I\u2019ve been silent for too long. Been writing and also promoting my fiction. Today I\u2019m in promotion mode. Some things have come to my attention and I think they might be of interest to you.<\/p>\n
First, I\u2019ve said this before\u2014as an author, you should be subscribing to and READING appropriate newsletters (which are mainly enewsletters today). Most are FREE. If you\u2019re an author, you\u2019ll want to subscribe to newsletters related to the topic and genre of your book as well as anything even remotely linked to the process and mindset of book promotion. Now, not every issue of every newsletter will include information you can use. But I\u2019m pretty sure that there are relevant and even money-making\/book-selling items in some of the newsletters you subscribe to that you\u2019ve missed. You\u2019ve missed some because you didn\u2019t bother to read the newsletter at all. Others you\u2019ve missed because you thought the idea was too difficult, time-consuming, stupid, or not germane to your project. Sure, you\u2019re probably right in some cases, but not all. I would venture to guess that most of you miss out on some great opportunities because you\u2019re just not paying attention or you\u2019re not willing to meet a challenge.<\/p>\n
No one said being an author would be easy. In fact, the crux of most books on publishing is that authorship is darn hard work. And most of the work comes after publication.<\/p>\n
The second thing I want to bring up today is the book review. I\u2019ve had hundreds of reviews for my 56 books\u2014some are wonderful, flattering, validating and others, well, not so much. It happens. Not every reviewer or reader will love your book. But that\u2019s no reason not to scramble for reviews. There are dozens of methods of getting book reviews. I talk about them in my books, \u201cPublish Your Book,\u201d and \u201cPromote Your Book,\u201d and even in \u201cPropose Your Book.\u201d It might be helpful if I put together a list of methods for locating reviewers and attracting reviews. Let me know if you\u2019re interested. If not, I certainly have plenty of other things to keep me busy. PLFry620@yahoo.com<\/a>. (Don\u2019t leave a comment here, I get hundreds of spam comments every week and, I\u2019m afraid I don\u2019t go through them very carefully as I toss them by the dozens into the trash.)<\/p>\n I\u2019ve spent hours and hours as well as $$$ locating and contacting book reviewers over the years\u2014most recently for my Klepto Cat Mysteries. I\u2019ve purchased books of reviewers, I\u2019ve done individual Internet searches, I\u2019ve visited numerous blog sites and reviewer sites, tapped into their list of favorite bloggers and reviewers and contacted them, I\u2019ve attempted to contact reviewers for other books similar to mine. And over these past two days, I spent hours\u2014probably 10 hours in total\u2014chasing down and following up with new book reviewers I’ve found and bloggers who interview authors. I was rather surprised at what I discovered.<\/p>\n I learned how important it is to be well-connected at prestigious\/well-known book sites, such as GoodReads. So I spent additional time this week putting my ducks in a row at some of these sites, with a list of sites still to contact. You want to make sure your book is listed at these key sites (including Amazon), post your author profile, and find ways to connect with your particular audience. I\u2019ll be able to tell you more about this once I\u2019ve spent more time pursuing it for my own purposes.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a tip. Just before Christmas, I sent review copies to a list of 30 reviewers who had requested my Christmas story\u2014\u201cA Picture-Purrfect Christmas.\u201d I received this list from a publicist I was working with. These were reviewers I\u2019d never considered approaching, because I was focusing on those who review Cozy Mysteries and books involving cats and other animals. However, all 30 of these reviewers asked to see “A Picture-Purrfect Christmas” and most of them reviewed it. So I contacted each of them today asking if they\u2019d like to receive my latest book, \u201cMeow for the Money\u201d to review. Those for whom I did not have an email address (they asked to receive a print copy), I sent letters\u2014yes, through the mail\u2014using the note cards I had made featuring some of the covers from my Klepto Cat Mystery books.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll let you know the results.<\/p>\n You can read some of the reviews here, if you want: http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Picture-Purrfect-Christmas-Klepto-Cat-Mystery\/dp\/0996673202\/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1453329190&sr=1-3&keywords=klepto+cat+mysteries<\/a><\/p>\n I\u2019d say that around 17 or 18 of these reviews are from this list of 30. As you may know, some reviewers take a long time to respond. And that\u2019s okay. A good review is important no matter when it comes in.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been blogging and writing about book promotion for years. I often write about my experiences as well as the experiences of others and what I learn through research. Remember, I used to compile the “Market Update” for SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists, and Writers Network), so I had many concepts and resources to share with my readers. But believe me, the playing field keeps changing and so do the players, so this is a constant study. Now that I\u2019m writing and promoting fiction, it\u2019s a whole new game in some ways. Stay tuned and I\u2019ll do my best to keep you up on the rules and maybe you, too, will score in the crazy world of authorship.<\/p>\n Contact me here: PLFry620@yahoo.com<\/a><\/p>\n