When I last blogged I talked a little about having a good critique group to help you become a better writer. Having a good group actually encouraged me to write more frequently and, because we were encouraged to bring up to 10 pages a week, I eventually eventually had enough for a 72,000 word book length manuscript.
My next step was to take the book through another workshop that focused on critiquing each others' books from end to end. It took twenty weeks of doing this to get entirely through Dirty Shirt, but was one of the best experiences of my writing journey. Great feedback on what flowed well and what didn't, plus a line-by-line edit of the entire book. I followed that up with having a woman friend of mine do a thourough read through with many edits as well.
But now I want to talk about promotion and marketing.
Once the book was accepted, I set to work right away on getting my Author page up and current. I already had a blog prior to getting published, so I just needed to get a separate Author site set up. I added my head shot, contact and bio information, and cover art. I included links to the publications I was published in as well as to the bookstore where my book could be purchased.
After a website, I determined that I needed business cards to give to point people to the website and that included the title of the book. It was a little strange having a business card with no book art on it (that came quite late in the process), but it was at least something they could take home with them and look up later.
Next I started my social media blasts. I created a Facebook author page as well as a Facebook book page. I know it seems like a lot, but the book site can be linked inside your regular posts and you can provide info on the book right there, so its a win-win.
The other thing I did, that I did not have before was create a Twitter account. I didn't really want to, but was encouraged to by my publisher. It turned out to be one of the better things I did. It is a great way to connect at a superficial level to a large number of followers who share the same interests.
There are a ton of other things I did during the process of promoting my book, but I'll save them for next time. If you're interested in seeing what some of my platform looks like, the links are all below.
I hope to see you in May!
Author Website: www.jimlandwehr.com
Blog: www.writerjimlandwehr.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorjimlandwehr
Twitter: @jimlandwehr61
Welcome to SUNDOWN PRESS (SP), a publishing company devoted to publishing fiction and non-fiction works of all lengths!
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