All Blog Posts Tagged 'marketing' (53)

Ya Gotta Have a Gimmick (R)

More and more we hear as authors that there has to be a reason for people to notice your work. Good writing? That's nice. Great characters? Sweet. But what's the hook? Why should people pick up your book and not one of the other 89,999 that will be published each year?

It's not fair that books have to be shilled as well as skilled, but who said life was fair? What's an author to do if she refuses to dress up in period costume, follow people around bookstores dinning them into buying… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on August 27, 2008 at 10:23pm — 3 Comments

After the Ball is Over...

The Michigan Renaissance Festival is over, at least for me. It goes on for several more weekends, but I've done my stint, and it was fun. It's my second foray into the past in 2008, and here's what I've learned so far.

Don't go expecting to sell dozens of books. People are in costume and they have no pockets. They have credit cards and very little cash. They don't want to haul a book around the grounds. And they're having too good a time to think about how much they'll want to read… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on August 25, 2008 at 10:57pm — No Comments

Quiet or Riot?

When I taught high school, my students often claimed that they worked best when there was noise. Studies of today's teens confirm that they can indeed text, listen to music, and surf the Net all at once, but I have to admit, as the song of my generation says, "It ain't me, babe."

I like quiet. I like to be able to focus on the task at hand. And it's getting worse as time goes by. As a teacher, I was quite the multi-tasker, and I could keep in my head a dozen things I had to… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on August 7, 2008 at 9:48pm — No Comments

All That Well-intentioned Advice

People are always starting sentences with, "You should ...." I'm amazed and sometimes amused at the advice I get. The other day someone told me that I should "ask around and see if any bookstores will let me do a booksigning."

I never would have thought of that on my own!

I get all kinds of advice about using the Internet to become famous. Some of it is in the form of emails that promise I'll get thousands of hits a day. Some is from people who have a friend of a friend who… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on August 5, 2008 at 10:49pm — No Comments

Author J D Rhoades guest blogs on the topic of Marketing vs. Connecting

How often have you been invited to sit down with a published author and asked your opinion about anything?

Here's your chance, your invitation to chat with this week's MURDER BY 4 guest blogger J.D. Rhoades, author of BREAKING COVER, published in July 2008 by St. Martin's/Minotaur, and the Jack Keller series of thriller novels: THE DEVIL'S RIGHT HAND, GOOD DAY IN HELL, and SAFE AND SOUND, also from St. Martin 's.

His article… Continue

Added by Marta Stephens on July 25, 2008 at 10:04pm — No Comments

Authors With Egos

Most of the people I've met in the writing profession are wonderful: intelligent, helpful and fun to be around. But there's a minority who amuse and sometimes irritate: those who believe they wrote the only book(s) that will ever matter.

Most of us recognize that we're in a business where tastes vary. Along with those who love my book, I've met people who damned it with faint praise or dismissed it altogether. One woman told me recently that it was too much work to read a historical… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on July 21, 2008 at 11:08pm — No Comments

About a Writer's Confidence (R)

Exposing one's writing to the world is more terrifying than all the chainsaw massacre movies put together. Emily Dickinson said it: "How can you print a piece of your soul?" And yet, there is a compulsion in those of us who write to share that writing with others. We are tentative at first, but we can't resist handing that "piece of soul" to another person, hoping that he or she will say, "This is good." Often we're even okay with "This isn't too bad."

My first time story: I shared… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on June 23, 2008 at 9:48pm — No Comments

Out-of-the-blue Publicity

Yesterday a newspaper reporter called and asked if she could interview me for a feature article. Let me think about thatYES!

Marketing campaigns are tough, competition for print/radio/TV is fierce, and beginning authors aren't big news. So how did I score a feature article? Friendship. You see, a woman in the church choir I direct has a daughter in a slightly larger town who was my friend in school, way back when. The woman bought my book, read it, and then handed it off to her… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on June 20, 2008 at 10:28pm — No Comments

Marketing and What Readers Can Do to Help

Every Secret Crime will be released in two days.

Want to help with marketing?

There are four things you can do that are absolutely stone critical.

1: Buy Every Secret Crime and enjoy it.

2: Write a review of Every Secret Crime on Amazon, Barnes and Noble.com or any sales site where you're allowed to post one. Point of sale reviews are essential. By a large majority, readers tell me they bought my first book based on the reviews they found on the listing page. It… Continue

Added by Doug M. Cummings on June 16, 2008 at 11:23pm — No Comments

Marketing Again

Once again, getting my face out there has convinced me that it's vital to get your face out there. I spoke to a small group last night, for free, and didn't sell one book. That could be depressing after a long drive, but after my talk, a woman who had sat quietly to one side came up to me. "Have you ever considered speaking at ***?" She named a library in a town where I'd encountered a disinterested and snotty librarian. After three tries, I'd given up on him.

Her next comment… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on May 1, 2008 at 10:29pm — No Comments

Promotional Opportunities for Authors: Looking for Guest Bloggers

I also have a promotional opportunity for authors...and it doesn't cost a dime. I run Book Marketing Buzz and while I'm working on tours, I am letting guest bloggers have a field day. If you would like to tell the world how you are promoting your book, visit www.bookmarketingbuzz.wordpress.com to find out the details.

I also have another blog where I have authors tell me… Continue

Added by Dorothy Thompson on April 10, 2008 at 2:03pm — No Comments

Promotion, Blatant and Otherwise

Jonathan Kellerman's latest book is being released with ads that include graphics, hype and sizzle. Here's some news: yours won't be.

Authors learn early on that these days nobody promotes a book much except the author. To be fair, many publishers try. You get an announcement in the proper publications, but it's one among hundreds for that month. You get review copies sent out and maybe some follow-up, but nobody has the time to chat up reviewers and sell them on choosing a… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on March 25, 2008 at 9:17pm — No Comments

Weekend Warrior, My Version

The weekend was devoted to a huge Renaissance Festival, where I was ensconced at a table to sign books. It seemed to me that at a place where people gather who love history would be a good venue for publicizing MACBETH'S NIECE. I was both right and wrong.

Of course, it rained first thing. Hard. My "signage", as the manager called it, was destroyed as I spent my time on protecting the more valuable books I'd set out. (My hair we won't even mention.) Around noon the rain cleared, and… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on February 25, 2008 at 9:27pm — No Comments