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McFarland is responsible for the sale and marketing of your book. However, we
welcome suggestions from authors. A few times during the publication process,
McFarland will automatically prompt you for suggestions with form letters.
Several common sales and marketing concerns—reviews, signings, conferences,
and more—are covered here.
Book Reviews
McFarland automatically distributes review copies to the major review media for
U.S. libraries (Choice, for example). McFarland also sends review copies to select
academic journals and popular magazines according to topic (reference, women's
studies, and performing arts are some examples). Newspapers are not ordinarily a
part of McFarland's review efforts, although there are some exceptions.
If you are aware of special magazines, websites or high quality blogs in your
particular field that feature book review sections, it would be helpful if you
could provide us with names of the periodicals, names of the book review editors
or other key contact person, and physical mailing addresses. It is not uncommon
for authors to suggest half-a-dozen or so contacts. However, regardless of the
exact number of suggestions you have to offer, please rank them in order of
importance. E-mail your suggestions to assistant marketing manager
Beth H. Cox at
bcox@mcfarlandpub.com.
It can be difficult to predict when published reviews will begin
appearing—it often depends on the nature of the reviewing medium. Also,
although McFarland books traditionally perform well, reviewers make no promises
that a book will actually be reviewed. Six or more months after publication, an
author is better able to judge the review media's interest.
McFarland will automatically provide you with photocopies of published
reviews. Photocopies of simple published listings or acknowledgments of "books
received" will not be distributed. Another way to learn of published reviews is
by visiting your local library and searching for citations in a periodicals
database. If you come across a review that McFarland may not be aware of, please
send a copy to Kristal Hamby.
Conferences and Trade Shows
McFarland regularly attends and exhibits at the major library
conferences. Major academic conferences are also part of
McFarland's exhibiting plans. Consult our current conference schedule.
If you will be present at a conference where McFarland is
exhibiting, please let us know (prefereably at least a few weeks in advance).
We'll make sure that extra copies of your book are on display. If you are
attending a conference where McFarland is not exhibiting, it is sometimes
possible to arrange for the display of your book through another party.
Conference-related inquiries should be e-mailed to
Beth H. Cox.
E-books
A portion of McFarland’s books are available in e-book editions, and an
increasing number of new books are being brought out with simultaneous or
near-simultaneous e-book editions. Recently, there has been increased interest
in e-books in at least one of our markets, academic libraries. Also, the
conventional perception is that a small but growing percentage of folks are more
likely to read books on a screen. McFarland works with a number of vendors of
e-books, including NetLibrary, ebrary, Follett, Cafescribe, Amazon/Kindle and
MyiLibrary, among others. McFarland’s revamped online catalog (in progress)
will indicate the availability of an e-book edition for a particular title, and
through which e-book vendor(s).
Google Book Search
Google Book Search is a project that enables users of the internet search engine
to search the text of books (in addition to websites). Allowing books to be
fully searchable without giving away the complete text is an enormous boon, and
is an excellent tool for making books more accessible to a broader audience.
McFarland has been a long-time Google partner. We have an agreement in place
that allows Google to index many of our books for the Google Book Search
project, and in those cases we have granted Google permission to display limited
previews of text (generally up to 10%, though portions of every book are
excluded from the preview). Separate but related to Google Book Search, by the
end of 2009 Google intends to offer e-books for sale (much like other e-book
vendors). Where a publisher grants permission, Google will sell a “full view”
e-book in addition to offering free searches and limited previews.
Book Signings
For those authors who plan to do book signings (they're totally optional and can
be fun, but McFarland doesn't necessarily encourage them), please contact your
local bookstore or other relevant signing host directly. In general, bookstores
of all sorts are happy to host signing events for local authors. However,
bookstores are approaching such events more and more from a business perspective
rather than a community relations perspective, and some books may not match well
with the store’s business model. The bookstore will want to work out local
arrangements (what day, what time, what exactly will happen, etc.) with you.
They will want to work with McFarland to obtain books. The signing host should
contact Beth H. Cox to obtain books
at a discount. Although it is fine to do some early planning for books that
aren't published yet, book signings should not be scheduled until finished
copies are in the McFarland warehouse. If you require further information, Beth
can advise you on how to best arrange signing events.
The Library Market
Libraries of all sorts form McFarland's main market. McFarland regularly
promotes its books to public, high school, and academic libraries in the U.S.
and select libraries outside the U.S. Many of these libraries make their
purchases through wholesalers and book jobbers. Authors should feel free to
notify their local public library or campus library of their book's
availability, but no special effort to contact libraries is asked of our
authors.
Other Markets
Among other markets, most major online book retailers carry McFarland books. You
may wish to keep a watch on your book's listings on the most popular sites
(Amazon or Barnes & Noble, for example).
Chain book retailers will carry McFarland books in their system for special order,
but are unlikely to stock books in stores (the same applies to the majority of
our academic publisher peers). Specialty bookshops, on the other hand, can make
suitable arrangements with McFarland. We welcome sales tips from authors for the
latter. If you know of a mail-order distributor, museum shop, specialty bookshop,
or internet-based book dealer that handles a specialized line, please provide
addresses. Sales tips should be e-mailed to assistant sales manager
Adam Phillips.
It is also perfectly fine for authors to introduce themselves (and their
books) to a local bookstore or other bookseller. Encouragement from authors to
stock their books can sometimes make a difference in local sales. However,
between in-store versus internet, many bookstores are struggling and spreading
word about a book via internet marketing is likely a wiser investment of an
author's time.
For applicable books, college classroom adoptions play a role in sales. If
you plan to use your book in a course you teach, please inform us. For
classroom-appropriate books that are multicontributor works, it would probably
behoove the author/editor to inquire with their contributors about adoption
possibilities. Please e-mail Beth H. Cox
for assistance with or to share your ideas about classroom adoptions.
McFarland successfully sells directly to individuals. Specialists, professionals
and enthusiasts form an important market for many kinds of books. If you are
aware of any unique opportunities to promote your book to a specialized group or
professional organization, for example, please let us know. E-mail
Beth H. Cox.
Typos and Errors
If you have detected a typo or an error for your book's website description,
please e-mail database administrator Virginia Tomlinson at
corrections@mcfarlandpub.com.
In most cases, website-related correction requests are addressed within five
business days.
If you notice missing information, typos or errors on other sites (such as
Amazon or Barnes & Noble) and you are unable to correct them directly, please
inform us at corrections@mcfarlandpub.com.
Availability messages from these retailers may fluctuate in the days after a book
is published—this is normal. However, if incorrect messages about
availability or publication date persist for more than a few weeks,
e-mail us.
If you discover a typo or error in your published book, e-mail us at
corrections@mcfarlandpub.com.
Correction requests for the text of books will be examined within a couple of
business days, but may require a longer period of time for completion. McFarland
will contact you should further information be required.
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