It’s Promotion Season

September 20th, 2005 · 1 Comment
by Booksquare

Our friend Kate Rothwell has done the unthinkable: she’s gone and taken a look at book promotion, examining what works and doesn’t work. We agree with one of her readers, Paperback Writer, who notes that tchotchkes aren’t the best use of your publicity dollar. Kate talks specifically about promotion for the romance market, but with some creative name changes (like, oh, probably you don’t want to promote straight science fiction in Romantic Times), the advice is portable.

Often we encounter authors who blink in confusion at the notion that publicity isn’t part of the publishing package. Oh sure, there are some who have nice little budgets for tours and ads and such, but whether you’re hitting the literary trail or surfing the genre waters (it’s raining and our brain is preoccupied with the notion that water is falling out of the sky), you need to ask yourself, “What can I do for me?” Kate has some suggestions, and for those of you looking for an intensive, all day publicity bootcamp, our friend Bella Stander is holding another round of her Book Promotion 101 workshops. Bella brings published authors together with various industry professionals to develop workable marketing plans. Heck, we didn’t even have a book to promote, and we left feeling like we were ready to start up our publicity machine.

As for our advice on promotion? We suggest that in addition to practicing it early and often (and be safe out there!), you have a clear plan. In fact, right now, we’re trying to touch base with another friend who not only had a plan, she had an enterprise. . .

File Under: Square Pegs

1 response so far ↓

  • Joan Kelly // Sep 20, 2005 at 12:32 pm

    Great info from Ms. Rothwell.

    And for anyone else who views this – I can also personally attest to the awesomeness of Bella Stander’s workshop. I met my independent publicist there, and she’s already doing kick-ass things for my book.

    Thanks as always, Booksquare!