Book Marketing Fun

All authors have to plug their book and do what they can to sell it.  Even the bestsellers from major publishers still have to do city-to-city tours.  Those of us starting out might think it would be great to have someone organize all this for us, but even those can be tough on the author with reporters who have never read the book or ones who don’t care about the book, but want to ask sensational questions about the author’s private life (look at Anne Perry). 

 

Anyhoodle, we all have to work it, we all have to do what we can to get books in hands, reviews on page, and checks in bank.  There are many methods we all know about social media and working that.  Sometimes, we just need to go outside all we know and take a risk, do something different, and maybe look a little silly. 

 

My publisher, Gone Feral Publishing, will open soon for submissions from other authors.  We need to be known, we need to get out there and develop that name recognition just like the big firms, but many of us want to do it cheap, perhaps even free. 

 

We ran through a few ideas and knew we would want something Texas oriented, proud of being independent and free.  Oh, and totally feral.  We saw that the Independence Day Parade was organizing and signed up.  We rode in the parade as the Gone Feral Rodeo Queens wearing tiaras on our cowboy hats and sashes made by the same company who makes them for the Miss America pageant.  As a novelist, I was Miss Adventure, our managing editor was Miss Chief, the accountant went as Miss Fortune, and our intern was Miss Spent.  We gave our pageant waved from a convertible GT emblazoned with the Gone Feral Publishing logo and threw beads with the best of them.  Many strands of beads had pictures and write ups on the book series on them. 

 

Many people noticed us, most of those noticed the Gone Feral Publishing log, and some saw the pictures of the book covers.  We have no idea how much information we got out there, but we had a great time. 

 

Book marketing has never been more fun. 

 

I’m the author of the Hurricane Mystery Series, ECHOES OF THE STORM and BRIDES OF THE STORM, set in Galveston, right after the 1900 Hurricane, as well as the military thriller, SHADOW OF TWILIGHT.  When I’m not writing, I’m working with my husband and daughters to restore our Victorian house in Galveston.  While some people have waiters in fine restaurants greet them by name, we are known to the guys at the Salvage Yards.