Many of you are published authors with books to promote. In the process of promoting your books, do you ever think about the various levels of promotion? Have you wondered when promotion becomes obnoxious? When is it promotion and when it is in-your-face-pushy, aggressive marketing? <\/p>\n
We all complain about SPAM. But SPAM, after all, is simply advertising. It\u2019s junk mail. Only instead of coming in your tin mailbox, it lands in your bulk email box. SPAM is a nuisance, for sure. For those of us with very busy email boxes, it can interfere with real work and the receipt of real email. <\/p>\n
SPAM is so annoying that those of us with books to promote hesitate using email to spread the word about our books. We wonder, is it appropriate to promote our books through email? Should you promote through email only to people you know? What about people you\u2019ve met in passing\u2014those whose business cards you\u2019ve kept? Is it still considered SPAM when you send your message individually to one email box at a time? If you send to multiple email addresses, should you use the blind copy function or is it best to reveal the other recipients? How many people can you email your promotional material to before it is considered SPAM?<\/p>\n
Is it cool to sign up for message boards and chat rooms in order to promote your books? Is it okay to send your book announcement to the people whose websites you visit?<\/p>\n
What about promoting outside of the computer\u2014the old-fashioned way? As an author, you\u2019re told to talk about your book everywhere you go. But when is enough, enough? How much is too much promotion among your family, friends and acquaintances? <\/p>\n
If I decided to send my Christmas cards early along with a note suggesting some of my books as gifts, is this overkill? Will my efforts be well received?<\/p>\n
I believe that it depends on the individual you\u2019re approaching. While some people will lambaste you for sending them an email announcing your book, others will warmly thank you. While some will be insulted to find an advertisement in their Christmas card, others will be thrilled that you made the suggestion. <\/p>\n
There\u2019s no pleasing everyone and it\u2019s futile to try. I believe that it is more important that you find your comfort level with promotion than to worry about what others are going to think. Once you\u2019ve established and implemented a promotional plan, stretch some and strive to expand your level of comfort. It\u2019s a process of setting a goal, reaching the goal and then raising the bar. And don\u2019t try to second-guess potential customers to the point that you talk yourself out of some valuable promotion.<\/p>\n
Last year, I received an email notice from a SPAWN member telling about her newly revised book. I placed an order that day. When the author received my order, she emailed me and said, \u201cI almost didn\u2019t send you my announcement because I knew that you were already aware of my book.\u201d What she didn\u2019t know was that the first time I heard about her book, it sparked an interest. I saw it at a book festival and made a mental note to purchase it sometime in the future. When I received her announcement, the timing was right.<\/p>\n
I think this is a good lesson for all of us. <\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com<\/a> Note: This blog was first posted here in November of 2005.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many of you are published authors with books to promote. In the process of promoting your books, do you ever think about the various levels of promotion? Have you wondered when promotion becomes obnoxious? When is it promotion and when it is in-your-face-pushy, aggressive marketing? We all complain about SPAM. But SPAM, after all, is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"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
\n http:\/\/www.patriciafry.com<\/a><\/p>\n