Get Known Before the Book Deal

Book Promotion Tips from the Pros: Featured Author Allison Winn Scotch

By Cindy Hudson

 

Allison Winn Scotch has had two novels on the New York Times Bestseller's List: Time of My Life and The Department of Lost and Found. She's currently working on a third novel called The One That I Want, due out in June of next year. Scotch also writes celebrity profiles for national magazines; she lives in New York City with her husband, two kids, and their dog, Pedro.
 
Q. What can authors do before their publication date to make a book launch more successful?
 
A. I think the best thing you can do (when writing fiction) is get your name and face out there -- on the blogosphere, on Twitter, on various other online outlets -- as a brand. To be honest, I'm not even sure that it's about getting your BOOK out there as much as it is your name coupled with your personality. I feel like a lot of my success is because I'm pretty communicative with readers, and in some way, they feel like (rightly enough) they know me. And since they know me, they root for me, and since they root for me, they're likelier to pick up one of my books. So, pre-launch, I'd just advise getting out there as much as you're comfortable with; these days, it's pretty easy to develop some sort of recognizable presence, especially online, and you can do it from the comfort of your own home.
 
Q. What do you like best about promoting your books?
 
A. I interact a lot with readers and book buyers, and I truly enjoy this. Twitter is a heck of a lot of fun, for example. I also enjoy doing Q/As with bloggers, and hearing feedback from readers on the books and what I have to say during those Q/As. I get a lot of e-mail, and I try to respond to all of it, though a few do occasionally slip through the cracks.
 
Q. What is one mistake you made promoting your first book that you would recommend others avoid?
 
A. Hmmm, that's a tough one. I guess that it's believing that promotion can change everything...which I know, probably isn't the ideal answer for this Q/A! BUT, promotion is fabulous...to a point. And sure, you do everything you can to sell the heck out of your book, but if that's all that happens, that you hear from readers, that you sell a few copies, be okay with that. I think a lot of writers feel a huge let-down when their books don't eclipse the bestseller list, despite having really, really promoted it. The behind-the-scenes truth is that it takes A LOT of factors to make a book take off. Yes, promotion is one of them, but there are a lot of things that are out of your control as well. So go out and promote, and enjoy it and be okay with whatever success -- big or small -- it brings.
 
Q. Can you share your top three book promotion tips for first-time authors?
 
1.   Don't be afraid to toot your own horn. No one is going to do it for you, and if you don't serve as your own best advocate, no one else will either.
2.   Don't be annoying while tooting said horn. I always try to have a sense of humor and be a little bit self-deprecating while singing my own praises, whether on Twitter or Facebook or via e-mail. I think people appreciate hearing about your successes while knowing that you don't take said successes too seriously.
3.   Don't be afraid to call in favors and use your connections. People are often happy to help you out or take a look at the book with the potential to help you out, but if you don't ask, it will never happen.
 
Q. Is there something you would say is never too late to do when promoting your book?
 
A. I'd say that it's never too late to reach out to readers and make new fans. I now have a backlist of books that certainly plenty of people missed the first time out and I truly believe that in getting to know me, some of them will go back and read these. Every sale is worth something, even if it's a few years down the line!

 

Cindy Hudson is the author of Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs (Seal Press 2009). Her website, and its companion blog, feature reading lists, book reviews, author interviews, book giveaways and other book club resources. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Portland, Oregon, where she writes weekly for The Oregonian. Visit her online at MotherDaughterBookClub.com and CindyHudson.com.

Book Promotion Tips from the Pros: Featured Author Kenn Nesbitt

By Cindy Hudson

 

Kenn Nesbitt is the author of five collections of funny poetry for elementary-age kids, including his latest collection, My Hippo Has the Hiccups. Nesbitt has three books coming out in 2010 and he is the creator of the world's most popular children's poetry website poetry4kids.com. He lives in Spokane, Washington with his wife and two children.
 
Q. What can authors do before their publication date to make a book launch more successful?
 
A. A lot of the promotion should be handled by the publisher, of course, as they are more likely to have media contacts who can generate some buzz around your book, but the one thing I think more authors should be doing is permission marketing. In other words, I think authors should gather the e-mail addresses of their fans to let them know whenever a new book comes out.
 
Nine months before my last book was released, I put a simple sign-up form on my website, offering free weekly poems by e-mail to my readers. That is, in exchange for their e-mail address, I send them a funny poem once a week. This is all handled by an "auto-responder" (I use aweber.com, but Constant Contact or others should work as well) so that I don't need to manually send the e-mails.
 
By the time the book was available, I had over 2,500 e-mail addresses of kids, parents, and teachers who enjoyed my poetry. When my next book is published, I expect to be able to send an e-mail announcement to over 6,000 people.
 
Q. What do you like best about promoting your books? 
 
A. Mostly I do assembly programs and writing workshops in elementary schools to promote my books. This has the advantage of giving me direct contact with my readers. I can try out new material on kids and see what they react to. I can find out what works for kindergartners, third graders, sixth graders, etc.
 
Although traveling is hard work, doing assemblies for kids is very rewarding. And because most schools sell books for visiting authors, I typically sell 5,000+ books a year myself.
 
Q. What is one mistake you made promoting your first book that you would recommend others avoid?  
 
A. I think I might have done better with my first book had it been published by a larger house; one with the resources to provide more publicity for the book. Because it was my first book, and my first publisher, I didn't know that some publishers promote their books more than others. I thought it was normal that I had to do all of the promotion and publicity myself.
 
Although I don't think I should have waited for a different publisher, I probably should have tried to work with the publisher's publicity and marketing staff more, rather than trying to do everything on my own.
 
Q. Can you share your top three book promotion tips for first-time authors?
 
A. Network. Explore the online "kid lit" community on the Internet. Read the blogs and introduce yourself. Connect with the folks who are blogging and podcasting about children's books. Stay in touch via social networking such as Facebook and Twitter. If they like your book, they will help you spread the word.
 
Use permission marketing. Everywhere you go, collect the e-mail addresses of everyone who is interested in knowing about your book. If you can send an announcement to thousands of readers, you're going to sell more books.
 
Read to your audience. Unless you are an A-list author, you may not have anyone show up at bookstore signing events. Instead of waiting for a few readers to come to you, go where the people are. I perform my work at schools (including high schools and colleges), conferences, festivals, libraries (summer reading programs), and any place else where I can share my work with a large audience.
 
Q. Is there something you would say is never too late to do when promoting your book? 
 
A. It's never too late to create a video to promote your book. This year Eric Carle created a video for the 40th anniversary of his book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. More and more authors are using videos on YouTube and Amazon.com to make a connection with their readers. In fact, if you'll excuse me I think I'll go make a video to promote My Hippo Has the Hiccups.

 

Cindy Hudson is the author of Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs (Seal Press 2009). Her website, and its companion blog, feature reading lists, book reviews, author interviews, book giveaways and other book club resources. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Portland, Oregon, where she writes weekly for The Oregonian. Visit her online at MotherDaughterBookClub.com and CindyHudson.com.

Book Promotion Tips from the Pros: Featured Author Lee Silber

By Cindy Hudson

 

As the author of 15 books with two more due out this year, Lee Silber has been published by industry giants Random House, St. Martin's Press and more. He believes the key to landing his book deals and the sales success of each of his titles is due in large part to his willingness and effectiveness at promoting what he's written. His titles include Time Management For The Creative Person, Self-Promotion For The Creative Person, Rock To Riches, and The Wild Idea Club. Silber lives in Mission Beach, California; visit him online at leesilber.com.

Q. What can authors do before their publiction date to make a book launch more successful?
 
A. There are three things that are key to promoting and selling a book before publication.
 
1. It all starts with negotiating a good deal. The more money they have invested in you, the more they will want to help you promote your book to make their money back. You also want to negotiate as many free books as possible as part of your deal. These can be used for promotion to smaller, specialty media outlets your publisher may not want to bother with. Finally, the "buy back" clause is important, if you can buy books cheaply enough, they make a better promotional tool than a brochure, and are more effective. 
 
2. It is so easy to be overwhelmed, distracted, and discouraged when it comes to promoting a book. A simple publishing calendar with target dates gets you thinking about deadlines and should motivate you to do more promotion. It also breaks down what needs to be done, and when it would be best to do it. A promotional plan is handy, but I have also found that by simply spending 30 minutes to an hour a day (every day) doing something to promote a book is best. Use Google, past leads, look at where books like yours are being featured, contact your local media, AND set aside time for follow-up. Each one of these doesn't take all day, but the consistent and relentless approach really works. 
 
3. Don't underestimate friends and family. Chances are they know someone who knows someone who will either buy a bunch of books or get you on radio or television. The good thing is, these people know you, want to see you succeed, and won't mind putting in a good word for you. Let everyone in your inner circle know about your upcoming book and if appropriate, ask for their help to promote it.
 
Q. What do you like best about promoting your books? 
 
A. I love doing radio interviews. What could be better than having someone ask you about your book and having thousands of people listening who could (and should) rush out and buy it? As for the benefits of promoting a book before publication, I have found that speaking engagements are great for getting the word out because they can lead to publicity, attendees hear about the book in your bio (or you create a talk around your title), and when the time comes to give the speech, you sell a ton of books at the back of the room. Plus, you get paid to give the speech, too. 
 
Q. What is one mistake you made promoting your first book that you would recommend others avoid?  
 
A. Not focusing on the outcome you seek -- to sell books. At first it's so cool to see your name in the paper or have friends and family say they saw you on TV. After a while, you realize that feeling is fleeting and fame doesn't pay the bills. The object is to use promotion to SELL books, and build your brand, but in that order.
 
Q. Can you share your top three book promotion tips for first-time authors?
 
A. I think my answer to question two covers it. But here is a point worth putting out there. Keep in mind when promoting your book that it's not about you, it's about them. The entire focus of your energy is to help people, solve a problem for them, improve their business, or in the case of fiction, provide entertainment or escapism. No matter what, promotion isn't about you. This helps authors overcome the fear of promotion and it helps focus the message on what's most important and that is what your book does for others.
The question that needs to be answered is this: "Why should I buy your book?"
 
Q.  Is there something you would say is never too late to do when promoting your book? 
 
A. Look for timely tie-ins. Watch the news for things that relate to your book and give it (and you) another chance to garner some good publicity.

 

Cindy Hudson is the author of Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs (Seal Press 2009). Her website, and its companion blog, feature reading lists, book reviews, author interviews, book giveaways and other book club resources. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Portland, Oregon, where she writes weekly for The Oregonian. Visit her online at MotherDaughterBookClub.com and CindyHudson.com.

Book Promotion Tips from the Pros: Featured Author Christina Hamlett

By Cindy Hudson

 

In addition to being a script consultant for the movie industry and a professional ghostwriter with The Penn Group in Manhattan, award winning author Christina Hamlett has penned 26 books, 128 plays, and five optioned feature films as well as hundreds of articles, interviews, and columns. Her latest releases include Movie Girl, Screenwriting for Teens, Awesome Plays for Teens and Tweens, and Could It Be a Movie. Readers are invited to visit her website at www.authorhamlett.com for more information and/or to post a question. She and her gourmet chef husband live in Pasadena, California.
 
Q. What can authors do before their publication date to make a book launch more successful?
 
A. Talk up a storm to anyone and everyone! This includes blogging, social networking (i.e., Twitter, LinkedIn, Gather), writing freelance articles (most magazines, ezines and newsletters will let you incorporate a link to your website), doing podcasts, and always including the title of your new book as part of your signature block on all e-mail correspondence.
 
Q. What do you like best about promoting your books? 
 
A. I love hooking people with the premise and then leaving them dangling with a cliffhanger that requires them to go buy the book and see how it comes out!
 
Q. What is one mistake you made promoting your first book that you would recommend others avoid?  
 
A. When the publisher of my first hardcover, The Enchanter (Little Brown & Co.) announced the release date of the book -- a Tuesday -- I was so excited that I assumed this meant the exact date it would be available in bookstores nationwide. A friend of mine who owned a posh salon in a Victorian mansion had always promised to host my very first book-signing. The date we chose was the Saturday right after the release and we invited about 75 people for champagne and munchies. You can imagine my panic when I called the bookstore on Friday morning to see how many copies of books I could come and pick up and was told that they hadn't received any. Yikes! Fortunately, a guardian spirit must have been looking out for me because we were miraculously able to get 50 copies about 2 hours before the party. I have since learned never, ever to schedule anything until and unless I actually have copies in hand.
 
Q. Can you share your top three book promotion tips for first-time authors?
 
A. A professional website is absolutely essential in this industry. This should include a copy of your book cover, excerpts, a brief bio, and author photo, and copies of any endorsements or reviews you have received. Make sure that your URL is printed on your business cards...and carry those business cards with you at all times! Exchange links and banners with your associates and help direct traffic to each other's sites.
 
Utilize companies such as www.vistaprint.com  which offer inexpensive but high quality postcards, stationery, envelopes, business cards, specialty magnets, pens, calendars, t-shirts, and brochures that allow you to upload your own design. I even customize my return address labels to reference "Author of (my latest book)" as the second line below my name. The proof that this latter strategy works came in the form of a surprise e-mail from a clerk at a department store who noticed my return address label as she was extracting my payment slip and check. Turns out that she was an aspiring author, looked up my name on the Internet and decided to write to me for advice on how to get published. Not only are we still corresponding but she also went out and bought some of my books!
 
Clubs, civic organizations and schools are always looking for guest speakers for meetings, special events and "career day." They'll welcome the addition of your name -- a local success story -- on their rosters! Too shy to talk? Let technology be your voice by sharing your views and building a network through interactive channels such as American Chronicle, Gather, BookSpoke, and NovelSpot. Start a ripple, create some waves, and employ all the imagination and tenacity that you can to make your new book the splashing success it deserves to be.
 
Q.  Is there something you would say is never too late to do when promoting your book? 
 
Even after your book has been out for several months, never stop soliciting reviews for it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and BookSpoke. (It always surprises me when I stumble upon new review for books of mine that were first released several years ago.)

 

 
 
Cindy Hudson is the author of Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs (Seal Press 2009). Her website, and its companion blog, feature reading lists, book reviews, author interviews, book giveaways and other book club resources. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Portland, Oregon, where she writes weekly for The Oregonian. Visit her online at MotherDaughterBookClub.com and CindyHudson.com.

Book Promotion Tips from the Pros: Featured Author Kelly James-Enger

   

By Cindy Hudson

Kelly James-Enger left her full-time law practice for freelance writing more than a decade ago. Since then she's written eight books, including Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money (Random House, 2005) and Ready, Aim, Specialize! Create Your Own Writing Specialty and Make More Money (Marion Street Press, 2008). She lives in Downers Grove, a Chicago suburb, with her husband, son, and golden retriever puppy.
 
As you may imagine, James-Enger has lots of great advice for first-time authors on promoting their books.
 
Q. What can authors do before their publication date to make a book launch more successful?
A. First, plan ahead -- at least six to nine months. I'll use Six-Figure and Ready, Aim, as examples. With both books, I had a list of possible reviewers lined up well ahead of time as well as a list of markets that would run related articles. I also started looking for and lining up speaking gigs (i.e. writer's conferences, libraries, writer's groups, bookstores) well ahead of time. I've tried postcards, but haven't had much success with them. I also promoted the books through my writers' newsletter, Writer's Gear (though I discontinued that this January.)
 
Q. What do you like best about promoting your books? 
A. I'm an extrovert in an introvert's job, so I love getting out and talking about how to be a successful freelancer. But I've learned that personal appearances can be extremely time-consuming with little payoff, so I focus more on things I can do from home.
 
Q. What is one mistake you made promoting your first book that you would recommend others avoid?  
A. I hired a publicist based on a colleague's recommendation, and she did almost nothing for quite a bit of money. That was an expensive lesson and a mistake I won't make again!
 
Q. Can you share your top three book promotion tips for first-time authors?

1. Pitch articles to magazines, newspapers and websites about your subject; I always want to get paid for articles like this but I will do them for nothing for a byline that mentions the book. (It depends on the market, subject, length, etc.)
2. Respond to personal e-mails. I get a lot of e-mail from people who find me through the web (i.e. "I want to be a successful freelancer, too, how do I do it?"), and those get a canned response. But I reply to "personal" e-mails (i.e. those from people who have read -- hopefully bought -- my books) briefly but helpfully, and I think that helps build loyal readers.
3. Make sure your friends and family all know about your book. They'll do a lot to promote it for you simply out of pride! 
   

Q. Is there something you would say is never too late to do when promoting your book? 
A. I think it's always worthwhile to continue to write related articles about your book subject. It continues to position you as an expert, and with a byline that mentions the book, you can always sell a few more copies. As someone who writes both magazine articles and books, this is a natural for me; I was a magazine journalist for years before I started writing books as well.

 
Cindy Hudson is the author of Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs (Seal Press 2009). Her website, and its companion blog, feature reading lists, book reviews, author interviews, book giveaways and other book club resources. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Portland, Oregon, where she writes weekly for The Oregonian. Visit her online at MotherDaughterBookClub.com and CindyHudson.com.

Book Promotion Tips From the Pros: Featured Author Roland Smith

 By Cindy Hudson

Award-winning children's author Roland Smith spends a lot of time on the road speaking to students about his books, which include both fiction and nonfiction for young readers. He posts comprehensive curriculum guides for his novels on his website -- www.rolandsmith.com http://www.rolandsmith.com -- and the guides are used in thousands of classrooms across the country as well as by book clubs to stimulate conversations about the books.
 
His most recent novel is I,Q Book One: Independence Hall, to be followed up later this year with I,Q Book Two: The White House. The series is about rock and roll, the music business, fame, and Islamic terrorism. Smith's two other most recent books are Elephant Run, which is about a girl and a boy stranded in Burma during the WWII Japanese occupation, and Peak, a novel about climbing Mt. Everest. Smith says he believes that "not all summits are found on the top of mountains. The things that really matter lie far below."
 
Here is his advice to authors about book promotion.
 
Q. What can authors do before their publication date to make a book launch more successful?

A. When I write a book I try to create readers because everything good in my life has come about because I was a reader. I spend 7-8 months a year on the road speaking about reading and writing. Obviously, I use my own books, present and future, to get the message across to students because I know my books best. 
 
Aside from writing a very good book that young people want to read there is little you can do to promote your book prior to its publication.
 
Q. What do you like best about promoting your books?

A. That's easy...talking to students! I love to hear what my fans think about my books. I'm not sure how many people I talk to every year, but it is certainly over 50,000.
 
Q. What is one mistake you made promoting your first book that you would recommend others avoid?

A. I'm not sure I made too many mistakes. You have to be willing (and able) to speak to anyone about your books. It is not easy being away from home for weeks and months at a time. You have to be able to sleep in any time zone, in strange hotels...and you have to really enjoy talking to people. No one cares about your book more than you do. It is totally up to the author to get the word out about his or her work.
 
Q. Can you share your top book promotion tips for first-time authors?

A. Do five things a day to promote your book. Send an e-mail to someone about your book. Introduce yourself to buyers at books stores. Visit schools and talk about reading and writing. Contact conference chairs and send them material about your books and ask them if you can speak at their conference. Don't be shy about your books. You worked hard on them. You will have to continue to work hard after they come out to make certain that people know about your work. Your publisher is going to do very little for you or your book. You need to do it yourself.
 
Q. Is there something you would say is never too late to do when promoting your book?

A. Your books are like your children. It's never too late to help them.


Cindy Hudson is the author of Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs (Seal Press 2009). Her website, and its companion blog, feature reading lists, book reviews, author interviews, book giveaways and other book club resources. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Portland, Oregon, where she writes weekly for The Oregonian. Visit her online at MotherDaughterBookClub.com and CindyHudson.com.

Book Promotion Tips from the Pros: Featured Author, Elizabeth Lyon

By Cindy Hudson

Elizabeth Lyon is the author of six writing books on fiction and nonfiction, revision, and marketing: Manuscript Makeover, A Writer's Guide to Fiction, The Sell Your Novel Tool Kit, Nonfiction Book Proposals Anybody Can Write, The Writer's Guide to Nonfiction, and National Directory of Editors & Writers.

Manuscript Makeover was featured in the December issue of The Writer as one of "10 Great Writing Books in 2008," and as "perhaps the most comprehensive book on revising fiction." Lyon lives in Springfield, Oregon.


Q. What can authors do before their publication date to make a book launch more successful?

A. As soon as the finished manuscript is delivered, authors should dive into reading how to promote books. I recommend Get Known Before the Book Deal by Christina Katz, 1001 Ways to Promote Your Book by Jon Kremer, and books by Dan Poynter.

They should create a marketing plan, as strategically detailed as if they were planning a presidential campaign. Their plan should include setting up a modern website, finding related websites where they can plan to ask for reviews and offer to be interviewed and write short articles, build a targeted list of "special venues," organizations, associations, and sales outlets that will sell the book but are not bookstores. They should plan speaking engagements, magazines and e-zines where articles or stories may be sold or offered, newspapers for features about them and their books, radio talk show venues if appropriate, and networks of friends and colleagues to help.

Realistically, any advance money should go to hiring a publicist, especially a publicist who specializes in Internet promotion. If there is no advance, the author should pony up money for promotion and know the royalty begins with the first book sold.


Q. What do you like best about promoting your books?

A. I'm more of an extrovert than an introvert. As a result, speaking engagements, teaching, and travel is stimulating and supplies much-needed people contact that I don't get at home editing or writing.


Q. What is one mistake you made promoting your first book that you'd recommend others avoid?

A. My first book was self-published. The first review to come out the reviewer did not like the book, primarily because of uncensored black-and-white photos of women giving birth. I was horrified by the review, fearful of having 2500 copies of a book forever in my garage, so I wrote a rebuttal and sent it to her - and to her managing editor. Don't do this! Later in my career, I had a bad review in The Writer magazine and I knew the reviewer had read my preface, scanned the book, and/or had some personal reason for panning it. I did not write a flaming letter. I did find a discrete way, years later, to inform the right person about what had happened.


Q. Can you share your top book promotion tip for first-time authors?

A. Find relevant websites to your subject (nonfiction) or your genre (fiction) and write an e-mail note to the newsletter editor introducing yourself and asking if that person would consider reviewing your book or posting an announcement. Of the 60 sites I tracked down for Manuscript Makeover, I received 25 reviews (all positive), which resulted in writers all around the country learning about the book, website or blog interviews, and which resulted in a number of speaking engagements in places that did not already know me.


Q. Is there something that is never too late to do when promoting your book?

A. In my opinion, it is never too late to do anything in your business plan for marketing your books. The only limitation is your time and energy. On my long-term follow-up plan is to track down the personal e-mail addresses of teachers of fiction and nonfiction in community colleges, colleges, and universities and to send a personal e-mail to each, by name, letting them know about my books and pasting in some compliments of them by other professors and teachers. I believe we authors must make personal relationships and help each other.

Last, we need to be the captain at the helm of our books, knowing that no one cares about their success as much as we do. Our partners are booksellers and librarians. My publishers don't market to libraries - a great awakening that was - so another author privilege is to let librarians know of our books. And, we can solicit three-way talks and mini-workshops to take place at libraries with books supplied and sold by booksellers.

One half of the job of being an author is writing, but if you want to have a career, the other half is all business.

Cindy Hudson is putting the finishing touches on her manuscript for Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs (Seal Press 2009). Her website, and its companion blog, feature reading lists, book reviews, author interviews, book giveaways and other book club resources. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Portland, Oregon, where she writes weekly for The Oregonian and edits the monthly e-zine, Writers on the Rise. Visit her online at MotherDaughterBookClub.com and CindyHudson.com.

Book Promotion Tips from the Pros: Featured Author: Marc Acito

By Cindy Hudson

Portland writer Marc Acito is known for his humorous columns, essays and novels. His first novel, How I Paid for College, won the Ken Kesey Award, and his second, Attack of the Theater People, was voted one of the Seattle Public Library's favorites of the year. For four years he wrote the humor column, "The Gospel According to Marc," which was syndicated in nineteen alternative newspapers. He is now a regular commentator for National Public Radio's "All Things Considered," and he blogs about his various obsessions at www.MarcAcito.com.

With his trademark humor, Acito shares his advice to authors about promoting their books.


Q. What can authors do before their publication date to make a book launch more successful?

A. Take the author questionnaire you receive from your publisher seriously. It is essentially your business plan. You need to think of yourself as a small business, and your book is your product. You believed in the story enough to write it, you need to believe in it enough to promote it. Once you're published, you have two jobs, writer and author, the latter having little to do with writing. Oh, and get a good haircut.


Q. What do you like best about promoting your books?

A. Since I spend so much time with my characters, I really appreciate the opportunity to connect with real, live people, be they readers, booksellers or the media. They're smart and interesting, the kind of people any lover of literature wants to be around.


Q. What is one mistake you made promoting your first book that you'd recommend others avoid?

A. I thought I was emotionally prepared for it, but I wasn't. The hardest thing to handle is the sense of helplessness. Your publisher will print however many thousands of copies, a fraction of which you personally will be able to push. The rest is out of your hands, but your success is based on the figure they've created for you. Two authors can each sell 15,000 books, but if one author has a print run of 10,000 and the other 30,000, the first author is a success and the second a disappointment. It's maddening.

I'm not sure what I would have done differently-learn Zen Buddhism, go into therapy, tattoo the serenity prayer on my wrist-but you need to know that it's a psychological minefield.


Q. Can you share your top three book promotion tips for first-time authors?

1. Develop your own network of media contacts. Build your own empire.
2. Find non-bookstore opportunities to speak and sell books. This means creating presentations related to your book, but not about your book. Through my accountant, I ended up on the Rotary circuit, giving a motivational speech about my journey from businessperson to author. And I'm certainly the least likely guy to speak at a Rotary club (each meeting begins with the pledge of allegiance, a prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ followed by me, the wacky gay guy). But I always sell a lot of books. Go figure.
3. Take part in the Stock Races. Every city I visit, whether I'm on tour or not, I go to every bookstore and inquire whether my books are in stock. Then I sign them. More importantly, it's a chance to give a quick pitch about my work, BRIEFLY telling the bookseller what he or she needs to know to hand sell the book. Be savvy about this. I usually look around first for the bookseller who most looks like my ideal reader. Sometimes they could care less, but I've also had experiences where we connect so well they put me on the staff recommended shelf without even reading it.

Q. Is there something that is never too late to do when promoting your book?

A. Simply put, it is never too late to do whatever it takes. For instance, I sent out an e-mail blast when I did a commentary on All Things Considered in December, but I forgot to tell my readers to click on the "recommend" button, which is super important. So I sucked it up and, with profuse apologies, sent out a second announcement. A couple of people complained and opted out but, at last count, there were 292 recommends. By way of comparison, the second closest was 50.

Cindy Hudson is currently writing Book After Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs (Seal Press 2010). Her website, and its companion blog, feature reading lists, book reviews, author interviews, book give-aways and other book club resources. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Portland, Oregon, where she writes weekly for The Oregonian and edits the monthly e-zine, Writers on the Rise. Visit her online at www.cindyhudson.com.

Book Promotion Tips from the Pros: Featured Author: Elizabeth Rusch

By Cindy Hudson

Elizabeth Rusch was busy celebrating the publication of four books for children in 2007: Will It Blow?: Become a Volcano Detective at Mount St. Helens (Sasquatch), A Day with No Crayons (Rising Moon), The Planet Hunter: The Story Behind What Happened to Pluto (Rising Moon), and Girl's Tennis: Conquering the Court (Capstone Press). Along with her first book for children, Generation Fix: Young Ideas for a Better World (Beyond Words Publishing 2002), her books have provided lots of opportunities for her to become promotion savvy.

Here Liz shares tips for promoting your book.

Q. What can authors do before their publication date to make a book launch more successful?

A. Ask your publicist for the best way to give her information and ideas on marketing and publicizing the book. Often this will be through an author questionnaire that you should answer as thoroughly as possible.

You could also pretend YOU are the publicist for the book and think about how you might promote it. Think overlooked, narrow niche markets rather than getting on Oprah. Also think of all the people and organizations you know that might help you get word out about your book, and send that list to your publicist.

Another tactic is to think of articles related to the topic of your book and query magazines and newspapers offering to write pieces for them. Magazines need at least 6 months lead time, so do this a full half year before your book is to hit stores.

Consider hiring a publicist to help promote the book. This can be pricey, but worth it. Also, send postcards or e-mails to friends and family when the book is released. Word of mouth starts at home!

Q. What do you like best about promoting your books?

A. I've met some terrific people through bookstore signings and other speaking engagements. The best is when you are at a signing and someone comes up to you who has read one of your books and liked it, and they are buying your next one. It feels great to meet your readers!

Q. What is one mistake you made promoting your first book that you'd recommend others avoid?

A. Expecting the publisher to do too much. We authors have to really think through marketing and promotional work we can do. We can make post cards, do mailings, visit local bookstores, set up signings.

Q. Can you share your top three book promotion tips for first-time authors?

1. Don't get discouraged; little things you do add up. Even if you do a signing and NO ONE shows up, you can still meet and chat with the bookstore staff. They may love your book and hand-sell it or keep an eye out for your next book.

2. Think about promotion as building relationships instead of just selling books. When I talk to people I describe or pitch the book, but I also talk about it in the context of my life and career as a writer, what I'm trying to do or say, what I want my work overall to offer the world. Likewise, it's important to listen to what the person you are pitching is interested in. Try to have two-way conversations--they are richer and more fun and they will help you develop relationships that may be important later in your career.

3. Don't get so overwhelmed promoting your book that you get distracted from writing your next one! Set aside time for promotion and for writing, so you are moving your published books into the public eye as you are creating your new ones.

Q. Is there something that is never too late to do when promoting your book?

A. There are always audiences for your book that you may not have thought of at first. So even if your book has been out for a while, if you think of a great audience, try to contact them.

Cindy Hudson is currently writing Bonding Through Books: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs (Seal Press 2010). Her website, and its companion blog, feature reading lists, book reviews, author interviews, book give-aways and other book club resources. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Portland, Oregon, where she writes weekly for The Oregonian and edits the monthly e-zine, Writers on the Rise. Visit her online at www.cindyhudson.com.

Book Promotion Tips from the Pros: Featured Author, Jennie Shortridge

By Cindy Hudson

Seattle novelist Jennie Shortridge began freelance writing in 1995, publishing articles in magazines and newspapers while writing fiction on the side. When her first novel, Riding with the Queen, was published by NAL/Penguin in 2003, she started writing fiction fulltime. Since then, she's published Eating Heaven (2005) and most recently, Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe (2008).

Here, Shortridge shares her thoughts about what it takes to successfully promote your books.

Q. What can authors do before their publication date to make a book launch more successful?

A. Everything happens before the book launch! This is when you need to develop a website, schedule readings at bookstores and other venues (most books about four months out), approach media for reviews and articles, and most importantly, figure out how you are going to present the book. What will be your compelling short description? What are your three talking points? How can you make your book stand out in a sea of others being released all at once?

Q. What do you like best about promoting your books?

A.  Actually, I like talking with readers about all kinds of things, not just my books. I love going to book groups and book festivals and in-store events and just getting to know them. For the most part, they're very much like me and my friends -- we're often interested in the same kinds of things, the same issues, and we all love to read.

Q. What is one mistake you made promoting your first book that you'd recommend others avoid?

A.  I didn't know how to be picky enough about various marketing opportunities, but I'm not sure you can know that until you give most things a try! Before you pay for any promotion, really do the research to see what kind of results you think it will yield. Ask other authors who've done it how it worked for them.

Q.  Can you share your top three book promotion tips for first-time authors?

A.  Actually, I can share my top ten tips, which are on my website.

Q.  Is there something that is never too late to do when promoting your book?

A.  Do everything you can for the first year. Make hay before the book is considered "old." For some media outlets, that can mean only a couple of months from pub date, but bookstores usually will welcome you for up to a year. After that, write another one, or better yet, be writing it while promoting the first one.

Cindy Hudson is currently writing Bonding Through Books: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs (Seal Press 2010). Her website, and its companion blog, feature reading lists, book reviews, author interviews, book give-aways and other book club resources. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Portland, Oregon, where she writes weekly for The Oregonian and edits the monthly e-zine, Writers on the Rise. Visit her online at www.cindyhudson.com.