Promotion or When Did I Sign up to be a Salesman?
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After I inked the contract on my debut book, The Bull Rider’s Brother, I immediately
started thinking about promotion. Gone
are the days (if they ever really existed) where an author’s job ended when they
turned in their galley edits.
I knew I’d have to get street smart on promotion and
fast. And since I didn’t have an advance
to be able to plan out what amount ten percent focused on promotion would come
out to, I went cheap.
I designed and developed my own post cards. (Love them, by the way! – Leave me your email
address and I’ll contact you.)
I planned out a way to get twitter smart in a short
time. May became 31 days of rodeo
twitter. I’d send out pictures of rodeo
parades, tweets about local or not so local rodeos, and once a week, I’d
promote the book. I can’t say this was
effective at all, except, it helped drive my twitter followers. And I know I
got one follower specifically from a tweet.
I also set up a blog tour for June. I did eighteen stops in four weeks. By week two my princess wave was drooping and
my smile frozen on my face. But I got
through it. Mostly by pre-writing most of the blogs before my mind was blog
dead. I was writing the second in the
series at this time too so my thoughts were all rodeo, all cowboy, all Idaho .
Reviews were begged for, blurbs conned out of friends and
friends of friends, and I read and reviewed in exchange for my own reviews. By
the time The Bull Rider’s Brother released, I had five good reviews on
Amazon. Since that time, I’ve let the
reviews come more naturally, asking anyone who contacts me about reading the
book to write a review if they have time.
So did it all work?
Now that is the question. And
when will I know my promotion has paid off?
I don’t think it will be my first royalty check. I’m pretty sure that will be smaller than
what I spent on postcards. I’m hoping
I’m wrong though.
Writing is a marathon. Whether you’re writing a 100,000 word
count manuscript or selling your first book.
I’m already planting seeds about the sequel book coming up in November
and writing a second book for my paranormal series.
And from what I’ve learned about e-book success stories –
back list is king. So I’m writing. And
planning for more books to come.
At worse, I’m learning a lot about the business of being an
author. At best, I might make some
money. And either way, I’ve gained a
whole lot of new friends on the path I’ve chosen.
In two weeks I’ll be giving you the steps in how to set up
your own blog tour.
So, New Kid Readers?
What have you done to promote a book?
Or what are you thinking about doing?
What do you want me to cover in the next installment of Lynn Cahoon, cub
reporter on the publication trail?
16 comments:
You are right about it not ending when the book is published. I'm learning more about marketing than I ever thought I'd need. All the best.
Awesome post, Lynn. I can only imagine how exhausting the blog tour must have been. My book doesn't release until October, but I have started promotion early and know that it's going to become very intense in October.
I also agree with you that backlist is king. I'm hearing that more and more from writers who have already been down 'the path.' It's rough juggling promotion, social media and writing time. It sounds like you've done a great deal and learned a lot. Wishing you much success! The book sounds like a winner!
Wonderful post Lynn! Reading it made me smile because I think we all go through that panic mode when we are contracted and have a release date...and then the promotion bug's teeth sink in. lol
Sounds like you are doing a great job so far. For me I felt like tweeting and blog tours did a wonderful job. Although it can get tiring.
BTW..love your cover! Congrats on your release and wishing you many sales!
Hi Diane! I keep learning stuff day after day and I thought I was pretty savvy on these things. Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Mae Clair - It's a wild ride, that's for sure. Make sure you enjoy every step.
Christine, I'm so glad you like the cover, it's typical summer in Idaho feeling.
Glad to hear your success with promotion. It's nice to hear that something works. LOL
Yes, I've been published for a year now, and I'm still learning more and more about promotion with every release. There is so much out there, but name recognition (and maybe covers as well) is key. The earlier the better.
All the best!
On my last book, I blogged my little brain out. I think people were beginning to yawn when they saw I had another blog up! I think I may cut back a little on the next one. Can't wait to hear if all your hard work paid off.
With my Tess shorts, I did chats and interviews and blogged and had a FB page. However, after the last one came out, I completely stopped marketing under that name...funny thing is, they still sell.
On the other hand, it's all about the friendships and connections you make along the way, right?! No effort is wasted.
Good luck!
Great post, Lynn. I keep thinking that when (not if :) my books come out, I'll suddenly learn all about promo. But lately I've learned we can't wait, can't be blase about it. So I'll hit Twitter, blogs, booksignings, bookmarks--all the things you and others have educated us on. The postcards sound new, but really interesting. Another friend uses them for flash fiction to get her name out.
Sounds like you're doing so many things right. Keep up the good work and Best of Luck. Here's opening that first check's a 'doozy.' LOL
Are Trading Cards still as popular as they once were?
Good information, Lynn. Writing the book is easy. Once it's published, that phase is over. Promotions never end! Best of luck on your debut novel!
Jessica - I tell people at the day job all the time, it takes a year to really know your job. Glad to hear you're still learning. Good hints.
Jannine - blogging that much is hard. Cuz again, it's not just the writing, it's the promoting. In July - (my non-blog tour month) I've done 12 blogs. I did 18 in June when I did my tour.
Wendy - Interesting. Do people know you're the Tess writer as well? Here's to them continuing to sell.
Lynn
Barb, Since I don't have a real book yet, and I wanted to reach out to my peeps in Idaho, I opted to spend my promotion budget on the postcards. They're a nice giveaway.
Deb - so nice to see you here. You are so right. The writing is the easy part. Even for those who are traditionally published through the big 6. My friend does a lot of social media to get her name out there. And she's on book 20 or something like that.
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