Do you take advantage of book promotion or writing opportunities when they present themselves or do you wait to think them over and eventually forget to take action? There’s a third alternative to either acting too quickly or never getting a “round tuit.†When I’m presented with a book promotion or publishing opportunity that sounds pretty darned good, but I want to ponder it, I print out or copy the information and save it in a hot file. If there’s a deadline, I log it in my daily calendar. If there isn’t a deadline, I create one for myself. When I turn over that calendar page days or weeks later, I reevaluate the opportunity and make a decision.
I’m actually pretty quick to act when something comes across my desk that sounds good. Like this morning: I received my copy of Book Promotion Newsletter from Fran Silverman and saw that she is offering authors her services as a publicist. Evidently, she has had some amazing success sending out authors’ bios to newspaper, magazine and Web book reviewers. For $25, she’ll include you in her promotional efforts. While I often caution authors and freelance writers against paying for services that you can do yourself (well, so many of them charge such huge fees), it may also be a wise move to pay for additional exposure when the price is right. I think that Fran’s offer is probably worth the $25. She’ll be contacting potential book reviewers that I may not even know about.
My book promotional efforts are limited by the fact that I’m only one person with limited time and resources. When someone else jumps on my bandwagon to help me promote my latest book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book, for example, it increases my opportunity for success.
So rather than wait, I signed up on the spot. What’s to lose—$25 and a lesson learned? But weigh that with what’s to gain? Potentially hundreds of dollars in book sales, a couple of invitations to conduct writing workshops in exotic places and a publishing contract, perhaps? Dream big authors and work smart.
And so my message to writers/authors today is, seek out opportunities to be read and quickly act on those that are free or reasonably priced and that seem to offer you excellent exposure that you might not otherwise get.
I’m off to the big city to finish my Christmas shopping today. Over ¾ of my packages are wrapped. Our lighted wreath is up and our Christmas tree is waiting in a bucket of water outside. I finished knitting another scarf last night. Curly ribbon is out this year at our house. We may have to hire a pit bull to guard the gifts once we put them under the tree. We have a paper-shredding kitten who is obsessed with the curly ribbon. Ribbon, yarn, string can be dangerous for cats. A cat who eats these things can suffer anything from death to colorful poop. Sophie also loves the tissue paper. She tears it up into pieces, gathers the pieces all around her and then lays on the pile. She looks like a little tortoiseshell hen on her nest.
18 days until Christmas
24 days left for prepublication discount offer for “The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book.” http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html