So as I sit here, a safe seven months from my release date, I'm watching various friends and acquaintances as they madly dance through the steps required to promote and advertise a new book. It's important, especially for newer authors, to do something beyond just saying 'I have written a book and my mommy says it's awesome' when they have something hitting the shelves. (Although 'I have written a book and Seanan's mommy says it's awesome' seems to carry a surprising amount of weight for everyone but me. Does anybody else out there have a tattooed, foul-mouthed mother who'd be willing to fill that particular role for me?)
So the question becomes, what works? Book giveaways are obviously good things, but also somewhat self-limiting, as I sort of want people to buy things. (Oddly enough, I don't feel like earning back my advance all by myself.) Competitions are also good, providing the prizes are interesting -- and heck, prizes are just lovely things to offer. So what do you think would be a good idea? What kinds of promotion would you like to see? We have seven months to put even the strangest of plans into motion, so sing out!
I have a cunning plan for a short story of mine that I wrote for the love and not necessarily with publication in mind, but if it's published I have one of the necessary tools already: the punch line involves a website. I now own the proper domain. On the website, ideally, there will be a little movie, just as it would have been if the story were actually real. Because the story is not actually real, it will also link to either a copy of the story on a separate page, or something like an author page to give context. Muahahah.
thoughtful
February 13 2009, 17:10:55 UTC 8 years ago
February 14 2009, 02:08:52 UTC 8 years ago