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guestspeaker
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Hi! I made it1
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mary rosenblum
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Hello, all!
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mary rosenblum
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I hope you had a fine spring
weekend.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer and we're
talking about self-promotion. If you're new here, remember that you need to
click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question
mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in order to
ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! You can also type
/ask in front of your question to reach me.
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mary rosenblum
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I wanted to talk about self
promotion today, and follow it up at our Friday After Hours with some
specific talk about websites...
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mary rosenblum
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because more and more people
are choosing to either publish with small press publishers, or to use a
Print on Demand publisher like iUniverse...
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mary rosenblum
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and in both these cases where
the numbers tend to be smaller, self promotion can make a big difference in
your sales.
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mary rosenblum
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The distribution network is
quite limited in both PoD self publishing houses and for small press
publishers.
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mary rosenblum
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But few writers have a lot of
cash lying around to spend taking their own book tour...
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mary rosenblum
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Although that would be the
ideal! :-)
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mary rosenblum
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A writer friend of mine just
did this to promote her short story collection, just published by a small
press publisher.
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mary rosenblum
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She stayed with friends in
major urban areas and arranged signings by phone with major bookstores
there...
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mary rosenblum
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and did both east and west
coasts... but she spent quite a bit of money doing this...
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mary rosenblum
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It's unlikely that she will
actually make enough on her sales to pay for the tour unless her book
'catches on' with the general public...
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mary rosenblum
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but it did bring her attention
she otherwise would not have received...
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mary rosenblum
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and did a lot for her
professional reputation.
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mary rosenblum
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On the flip side of this, I
have a couple of writer friends...
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mary rosenblum
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who spent a lot of time and
money visiting bookstores to sign books when their novels came out from a
New York publisher...
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mary rosenblum
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and in the long run, the HURT
their careers doing that.
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mary rosenblum
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So there is no 'one size fits
all' for self promotion, and you need to think about it in terms of YOUR
particular situation.
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tory
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How did it hurt them long-term,
Mary?
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geezer
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How did it hurt?
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mary rosenblum
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Shocker, huh? That signing
books and promoting yourself can hurt?
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mary rosenblum
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Remember...I am talking in
terms of TRADITIONAL publishing only...the big NY houses...
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mary rosenblum
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this does NOT apply to small
press publishers.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...the big publishers look
solely at the numbers sold to determine the success/failure of a particular
book.
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mary rosenblum
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They look at books ordered
(how many the store orders)...
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mary rosenblum
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versus books returned (how
many get their covers stripped and are shipped back unsold).
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mary rosenblum
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If stores order a LOT of books
and don't sell many...
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mary rosenblum
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your numbers are bad...you cost
the publisher money to publish your book...
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mary rosenblum
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and if you do that two or
three times in a row, they may not buy your next book.
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mary rosenblum
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So what happened to my friends
is that they called the stores and said they would be doing a signing...
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mary rosenblum
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and the chain stores ordered a
lot of books from the publisher so that they would have plenty in
stock...BUT...
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mary rosenblum
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they did not advertise much
and my friends were fairly new writers at the time...
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mary rosenblum
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so very few people showed up.
So the stores shipped back a lot of unsold books.
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mary rosenblum
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And the percentage of books
sold looked BAD. They probably sold a few more than they otherwise would
have...
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mary rosenblum
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but it is the percentage that
NY looks at, not the actual number.
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mary rosenblum
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And if that sounds unfair it
is. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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But that's life in the NY
publishing world.
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mary rosenblum
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So now, they only do signings
for stores that DO advertise and routinely draw a lot of people...
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christopher dale
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Can't the author's promote the
book signing themselves? Suh as radio interviews talking about WHERE they
wil lsign and WHEN, Newspaper ads - I know that our local paper has a
section that once a week will pblish Who is Signing where...
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mary rosenblum
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You bet, and you need to do
that.
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mary rosenblum
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They ran into trouble with the
chains. B & N and the like...
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mary rosenblum
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some managers DO have
promotional routes in place but many just put out a sign in the store...
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mary rosenblum
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and call it quits at that.
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mary rosenblum
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If you are going to sign at
any store, you really DO need to let the universe know...
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mary rosenblum
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and you can do that by sending
a press release to the appropriate newspaper, putting out flyers in libraries,
and the like.
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mary rosenblum
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Make up a nice promotional
flyer on colored paper and deliver a hundred or so to the bookstore where
you will sign...
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mary rosenblum
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if it's out of town, ship it.
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mary rosenblum
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The bookstore owner may or may
not do something like that on its own.
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tory
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Is there any way (sebsite, etc.)
for us to determine a bookstores sales figures?
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mary rosenblum
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There isn't , tory, and it's
darn hard for even an agent to find out what a publisher is shipping...my
agent has been frustrated many times.
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mary rosenblum
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I have a friend who posed as a
bookstore owner and called the purchasing department once...
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mary rosenblum
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she managed to find out what
the general numbers were that way. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Not even her editor could tell
her, at the time.
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dbamarsha
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So, if we want to be sure there
is promotion, we should see to it ourselves?
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mary rosenblum
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Yep.
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mary rosenblum
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And that's true whether you
publish with small or NY publishers.
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babbles
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isn't that where COMMUNICATION
is the key ingredient to SUCCESS with advertising, signing and selling?
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mary rosenblum
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IT is, babbles, and that's
what I wanted to talk about today...
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mary rosenblum
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how do you DO this?
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mary rosenblum
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There are several ways...the
press release is one, although the paper may choose not to run it...it
depends on their policy, the editor of the community or book section...
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mary rosenblum
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all kinds of factors.
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mary rosenblum
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You probably have tons of
potential readers in any given town...but how do you make your book known
to them?
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mary rosenblum
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On thing to do when you are
trying to begin a career as a writer or promote your work...never say no.
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mary rosenblum
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No matter how trivial the
request seems, no matter how inconvenient, if someone asks you to come sign
or speak or read. Say YES.
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mary rosenblum
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You may not enjoy hanging out
with the public, but it is the BEST way to promote your book.
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mary rosenblum
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People tell people. Nobody can
beat word of mouth...it is the best form of advertising and...woohoo...it's
FREE.
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christopher dale
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Mary - Here are a couple of
suggestions: As I stated earlier - try to get on some local talk shows
(Radio) and TV shows, if they have them. Write to the NewsPaper. Post on
the load YourCityName.ForSale and .Info News groups, Post ANYWHERE and
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christopher dale
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EVERYWHERE where you think ppl
will listen. And DEFINATELY have your book signings posted on your website
(If you don't have a website - GET ONE! ;-P). listening Place, Time(s),
Dates.
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mary rosenblum
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Yep,and well talk about
websites on Friday...
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mary rosenblum
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but don't depend on a single
website. AS to talk shows and radios..
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mary rosenblum
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you can try, but it's a hit
and miss affair when you are new.
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mary rosenblum
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The problem is the same catch
22 you run into making that first sale.
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mary rosenblum
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THEY want someone whose name
will draw listeners.
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mary rosenblum
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So they will put you on if the
producer has read your book and loves it (which is why you send a copy
along with the letter)...
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mary rosenblum
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OR...they don't have anything
better in mind for that slot.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the other rule of promotion...
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mary rosenblum
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give away a LOT of your books.
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mary rosenblum
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It's a 'cast your bread upon
the waters' thing.
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mary rosenblum
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You never know where that book
will end up or what it will bring you...
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mary rosenblum
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You will get few if any 'free'
books from your publisher, but you will be able to purchase books at a 40%
author's discount. Buy a lot.
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mary rosenblum
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Send out review copies to the
local book reviewer where you will be signing.
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mary rosenblum
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She may not choose to review
your book, but if she does, your name is in front of people. Just realize
that you can't control the publication schedule..
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mary rosenblum
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so sending the local reviewer
a copy a week before your signing may not do you much good...
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mary rosenblum
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if that review comes out three
months later!
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gwanny
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I knew my degree in
communications would come in handy one day
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mary rosenblum
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There you gwanny...everything
is useful somehow! :-)
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geezer
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I've wondered about the ethics
of this. One author I read supposedly coauthored with a famous person, just
using his name while he didn't write a word.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, that happens a lot,
geezer, but I doubt that the big name didn't write a word...
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mary rosenblum
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I'd have to hear THAT from a
reliable source. I sure don't want MY name on a piece of trash!
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...I do know that Anne
McCaffery, for example, co authors with a lot of young women writers...
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mary rosenblum
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so that they can get some name
recognition. She DOES work on the book, atlhough the young author does the
main work.
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mary rosenblum
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But readers KNOW this.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer and we're
talking about self-promotion. If you're new here, remember that you need to
click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question
mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in order to
ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! You can also type
/ask in front of your question to reach me.
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speckledorf
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About press releases...should we
be sending them out to our local paper for instance when we have a piece
accepted for publication?
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mary rosenblum
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I wouldn't speck. What can
they buy? I would send in a copy of the published piece when it comes
out...
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mary rosenblum
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and publishers will help you.
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mary rosenblum
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The local pet-page columnist
for our paper agreed to review the issue of Ellery Queen that had a
tracking-dog mystery in it...
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mary rosenblum
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and I requested a copy from
the publisher as soon as it was available...
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mary rosenblum
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so that she could get it into
the paper while the magazine was still available on the magazine racks.
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mary rosenblum
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The publisher happily
complied.
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mary rosenblum
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Now of course, you can put
excerpts from an upcoming book or story or article...
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mary rosenblum
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on your webiste..WITH THE
PUBLISHER"S PERMISSION!
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mary rosenblum
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I will have a chunk from Gypsy
Tail Wind, my next story in Fantasy and SF magazine up on my website this
summer a couple of weeks before the issue will be out.
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mary rosenblum
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And I'll probably do that with
my Anolog story, and the story I have coming out in Modern Magic...but I
have to check with those publishers first.
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mary rosenblum
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Think about what you are
publishing.
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mary rosenblum
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Who are your readers?
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mary rosenblum
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If I have a dog-related
mystery, I want to reach dog owners...
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mary rosenblum
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which is why I queried the
pet-page columnist rather than the paper's book reviewer
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mary rosenblum
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The more specifically you
target your audience, the greater your 'return on investment'.
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t green
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Local Book Reviewer? Where do
you find them? Are you talking about the reviewers in the local papers?
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mary rosenblum
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Yep.
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mary rosenblum
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Most papers have a book review
section and a book review editor.
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mary rosenblum
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Publishers send virtually
every new book to the major newspaper reviewers..
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mary rosenblum
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they get TONS of books and
pass them out to their staff reviewers. (Great way to get free
books...become a reviewer for you paper! LOL)
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mary rosenblum
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Magazines in that genre review
books...
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mary rosenblum
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My SF gets reviewed in
Asimov's, Analog, Locus...many SF related magazines.
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gwanny
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most small radio stations also
have a reviewer
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mary rosenblum
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They do, and it's a matter of
doing your homework.
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mary rosenblum
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And if you're going to be in a
distant city...say on vacation...
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mary rosenblum
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check out bookstores there.
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mary rosenblum
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And for the most part, the
independent bookstores in general, do a better job of advertising and
drawing in people for signings.
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babbles
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online check out
roundtablereviews.com
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mary rosenblum
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I don't know what that website
is, babbles. Does it review books or list reviewers?
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer and we're
talking about self-promotion. If you're new here, remember that you need to
click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question to reach me.
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mary rosenblum
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If you have a garden-related
mystery, for example, ask your local garden center if you can sign books on
some nice weekend...
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mary rosenblum
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deliver flyers to that store
they can hand out to visitors,
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mary rosenblum
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and plan on giving a nice,
dynamic reading and talking to customers.
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mary rosenblum
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You'll have to bring your own
books to sell, but do that.
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mary rosenblum
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Don't forget...if you buy your
books at 40% off and YOU sell them...
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mary rosenblum
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you get that 40% of the cover
price instead of only 8.5% (your likely royalty from NY)!
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mary rosenblum
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And I'll pass on a sneaky
trick to you, although this only applies to the NY publishers...
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mary rosenblum
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if you buy a case of books,
say, from Bantam directly, they do NOT count those books as sales because
YOU the author bought them.
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mary rosenblum
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But bookstores ALSO get a 40%
discount on those books...
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mary rosenblum
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so if you're friends with a
local independant bookstore....not a chain...
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mary rosenblum
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the owner will often order
your books for you...and then they count as sales, since a store bought
them.
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mary rosenblum
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You pay the same price. :-)
Good reason to be nice to your local independent bookstore.
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babbles
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roundtablereviews.com does both,
it lists reviewers, books that have been reviewed as well as run contests
and other info.
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mary rosenblum
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Sounds good, babbles. I'll
check it out and put the link up on LR.
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johnnycat15
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How is co-authorship different
for self-promotion?
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mary rosenblum
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I'ts darned expensive
advertising, johnny. You are going to split the money with the co-author...
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mary rosenblum
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and if her name is much bigger
than yours, you may only get a small percentage of the profit!
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mary rosenblum
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Coauthors do NOT do this for
free!!!!
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mary rosenblum
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And to be honest, very few
authors are willing to do it.
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mary rosenblum
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if they are a selling author
why should they split money with you, and work with someone who is less
skillful?
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jackie7777
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Would my agent be responsible
for advertising and promoting?
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mary rosenblum
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Not at all jackie.
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mary rosenblum
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Agents have nothing to do with
promotion and ads...their job is simply selling your book and dealing with
the publishers.
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christopher dale
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The homeschool conventions have
book sellers. Would that be a place to try for Christian books? - Grom
geezer
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mary rosenblum
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Book fairs are a GREAT place
to promote your book, but most of them are invitation only. Conventions and
conferences are another great place to make your book public.
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mary rosenblum
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Publishers often give away a
new author's book to every person attending a conference.
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mary rosenblum
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Or you can pay for a vendor's
table and sell your books to people in the dealers' room.
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mary rosenblum
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Or you can write to the
programming committee, try to get yourself on panels...
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mary rosenblum
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do a VERY nice job there, and
chat with everybody who wants to talk to you...
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mary rosenblum
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of course carrying your books
around...
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mary rosenblum
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as well as visiting the
booksellers in the dealers room...
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mary rosenblum
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and leaving copies 'on
consignment' with them.
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mary rosenblum
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Most booksellers will do that
if they don't have your book in stock.
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mary rosenblum
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And do sign every book you can
for the booksellers...
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mary rosenblum
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Booksellers LOVE cooperative
and friendly authors and THEY promote your books!
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mary rosenblum
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One bookstore manager on the
Oregon coast loved my mystery series and told every customer who came in
about it.
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mary rosenblum
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I was on their top ten best
seller list for two years running...
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mary rosenblum
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and when they asked me to come
out there for signings, I said 'yes, ma'am'!
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jackie7777
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What am I paying him for????????
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mary rosenblum
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You're only paying him to deal
with the New York publishing world, jackie.
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mary rosenblum
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But for that, the 15% is well
spent.
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christopher dale
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If i get published in a large
pub house (Say random), and set up my OWN booksignings. Wil they front me
the books to give away or will I have to purchase them (at a discount, i
would hope)?
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mary rosenblum
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When you sign that HUGE
contract with Random House (My last one was 9 legal size pages, 10 pt font,
single space, BOTH sides of the 9 pages...)...
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mary rosenblum
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it will specify the number of
'promotional' books you will receive for free.
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mary rosenblum
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usually that is about 25 - 30
copies or so of a mass market paperback, fewer for hardcover.
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mary rosenblum
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Your agent will keep some to
work on foreign sales, reviews, etc.
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mary rosenblum
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And she'll send you the rest. After
that, you get your local indy bookstore to order you copies at their deep
discount...
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mary rosenblum
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or you buy directly from
Random House at their 40% off author's discount.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer and we're
talking about self-promotion. If you're new here, remember that you need to
click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question
mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in order to
ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! You can also type
/ask in front of your question to reach me.
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babbles
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back to selling yourself, (not
published yet) however, I have a group of followers awaiting that first
sale. I handed out my business cards on vacation and made new friends as
well as fans.
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mary rosenblum
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That's a great way to do
it...AND...keep track of addresses and email addresses..
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mary rosenblum
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and when your book is out, go
ahead and have a nice postcard made from the cover flat...
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mary rosenblum
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and then send it to all those
people...scan it in and send an email version to the email people...
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mary rosenblum
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and if you're VERY smart,
you'll offer to send them a free signed bookplate, or you can list the
places where you'll be signing your books.
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christopher dale
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What kind of does having nice
postcards/bookmarks cost? And where do you go? A local printer or somewhere
'better"?
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mary rosenblum
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The prices has come way down,
chris. Several writers I know who do this find the best values online...
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mary rosenblum
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Bookmarks with your cover on
them and purchase info are another good 'giveaway'...
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mary rosenblum
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and you can leave a stack at
bookstore checkouts...
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mary rosenblum
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and they cost less than post
cards.
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geezer
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The homeschool conventions have
book sellers. Would that be a place to promote Christian books?
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mary rosenblum
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It sure would geezer.
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mary rosenblum
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Take your books around to the
sellers and talk to them about your book.
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mary rosenblum
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Ask them to sell them on
consignment. Realize that they WILL take a percentage to sell them...
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mary rosenblum
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so make sure you have bought
those copies at a discount, not at the cover price!
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forest elf
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It's funny. Several employees at
my local Kinkos gave me their e-mail and/or phone and said they'd buy my
book as soon as it was out.
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mary rosenblum
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elf, keep those addresses on
file and plan on using 'em.
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mary rosenblum
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A lot of writers in the
mystery and SF fields send out postcards of book covers to all memebers of
MWA and SFWA...
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mary rosenblum
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but that really isn't cost
effective.
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mary rosenblum
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Other writers don't buy your
books...FANS buy your books...
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mary rosenblum
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For example, if I publish a
new mystery that features tracking dogs...
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mary rosenblum
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i'll target all the local
petstores, dog websites, magazines, and the like.
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mary rosenblum
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I'm not going to waste my
money on other mystery writers.
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babbles
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my local fire history that I'm
writing--I plan on hooking up with the local historical society. They have
self-published two books already.
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mary rosenblum
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That's a good way to go,
babbles.
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t green
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bookplate?
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mary rosenblum
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Everybody used to use them...
a rectangular stick-on paper with Ex Libris or something and a place to
write your name.
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mary rosenblum
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You can have one printed up
specifically for you.
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mary rosenblum
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My friend Louise Marley, who
was a guest here not too long ago, has very nice custom ones...
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mary rosenblum
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that way, people can get their
book signed without sending you the book from another state.
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mary rosenblum
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You can simply send them a
bookplate if they request it.
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mary rosenblum
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She buys hers online.
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babbles
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a lot of authors are using them
as contest giveaways on thier websites too.
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mary rosenblum
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yep, exactly.
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queenbee
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I haven't written a novel yet,
what type of promoting can I
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mary rosenblum
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Well, queen, it probably helps
if you're at least writing a novel...
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mary rosenblum
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so when someone asks you
'what's it about?' you can tell them. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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An awful lot of people are
'going to write a novel'...
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mary rosenblum
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but not that many actually do
it, so when you HAVE done it...
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mary rosenblum
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people are REALLY impressed.
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speckledorf
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How effective is the occasional
email newsletter for keeping people informed?
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mary rosenblum
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If it's interesting and people
READ it, it's not a bad thing.
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mary rosenblum
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Same thing with websites...and
I'll get into this in detail on Friday...
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mary rosenblum
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you need to give people
something that entertains them.
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queenbee
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I have started on one, just
haven't finished.
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mary rosenblum
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Good for you, queen.
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mary rosenblum
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You know, one very useful tool
for self promotion that I need to do...
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mary rosenblum
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is the Blog. A couple of more
saavy web people have given me some numbers that opened my eyes to the
value of a web log...a blog.
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mary rosenblum
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They are popular and if yours
begins to proliferate...that is people send the link on to others to read
it...
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mary rosenblum
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the advertising value is
phenomenal...
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mary rosenblum
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especially if you're
publishing an ebook that can be downloaded...
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mary rosenblum
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but is still a powerful took
for regular print publishing...
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gwanny
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blogs are really hot right now
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mary rosenblum
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They are indeed, but
remember...
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mary rosenblum
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it's not just a matter of
starting one.
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mary rosenblum
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You have to give people
something they WANT to read...
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mary rosenblum
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and an account of vacuuming
your house and doing the shopping isn't gonna do it...
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mary rosenblum
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unless you make those FUNNY.
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gwanny
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true, and it's not a one time
thing
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mary rosenblum
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It is a time sink, which is
why I have avoided it before now. Gonna have to do it though. :-)
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forest elf
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...and my nieces who have read
and love my book are already telling their friends about it!
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mary rosenblum
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Word of mouth matters.
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mary rosenblum
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And in this day of forwarded
emails... you can reach a lot of people if they click on that forward
button...
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mary rosenblum
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just look at how quickly jokes
or anecdotes start showing up in your mailbox in mulitple versions.
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mary rosenblum
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Publishing is beginning to
shift away from New York...the traditional publishers are notoriously
inefficient...
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mary rosenblum
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to the small press and ebook
publishers...
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mary rosenblum
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and I suspect that at least
for now...
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mary rosenblum
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online word of mouth is how
books will 'sort out' for buyers...
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mary rosenblum
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if they hear about a great
book from a friend, they'll not only buy it, but pass on the word...to
their address 'list' of friends.
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mary rosenblum
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I saw this happen with a
greeting card designer. Jackie Lawson...
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mary rosenblum
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She does cute cards with dogs
an in the space of a year...
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mary rosenblum
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I went from getting one or two
of her cards to not only getting them all the time, but finding out that
everyone, includin myself, had subscribed to her service...
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mary rosenblum
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and that was with NO
advertising. The cards were cute...all dog people sent them to all their
friends...
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mary rosenblum
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and she got
hundreds...probably thousands...of subscribers.
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queenbee
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I didn't finish my question
before, I am writing a novel right now, Would it be a good idea to contact
my local newspaper about my schooling attempts and writing endeavors now?
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mary rosenblum
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Probably not, queen. In the
professional world of publishing...and reviewers are part of that world...
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mary rosenblum
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intentions count for nothing.
Everybody is writing a novel in their spare time. It's just not news.
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mary rosenblum
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I would wait until it is
coming out...
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mary rosenblum
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And send galley proofs to the
reviewer with the release date...
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mary rosenblum
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and most reviewers will try to
review the book close to its release date.
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forest elf
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There is an independant
bookstore where I live and my sister in law is a Middle School Principal in
L.A., I was thinking of "using" them to promote my book (when it
is published). I thought the bookstore would love to promote a "local"
writer and my sister in law could have a YA writer visit her school.
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mary rosenblum
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Absolutely. I visit a lot of
schools even though I don't write a lot of YA.
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mary rosenblum
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Again, never say no. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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There is NO bad publicity.
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geezer
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How do you define small press?
Not NY?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, you have small press
publishers IN NYC, too, geezer...
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mary rosenblum
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It's just that the big
traditional publishers in this country are all located in NY.
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mary rosenblum
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But it's mostly size and
distribution.
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mary rosenblum
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A traditional publisher will
probably print and distribute about 35,000 copies of your paperback...
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mary rosenblum
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more if they have a lot of pre
orders from bookstores...up to say 100,000.
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mary rosenblum
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A small press house will
probably print and distribute no more than 2500 - 3000 copies...or even
less.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer and we're
talking about self-promotion. If you're new here, remember that you need to
click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question
mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in order to
ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! You can also type
/ask in front of your question to reach me.
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mary rosenblum
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Writers conferences are
another good place to promote yourself...
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mary rosenblum
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especially if a lot of fans
will be attending..
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mary rosenblum
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And if you have sold a book or
published some short work...
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mary rosenblum
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you can usually get yourself
invited onto at least one panel.
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geezer
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James Dobson's books sell in the
millions. I can't think of his publisher, probably Zondervan, but he
doesn't even make the NY Times book reviews.
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mary rosenblum
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He may have a strong niche
market position, geezer. I don't know what he writes.
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mary rosenblum
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And remember, there are always
exceptions to any of the general statements I make...
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mary rosenblum
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but these statements ARE
generally true.
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mary rosenblum
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And yes, you MAY be the
exception, but I wouldn't take out a mortgage on it.
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geezer
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Dare to Discipline
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gwanny
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Dobson is Focus on the Family
Press
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mary rosenblum
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That
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mary rosenblum
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That's the self help market. That
is a MUCH bigger seller than any of the fiction genres...
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mary rosenblum
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romance included.
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mary rosenblum
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The biggest money...and the
most competition...is in the self help field.
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babbles
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Mary do you feel that online
mags are a good place to start to make a name for yourself?
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, if it is a recognized
online mag, babbles...
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mary rosenblum
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they vary from top market
publishers, like SciFiction in SF...to respected smaller markets like
Strange Horizons (also SF)...
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mary rosenblum
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to little start-up online mags
that don't get any reviewer or critical attention.
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mary rosenblum
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Those tiny ones will help you
in that you can cite them as a publication...
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mary rosenblum
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and any name recognition will
help you...
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mary rosenblum
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they won't catapult you into
the limelight.
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babbles
|
another way I promote myself is
through my Address labels, they have my motto on them--Never Give Up Your
Dreams or The Child Within You
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mary rosenblum
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That can work... a catchy
'slogan' is easy for people to remember.
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mary rosenblum
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AS is a trademark image that
you put on all your stuff.
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gwanny
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Promoting, start at the top and
go down?
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mary rosenblum
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Same as with selling your
work, gwanny.
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mary rosenblum
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Always start at the top.
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mary rosenblum
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And promotion means PROMOTING
yourself.
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mary rosenblum
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It doesn't mean shuffling your
feet and saying, 'aw, shucks, I wrote this book, and I don't know if it's
any good, but could you look at it, please?'
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mary rosenblum
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Work on any letter you send
out to reviewer, columnist, bookstore owner, what have you.
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mary rosenblum
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Entertain that person. Make
him/her smile and think, cool, this person is fun...I bet he can write,
too!
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gwanny
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Gotcha, no begging, no shuffling
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mary rosenblum
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Modesty and humility are flaws
in this business, gwanny.
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mary rosenblum
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You do NOT need to be an
arrogant jerk, although they do exist,. :-)
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mary rosenblum
|
BUT...you do need to put
yourself and your work in the best light possible.
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mary rosenblum
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Put on your 'promoter' hat
even if it makes you uncomfortable to do so.
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dbamarsha
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What kind of information would
you put on a business card? Do you list all of your writing such as
columns, etc.?
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mary rosenblum
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I don't. I just have my
professional affiliations: SFWA, MWA on there, my URL and email, and
Longrdge's URL.
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mary rosenblum
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With my Web Editor status.
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forest elf
|
Be balanced and find your
center? ; )
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mary rosenblum
|
Be confident, elf. If you
think your book is good, SAY so.
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speckledorf
|
How important are bios? Is there
a way to make them sizzle?
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mary rosenblum
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Sure. Same way you make query
letters sizzle...
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mary rosenblum
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you find the slant that makes
what seems like a boring life sound way cool.
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mary rosenblum
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Be creative. :-)
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mary rosenblum
|
Hollywood ads are a GREAT
sample. LOL
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geezer
|
I assume you must be published
to have those writer's associations?
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mary rosenblum
|
Yes, geezer, both MWA and SFWA
have strict publication requirements for membership...
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mary rosenblum
|
so does HWA the horror writers
association...but you CAN become...
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mary rosenblum
|
an associate or affiliate
member before you qualify for full memberships.
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mary rosenblum
|
And RWA romance writers of
america have no membership restrictions.
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owlybear
|
Once we've graduated, should we
put that info on a query letter?
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mary rosenblum
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Won't hurt, owly. If the
publisher has heard of LR or has published students before it'll help...
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mary rosenblum
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otherwise it won't.
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mary rosenblum
|
In SF it probably will help
because most SF editors know I teach for the school, so they assume it must
be good. :-)
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babbles
|
do you mention your association
memberships when writng to publishers/agents?
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mary rosenblum
|
Of course. Anything you can do
to seem professional will only help you.
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owlybear
|
It is a good school... :-)
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mary rosenblum
|
Yes, it is. :-)
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babbles
|
These new fans, friends, offered
to help me set up book signings in their neighborhoods. :-)
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mary rosenblum
|
When your book is out, take
them up on it, babbles!
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mary rosenblum
|
Again, be sure you have books
on hand to give to people who help you out like that.
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mary rosenblum
|
People LOVE books that have
been personally inscribed by the author.
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mary rosenblum
|
Well, this has been a fun
discussion...
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mary rosenblum
|
and on Friday, at our After
Hours, I'm going to talk about websites...
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|
mary rosenblum
|
and what you need to know.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I have posted the article by
Gary Kearney and Chris Dale...
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|
mary rosenblum
|
that takes you to a website
where you can actually learn how to create a simple website with html...
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|
mary rosenblum
|
although most of your servers
that provide free website space...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and most do...
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mary rosenblum
|
will also offer a simple
template that anyone can use with no experience at all.
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babbles
|
another self promotion
"?" does an author sign the book with regular name or pen name if
they use one? Should we stick to one thing?
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mary rosenblum
|
Ask the purchaser what he/she
wants?
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mary rosenblum
|
Many are book collectors and
they want the pen name signature.
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mary rosenblum
|
Some of my crossover fans are
tickled when I sign their books with both my mystery and SF names.
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mary rosenblum
|
If you don't want readers to
know your real name then don't use it!
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mary rosenblum
|
Well have a good week!
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mary rosenblum
|
Go read Gary and Chris's how
to. I'll be posting an article on 'Why YOu NEed a Website' later on.
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mary rosenblum
|
It's in epublishing and
Websites.
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mary rosenblum
|
See you tomorrow for our
regular casual chat!
|
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mary rosenblum
|
I'm off to haul manure for my
garden!
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|
mary rosenblum
|
Bye!
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|
mary rosenblum
|
I'll post the transcript in
the regular place.
|
