The hot ladies of Hot Chocolate Press will be at BookBar in Denver this Saturday! There will be readings, giveaways, and activities involving . . . marshmallows . . . of course. Dean K Miller, the hot guy of Hot Chocolate Press is unable to attend (no, this wasn’t our doing), but his books will be available for purchase at the event. If you can make it, we’d love to have you.
Check it out: Bobbing for Watermelons is on sale at Amazon for $10.95 (Kindle: $5.99). Want to try before you buy? Read the first four chapters for free.
SAVE THE DATE: On January 9th, I will be joined by my fellow Hot Chocolate Press authors at Bookbar in Denver for a night of readings, games, and giveaways. (We all decided I will talk about my melons.) I’ll post more info soon.
Have a great weekend.
I really need to be better about consistently blogging, but lately, I’ve been putting everything I have to say in the YA I’m working on. You can catch me at The Writing Bug, however, every other Wednesday. But while I’m words-smithing away, the writing world keeps spinning, so here’s some newsworthy tidbits to pass along. Plus, I’m giving away a copy of Bobbing for Watermelons . . .
My Bobbing publisher, Kerrie Flanagan of Hot Chocolate Press is at Patricia Stoltey’s blog today discussing the good, the bad, and the ugly of being a small publisher. It’s a great interview, plus Kerrie is giving away a book, so head over and leave a comment.
The Water Holds No Scars: Fly Fishing Stories of Rivers & Rejuvenation, edited by Dean K. Miller, is now available from Tulip Tree Publishing. This is a compilation of essays from various authors about their healing experiences of fly fishing. Proceeds benefit the Platte Rivers Chapter of Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing. I’m anxiously awaiting my copy to arrive in the mail.
I highly recommend Kenneth W. Harmon’s ebook, The Devil’s Lament. Ken is a longtime member of my critique group and this book has always been one of my favorites of his. He set is aside for a few years, so I was thrilled when he finally decided to shop it. It didn’t take long for his publisher, Winlock Press to snag it. “It is 1932. The world has turned to dust. Lucifer stills walks among us, testing the faithful at every turn. Then he discovers the reincarnation of Eve in a Dust Bowl revival tent … and their ancient passion threatens the world again. When Lucifer and Eve were together in Eden, their relationship changed the fate of humanity.” An excellent read.
The 2016 Top of the Mountain Book Award is underway. Deadline is February 1, 2016, but wouldn’t it be great to get your submission in before the craziness of the holidays? Top prize is $1,000 given in two categories: Fiction and Creative Nonfiction. Fiction entries tend to outnumber the nonfiction ones, so please pass along the contest to all your memoir writers!
Finally, what you’ve all been waiting for, right? I’m giving away a copy of Bobbing for Watermelons to one (outrageously) lucky and (obviously) smart reader. Just leave a comment (preferably a nice one) by next Monday, the 7th at midnight, PST. Open to U.S. residents only.
And if you read any of these books I mentioned (or any book for that matter) leave an honest review on Amazon, Kobo, B&N, and/or Goodreads. It helps authors out a great deal, especially considering there are roughly 750,000 books published a year!
Happy reading!
Check out my interview with Dan Zupansky of True Murder podcast where I discuss Folsom’s 93. You’ll hear that my brain cut out quite a bit and that my favorite words are “um” and “and.” Regardless, it was fun and it’s a great podcast if you like true crime.
This Sunday, from 6-7 p.m., Between the Pages, a radio show featuring author readings, news, and music, makes its debut and I get to be a guest! The show is hosted by funnyman, Rich Keller of Wooden Pants Publishing, and I’ll be joined by Northern Colorado Writers Director and founder of Hot Chocolate Press, Kerrie Flanagan. I get to talk about Folsom’s 93 and read from my latest book, Bobbing for Watermelons. Kerrie will fill us in on all the latest industry news and events, so hopefully, you can tune in . . . and given it’s a live show, hopefully, I don’t screw up. But there’s always that chance and you won’t want to miss it. Check out Between the Pages on Facebook and give ’em a Like; they’re good folks.
To sell books, exposure is crucial. But what’s the right exposure? And where do you find it? How do you avoid over-exposure? Hell if I know; I’m still trying to figure it out. For what it’s worth, here’s my two cents:
Attend writer’s conferences. These are great places to network and get noticed. If you’re an expert in your field, or have a great workshop idea, many conferences offer opportunities to submit a proposal for teaching a workshop or doing a presentation.
Blog. I know, some of you hate blogging and I get it. You don’t have to do it, but it is a good way to showcase your writing chops. I love this post by Chuck Wendig who takes a hysterical look at whether or not you should blog. I do it because I enjoy it. I might say stupid things every now and again, but I really do try to be helpful and maybe even entertain here and there.
Offer free stuff. Many authors will tell you to never write for free, and I agree, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with offering a free chapter or two to entice readers. There’s no obligation to the reader, and if your work is the on par, it will get readers to buy. (You can read the first 4 chapters of my novel, Bobbing for Watermelons HERE. I didn’t plan this. I promise.) I talk about a Lead Magnet in a previous post about marketing that might help.
Be active on social media. Choose your poison: Facebook, Twitter, Google +, whatever . . . focus on one and submit quality content. I don’t have a big Twitter following, but I enjoy using it and meeting others and tweeting helpful links.
Join a local writing organization. This is another opportunity to network and talk shop with like-minded folks who want to help you on your writing journey. The more writers you connect with, the more writing/book events you’ll attend, which will lead to getting your name out there.
A couple of don’ts:
Don’t over-tweet or over Facebook your book. That’s over-exposure and people will soon ignore you because they’ll think you’re a narcissistic ass-clown.
Don’t post pictures of your bare ass.
That is all.
What do you do for maximum exposure?
A recent post by Jody Hedlund about creating a book launch team, got me jazzed up about getting the wheels in motion for my upcoming release of my book. Last night, I joined several other NCW authors for a night of readings at Bas Bleu Theatre. I read an excerpt from my new book, which is not only great practice for reading aloud, but it generated buzz for my book. My publisher also made up this awfully cute bookmarks to help promote it.
When Folsom’s 93 released, the launch took place at the prison itself. The museum that sits outside the prison walls, provided the perfect venue. For all of the events, I had many of the book’s mug shots printed into foam board, which guests of my local launch had a great time with. It was a great way to get people involved in your book launch/signing.
I also have album with all the mug shot in it so people can flip through them—which is a great icebreaker when you’re at a book signing and people are afraid to come over to the table.
Just recently, I had these cool business card magnets made up with some of my favorite Folsom guys:
These are inexpensive ways to get readers interested in your book, and more importantly, remember your book. Making your presentation and signing memorable is going to draw readers in and chances are, impress their socks off.
Patricia Stoltey went all out for her last signing by providing refreshments and big baskets of giveaways.
Another way to generate an audience, especially before the book launches, is create ads with your book and tweet them. Author Kenneth Harmon used this technique and gained over 10K Twitter followers in a few months time. You can read about how he did it HERE.
Have a launch/signing at a location mentioned in the book
It doesn’t have to be the exact place, especially if it’s not possible to travel there, but think about similar venues in your own city. Consider what your character does for a living; play up that. Think about the various places and things in your book that you can incorporate. Not all signings and launches have to take place in a bookstore.
Incorporate props
I got to have the actual gallows trap door for my book launch, which was pretty spectacular, but there may be other (smaller) items that are portable enough to bring with you. One author, who writes about zombies, decorates his table with zombie props and dolls. (I’d think writers of erotica might really garner some attention with props!)
Create ads with book info and include any author blurbs you scored
Like what Ken Harmon did, he added text to pictures he took himself. If he acquired a blurb from another author, he added that. It’s a great way to generate buzz, especially on Twitter.
Bookmarks and postcards
This is another great way to get interest, especially if you do a reading before the book is released. Your audience needs something to remind them of your upcoming book.
Have items such as magnetic business cards, mousepads, pens, and mugs made up using the book’s cover to other pictures that may be in the book.
These are great for including in a giveaway basket or placed on the table. Check out places like Snapfish, Overnight Prints, and Vista Print.
Partner with an organization that your book can be associated with
If your book has an underlying message or theme, or brings awareness to a certain issue, contact organizations that might be interested in partnering up. An author friend is pairing up with her local cat rescue since her book is about a shelter cat.
I realize I’m just scratching the surface when it comes to creative book launches and signings, but I hope it launches some ideas for you. Your branding and how you promote your books is an important part in creating an audience. This may be a daunting thing for a lot of writers who’d much rather spend their time writing than promoting their books and actually talking to people, but that’s why some promotional items can be an icebreaker—both for the author and for the potential buyer. Above all, make it a fun experience.
What are some of your ideas for making the most of your book launches & signings?
I’m thrilled to announce that Baby Shoes: Celebrating Flash Fiction has made its e-book funding goal! Woot-woot! There are ten days left and we hope to make it to $2200 so that we can do a print run as well. Thank you to everyone who has contributed thus far. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to check out this amazing project that will be featuring 100 authors and 100 flash fiction stories. You’ll find some familiar names among the author list such as Linda Needham, Joe Lansdale, Danika Dinsmore, and Walter J. Williams. Yours truly will have a piece in the book called “An Affair to Forget.” I’m also honored to be among some of my favorite local authors, Katherine Valdez, Shelley Widhalm, and he who shall not be named . . . because he’s using a pen name. 😉 Thanks again for the support.