How often do you have an opportunity to promote your book or your upcoming book and you don\u2019t take it? Last night I had the pleasure of working with two dozen or so writers and authors under most unusual circumstances. I\u2019m at the Cat Writers Association conference in Los Angeles today. This organization receives a whole lot of support and attention from companies that sell items for and about cats\u2014nutritional products, toys, treats, magazines, calendars and so forth. Not only do they support this organization financially, but they send boxes and boxes and boxes of their product samples to be given away at the conference. <\/p>\n
So on the night before the conference, volunteers (that is speakers, attendees, organizers) gather and fill goodie bags with all of these items for conference attendees. <\/p>\n
Generally, I travel to New York for this event and I arrive too late to participate. This year, the conference is in my backyard, so I arrived early enough to join in. What great fun! I met friends from past years and many new cat writers. They refer to members who are attending for the first time as, \u201ckittens.\u201d Cute! <\/p>\n
After the work was completed last night, we sat in a circle, shared some veggies, fruits and cheeses and introduced ourselves to the group\u2014talking about our work and, of course, our cats. What a nice moment. And it was a great opportunity\u2014one of those unexpected marketing moments. How cool is that? <\/p>\n
As authors, we must be prepared for such moments. I don\u2019t suggest that you necessarily always have the hard-sell thing going on. Not everyone can pull it off well. I\u2019ve met people who can. Most who do it annoy me. But you certainly can mention that you are an author and introduce your latest book. Only one woman, last night\u2014and it wasn\u2019t me\u2014had the foresight to bring a copy of her latest book to hold up during introductions. I guess she\u2019s been involved in the goodie bag stuffing party before.<\/p>\n
After the introduction session, came socializing and networking. I noticed people gravitating toward those with interesting stories\u2014backgrounds or work they wanted to know more about. I heard, \u201cOh, congratulations on your new book, can I see it?\u201d \u201cI write about black cats, too\u2014have you heard of such and such magazine?\u201d \u201cI\u2019d like to know more about that resource you mentioned.\u201d <\/p>\n
You\u2019ve heard\/read me suggest that you carry your book with you everywhere you go\u2014that you collect business cards\u2014that you have interesting materials of your own to hand out. In other words, always be prepared when one of these great opportunities arise. To give you a sneak peek into who will be featured\u2014Wendy Dager, Raven West, Hope Clark, Margaret Brownley and Kathleen Ewing. <\/p>\n The interviews run all next week\u2014November 5-9, 2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How often do you have an opportunity to promote your book or your upcoming book and you don\u2019t take it? Last night I had the pleasure of working with two dozen or so writers and authors under most unusual circumstances. I\u2019m at the Cat Writers Association conference in Los Angeles today. This organization receives a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
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\nSecrets From Novelists<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m excited about my planned series of blog posts for all next week, where I interview novelists at various stages of publishing and success about their techniques and approach to their stories. I\u2019ve received most of the interviews back and I can tell you, these are going to energize and inspire you in ways you can\u2019t even imagine, yet.<\/p>\n