Sustaining the midlist book: an analysis of the online marketing campaign for Trading in Memories

The book market has grown less profitable for the publishers of midlist books. At least part of the problem is the expensive practice of co-op advertising—the payment of subsidies by publishers to retailers to offset part of the in-store advertising expenses—which has raised costs above the marketing budgets typically allocated to most midlist books by small and mid-sized publishers in Canada. In contrast, the bestsellers (and those titles that are expected to become bestsellers) typically have the budgets to buy the best in-store positioning which is perceived to contribute to higher sales. To reverse the shrinking sales of midlist books, a number of publishers are looking to the web with its growing online book vendors and developing social networking applications for a more competitive environment in which to promote and sell their midlist books.