A big thank you to Dee Owen for posting my interview in her blog, Mum’s Writings, Mystery and More.

We authors are always looking for unique ways to promote our books. One idea is to create your own holiday, or even better, link your book to a holiday someone else has already created.  For instance, did you know that the second week of January is letter-writing week?  If you’ve written a book that involves letters, why not launch a publicity campaign that week?  

Here are some others ideas for the month of January: the release of your new book could be tied to Make Your Dream Come True Day, or your recipe book could link to National Pie Day, or your children’s book could match up with Winnie the Pooh Day. 

Here’s a website with a list of unique holidays in January.  Let your imagination run wild!  

A friend of mine just got out of a publishing contract because she hated the cover design they presented to her.  Her gut told her it sent the wrong message.  This may be the best decision she has ever made.

According to survey data, bookstore browsers spend an average of 8 seconds looking at the front cover and 15 seconds studying the back cover before making a buying decision.  Online bookstores such as Amazon reduce the decision time even further, as do mobile devices.  Bookstore book buyers want concise, quick information.  The front cover (or spine, if displayed spine out) must present a compelling visual, and next a sizzling spot-on title must grab their interest.

The bottom line is the cover is the most important marketing tool you have.  It must absolutely make a connection between your book and your target market. The colors, fonts, and images must  grab the potential buyer and say “Choose me!”  While the story may be fabulous, without the right cover, it won’t sell.

On the first rainy night of the year, I was very concerned about how many people would come out for our presentation, “So You Want to Write a Book,” at the Clayton Library.  Much to my surprise, we had over sixty attendees, many of whom were aspiring writers. 

Our panel consisted four published authors from the Mt. Diablo Chapter of the California Writers Club, myself as moderator and author of Husbands May Come and Go but Friends are Forever, Barbara Bentley, author of  A Dance with the Devil: A True Story of Marriage to a Psychopath, Jon Cory, author of Jon Cory A Plague of Scoundrels, and Al Garrotto, author of The Saint of Florenville: A Love Story.  After brief introductions, we authors shared what inspired us to write our books, what are writing processes were, what the hardest part of writing was for each of us and what we were currently working on.  But the best part of the evening the Q & A session where members of the audience asked such questions as how to get an agent, how to find a publisher, and how to choose from the various self-publishing options available today. Overall, I think the attendees got their money’s worth, and we authors enjoyed sharing our experiences and selling our books.  We hope to take this show on the road!  Stay tuned. 

Nothing is more off-putting than a blatant plea to “buy my book.”  I see this on a number of sites I belong to along with “vote for my blog,” or “vote for my book trailer.”  My reaction – hit the delete button.  And I’m sure I’m not alone.

Authors need to be more creative in marketing their books.  You need to find a way for readers to connect with you as a person, either through your blog or by other means.  What other interests do you have besides writing?  Cooking?  Bird watching?  Tap Dancing?  My second love is fashion.  Some time ago, I began doing posts about fashion for women over fifty on a well-known blog.  The editor of my local newspaper saw them and contacted me asking if I would like to write a similar ongoing column for her paper.  I jumped at the chance.  Here’s one of my articles.  See Page 13 and check out the byline. 

My point is there are more effective ways to promote your book than begging people to buy it.  If you know anything about marketing, soft-selling works.  Think out of the box.  Use some of the creativity you used in writing your book to market it.   

Now that I’m about to upload Husbands May Come and Go but Friends are Forever to Smashwords, I’m researching what other authors have done to promote their eBooks.  One such uber-successful author is J.A. Konrath, who writes mystery, thriller, and horror genres and has published a ton of eBooks.   He recently posted this article on his blog.  As I come across more helpful information, I’ll post it here.

I’m so happy to have been interviewed by Sci-Fi and Fantasy author, Daniel L. Carter.  See the interview here, and thanks Daniel!  It’s great to crossover genres.  Best of luck with The Unwanted Trilogy.

We authors know the importance of having a website as part of our marketing platform.  But have you ever thought about the searchability of your domain name?  Many authors choose the title of their book as a domain name.  But if your domain name doesn’t include important keywords, you could be missing out on search engine traffic.  A good keyword is a word your prospective customer associates with your product.

Domain names are cheap, so it may make sense to register more than one domain. You can point or forward your domains to different pages of your site or to your home page. Also, remember to include important keywords in the titles of the pages on your website.

While most in the publishing industry see these as passé, people still love them.  I give a bookmark away with each book I sell.  If you’re having a signing or guest appearance, you can do custom bookmarks with the date and time of your event. Nowadays it’s pretty easy to get these done cheaply.  I use NextDayFlyers.  Whether you’re having an event at a book store, mall or other type of shopping area, you might be able to drop off a supply of bookmarks in advance and ask if they’ll help promote the event.

Husbands May Come and Go but Friends are Forever is sponsoring this week’s Just Write Blog.  See a summary and review of the book, and enter to win a copy here.