without trying to make a pest of myself I’ve stopped in the office around Christmas a couple of times (to deliver homemade Christmas cookies) and once after a book launch party when I had homemade cookies of a different theme left to share.
This time I had a meeting with the marketing manager, Babette Rea, and my editor, Stephanie Broene. I brought a homemade coffee cake, along with more cookies—having known since my candy striper days that delivering gifts always inspires a smile.
Every time I’ve visited Tyndale, I recall the first time I was there. Before I was published in the Inspirational market I attended a Write To Publish conference, which is held in Wheaton, the town next to Carol Stream where Tyndale is located. Tyndale is usually represented at this conference by an editor or two, or have had marketing people and publishing managers take part on panels talking about the industry from various angles.
Occasionally, they have offered a tour of the Tyndale campus. It’s a lovely place, with a large office building and a separate warehouse, with a nearby reflecting pool (I’ll take a picture of that next time!). It’s an interesting tour, getting to see a part of the warehouse where the books are waiting to be shipped, and various offices where the marketing, sales, PR and editorial staff work. We visited a large boardroom where many decisions are made, boasting a square table larger than many rooms I’ve been in.
The tour also took us to a smaller meeting room which we were told at the time was used almost exclusively by editors, since it’s conveniently located near the editorial offices. I recall during the tour whispering to the person next to me that this might be where all of our books were rejected — or made the first step toward the infamous committee where books ultimately receive a yay or a nay.
So it was a bit of a dream come true to be in that very same office, this time part of the Tyndale team. We discussed the best way to use marketing dollars, what seems effective and some of the specifics about how we’ll launch Look To The East.
We discussed trade advertising and in-store promotions, ARC delivery and online advertsing. Blog tours and e-blasts, and how my own newsletter website might complement some of the efforts Tyndale will be doing on that end. As one result of the meeting, I’m now on Facebook, which has been a lot of fun exploring. Visit my Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=1247773736&ref=profile
We also discussed families and recipes and the industry in general, and I found myself thanking God to be in that room again—in such a blessed way.
After our meeting, Karen Watson (on the right, head of the editorial team I work with) and Stephanie Broene (on the left, my editor) took me out to lunch. Over soup and salads we talked about the market, how the economy is affecting publishing (it’s a tough business right now, folks!—as if you didn’t know that already) and how certain things continue to sell well. Historicals are doing well, which is good news for me since that’s my favorite genre and what I’d like to concentrate on for the future.
So to all writers of historical fiction out there: take heart, it’s on the upswing again. 🙂
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