{"id":797,"date":"2010-04-23T04:56:14","date_gmt":"2010-04-23T12:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/publishingblog\/?p=797"},"modified":"2010-04-23T04:56:14","modified_gmt":"2010-04-23T12:56:14","slug":"how-many-review-copies-should-you-send","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/publishingblog\/?p=797","title":{"rendered":"How Many Review Copies Should You Send?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some of you are finding the blow-by-blow report of my book promotion activities interesting. For those of you who don\u2019t know, I am in the early stages of promoting my newest book, Catscapades, True Cat Tales. <\/em><\/strong> http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades.html<\/a> <\/p>\n

One thing I preach and teach students and clients is to get plenty of book reviews in appropriate publications and at appropriate sites. I\u2019ve been spending my time seeking out potential reviewers of cat books. I have avoided contacting book review sites. Why? Because a review for a book like mine at one of these sites would probably go unnoticed. The audience for a general book review site most likely includes people who read novels or an interesting memoir, perhaps. Someone who is seeking out a book of cat stories, a business book or a how-to crafts book would be more inclined to search specific sites and publications\u2014related to cats, business or crafts, for example. <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve sent out 17 review copies so far. I actually could have distributed dozens more review copies, if I\u2019d just sent books out randomly to every address I found for a cat-related site, publication, pet store, etc. But I would rather make sure that the store or site owner or magazine\/newsletter\/ezine editor is interested. So the 17 review copies I\u2019ve sent are going to individuals who have expressed an interest in reviewing or carrying Catscapades, True Cat Tales<\/em><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

I was disappointed to discover that some of the great directories I located are sorely outdated. After studying one directory of around 90 online pet stores and sites, I discovered that 23 of them were no longer in business, emails to another 27 of them bounced and 20 of them were not appropriate matches for my book. I am currently preparing to send letters by mail to those whose email addresses bounced and for whom I have addresses. While I expect to get quite a few bad address returns on these, I might also discover some worthwhile opportunities among them. A few excellent reviews in well-read pet magazines or placement in a couple of busy pet stores would be a nice reward for my efforts. <\/p>\n

Book promotion is more time-consuming and tedious than I remembered. Let me back up the truck here for a second. I am in constant book promotion mode, as you should be if you are the author of one or more books. But that initial, out-of-the-chute promotion is quite different than ongoing book promotion. It is more intense. If it is a book of a different color\u2014dissimilar to the books you are accustomed to promoting\u2014you must spend a lot of time reinventing the wheel that will fit that particular book. It can get a bit overwhelming and intimidating as you weed through the enormous array of superfluous material to discover those gems that could result in book sales. <\/p>\n

I have been working for over a month on promoting this book and I have not even scratched the tip of the iceberg. But I have a marketing plan which includes book signings (one scheduled so far), book festivals (4 coming up this year) and my book has been accepted to be included in one online pet site, so far. Hopefully, several positive reviews will be forthcoming, my book will be accepted to more appropriate sites and orders will start rolling in. My initial order of books from the printer is minimal and I hope to experience enough volume to go into a second printing by February or March of 2011. <\/p>\n

Are you promoting a new book? How\u2019s it going? What are you doing to get word out about your book? We\u2019d like to hear about your process of promotion. It\u2019s an ongoing learning process. <\/p>\n

Also, I\u2019m interested in your leads. One reader already sent me the name of a potential outlet for my books in Arizona. Come on, I know some of you others know of possibilities for this book.<\/p>\n

Disrespect on Your Online Discussion Group<\/strong>
\nDo you belong to an online discussion group related to your book topic or something of interest to you? I belong to two of them and I have to tell you something that I\u2019ve noticed. Please tell me if you\u2019ve noticed this, as well. Some members of a discussion group seem to behave as if they are anonymous in a way similar to how we feel when driving. You\u2019ve noticed how you have enhanced courage when you\u2019re behind the wheel and are irritated with another driver. You may say unkind things under your breath when a driver cuts you off or you see someone talking on a cell phone while driving, etc. You have no problem calling this person a \u201cjerk,\u201d \u201cyo yo,\u201d or worse. But if you were face-to-face with this person, you might not express your reaction to their behavior in quite the same way.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m noticing that some people treat other people in their online discussion groups with the same disrespect. It\u2019s as if, \u201check, they can\u2019t see me and I don\u2019t know them, anything goes.\u201d I\u2019ve seen people indicate that another member is stupid, dense or irresponsible. Some people don\u2019t even think about how they are coming across when they crassly or rudely discount something someone else has offered. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s embarrassing to the \u201cvictim\u201d and it should be embarrassing to the perpetrator. I hope that we can all step back and look at what we\u2019re writing before we click \u201csend.\u201d Think about how your words may come across. <\/p>\n

I remember editing an article for my brother once. It was a good article with some valuable points and information. But I told him that it wasn\u2019t publishable until he took the anger out of it. Yes, it was a rant. He took another look at the piece and complied. While he admitted that this was a topic he is passionate about, he had no idea that the anger showed in his article.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s all try to write with passion, of course, but without attacking or making others feel inadequate, ignorant or wrong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some of you are finding the blow-by-blow report of my book promotion activities interesting. For those of you who don\u2019t know, I am in the early stages of promoting my newest book, Catscapades, True Cat Tales. http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades.html One thing I preach and teach students and clients is to get plenty of book reviews in appropriate […]<\/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