Last week I told you all about Jeff VanderMeer’s extraordinary new book for writers, Booklife: Strategies and Survival Tips for the 21st Century Writer
This week, you can enter a contest to win one of five copies that Tachyon Publications have graciously offered up as prizes.
What do you have to do to win? Easy! Leave a comment below and share ONE GREAT IDEA for self-promoting a book, something you’ve either done yourself or have seen another author do successfully.
Teh Rulez:
- One entry per person
- Leave your great book self-promotion idea in the comments field of this post
- U.S. Residents only
- Contest closes Tuesday, November 4th at 5:00 PM EST. Or EDT. Or whatever the hell time 5:00 is in NYC next Tuesday.
Good luck!
Kelley Armstrong created a Twitter account for Elena Michaels and had her tweet up to the release of FROSTBITTEN. I normally would have got around to reading it whenever, but because I was already hooked on the story line I had to go out and buy it the day it came out. Social networking is a writer's new best friend!
I'll admit I still act like a dorky teeny-bopper – I write YA so it helps. But this is what I did, I made Flair on Facebook for my novel that I'm querying.
I will say this, I would have never ever heard of Twilight had it not been for the flair, hundreds of flair, that said Edward and Bella. It made me curious.
Okay, I know I'm a dork. But I guess in general make a presence online, especially if you are trying to reach the younger generation.
Cross promotion with the music industry.
My books feature bands. My brother-in-law, who plays in a band that frequently tours, can push my books along with his t-shirts (designed by me) and CDs. He has also agreed to help run a bogus website, supposedly run by my fictitious boy band, where he and other band members will interact with my readers and maintain a rivalry with the ex-lead singer of the band (my book's MC).
Maybe, just maybe, his band could do a gig or two under the guise of said fictitious band…
Participate in as many relevant conversations as possible via the web (personal website, blogs, twitter, facebook), locally (libraries, local book stores), and your alma maters (from grade school on up). The key is to listen and get a feel for the conversation and be a part of it before just blasting away with your stuff. This gives you credibility so when it's time to pimp your book, people will listen. Generate excitement by being excited.
Connect with special interest groups that may be especially interested in your book. For example, I am writing about an adopted girl from China so am on some e-mail groups with parents of adopted children who may be especially interested in my book. I also am a member of an adoption support group where I live and plan to join more as soon as it looks like my book might get published in hopes that they would review my book.
Set up a booth with your books at the local farmer's market or street fair.
Combine a reading of the book together with a live band or theater performance, gearing it toward writers. Think Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind from the Neo-Futurists (in Chicago and NYC)
Promoting a book. Well, giveaways are good.
I uh, threw a costume contest. Readers had a year (since last Halloween) to put together a costume of a character from my books, and then they had to send in their photos to prove they wore it. The deadline is today so they could wear the costumes out on Halloween.
Good conversation fodder for them at awkward costume parties…
[old comment deleted for ridiculous typo, reposted for justice]
Borrow your brother's car. Paint the name of your blog/website/new novel on the roof and head west. Do not sleep. Alternate between pounding espressos and drinking cough syrup. Throw candy and loose change out the window during those rare periods when you slow down. Take detours through demographic areas where, after 34 straight hours of driving, you have come to believe you're already popular. By the time you reach Los Angeles, police will be in hot pursuit. News helicopters circling above will provide all the necessary PR and all at taxpayer expense. Use your one phone call to contact your agent with the happy news.
Whoops. My bad. Now I see it has to be an effective marketing strategy an author has already employed. Better turn this thing around and bring my brother's car back then.
There are so many good ideas (scribbling them all down). My best idea was to create twitter accounts for characters of your books and have them interact with each other and followers. This could generate a lot of interest in the book…
Make the book tour events more vibrant than just readings. A friend's recent national book tour included a dynamic multimedia presentation with voice recordings of her character's source, drawings that inspired some of the book content – all material that was related to to the book, but not part of the book. Then she used social media (quite effectively) to build excitement for each event.
Once my historical novel is published I'm totally having a period costume release party at the rockin'est feminist bookstore on the planet, Women and Children First, of Chicago.
Just wanting to make sure my comment…left on livejournal…was being counted since I'm one of two people who commented there.
Be ever-present with a consistent message. Give more than you ask of others with rich content on a blog, via Twitter, on Facebook… Anywhere and everywhere you go, spread the message with something people will find useful. Educate, Entertain, Inform. Be 100% authentic. Think of yourself (as well as your book) as a brand. Don't be afraid to give something away for free, including parts of your book.
Debra Marrs
Editor and Coach for Writers
http://www.yourwritelife.com
Robin -
I have no control over the Livejournal feed for this blog; someone else created it. I don't go there to read comments ever, so if you want to enter this contest you need to enter it here in the comments field.
Colleen
People are suckers for personal appearances. Even if it is signing postcards or bookmarks in front of the bookstore.
Become romantically involved with a scheming overachiever–sort of Sonny Mehta meets Bette Davis–who will obsessively promote your book in a variety of ways indicating that on a personal level he/she has no sense of decorum or modesty whatsoever but in a broader culture sense is actually indicative of a marketing genius. Hone your sexual skills to keep them satisfied for the duration of the affair, or if you are planning multiple novels, marriage.
Divorce/estrangement is inevitable, but the resultant scandal will prove a windfall of PR for both new and existing projects. Good luck!
Best ideas for promotion: funny vblogs, extra points for creative ones. It also helps to keep an active and informative blog that is about more than just promoting your own book. Posting snippets from your novel in your blog/website is also a wonderful way to entice readers.