Promotion

As Lynne is unfortunately preoccupied this week, she asked me to step in once more, so forgive the intrusion.

A few years ago, authors never needed to worry about publicity (well, so I believe). The publisher would handle that side of things. These days, of course, the paradigm has changed, and even most of those published by the big houses have to handle their own publicity, unless you’re a major name.

As a writer, I’m very active on social media. Twitter and Facebook are my friends, and I also have a Facebook author page. Of course I have a website, and I tend to blog a couple of times a week. I do author events, libraries and wherever I can. For my most recent book I had bookmarks printed up to give away at events. Cheap but effective, and definitely useful.

But I’m in search of other ideas. It goes without saying (I hope) that most of my Twitter and Facebook activity is interaction rather than blatant promotion. That’s just sensible. Social media is about building a community, and communities need interaction to grow. Become a real person to others and they’ll be interested in you and what you do.

A readership is built one person at a time, and word of mouth is still one of the most powerful tools. People like your book and recommend it to others. As you build a back catalogue, people will search out the books, especially in a series.

Of course, there are some big breaks. An interview in a prestigious magazine, a review by an influential blogger, things like that. They all help in circulating the name.

What I’m curious to learn is what you think are good promotion techniques. There must be many I haven’t considered, and I’m eager to hear. Especially if they cost little or nothing.

Right, the ball’s in your court.