When you’re out and about, do you talk to people? Do you chat with someone while in line at the grocery store or post office? Do you speak to neighbors when you’re out walking? Do you mingle at social events? Do you strike up a conversation with your hairdresser and others in the beauty shop? I consider these opportunities to spread the word about my books.
When I was promoting only my books for authors, my audience was relatively small. These are niche books, as would be books on quilting, aviation, dog grooming and so forth. But once you produce a mystery, your audience grows and so do your opportunities.
I took my mother to the doctor this week and saw a woman with one of those new Kindle readers. I asked her about it and she was more than thrilled to show it off. One thing quickly led to another and I discovered that she reads mysteries and she loves cats, so I told her about my new Kindle mysteries involving cats. I gave her a bookmark (not that you would use a bookmark for a Kindle, but it is a nice marketing tool).
A few days ago while out shopping, I ran into a young woman wearing a tee shirt with a cat on the front. I said, “Oh, do you like cats?”
She said, “I love them!”
I asked if she liked to read about cats. She said “Yeah.” So I handed her a bookmark promoting my two Kindle cozy mysteries, Catnapped and Cat-Eye Witness.
Today, I’m going on a bird hike. I enjoy hiking and I like photographing birds, so I’m taking my camera rather than binoculars. I’m also packing a handful of bookmarks just in case the conversation turns to, “What are you writing now?” or “What do you do?”
If you are the author of a novel, it might behoove you to become more friendly when traveling, while waiting your turn at the veterinary clinic, in the hospital lobby when visiting a friend, while out eating lunch, at work, when visiting your tax preparer, at church and so forth. Personality sells books.
Seek out books for authors by Patricia Fry and be sure to read my first two novels. They’re both on Kindle.