How tasteless is that? Now wait, that all depends. I attended a memorial service yesterday in a luxurious home in a rather casual, friendly atmosphere and there was some gentle promotion going on. As far as I could tell no one was offended. In fact, it appeared that the people involved in the conversations were most interested.
Some of us were introduced as the author of such-and-such a book or the owner of so-and-so company or a freelancer in some field. This typically initiated inquiries and comments creating opportunities for some of us to talk about what we do. I handed bookmarks featuring two of my novels to a couple of people who expressed interest in my cozy mysteries. Did they scowl and tell me I was insensitive to the occasion and walk away? No! On the contrary, they thanked me profusely for the bookmarks and asked a few more questions about the books and about my writing path, etc.
One gentleman told me about the book he’s writing. He had a few questions regarding publishing, so I shared with him and a few others within hearing distance some publishing and marketing information and suggestions.
As you become more involved with book promotion, you’ll come to realize there are many ways to promote your book and many levels of promotion. I would not walk into a memorial service wearing a tee shirt with the cover of my book blasted on the front of it. Nor would I wear a large button saying, “Ask me about my book.” And I wouldn’t walk around randomly handing out promo pieces. However, I might use those tactics at a casual afternoon class reunion, a family reunion, a large birthday celebration for a friend or community figure, a Chamber of Commerce mixer or a public event, for example.
It would be fun to hear some of your most unusual and/or successful book promotion activities. Send your stories to me at PLFry620@yahoo.com or leave your comment here. I’ll share some of mine tomorrow.
Remember, this is prize give-away week. I listed the prizes in my blog dated January 18, 2014. Guess my next big milestone for this blog to be achieved Friday and win.
Not only will you win prizes by following this blog, you will learn a great deal about writing, publishing and marketing a book.