I'm working on Book 3 in the Lange Brothers series for Tule Publishing. More stories from River's Edge, y'all! It feels very weird, though, to be writing a book that won't see publication until over a year from now, but publishing can often be an odd business and one of the oddest things about it is release dates. If you're writing series, which I do, publishers want to be able to promote book 1 and then point to the next one and the next one. It's a smart marketing technique, but the onus is on the author to get the books written in a timely manner and then on the cover artist to create that to-die-for cover and then on the marketing department to get the news out to the reading world.
Big reviewers like Library Journal and Publisher's Weekly want books well in advance of publication for reviews and announcements. Even smaller online reviewers like to see an ARC well in advance of release day. That means I'll be doing lots of pushing of The Valentine Wager when I get back from retreat in mid-August, even though the book doesn't come out until February 1, 2022. I'll be ordering swag, getting a poster together for book signings (assuming Covid doesn't block those), and talking to reviewers and book bloggers.
Liz and I whine a lot about doing promotion, mostly because we aren't great at self-promotion. I don't do "look at me!" very well, in spite of what you may see on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. I understand the importance of keeping readers engaged--I do. but it makes me kinda itchy to keep putting my books and my face in front of my friends and readers constantly. Not only is it just not my style, I also worry they'll get bored and ignore me when release day does come around. (See what I did up there at the top? Subliminal messaging--it's another promotion technique!😊)
I'm hoping we can talk about promotion at our retreat in North Carolina this week--share some ideas and brainstorm some creative ways to say "look at me" without actually saying "look at me!" I'm so excited about this trip with the other Wranglers--I know it will be great fun and there will be lots to learn and talk about.
We'll be posting writing retreat reports over on my Nan Reinhardt blog if you want to follow along with Liz, Margie, Janie, and I while we are writing and having fun in the mountains of North Carolina. I intend to turn the blog over to the other Wranglers, too, and we'd love you to stop by and share the experience with us!
Stay well, stay safe, and most of all, stay grateful,
Doing lots of promo thinking these days, and not coming up with any answers that click.
ReplyDeleteHopefully that's something we can brainstorm during retreat!
DeletePromotion is definitely the one thing that is the most difficult part of being an author, and that's been especially so in this past year. As a member of many FB author groups, I see who promotes and how they do it, and I can often see the results. One thing universal about it: The most successful ones may be with a big publisher and already have a following, but they also work really hard at promotion!
ReplyDeleteThey do and I feel as if I work hard at it, but I worry about being PIA and putting off family and friends. :-(
DeletePromo is such a difficult beast! I think the best advice is to think of your comfort zone as a donut. The main circle is has allll of the comfort and it's where we write. The empty middle is the promotion hole - not as comfortable but also a space so big that we can get lost within it.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great analogy Kristi!
DeleteWe'll talk about how fear plays into all of that. Lots to talk about, ladies. See you soon.
ReplyDeleteI'm not great at promotion either. If you guys come up with some great ideas on retreat, let me know!
ReplyDelete