Notes From a Big 5 Book Rollout Meeting

Or, why it IS still worth it to chase a major publishing deal

Photo by Benjamin R. on Unsplash

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The people in this room had access to marketing levers and connections that made my head spin.

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Hello Loreates,

As some of you know, I’ve spent the past two years ghosting a major nonfiction book for a Big 5 publisher. I’ve been chronicling aspects of the process that might be useful for you to understand. See the earlier phases here:

The 3 M's That Forecast a Bestseller

Notes on a Big Deal Book Deal

The Final Push To Book Publication

Warning From Your Book's Legal Dept.

The latest stretch of the pipeline recently began with a “rollout meeting,” a term that, I’ll confess, was new to me. It basically refers to a Marketing & Publicity prep session. And it reminded me, as if I need reminding, why it really, truly, actually IS worth doing your damnedest to get published by a major publisher, if you possibly can. This post explains why.

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Notes on a Big 5 Rollout Meeting

This was an all-hands session. Not just the senior and executive directors of Marketing and Publicity, but the book’s senior editor and agents involved in the project, met with the author and me, the ghost/collaborator. With a big book, all these players have a significant stake in the promotion of the title. The purpose of the rollout meeting is to bring everyone up to speed on the stages, steps, and assignments needed to maximize buzz for the book by its release date.

For me, an author who only occasionally glimpses the bestseller machine at work, this meeting represented the gold standard for book promotion today. The people in this room had access to marketing levers, intel, and connections that made my head spin. This was a valuable education.

Not many authors will get so much push from their publisher, yet it’s essential for all authors to understand what the essential marketing and publicity cogs are and how they work together to propel a book toward success in the marketplace. The indie authors most likely to succeed are the ones who figure out how to replicate this machine, whether on their own or with the help of hired consultants.