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 know you're sending out ARCs to all the usual channels, but there's a lot of low-volume sources you could also hit.
Maybe take a couple of your ARCs and send them on a world tour, with the understanding that everyone who gets it (A) must pass it on in a week, and (B) must write and post/publish a review. Use this trick to hit the bloggers and the local distribution 'zines (Connotations in Phoenix, for example). Resist the urge to include grandma's family newsletter (or anyplace else where everybody is already planning to buy your book anyway).
Give away stuff to reviewers. Yes, it's bribery. It also works.
Someone mentioned excerpts. You can post a lengthy version on your website, but make up something smaller, and easily copied (one sheet, single-sided, medium-large font - small artwork & a screaming headline would be a bonus). Beg, plead, and if you have to, pay people to run off a hundred or two copies and put on the freebee table at every convention possible the month before, during, and after the book release.
thoughtful
February 10 2009, 23:08:05 UTC 8 years ago
I know you're sending out ARCs to all the usual channels, but there's a lot of low-volume sources you could also hit.
Maybe take a couple of your ARCs and send them on a world tour, with the understanding that everyone who gets it (A) must pass it on in a week, and (B) must write and post/publish a review. Use this trick to hit the bloggers and the local distribution 'zines (Connotations in Phoenix, for example). Resist the urge to include grandma's family newsletter (or anyplace else where everybody is already planning to buy your book anyway).
Give away stuff to reviewers. Yes, it's bribery. It also works.
Someone mentioned excerpts. You can post a lengthy version on your website, but make up something smaller, and easily copied (one sheet, single-sided, medium-large font - small artwork & a screaming headline would be a bonus). Beg, plead, and if you have to, pay people to run off a hundred or two copies and put on the freebee table at every convention possible the month before, during, and after the book release.
Alex
February 14 2009, 02:13:40 UTC 8 years ago