Book promotion

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    Indie bookstore pre-order campaign for Queen of Foxes!

    I’m so excited to announce the bookstore pre-order campaign for Queen of Foxes! 😁

    Queen of Foxes bookstore pre-order campaign info graphic
    Info graphic for indie bookstore campaign for Queen of Foxes

    Participating Bookstores:

    Book People Cupboard Maker Books Eagle Eye Bookshop Foxtale Bookshoppe Shelf Love Atlanta Steamy Lit (Ft. Lauderdale) Trope Bookshop We book Book’N

    Readers who pre-order through these indie bookstores will receive the Queen of Foxes special edition hardcover book, a bookmark, a signed book plate, and an enamel acorn pin. How cool is that?!😎

    Queen of Foxes will be released Dec. 1, so please pre-order ASAP.

    A big thanks to all the participating bookstores and to my publisher Red Tower Books/Entangled Publishing, LLC for setting up the campaign! 😊❤️

  • · ·

    Try A New Genre and Win …

    Just a reminder that I am participating in a fun book giveaway in July, along with several other authors. Check it out:

    New Genre ContestOn July 2nd, we launched the Take a Walk on the Wild Side – Try a New Genre & Win contest. There are only two weeks to go, so while there is still time to take part, you need to get reading!
    We started out with 200 books to giveaway, so first check the FB group to see if there are any copies left, but if not, you can still participate, by finding a new-to-you genre book at the library, borrow one from a friend, or support one of the great authors sponsoring this contest. Read below to see how it all works. If you already know, and are participating, this is just a reminder that there are only 14 days left. And don’t forget, the person who participates the most on the Facebook group wins a $50 gift card. Go on, be a chatterbox! 🙂

    HOW IT WORKS

    This challenge starts on July 2nd, and ends on July 30th, so you have a month to get reading.

    PERSUADE US . . .

    We’re all different and what we like to read is no exception. However, sometimes it’s fun to change things up a bit and try something new. We’re going to help with that, by giving the first 200 lucky readers to ask us an ebook for free. All we ask is that the book they request is in a genre they don’t read, or read a long time ago and drifted out of.

    Each participating author will offer ten books for free (we’ll give you a list of what’s available). But if you don’t manage to get in fast enough and there aren’t any books left, don’t worry, you’re still eligible for the Take a Walk on the Wild Side contest. Find a book in a new-to-you genre, whether at the library, from a friend, or if you want to support the wonderful authors involved in this contest by buying one of their books, so much the better!

    Read the book—the contest runs for four weeks, so you’ve got time—then write a paragraph on the contest’s Facebook group about what surprised and delighted you about the genre you just read. You can also include a short paragraph on the genre you usually read and why you love it. Help convince other readers to give a new genre a try!

    We’re going to encourage people to like the paragraphs that inspired them to read a new genre, and the five entries with the most likes will go to a well-known book blogger (with names redacted) to choose the winner of the $200 gift card.

    BE A CHATTERBOX . . .

    This is one place where being a chatterbox will get you sent to the top of the class, not to detention. We want people talking about the books they’re reading, swopping recommendations, and generally connecting over new genres, so we’ve got a $50 gift card prize to the person who interacts the most on the Facebook group.

    Good luck, everyone, this is going to be a lot of fun!

    And here are the amazing authors involved in sponsoring this contest:

    Marilyn Brant
    Robin Bielman
    Kelsey Browning
    Zoe Dawson
    Michelle Diener
    Cynthia Eden
    Jennifer Estep
    Misty Evans
    Maggie Mae Gallagher
    Lori Handeland
    Mary Hughes
    Shona Husk
    Rachel Johns
    Dale Mayer
    Nancy Naigle
    Christina Phillips
    Edie Ramer
    Elle J Rossi
    Barbara Samuel
    Therese Walsh

    We’ll be posting a profile on each author and the books they have made eligible for the giveaway on the Read a New Genre Facebook group. As stated above, the first 200 people to request the books on offer will get them for free, thereafter, participants will have to source their own books, either from the library, a friend, or if they’d like to support one of the authors sponsoring this contest, so much the better! Only one free book request per person, so as many readers as possible can benefit.

    And that’s it. Hope everyone enjoys the event.

  • · ·

    Try a New Genre and Win …

    So I’m participating in a fun book giveaway in July, along with several other authors. Check it out:

    New Genre ContestHOW IT WORKS

    This challenge starts on July 2nd, and ends on July 30th, so you have a month to get reading.

    PERSUADE US . . .

    We’re all different and what we like to read is no exception. However, sometimes it’s fun to change things up a bit and try something new. We’re going to help with that, by giving the first 200 lucky readers to ask us an ebook for free. All we ask is that the book they request is in a genre they don’t read, or read a long time ago and drifted out of.

    Each participating author will offer ten books for free (we’ll give you a list of what’s available). But if you don’t manage to get in fast enough and there aren’t any books left, don’t worry, you’re still eligible for the Take a Walk on the Wild Side contest. Find a book in a new-to-you genre, whether at the library, from a friend, or if you want to support the wonderful authors involved in this contest by buying one of their books, so much the better!

    Read the book—the contest runs for four weeks, so you’ve got time—then write a paragraph on the contest’s Facebook group about what surprised and delighted you about the genre you just read. You can also include a short paragraph on the genre you usually read and why you love it. Help convince other readers to give a new genre a try!

    We’re going to encourage people to like the paragraphs that inspired them to read a new genre, and the five entries with the most likes will go to a well-known book blogger (with names redacted) to choose the winner of the $200 gift card.

    BE A CHATTERBOX . . .

    This is one place where being a chatterbox will get you sent to the top of the class, not to detention. We want people talking about the books they’re reading, swopping recommendations, and generally connecting over new genres, so we’ve got a $50 gift card prize to the person who interacts the most on the Facebook group.

    Good luck, everyone, this is going to be a lot of fun!

    And here are the amazing authors involved in sponsoring this contest:

    Marilyn Brant
    Robin Bielman
    Kelsey Browning
    Zoe Dawson
    Michelle Diener
    Cynthia Eden
    Jennifer Estep
    Misty Evans
    Maggie Mae Gallagher
    Lori Handeland
    Mary Hughes
    Shona Husk
    Rachel Johns
    Dale Mayer
    Nancy Naigle
    Christina Phillips
    Edie Ramer
    Elle J Rossi
    Barbara Samuel
    Therese Walsh

    We’ll be posting a profile on each author and the books they have made eligible for the giveaway on the Read a New Genre Facebook group on July 2nd. As stated above, the first ten people to request the books on offer will get them for free, thereafter, participants will have to source their own books, either from the library, a friend, or if they’d like to support one of the authors sponsoring this contest, so much the better! Only one free book request per person, so as many readers as possible can benefit.

    And that’s it. Hope everyone enjoys the event.

  • ·

    Final (promotion) games people play …

    So I’ve talked about some promotional things that have and haven’t worked for me this week. Today, I thought that I’d share a few quick tips that have helped me along the way:

    1. Asking for discounts: I use the same company to print all my bookmarks. A while back, I asked one of the reps if I could get some kind of discount since I had used their services so much. She put me on her preferred customer list and now gives me a small discount every time I put in an order for new bookmarks. It’s not a huge discount, but it saves me a little when it comes to shipping costs for the bookmarks.

    So don’t be afraid to ask somebody for a discount. The worst thing they can do is just say no.

    2. Rewards cards: Authors buy lots of office supplies — envelopes, rubber bands, printer ink, books. So sign up for a rewards card at your local office supply store or book chain. I know some places like Office Depot will give you a couple of bucks (I think it’s $3) towards a gift/rewards card for every printer cartridge that you recycle. I usually buy enough ink alone to get a gift card every quarter with at least $10 on it, which I use to help pay for color copies or envelopes or whatever I need at that particular time. It’s not a huge savings, but every little bit helps.

    3. Become an affiliate: If you’re an author, make sure that you are an affiliate with at least one of the major booksellers or a good independent store. I’m an Amazon affiliate. That means that every time someone clicks on one of my book links, goes to Amazon, and buys the book, I get a commission of a few cents. Again, it’s not a lot, but a few times a year, I get an Amazon gift card, which I can use to buy books for giveaways or whatever.

    4. Find someone local to do the work: If you need to have something done (like creating a Web site) that you just don’t know how to do, try to find someone local who does. Look in the yellow pages or contact one of your local colleges and see if you can hire someone in your area to do the job. They might just be cheaper than trying to find a Web site or graphic designer online. A college student might design a site for you for a class project or just to be able to put it on their resume. It never hurts to ask.

    5. Do the work yourself: I do a lot of my work myself — everything from designing bookmarks to stuffing envelopes to booking ads. Yeah, it’s mostly grunt work, but it needs to be done — and I am far too cheap to pay people to stuff envelopes when I can do it myself.

    So there you have it. Some final thoughts on book promotion. Got questions? Ask them in the comments.

  • ·

    More (promotion) games people play …

    So earlier this week, I talked about some of the promotional things that I do for my books. Today, I thought that I’d share some things that haven’t worked so well for me:

    1. Print ads: When I was first starting out, I bought several print ads in various magazines, like Romantic Times and Romance Writers Report because that’s what all the info that I found online said to do — and I quickly had my eyes opened about how expensive these sorts of ads are. Even small, black and white ads can cost you a pretty penny depending on the publication.

    I’m not saying that it’s bad or wrong to buy print ads in these or other magazines, but I just didn’t get the return on my money that I thought that I would. These days, I usually only buy online ads, because with one click, a reader can go to my Excerpts page or to Amazon to buy the book — something they can’t do with a print ad. And let’s face it — as a society, we’re all about the instant gratification. That’s why e-books are becoming more and more popular. With one click, you can start reading right then and there.

    2. Book signings: Also when I was a newbie author, I went around and set up book signings at all the major book chains in my area. Some of them went okay, some of them did not. I once sat in a Books-A-Million for two hours on a Saturday and only had one person come over and ask about my books — and that was only because she was my old high school Spanish teacher and I recognized her and called out to her.

    In general, if you’re sitting there by yourself, more people are likely to ask you where the bathroom is than about your books. Seriously. These days, the only place that I do local signings is at my local comic book store because I know that I will sell several books there. Not a whole lot, but enough to make it worth my time. Besides, the owner has been great to me, and I have a lot of fun talking to the folks who come into the store, since they are mostly fantasy fans like me. I have always had a good experience at the comic book store. The chain stores have definitely been more hit or miss for me.

    3. Personalized stationary and business cards: I know, this seems a little weird. But in the beginning, I spent way too much money getting personalized stationary and business cards printed up, because again, that’s what I thought you were supposed to do. I did use the stationary to write to booksellers, and I did pass out the business cards at various places.

    But really, I think the bookmarks and flyers that I design myself are just as good, if not better than stationary and business cards. Certainly, I seem to get more use out of bookmarks/flyers — I just hand them out or stuff them in envelopes knowing that they have the most important info about my books and how to contact me on them. And I don’t have to worry about putting a bookseller’s address on them or addressing them all individually when I’m doing one of my massive mailings.

    So there you have it. Some promotional things that haven’t worked out so well for me. Got questions? Ask away in the comments.

    Coming up on Friday: Some final thoughts and tips about promotion.