Stalking the Wild Introvert

Nodaway-Holt Middle School kids and me

So you wanna be a writer, huh? 

Sit there at your keyboard and punch those books out like so much bubblewrap.

*slightly psychotic laughter*

Sure. Go on. Write that book. Make it 90 – 95 K words. Perfect it. Polish it. Find an agent or publisher.

Signing books at a trade show

KaPOW! You have a contract.

You are a published author. Now, you will market the book.

WHAT! Market? 

But I’m shy, an introvert, a total geek that practically wears camo when I go out in public. Me? Give presentations? Sell my book face to face with the *shiver* public?

What? Are you bloody mad?

*wiping tears off cheeks from maniacal laughter*

Ah, my children, that is exactly what you must do though. The last thing an introverted creature such as myself wishes to do is stand on a chair and shout, “Look at me. I have something you want to buy.”

*rolling on the floor*

                           

Marketing. Selling yourself, your book, the premise. Making it interesting. At this point, you wanna-be writers, think and plan. Because someday, marketing will consume you. And by all that is Holy, you’ll wonder:

What have I gotten myself into.

IWSG - Asking for Help

IWSG

It’s a family reunion and everyone is mingling, talking about their little escapades. Except for that one gal sitting by herself reading.

Now, go to another scene. A kid is stacking blocks. The blocks topple and fall. When an adult starts to show the proper way of building a tower, it enrages the tyke who exclaims, “I do it.”

Prepare yourself for a revelation.

I am the quiet one reading in a social gathering with the “I do it” mentality. I don’t like to ask for help, and making a spectacle of myself is abhorrent.

I come from a long line of no-talkers. My brothers are the same way. When we get together in one room, we are comfortable with silence. Drives my daughter and hubby CraZy.

So how does a mutant market books?

Believe me, it is excruciating. Standing on a virtual platform and yelling “Look at me!” is like peeling skin off one strip at a time.

But I do it because I want my book to sell well and justify all the faith my publisher, editors, family, and beta buddies have in me.

I do it because to do otherwise is to quit halfway to the finish line when I’m ahead. 

So You've Signed the Contract. Now what?

Here is a checklist of what you’ll need to do or consider. Some might apply. Others might not be your cuppa. 

Remember: It is YOUR book, YOUR story that you want to tell. The one person showing the most enthusiasm should be YOU.

After signing the contract:

• Create a Facebook, twitter, and a Blog/website.
• Send a News Release to local Newspapers and Radio stations announcing your contract.
• Join Loops that have authors and readers in your genres. Get involved so that when you have something to promote readers won't think you are a spam and run author.
• Blog! Practice, practice, practice.
• Build you Brand.
• Start Hosting authors on your blog to drive traffic there.

Tip: While waiting for edits, start searching for books similar to yours to find the best genre slots and tags for your books.

Once you have your Release date:

• Find review sites interested in reviewing your book and let your publisher know so they can get an ARC to them ASAP.
• Start lining up Blog slots/ interviews with Blogs outside your publisher for your release date and after.

One Month before release or when authors have cover art:

• Work on trailers if author is interested.
• Line up guest slots on Radio Shows
• Start signing up for blog hops.
• Post Cover art on Blogs, Twitter and Facebook.
• Contact local artsy places see if they will host a book reading.
  Set up a Google Alert
• Set up your Author Accounts at Goodreads.

Note: You can’t make an author page at Amazon until your book is released.

Week of Release:

• Make sure all your Blogs are out to the Guest Blog sites you are blogging at. Thanking them for hosting you.
• Send out Press Release to local papers and radio stations follow up to see if they will interview you.
• Talk up your book. (Remember there is a fine line from Promotion and Spam)
• If the Book is available for presale push people to your publisher’s site to get their copy.
• Double check your tags, excerpt and Blurbs

Day of Release:

• Talk up your book!!! Have a Release Party.
• CELEBRATE
• Make sure to visit the Blogs who are hosting you and leave comments and answer questions.
• DO NOT ask people to TAG until all Amazon sites are live. Usually 48 hours after Amazon US goes live.
• Add book to Goodreads (use the ISBN number)

After Release:

• Keep Writing.
• Keep Blogging.
• Keep Promoting.
• Get readers to leave reviews on Amazon. (Honest reviews) and tag your books.
• Get Involved with Blog Hops.
• Update Amazon to make sure all your books are showing up on your Amazon Author Page.

Remember The Golden Rule: if you help other authors they will help you.

Marketing—When, Where, How

Book cover reveal. I've been sitting on my cover reveal for nearly a month, doodling around like a kid anticipating a merry-go-round ride. Which it surely is.

Next week, a new book trailer and the cover reveal. I hope plenty of my blogger buddies will pass the word.

Marketing. Selling your book begins the day your manuscript is ready for representation. The query starts the game, the sentence or two that entices another person to enter your world.

Not unlike the Carrion flower that emits a foul dead-meat stench to attract pollinating flies. (yeah, I know. It's a gift. My brain at work)

Some say luring that first visitor is the hardest part of the journey. I agree, but it is only one stop on the road to Published. Many junctions lie ahead. Some are perilous. Especially to introverts such as myself.

Shouting, Hey, Look at me, scares me more than anything up to date. The Introvert gene, no doubt.

Back to the journey. You have an agent or, in my case, a publisher who wants to take you on. Edits add more to that ms than you ever thought possible. And so begins the real work.

How to sell yourself. Well, boy howdy, it’s another query of course. Just in a little different form.

• With bling and book tours.
• Broadcast the news far and wide.
• Facebook author pages, social networks, blogs. And their upkeep.
• Book trailers.
• Press release to the local papers.
• Magnets. Postcards.
• Pens and posters with your book cover on it, ready to distribute at book signings.

There is lots to do. But the best part is coming, the cover reveal.

Next week. Be here for the first look at the cover for Wilder Mage. Sincerely—no bias here—it is amazing.