Seth Godin has published a list of 19 points of advice for authors.
The one I agree with the absolutely most is:
Lower your expectations. The happiest authors are the ones that don't expect much.
Along with that one – I think this one is very important also.
The best time to start promoting your book is three years before it comes out. Three years to build a reputation, build a permission asset, build a blog, build a following, build credibility and build the connections you'll need later.
On the other hand I don’t agree with--
.
Blurbs are overrated, imho.
They are to some readers but not all. And they definitely aren’t overated when it comes to book buyers.
Blog mentions, on the other hand, matter a lot.
Yes, absolutely, and he also says:
If you've got the patience, bookstore signings and talking to book clubs by phone are the two lowest-paid but most guaranteed to work methods you have for promoting a really really good book. If you do it 200 times a year, it will pay.
Which brings me to this fun article in The Huffington Post about two authors – me and JA Konrath – on the road – virtual and the hard pavement - promoting our respective books. For the record, I don't think there's ever one solution to marketing/promotion. Every book needs some of everything. It just worked out that this summer I needed to stay home and write while JA needed to be Superman.
Comments