Comments for Oisín McGann's Blog http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog Wondering Aloud Wed, 13 Mar 2013 20:12:26 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 Comment on Building a Relationship with a Community that Can’t Pay by Oisín http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=3387&cpage=1#comment-1787 Oisín Wed, 13 Mar 2013 20:12:26 +0000 http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=3387#comment-1787 Hi Ros, thanks for the comment, and I agree with a lot of what you say. But my aim in offering the book for free was not simply for novelty value. I do think that that gimmick has had its day, but I don’t think that the need to offer free content is going away. It could only work as part of a range of promotional activities that I’m involved in all the time anyway. It’s less about promotion, more about access. Kids are prevented from accessing stuff online because they can’t buy without the parents’ permission. In children’s publishing, reaching the kids directly, without interference from adults, is a constant problem that other industries bypass with big marketing campaigns, forsaking any need for it.

]]> Comment on Building a Relationship with a Community that Can’t Pay by Celia Carlile http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=3387&cpage=1#comment-1776 Celia Carlile Mon, 11 Mar 2013 17:13:01 +0000 http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=3387#comment-1776 Thanks for this very interesting , thought provoking article. Celia

]]> Comment on Building a Relationship with a Community that Can’t Pay by Maura Byrne http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=3387&cpage=1#comment-1773 Maura Byrne Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:36:07 +0000 http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=3387#comment-1773 Hello Eoin

Fabulous Post. Couldn’t agree more.The business model needs to change. I have masses of ideas on ways that authors can sell direct to children (with parental approval of course.) And more needs to be done at government level to support children’s writers by integrating them into the educational system. Reading and writing are essential life skills and writers can help with that.
Maura Byrne, Author of ‘Bridget in Werewolf Rehab.’

]]> Comment on Building a Relationship with a Community that Can’t Pay by Ros Jackson http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=3387&cpage=1#comment-1769 Ros Jackson Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:12:41 +0000 http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=3387#comment-1769 School visits and events seem to work out for some authors, although of course they don’t scale.

The value of free promotions has changed significantly in recent months, however, so I think Random House made a good call. Up until quite recently anyone giving away free books would benefit from a lot of publicity from various blogs aggregating information about freebies. Then Amazon changed their affiliate policies at the beginning of March, recognising that this boost given to free books had opened the floodgates. Now these aggregator sites are changing their emphasis to bargain rather than free books, or severely restricting the numbers of books they will promote in this way.

I don’t know how many children and young people were downloading books in this way anyway, given that they would have relied on their parents to do it through Amazon anyhow. But the way things used to work fostered an idea that free = lots of downloads due to free publicity = some sales. The game has changed now all that lovely free publicity is going away.

]]> Comment on The Wrong Kind of Attention by Sally Dorian http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=3355&cpage=1#comment-1748 Sally Dorian Thu, 21 Feb 2013 15:37:34 +0000 http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=3355#comment-1748 Good post, plenty of things to Google!

]]> Comment on The Uncharted Territory by Oisín http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=2486&cpage=1#comment-1745 Oisín Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:08:55 +0000 http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=2486#comment-1745 Thanks, Paula. It’s hard to get everything they do across to people sometimes, so we fall back all too easily on the old refrain: ‘They’re full of free books!’

]]> Comment on The Uncharted Territory by Oisín http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=2486&cpage=1#comment-1744 Oisín Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:07:54 +0000 http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=2486#comment-1744 Then it’s done it’s job, Celia!

]]> Comment on The Uncharted Territory by Celia Carlile http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=2486&cpage=1#comment-1743 Celia Carlile Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:25:06 +0000 http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=2486#comment-1743 Excellent article Oisin. I actually feel like a trip to the library after reading it. Celia

]]> Comment on The Uncharted Territory by Paula Leyden http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=2486&cpage=1#comment-1742 Paula Leyden Thu, 14 Feb 2013 12:13:53 +0000 http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=2486#comment-1742 One hundred percent agree Oisin. As an author travelling round libraries I am amazed at the diversity of things happening in them on any one day – they are a precious resource to young and old in this country. It would be a crime if Ireland mimicked what the UK has done to theirs and cast them aside.

]]> Comment on My New Bite-Size Book by Oisín http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=3239&cpage=1#comment-1741 Oisín Thu, 14 Feb 2013 11:22:00 +0000 http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/?p=3239#comment-1741 Sorry for the delay in putting this up, Annie. It’s been a bit of a mental couple of weeks. Please put the cauldron away.

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