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Mary Rosenblum
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Hello all. I hope you have a
great 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. We're
talking about self promotion today. 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 in your regular send bar to reach
me.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I thought I'd talk a bit about
self promotion today.
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Mary Rosenblum
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With the new, inexpensive
Print on Demand technology, we're seeing an explosion in small press
publishers.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Some have high standards and
are selective about what books they publisher.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Others simply publish anything
remotely legible, making their money from quantity rather than quality.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But these days readers are
drowning in a sea of options. The question is...how do you make YOUR book
stand out if you don't publish with a traditional
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Mary Rosenblum
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publisher who will put your
books into thousands of chain bookstores?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Even if you DO publish with a
traditional house, their promotion is minimal. Anything you can do to
improve it is worthwhile.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Since very few writers have an
unlimited bank account and money is usually a major issue
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Mary Rosenblum
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the question becomes what gets
you the most 'bang for your buck'?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Of course, in this day and age
we have a wide new world of promotion...the internet.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Before the internet, you had
to pay quite a bit in order to bring your work to the attention of many
potential readers, via print ads in newspapers or magazines.
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geezer
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It doesn't sound like the
promotion for a traditional house is very great for a new writer
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Mary Rosenblum
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It isn't good for any writer,
geeze, except the two or three top authors for the house.
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Mary Rosenblum
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BUT...
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Mary Rosenblum
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that is counterbalanced by the
huge distribution network of the NY houses.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Your books are in bookstores
all over the country, so it is easier to send readers to find your book.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Now that is beginning to
change as more and more readers turn to amazon.com or some other internet
source first for their books
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Mary Rosenblum
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rather than to their local
Barnes and Noble or Books A Million.
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Mary Rosenblum
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There are several routes to
'reader attention'.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The best one is the one you
can't really control at all, and it's what turns an unknown like Harry
Potter or Snow Falling on Cedars into a blockbuster.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That is word of mouth.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Readers tell their friends and
their friends tell their friends and the news propagates in a geometric
progression.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That's the 'cheapest' way to
get onto the best seller list, but as I said, nobody yet has figure out how
to make that happen intentionally. That is what marketing departments are
doing as their day job...
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Mary Rosenblum
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trying to effect this. They
are wrong WAY more often than they are right.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So if that happens to you,
thank all the gods out there for that gift. :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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After that, reviews are your
next cheapest form of advertising.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Reviewers do the promotion job
for you.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They tell all your readers how
wonderful the book is, and readers who agree with most of the reviewer's
opinions about books
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Mary Rosenblum
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will put your book on the top
of their 'buy' list.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The bigger the audience for
your reviewers column or audio spot, the more sales it will generate.
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Mary Rosenblum
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This is something you CAN
effect, even if you are published with a small press, and to some degree if
you are self published.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Your job is to decide who will
enjoy reading your book.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Who are your readers?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Let's say you have a romance
with an oder heroine...you might decide that your readers
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Mary Rosenblum
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are probably middle aged
women, and maybe your MC is a career woman who has never had a family.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So you might think about
trying for reviews in some of the magazines that target career women
readers.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you are published, give a
list of potential reviewers to your publisher and don't be shy about
writing a dynamic
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Mary Rosenblum
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review letter that your
publisher can use, if you have any doubts about that person's ability to
write a persuasive 'please review this' letter.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Many publishers just send out
a package of new books to a regular list of reviewers.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The reviewer looks them over
and chooses books that look good.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But if you can get your
publisher to send your book out solo to reviewers whose readers might
already be interested
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Mary Rosenblum
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and if it is accompanied by a
letter that 'pitches' the book, you are much more likely to get a review.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Reviewer cannot review all the
thousands of books published every year.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So you need to wave at them,
get their attention, and get that review.
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Mary Rosenblum
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As a brand new writer, they
have NO reason to review your work unless they really like it
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Mary Rosenblum
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and they don't always have
time to read more than the cover blurb in order to decide which books to
read for their column
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Mary Rosenblum
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and of those books they may
only review one or two.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Don't just assume your
publisher will send out lots of review copies. Many small press publishers
are relative neophytes at this business
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Mary Rosenblum
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and don't understand the value
of reviews or don't have a strong string of regular 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. We're
talking about self promotion today. 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 in your regular send bar to reach
me.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you are self published you
have a HUGE obstacle to overcome.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Through no fault of yours, the
general belief is that self published books are lousy.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And sadly, this is borne out
by numbers.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Remember... ANYONE can self
publish, and many many people publish books that are full of typos, are
nothing but rants, or have tremendous flaws in terms of craft.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And that has become the
reputation of self published books. I don't know of any reviewers who will
read a self published book that shows up in his or her stack.
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Mary Rosenblum
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BUT
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Mary Rosenblum
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You can change that.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Here you REALLY have to pitch
the book to the reviewer. You have to make that reviewer think that even if
this is self published, this book is worth a look, house policy aside.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So your letter has to be a
powerful pitch, very well written, and a razor-sharp hook.
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Mary Rosenblum
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REALLY work on it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You're fighting a huge
stereotype about self published material.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about self promotion today. 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 in your regular send bar to reach
me.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Another 'cheap advertising'
route is through awards.
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Mary Rosenblum
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A plethora of fiction and
nonfiction awards abound, from huge ones like the Pultizer and Pushcart, to
small, regional ones specific to particular genres.
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gskearney
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I'd think this might be another
place to go to your critique group. Get them to help with your pitch
letter. --gk
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Mary Rosenblum
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Absolutely, gary.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Get LOTS of feedback on that
letter and polish the heck out of it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And DO check your grammar. :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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You'd be amazed how many query
letters students write for me that are full of typos and lousy grammar.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That letter is a 'writing
test' and if you fail it, you fail it. The editor expects that your work
will be as full of errors as that letter.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you attend a local writers
conference that has a 'pitching workshop' take it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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While you're not planning on
pitching your book in person, some of the techniques you'll learn at a
pitch workshop (for pitching your book or screenplay in person to an agent)
will benefity you in query letters.
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giantagain
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I've had a bit of success with a
really well written letter of introduction that I've sent to book stores
along with a picture of the cover and the back cover write up
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Mary Rosenblum
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That's a very good practice,
giant. Of course, you need to make sure that the bookstore can obtain your
books.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Many small press publishers do
not distribute to the chains at all, and many not even distribute to
independents.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That is something to investigate
BEFORE you choose that publisher!
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barbiq
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Would you recommend taking a
gramer course at a local school?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Not at all, barbiq. Just ask
an English teacher or someone like that to look at it for you.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Yes, if you have real grammar
troubles, you SHOULD be taking a grammar course at a local communtiy
college.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Because your book won't sell
if the grammar is terrible.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I recommend taking the ESL courses.
They are usually very grammar oriented and good courses, even
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Mary Rosenblum
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if you're a native English
speaker. :-)
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giantagain
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I recommend LRWG because they
have awesome teachers :)
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Mary Rosenblum
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-) Well, there you get not
only grammar help, but you also get help with all the other craft issues
that go into writing.
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erin
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Is it appropriate to mention
market ideas in a cover letter?
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you are submitting to a
small press publisher it is HIGHLY appropriate, erin.
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Mary Rosenblum
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One of the reasons a small
press house (a selective small press publisher, not a quantity press) will
choose or reject a manuscript
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Mary Rosenblum
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is the marketability of that
book.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you demonstrate to the
publisher that a strong niche market for this book exists, the publisher is
much more likely to publish it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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In terms of awards, you can
find out what awards are offered within your particular genre, usually on
the website of that genre association. (MWA, SFWA, RWA etc).
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Mary Rosenblum
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Google literary awards and see
what pops up.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Google literary awards and
your region.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Literary Awards Northwest.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Literary Awards Romance
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Mary Rosenblum
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Literary Awards New Writers
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Mary Rosenblum
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You'll find a lot of small
awards offered by various national and regional groups.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Most require only the
submission of one or a number of copies of the book.
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sheneva1bcs
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How does one determine the
average reader of today in terms of age, sex, marital status, occupation?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Well, who will like your book,
sheneva?
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Mary Rosenblum
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If it's all about a Nascar
driver who spends his time drinking and having sex and fighting with his
girlfriend, what is the profile of the person who will read it and enjoy
it?
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Mary Rosenblum
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You decide. :-) It's YOUR
book.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Your book is not going to
appeal to everyone out there.
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Mary Rosenblum
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With a limted PR budget you
probably can't afford a national ad campagne that will reach every reader
in the US.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So decide who will be MOST
likely to read this and then think about how you can get that reader's
attention.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Here, you might want to try to
get either an ad or a review in a car or offroad magazine, if you figure
your readers
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Mary Rosenblum
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might be guys who like cars in
some way.
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christopherdale
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As I came in l late I don't know
if this was covered - but calling the local radio stations and the local
papers (College, local, etc) can do a LOT for cheap self-promo.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You're in good time, Chris.
:-) We haven't covered that yet. But that's a good way to do it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You're probably more likely to
get an interview from a small local station than, say, NPR.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But local papers and magazine
editors are usually hungry for original material and you can often get an
interview that way.
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giantagain
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I found the email addresses for
radio stations and book stores through search engine work.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Yeah, you can find a LOT of
contact information for everything from bookstores to magazines to awards
through some time spent with google or another search engine.
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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. We're
talking about self promotion today. 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 in your regular send bar to reach
me.
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auroara
|
If a book contains romance,
mystery, comedy, and action how can you be sure what type of readers to
target?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Well, start with something
broad like gender. Will the readers be mostly men or mostly women?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Younger or middle aged?
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Mary Rosenblum
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That's a good beginning.
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christopherdale
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Also, I read that talking to mom
and pop book stores, if you have some copies with you - they may allow you
to set up shop and promote your book. And sign a few to allow them to sell
will give them a little "something extra"...
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Mary Rosenblum
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Yes, but here we have to come
to an understanding of how bookstores work and what bookstore owners need
from YOU>
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Mary Rosenblum
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Most small bookstore owners
can not afford to stock your book if you are not distributed by one of the
big distributors.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And many small press
publishers are not carried by Ingrams (one of the two)
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Mary Rosenblum
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The reason is this.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If the small owner pays 100
bucks to stock a few copies of your book and only one sells, he can return
the unsold copies to Ingram for a refund.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But if he pays 100 bucks to
you for your books and one sells, he eats the rest of his investment.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And since most Mom and Pop
bookstores are marginally profitable if they're profitable at all
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Mary Rosenblum
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they will only stock your
books if they figure they can sell them.
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Mary Rosenblum
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OR if you are willing to put
them in the store 'on consignment'.
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giantagain
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Mary, have you ever
self-published?
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Mary Rosenblum
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No, giant. I make my living
writing which means I can't afford to self publish.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Not enough money in it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If I couldn't sell any other
way, yeah, I'd do it. But as long as NY is willing to buy my books, I'll
sell there first.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I have friends who have self
published.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The ones who have written for
a strong niche market and have done their promotion homework
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Mary Rosenblum
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have made about as much as
they would have selling a first novel.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Maybe a couple of thousand
dollars or so.
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giantagain
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What do you consider the
benefits are of self publishing--if any?
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Mary Rosenblum
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To be honest, I see self
publishing only as a route to publishing if you cannot get your book
published any other way.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You really are buried in a sea
of mediocrity and few readers are willing to take a risk on a self
published book
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Mary Rosenblum
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unless you make them realize
that this one is GOOD!
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Mary Rosenblum
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Now if you have a strong niche
market -- a friend of mine published a couple of humor books that appealed
to dairy goat owners.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They did very well in that
tiny, niche market.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Then you can make some money
at this, but probably not a lot.
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writermom
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wow that is the best argument
I'[ve heard for not self publishing\
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Mary Rosenblum
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You really should not consider
self publishing as your first option
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Mary Rosenblum
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unless you simply want to hold
that published book in your hands, end of story.
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justme
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Hello Mary. Where can a writer
learn what type of fiction is most popular and likely to succeed, and write
to that?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Don't even try, justme.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You are very unlikely to
succeed.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You need to write what you
read and enjoy most. You will be most likely to write a strong book in that
genre.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you try to write 'for the
market' in a genre you don't read in, it is highly unlikely that you will
produce a strong book
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Mary Rosenblum
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because you simply won't know
the 'rules' of that genre
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justme
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Say I enjoy the market for which
I write
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Mary Rosenblum
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You should! So write in that
genre. :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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In terms of sales, Romance is
the biggest market.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Mainstream next. Probably
mystery after that.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Essentially though, what sells
your book as a novice author is passion. If you write a book without
passion, with commercial intent only
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Mary Rosenblum
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it just isn't likely to sell.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That is one of the biggest
mistakes beginners make...choosing to write a particular book because it
might make them money.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That is just about guaranteed
failure.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Write the book whose story
grips you and won't let you go.
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justme
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What is mainstream:-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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Everything that is not genre.
:-) I know that's vague, but it's a marketing category
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Mary Rosenblum
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and some books marketed as
mainstream are fantasies, SF, or mysteries. Or horror. :-)
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giantagain
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Could you give some samples of
mainstream?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Kingsolvers works,
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Mary Rosenblum
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Snow Falling on Cedars by
Peterson
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Mary Rosenblum
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Tony Morrison's stuff.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The Accidental Tourist.
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geezer
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I just read Hart's War (stahlag
13) would that be mainstream?
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Mary Rosenblum
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I haven't read it, geeze.
Probably.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The other relatively cheap
promotion you can use is the internet.
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Mary Rosenblum
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These days, you really really
do need a website.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Your Internet Service Provider
probably offers you free website space as part of your contract.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And most of those offer a
simple publishing interface so that even if you have NO CLUE about how to
do a website, you can do one.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They're usually very simple
and clear to use.
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erin
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Do know where to find sample
"marketing pitches?"
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Mary Rosenblum
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Not offhand, erin, but I bet
you can find books on it. You'll find some articles on strong queries on
the LR website in Writing Craft.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Try novel and nonfiction.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The only problem with those
ISP websites is the address is long and hard to follow.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's actually pretty simple to
register a domaine name like yourname.com and use that.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Gary Kearney has some good
articles on computer use on the LR Website.
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giantagain
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would you be willing to give us
a brief intro on how to do that?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Not here, but I bet I can
solicit Chris or Gary to write up a brief, basic 'how to', Giant. :-)
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gskearney
|
At the risk of self promotion,
Christopher and I do have a fairly comprensive article on Internet
publication here on the site. --gk
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Mary Rosenblum
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So these are some options that
you can use in order to promote your work without spending money you don't
have.
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Mary Rosenblum
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One last bit...about signings.
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Mary Rosenblum
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While signings are fun and a
great way to meet fans, they aren't particularly good at generating sales
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Mary Rosenblum
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unless the bookstore is
willing to promote the signing.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Sitting for an hour at Barnes
and Noble without selling a single book is very discouraging
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Mary Rosenblum
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Be sure that the bookstore
will do some promotion before you go there to sign.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Well, this has been a fun
discussion and we'll talk more about promotion in the future.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Some writers I know are trying
some new options, such as podcasts and serial postings on their websites.
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christopherdale
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- SELF PROMOTION time...
http://author.candp-ent.com/CreateAWebsite/index.html :) :) :)
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Mary Rosenblum
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There you go, Chris. Free
advertising. :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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I'll keep you posted about how
those experiments turn out.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Do join us tomorrow for our
casual chat, right here.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Same time.
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christopherdale
|
THIS is the article Gary and I
co-wrote////
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Mary Rosenblum
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And it's a good one.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It walks you through the steps
of creating the website. I should feature that in next week's newsletter,
Chris and Gary.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Well, I'll post the transcript
of this in the usual place: Writing Craft: Forum Transcripts.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Thanks for coming all and have
a good week!
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