As authors, we all get excited when we find FREE opportunities to promote our books to our audiences! Someone mentions your book in their blog (that happened to me this morning). Your article is published and your bio includes your book title. You discover a newsletter related to your topic and they agree to do a book review. Your public library is featuring “Local Author” week and they listed you and your book. You donate a copy of your book for a silent auction and the MC mentions it several times throughout the evening. You send a press release to several appropriate newsletters and a few of them actually publish it.
Yes, you can get FREE publicity. And when you do, I suggest that you make note of where and when. Sure, you will print out or clip anything related to your book. What I’m suggesting today is that you keep a log of such opportunities along with contact information to use at other times.
For example, if the library has an annual “Local Author” week, get a head start on the event next year. Contact the librarian a month or two prior and suggest that authors do signings or talks at the library throughout the week. Volunteer to work with the committee on promoting the event. The more attention the event gets, the more exposure your book will receive.
The thing is, if you rely on your memory to remind you that the Local Author event is coming up, you will probably be caught off guard again next year. Log the event and the date, refer to your log often and you will be prepared.
Keep a log of publications, blogs and websites where your book was mentioned or reviewed. These are your friends. They will help you with the tough job of marketing. But they can only assist you if you keep them informed. When you sell your first 1,000 copies, a celebrity purchases your book, you launch a contest or a charity, you revamp your website, you add a blog or do anything else that’s note-worthy, contact this list with your news. Maybe your book won an award, you have scheduled a signing or you have just completed an accompanying workbook, send this news to your list of “friends.”
Your list should include dozens of publications related to your book’s topic or genre. Get Submission Guidelines for each of them and periodically submit articles (or stories) to them for additional exposure. Visit your blogging friends often and leave comments when appropriate. Always identify yourself as the author of (title of your book). Ask if you can be a guest blogger occasionally. And/or request that the blogger interview you for their site.
Yesterday, we talked about recycling your blog posts and articles. Today, I’m suggesting that you recycle your promotional opportunities by keeping good records and utilizing those opportunities again and again.
Patricia Fry is Promoted
Be sure to read the August 2009 edition of SPAWNews—the free newsletter for SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network). It is posted at the SPAWN website:
http://www.spawn.org/spnews.htm
In this issue, we announce changes coming to SPAWN and we introduce the new leadership team—which includes me, the new Executive Director.
By this time next month, Susan Daffron, our new President and Webmaster, hopes to have the newly designed website up and running. So stay tuned. For questions about SPAWN, my published books, my editorial services or online courses, contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com