First of all, I want to thank Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi at The Bookshelf Muse for giving me the opportunity to give away one of their insightful 1000 word critiques (and for honoring me as a writing hero!) The randomly-chosen winner of the critique is Rosalyn! Thanks to everyone who entered. :)
Local promotion is an aspect of marketing that I usual
ly neglect.
I doubt I’m the only one, either. I’ve talked to plenty of writers who don’t enjoy book signings, giving book talks, or doing interviews. And it’s true that doing local promo means that you’re deliberately drawing attention to yourself among people you know.
I feel the same way. But I’ve also found that when I do local promo, it leads to a spike in sales.
Recently I spoke to a local service organization. Actually, it wasn’t even originally my idea—my North Carolina writer friend Diane Wolfe had needed to cancel and suggested that I fill in.
The talk went really well. It was a great group of people, I had a nice time. I thanked them for letting me come, left, and didn’t think anymore about it.
Until a week later. I was at a church class and one of the ladies there made an announcement before the class started. “I know something about Elizabeth.”
Of course, I knew what she had to mean—there’s nothing else about me that’s particularly interesting. But I had no idea how she knew.
Sure enough, her husband had been in attendance at my talk. And the organization had also sent out an email newsletter about my visit, with a bio and my books mentioned.
And you know, everyone in the class seemed really interested. They even jotted down my pen name and some book titles. They, of course, asked why I’d never mentioned it before (I’ve been in the class a couple of years, at least).
But writing is frequently something that doesn’t come up in conversation. Which is a good reason why we should keep doing these kinds of events.
We should also interview or suggest stories to our local paper—and the more local the paper is, the better. Does your town have one of those free, weekly newspapers? Target them, for sure. I’ve found they’ve got a great readership. Who knew?
Don’t forget your alumni magazine, either. I’m not one to talk, because I did forget it, but a professor at my college somehow made the connection between me and the school and put an article in the magazine. Soon I had old college friends emailing me that they’d bought some of my books. And the college asked me to talk to the English classes there in March.
I’m writing this post as a reminder to me, too—do local promo. Even if it makes me uncomfortable.
Do you do signings, lectures, or interviews locally? How has that worked for you?
Hope my American friends have a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow! And just a note that I’ll be a Margot Kinberg’s blog, Confessions of a Mystery Novelist, on Friday, talking about cozy mysteries.
Great advice! It’s probably not easy to promote locally, but it sounds very worthwhile! :)
I hope you and your family enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Elizabeth – Yes! Local promo is so important, isn’t it? And it can lead us in a lot of interesting directions. Just being willing to talk about one’s writing to people can help one make those connections. I’ve found that it pays to take the time to talk to people at libraries, small indy bookstores, and even local radio stations. Oh, and one thing I might add: if your town has a college or university nearby, that can be a great place to connect with potential readers.
Whoops! Forgot to mention how excited I am that you’ll be visiting my blog Friday! I’ve cleaned and dusted and your guest room is all ready :-). Looking forward to it!
Hi Elizabeth .. interesting how the links come in isn’t it – if Diane hadn’t needed to cancel – who knows you’d have lost loads of contacts by the sound of it! So pleased the word is out for you ..
Cheers and have a lovely family Thanksgiving and time together .. Hilary
Local promotion is probably something I’ll have to focus on if I publish a novel before I get out of college.
First, make a deal with my school district. Second, enlist Mom to create hand-painted bookstands and ask bookstores to set them up. Third, pull a stunt to get in the local newspaper or news…
I’m one of those who doesn’t enjoy physical appearances.
Glad the talk worked out for both you and Diane.
And have a great Thanksgiving!
Being a very gregarious type I’m inclined to promote locally anyway. I like it – I live on the perimeter of a small city in a small province. We have the fabulous CBC Radio which has three local programs (as well as national ones). I know most of the hosts and radio is something most folks listen to out here. And if they read they listen to CBC. It is just that way. Also, our writers federation is a great promoter of local talent. All of these are good tips you give – why should we hide our light under a bushel basket? Didn’t we work hard to write these books? And don’t we want folks to read them? I sure do!!!
I’m glad you’ve had such a positive reaction to your local promotion efforts! It’s always great when you are rewarded for going out of your comfort zone.
Happy thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Well, I have become better at telling people that I write when it seems natural to me to do so. And with a novel published in Danish now there are more opportunities.
But when you publish ebooks only, you are not invited to that many signings ;)
Jemi–Not easy, but worthwhile. And thanks!
Hilary–It’s so true! I owe Diane a thanks, too!
C0 –Good luck with your writing!
Sounds like you’ve got a great plan, to me! Your mom sounds like a talented lady, too. Sometimes the paper is dying to get content–especially if you come up with an angle.
Alex–Same to you!
Jan–I’d like to be gregarious! You’re absolutely right–we should be proud of our books and want to share them. You and Margot are good to bring up radio…it’s a great way to promote.
Bluestocking–Happy Thanksgiving to you, too!
Margot–Great ideas for local places to contact! I hadn’t thought about local colleges, but you’re right. Radio is great to do–I’ve gotten good exposure there, too.
Looking forward to visiting your blog on Friday, Margot!
Dorte–Thanks! Well, I hear that there’s this app for ebook signings…only thing is that I’m a little wary of it for legal reasons (digital copying of our signatures? Not so sure about that…) I’m so glad you’ve gotten practiced at telling people about your writing!
I need to take another look at local stuff like interviews and such. Been a while since I did a book signing. Now that Borders is gone and B&N has an attitude problem, I need to look at the Indie books stores for book signings.
Great tips! And congratulations for becoming “more famous” locally.
My Darcy Vibrates…