|
Marketing Questionnaire
Click here for an easily downloadable document
To assist SIU Press in marketing and promoting your book, we need your input in four areas: author information, book content, the market, and publicity and promotion. Your responses will be used as the basis for promotional copy and a marketing plan.
Answer all sections as fully as possible. You may respond within the body of the questionnaire. We prefer to receive the questionnaire by e-mail. Please send resume or CV and author photo, as well as any separate files (published articles, mailing lists, etc.), as attachments. If you need to mail hard copies of the questionnaire and supporting documents, please send them to your acquisitions editor.
If a particular question does not apply to your book, designate N/A. Please indicate any confidential information we cannot use in promoting your book.
Thank you.
BOOK TITLE: ________________________________________________________________
Author Information
AUTHOR(S) (Except for name, all other information provided in this section will be kept confidential or used for government filings.)
Full Name:
Date of Birth:
Citizenship:
Home Address:
Work Address:
Home Phone:
Work Phone:
Fax:
E-mail:
Author Website:
RÉSUMÉ / CURRICULUM VITAE: Attach a current résumé or curriculum vitae.
QUALIFICATIONS SUMMARY: Include a brief summary of professional background, education, degrees held, and present affiliations, stressing qualifications for writing this book. Also list any association to which each author belongs, both professional and civic, and indicate any offices held. Include all special honors, prizes, competitive fellowships, and membership in honorary societies. List any additional publications (non-book), reviews, magazine or journal articles.
AUTHOR ACTIVITY: List any conferences, presentations, workshops, and public appearances that you may attend/schedule where your book could be promoted.
MEMBERSHIPS: List any organizations, associations, fraternities, sororities, etc. of which you are a member. [Many awards require membership in the sponsoring organization so it is very important for us to have this information when considering award submissions for your book.]
PROMOTION: Please provide any positive quotes about you or your work that will help us to prepare materials to promote this book.
AUTHOR PHOTO: Attach a photo of each author with credit, preferably black and white.
Book Content
BOOK SUMMARY: Summarize your book, or its approach, in 35–50 words. Please touch on the basic points in simple language to help us generate marketing copy.
BOOK DESCRIPTION: In 150–200 words, provide a synopsis of your book as you would describe it to a colleague who is unfamiliar with you or your work. Include its purpose, scope, and main features.
CHAPTER SUMMARY: Give a 25–50 word summary for each chapter.
KEY CUSTOMER FEATURES AND BENEFITS: List 5–7 key features of your book that would interest customers and why, such as major or special topics, a new, unique, or innovative approach, and so on.
ENDORSEMENTS: List names and full contact info, including e-mail addresses, of 5 prominent individuals from whom we can solicit endorsements.
COVER/JACKET DESIGN: What look best suits your vision for this book’s cover/jacket—academic, edgy, elegant, understated, dignified, sophisticated, controversial, inviting, light, dark, etc.? What books would serve as good visual models for your design tastes? (And here, you might look at SIU Press covers featured on our website, check your own bookshelves, and browse related titles on Amazon.)
SAMPLE: Please suggest a sample chapter or poem to include in the sales/press kits. The sales representatives are not scholars in your field—the sample should be something that is interesting to a general reader or shows the scope and importance of the book. It could be the introduction.
The Market
MARKET DESCRIPTION: Provide a general description of the primary groups (Scholar, Student, Professional, Lay Reader, Collector, Enthusiast, and so on) that will purchase your book and how, where, and why they will use it. Include any regional interest if applicable.
RATIONALE: Please let us know (in about 50-100 words) why you wrote the book, why the information in the book is needed now, or any interesting stories about how the manuscript came to be written.
Competition: Provide the names of books similar to the subject area of your work, with publisher and publication dates, and explain how your book differs from this competition. This up-to-date information is crucial to our sales reps and helps us position your books in the market.
PREVIOUS BOOKS: Please provide the titles, ISBNS, publication dates, format, price, and total sales of any previous books you have published. Also, please provide any positive review quotes or endorsements from your previous books.
Publicity and Promotion
The following is a list of potential publicity and promotional activities. Some promotional activities may not be applicable to your book.
REVIEWS: List magazines, journals, newsletters, and trade publications that should receive review materials on your book.
NEWS RELEASES: List local papers, alumni magazines, and TV and radio shows, as well as local, civic, and professional clubs and organizations that may be interested in you or your book. Please note that the contacts on this list will receive news releases, not review copies, unless they request them.
AUTHOR PUBLICITY: Please describe your comfort level with publicity events. Are you willing to be interviewed live on the radio? Are you willing to appear on TV? Are you comfortable speaking in front of large groups? May we share your contact information with journalists or people looking for speakers?
JOURNAL ADS: We have an existing advertising plan for scholarly publications in our major subject areas, but your suggestions are welcome.
SPECIAL GROUPS: List trade associations, corporations, societies, and other groups that would be interested in your book. If you have contact information or knowledge of mailing/
e-mail lists provided through these groups, please provide specifics.
LISTSERVS / WEB PAGES: If you belong to a listserv or have your own website, we can help provide you with promotional copy or link your site to our website. Additionally, we provide a web page link for each author’s book. We suggest including this link on your own site, as well as in e-mail correspondence and on listservs.
EXHIBITS: We have an existing exhibits plan for scholarly publications in our major subject areas. Your suggestions for professional meetings and conferences where your book should be debuted and exhibited are also welcome.
CURRENT NEWS INTEREST: Describe any significant relationship between the material in your book and events in current news.
COURSE ADOPTION: Is your book appropriate for classroom use? If so, please provide complete contact information, including email addresses, for professors who may consider adopting this book for course use. We have internal contact lists that will also be used for course adoption pitches.
DIRECT MARKETING: Do you have access to mailing lists or email lists for particular organizations or people interested in the subject of your book? We may be able to provide announcements to encourage individual sales. Please specify contact information and/or attach a mailing/email list.
AWARDS: List any awards for which your book may be eligible, particularly awards based on subject matter/genre, location, and professional organizations (make sure memberships are up to date). Please include contact information and/or web addresses.
|