Sorry
for posting so late but this is week full of promotion, promotion and more
promotion. It’s all part and parcel of being an author. I can’t go a week
without doing something promotion wise and there are many days I want off this
train.
I
remember years ago, when I was first starting out, I had this vision of someone
else doing all my promotion. I dreamed of the day where all I had to do was
approve it and off it went. I suppose in some weird way, I saw my life sort of
like the one seen in the 1989 movie, She-Devil, where the author just seems to
float on air and everything gets done and she has scads of fans.
Not.
Today,
I know that there are times when life doesn’t live up to the fantasy. I
frequently say that it’s not all tiaras and limos. Matter of fact, I can’t
remember ever when it was tiaras and limos at all. Sure, when going to some RWA
conferences, I’ve ridden in a limo. Needless to say, that was really the only
choice of vehicle available. In Hawaii, to get from the airport to the hotels,
it was cheaper to reserve a limo than to take a taxi. Same for New York and New
Orleans.
Here
where I live in Vienna, most of the taxis are Mercedes or BMWs or some other
luxury car. Does that mean I’m driven around in limos here? I suppose if you
look at it in some weird way, yes. The fact is that those are the normal
occurrences in those places and therefore, I go with the norm of where I’m at.
Did
it make me feel special? Not really. Only one limo, and that was in New
Orleans, was it a stretch with a bar and we laughed all the way there. We only
got it because the driver’s fare didn’t show up and he had to go back to the
airport anyway. He gave us a good deal and off we went. Most of the time in the
States, the limos have been town cars and enough said there.
So,
back to promo. In that other world where I dreamed that someone else did it for
me, I suppose I just took it for granted. In this world, I take nothing for
granted and work very hard to get the word out there about my books. I blog, I
Facebook and I tweet. I also do newsletters, Pinterest and a few other things,
like selected promo with places like eBookSoda and BKnights as examples.
All
of this takes time and effort to coordinate it and while I do get help, it does
take a big chunk out of my writing day. I write a lot of erotic content and
this time, I had to find places that would boost sales while taking erotic
content. And we’re not talking overtly erotic here. Most of my eroticism
happens during love making sessions and I use all the big words. I’ve been told
on a number of occasions that I write sweet erotic romance. Huh? How do I
market that?
Even
though I’m doing all this right now, I know as a writer that the best promotion
of any book I write is word of mouth. That’s where a fan tells another fan and
then another until it snowballs and suddenly you have good sales and if you’re
lucky, a best seller on your hands.
Right
now, I am lucky enough to have a few award winning books under my belt and I’m
hope that eventually, they will translate into sales. Part of my problem is
that I have been extremely slow in getting my next books out. It’s been nearly
a year between them and I know that this is a problem. And it’s not a problem
of me not writing fast. That I can do but being out of my normal environs
sometimes takes it all out of me and all I want to do is retreat.
Yeah,
like I’ve said, I should be living the dream because I’m in Europe and my time is
my own and yada, yada, yada. Sometimes it isn’t that simple. Sometimes it’s
just wrapping your head around your situation and learning to live with it. I’m
a slow learner in that area and now it’s almost time for us to leave and return
home.
What
am I promoting, you may ask…the book is Night of the Blue Moon…and
it’s the last book in the Blue Moon Magic series. It has a few fans already and
is slowly getting some sales. You can find a lot of information right here on
the blog as well as the series blog at Our Blue Moon World.
And
speaking of books. I did buy the next Longmire book by Craig Johnson. It cost
way too much and though it’s an enjoyable read, my topic next week will be
regarding ebook pricing.
Until
then…
Lynn
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