After the Book is Finished Comes the Hard Part (For Me)

I admit that my greatest weakness as an author is marketing and promotion. 

It's not that I'm passive about it; I think it's because I'm not aggressive enough. I guess I'm a bit on the shy side when it comes to promoting myself. And most authors I know are the same way.

I promote and market on Facebook, Twitter, my personal website, and this blog as well as emails, postcards, bookmarks, and other marketing plans. I occasionally go to book fairs, libraries, and bookstores to sign books and meet readers. I do some public speaking. Some strategies work better than others, some hardly work, and some don't work at all.

I recently finished reading Alinka Rutkowska's How I Sold 80,000 Books: Book Marketing for Authors (a free download on Amazon), and while it contains many recommendations that you see in similar books (compiling email lists, asking others for reviews, professional editing, and slick book covers, etc.), what stood out is that it takes a lot of work to promote a book.

Much like writing a book. 

While the book targets indie and self-published authors, I've heard stories from writers at traditional publishing houses that they're expected to promote their books as well. 

Alinka provides free advice and links to relevant websites but stresses it's the author who has to do the work. And even then, there's no guarantee that you'll sell 8, 80, 800, 8,000 or 80,000 books.  

And we know you're not going to sell a single book (unless to mom) if you simply sit on your hands and do nothing. 

Rutkowska's book is one I recommend (you can't beat free!). She writes in a lively and light style that's easy to read and takes perhaps an hour or so to finish. I particularly liked the bonus section at the end which includes interviews with six authors on how they achieved their various degrees of success. 

So between now and the May 1 release date of my next novel, New Horizons, I'll be busy promoting and marketing it to the world. 

Until the next time . . . 

 

Manuscript is out of my hands (for a little while)

The manuscript for my next novel is out of my hands, thank goodness, even if only for a little while.

My Wings ePress editor had a few questions about my final edit, which I addressed, and returned to her yesterday. The manuscript now goes to a copy editor who will give the 71,500 words a deep read to find any typos, grammatical errors, and storyline inconsistencies. 

And when that's completed, I'll receive the galley proof for one last read for any minor mistakes (I sure don't want any major ones at this point). The manuscript will also be formatted for publication. 

In the meantime, I'll hear from a graphic artist about the book cover. I have already provided information to her about the book. I'm anxious to see her artistic interpretation of the novel. 

The novel is set to be released on May 1. Over the next few months, I'll be working, along with the publisher, on promotion and marketing. 

Steve Flairty

As an aside, my books were mentioned in an article about Kentucky books by Steve Flairty, a reviewer for the Northern Kentucky Tribune and Kentucky Monthly magazine.  You can read it here.  (Disclosure: I have edited  Steve's "Kentucky's Everyday Heroes" books.) 

Until the next time . . .

Past, Present, Future, and Excuses

Let me start by saying that 2018 wasn't my best year in writing. 

I have excuses (don't we all?) but I should have been more productive. I didn't reach my goal of 50 blog posts; I didn't have a novel published; I didn't write any short stories.

On the positive side for 2019, I do have a tentative release date of May 1 for my next novel, the third in the John Ross Boomer Lit series. I completed editor's suggestions and corrections today and will be sending them on to her.

And I've have completed an idea form for the graphic artist to begin work on the cover of the novel. I'm excited to see what she comes up with in the next month or so, and I'll it share with you as well.

As for this blog, I hope to post something once a week. I was on target to do that last year but faltered the final two months because of my excuses.

As for short stories, we'll see. I've been planning to publish the second volume of Laments but excuses got in the way. I've already written six but they need to have the dust wiped off. 

My publisher, Wings ePress, has come up with some new marketing and promotional efforts including pre-release sales. I'll let you know more about that in a future post. 

So that's where I stand on Jan. 1, 2019, excuses and all.

I hope you have a creative and productive new year!

Until the next time . . .