I was reading an interesting blog yesterday about book marketing. The notion of having a group of people working together to promote each other's works is a great idea. I've been trying to employ that recently.
If you haven't noticed, I've been doing book reviews and interviews for my friends' books. I've done two so far, but I plan on doing more in the future. (Presently, I'm reading my friend Tonia's novel.) There are a ton of indie authors out there who have great stories, so I'm doing my part to help them out. With a little luck, they'll help me too!
Author's never used to have to promote themselves. There was a time where all they did was write and left it up to the publishers or PR people to schedule appearances or market. Those day's don't exist anymore. Authors are expected to take an active role in marketing their books. Some people are all right with that, others are not. I'm one of those people who is OK with it. I'm OCD and a control freak, so I like to be in charge of my own marketing. I'm not overly outgoing, but I'm not shy either, so I have no issues talking about my work. I also enjoy working with a group, so a "Board of Directors" is an intriguing idea to me. It's nice to have a support system.
There are several different things I do to market. I've had fliers and key chains made, and I try to set up guest blogs and radio shows. I also approach reviewers and try to have a presence on the web. I've set up some personal appearances in my hometown, but those haven't worked out very well. Maybe with this next book it will. I'm sure I could do more, but time is definitely a factor. I do what I can!
What kinds of things do you do for book promotion? (Yes, I'm trying to harvest ideas!)
