Thursday, November 02, 2006
Promoting your work
So you wrote a book. You polished it to within an inch of its life and sent it on its way to the publisher of your choice. It’s accepted and you jump for joy. You’re a published author. Yay!
You then go through all the behind the scenes drama and begin to wait, probably impatiently, for the day you get to see your name on the front of that book (be it online or in your hands).
Now what?
Now, between acceptance and release, is when you should start thinking about how you’re going to promote your baby. What, you ask, doesn’t the publisher do that for you? Well, yes and no. Most publishers will do their part, they’ll secure reviews and/or some advertising, depending on where you’ve chosen to send your book. But if you want to get your name out there more, and hopefully boost your sales, you’re going to have to do your part as well.
As I’m just learning myself, there is a world of options out there for promotion, even if you’re on a shoestring budget. Some of the things you can do are:
Build a website.
This is almost a must have, especially if you’re going with an e-publisher. People will want to visit you’re site and see what you’re up to now. Learn more about you and find out whether or not you have any more books on the way.
Contests:
Who doesn’t like a good contest? Figuring out and implementing a good giveaway of your book, or something related, can be a great way to win over readers who are iffy about whether or not to give a new author a try.
Author interviews:
A lot of the same companies who do book reviews do author interviews as well. They’re free and who doesn’t like free stuff, right?
Conferences:
Attending any of the varied conferences held every year (RT and RWA just to name a couple) is a great way to mingle with fellow authors and attract new readers.
Odds and ends:
Planning to attend a conference? You’ll need things to give away. Random little trinkets for people to take home and remember you by. Bookmarks, pens and pencils, magnets and notepads, pretty much anything you can think up, can have whatever slogan or URL you want imprinted upon it.
I’m sure I’m forgetting a million other things, but this should be enough to get you thinking about all the different tools available to authors for promotion. ¶ posted at 9:11 AM by Amanda Young
You then go through all the behind the scenes drama and begin to wait, probably impatiently, for the day you get to see your name on the front of that book (be it online or in your hands).
Now what?
Now, between acceptance and release, is when you should start thinking about how you’re going to promote your baby. What, you ask, doesn’t the publisher do that for you? Well, yes and no. Most publishers will do their part, they’ll secure reviews and/or some advertising, depending on where you’ve chosen to send your book. But if you want to get your name out there more, and hopefully boost your sales, you’re going to have to do your part as well.
As I’m just learning myself, there is a world of options out there for promotion, even if you’re on a shoestring budget. Some of the things you can do are:
Build a website.
This is almost a must have, especially if you’re going with an e-publisher. People will want to visit you’re site and see what you’re up to now. Learn more about you and find out whether or not you have any more books on the way.
Contests:
Who doesn’t like a good contest? Figuring out and implementing a good giveaway of your book, or something related, can be a great way to win over readers who are iffy about whether or not to give a new author a try.
Author interviews:
A lot of the same companies who do book reviews do author interviews as well. They’re free and who doesn’t like free stuff, right?
Conferences:
Attending any of the varied conferences held every year (RT and RWA just to name a couple) is a great way to mingle with fellow authors and attract new readers.
Odds and ends:
Planning to attend a conference? You’ll need things to give away. Random little trinkets for people to take home and remember you by. Bookmarks, pens and pencils, magnets and notepads, pretty much anything you can think up, can have whatever slogan or URL you want imprinted upon it.
I’m sure I’m forgetting a million other things, but this should be enough to get you thinking about all the different tools available to authors for promotion. ¶ posted at 9:11 AM by Amanda Young
Comments:
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Those are good points. I also think that selective membership of onlinbe communities can really help, especially with ebooks.
Yahoo groups are an easy way to get your blurb out there. the only problem is that you're competing w/ a whole bunch of other writers, but it's a start.
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