This is something you can’t buy or plan for.  You can only hope that it spreads.  It may start gradual and move so slowly that you have no idea that anything is happening at all.  You may catch a whisper every now and then, but that’s it. 

I’m talking about word of mouth.  Nicole referred to herself as my “book pimp friend.”  Of her own volition, she has blogged about my books and offered giveaways at her expense.  Sharon has nominated Dear Sir, I’m Yours for best erotic romance of 2009 on Beth Kery’s blog.  Pearl, Marissa, and Susi regularly chat with me on Twitter (watch for an interview with Susi, coming up early April, too), often retweet my posts, and have all reviewed at least one book of mine.  Nadia kindly tweeted that Dear Sir is available for pre-order.  Soleil and Sherri and so many others have reviewed my books on their blogs or rated them on Goodreads and Amazon.  Larissa Ione took the time to read Rose while on deadline and gave me a fabulous cover quote.  *sobs and hugs her gratefully*

That kind of promo you can’t buy and it’s INVALUABLE.  Word of mouth is the best kind of promo of all.

So how do you get that kind of momentum going?  You write the best darned book you can.  You write a book that people enjoy — and then want to talk about.  You write a book that is unafraid to deal with politically incorrect elements or harsh realities.  You write characters that people talk about like they’re real people.

As authors, we sometimes have little control over our books once contracted.  We hope the editor likes it, but if she says change the hero’s name or delete this subplot, or how about this instead?  Then you do it, or find a better way to address her concerns.  You hope you get a great cover.  You hope that your book gets loaded to Fictionwise (ridiculously slow and stubborn sometimes) and that it actually keeps its cover on Amazon.  You hope that the big review sites will review it, good or bad, but obviously you’re praying that everyone will love it, even though you know that’s impossible.

In the end, the number one thing we can control, that has the most impact on word of mouth, is the book.  Write a damned good book, and then hope that people start talking about it.

I’m so grateful to everyone, readers and other writers, who have helped me spread the word about my books!   THANK YOU!

As I said last week, I’m a relative newbie in this arena.  The first point I’d like to make is that everything builds.  All the promo I’ve done for e-books, like blogging, free reads, etc. will help the print promotion, too.  

Some readers of the e-book may want the print copy too.  However, there’s a whole other market of readers that opens as soon as the book is in print, that have no idea the book has been released over a year in electronic format.  Those are the specific readers I’m trying to target with my print promotion efforts.

The most helpful article I’ve found was an interview Sherry Thomas did (here).  My books are coming from the electronic world to print, and so I don’t have an advance to use for my promo budget.  However, I do have my royalties.  So as money comes in each month or quarter, I decide what I can spend on promo.  Since I work full time, pretty much all my royalties are going back into the business as promo.  The more I earn electronically, the more I can afford to do for print, and eventually, I’m hoping those royalties will help fund the electronic release of future books.  It’s a cyclical process that I’m trying to build.

So here are a few things I’ve done specifically for print releases.

1. Ordered extra copies at my author discount, as many as I could afford.  I ordered two full boxes of Rose (I had to take my own copies to the library signing back in Dec.) and I have a full box coming for Dear Sir any day, because my 10 author copies are long gone. 
2. Lots of giveaways.  I’m still a new author and I’m published by small presses compared to the NY big guns.  One of the ways I’m trying to reach new people is to simply give away my book.  I know, that sounds crazy, but I’m banking on the hope that they’ll love it so much, that they’ll tell at least one friend about it.  If I give away a copy and at least one person buys a copy because of that, then I’m breaking even, and I’m reaching a person I never would have found otherwise.
3. I bought Pat Rouse’s romance list mentioned in Sherry’s interview.
4. For Rose, I ordered a butt load of flyers (cover flats) from VistaPrint.  I still have a ton of them if you’d like one (ordered waaaaaay too many — Vista Print does a “but wait, double your order for only $10 more!!” thing which I totally succumbed to!).
5. For Rose, I used those flyers to participate in the RT Booksellers who care program.  At this time, I can’t say how effective it was, and it was rather pricy.  I have not gone this route for Dear Sir.  I had planned to participate in the bookmark RT mailing, but money got tight and I chose to buy another box of Roses instead.
6. I used Pat’s list and sent out at least 20 copies of Rose to her high-interest ARC list, including flyers and a few bookmarks I had left over from when Rose first came out electronically.  I can see a payoff from this effort:  several reviews on Amazon and Goodreads are directly attributable to that mailing, and another club added my Free Reads page to their listing.  This is something I will definitely always do as funds allow.
7. For both Rose and Dear Sir this year, I ordered a box of bookmarks from PrintPlace.  Deena created some lovely bookmarks for me that look way more professional than anything I ever did myself through VistaPrint.  As I run out, I’ll just order more.
8. For Dear Sir, I’m participating in a Samhain RT ad (July), hoping, of course, that it is reviewed (I sent the review copy last week).  It was extremely pricy.

As soon as my box of Dear Sir arrives, I’ve selected my top priority list from Pat’s of places to send ARCs.  I’ll also do a broader mailing of just bookmarks using her list.  And of course, I’ll continue to giveaway copies, here, on Twitter, and in person.

Of course, I’ll continue to write free reads, too, especially as Victor’s release nears.  I’ve promised Thanksgiving at Beulah Land, after all.  I just have to decide who’s there.  I’m pretty sure Victor and Shiloh will be together, but Vicki will be alone.  I also have to decide on POV.  It’s a hard one, because technically, Thanksgiving will be a sequel to Victor’s book, not a prequel like Letters for Conn (so I can’t spoil Victor’s book!!).   But I will write something this spring/summer once it all falls into place.  Maybe I can come up with a different idea that happens prior to Victor’s book, use it as a prequel, and then write the sequel too for later in the year.  We’ll see.

Readers, is there anything else you love authors to do for promo?  Anything you especially hate?  Authors, is there anything additional you can share about promo you’ve done?

The great Paperback Writer has a fabulous post on promotion:  Lady RaRa

These are things that annoy me personally and so I refuse to do them.

• E-mail spammer.  I once e-mailed an author about coffee, of all things, and later I got an invite to her newsletter.  I guess I should be thankful I wasn’t automatically added to her newsletter, right?  Never send an uninvited e-mail to a reader solely for promotion.  It’s like getting a telemarketer call in the middle of dinner!
• Self nomination.  If there’s an award and I’m eligible, I just can’t nominate myself.  Ugh.  Even the Predators & Editors annual poll — I just can’t put my own books in there.  I’m certainly not going to go on every list and public venue I know and beg for votes.  It doesn’t mean anything if I do it!
• Review Infomercial.  “Review my book favorably on Amazon or Goodreads and I’ll send you a second book for FREE!  *fine print: as long as you’ll favorably review it too!!!*”  This reminds me of the “but wait, there’s more!” annoying sales infomercials on TV.  If you loved my book enough to review it, THANK YOU.  If you bothered to give it a few stars somewhere, THANK YOU.  The best, most priceless reviews are the honest word-of-mouth ones.  Those are the ones people are going to pay attention to and respond to favorably, not the “this book was great, 5++ stars!” in exchange for freebies. 
• Blog rapist.  Go to another blog or site and post “buy my books” links all over everywhere on a totally unrelated post, forcing myself upon an innocent blogger.  Comment, sure.  If people are asking for recommendations, that’s different. 
• List hijacker.  Join reader lists only to post “hello, I’m new, buy my books!”
• Blatant flamer.  In other words, “negative attention is just as effective as positive attention.”  I swear some authors start a blogwar just for the attention, and it drives me nuts.  I abhor that kind of attention and would die if I suddenly found myself in the middle of a nasty blogwar.  *shudder* 
• Anonymous Fangirl Disguise.  For all that’s good and holy in this world, PLEASE do not rave about your own books in the guise of an anonymous fan!  Yes, I know people who have done this.  Equally repulsive to me is an author encouraging fans to gang attack a reviewer or other site where less than glowing information has been posted.  Hey, we all get bad reviews.  We all say something stupid and regret it.  It’s much easier to wad up a scathing retort and throw it in the trash than live down a blogwar started in the heat of the moment.
• Reader Basher:  this one I just totally do not get.  I know bestselling lists are important, timing is crucial, etc. but it’s so disrespectful and ungrateful to berate a reader for buying your book: a). too early b). at the wrong store c). in the wrong format.  Hello, did you catch the part that you SOLD a BOOK?  If a reader bothers to buy my book, THANK YOU.  I don’t care where, how, what format, if you found a copy early or you’re reading at home in the bathtub with a plastic baggie to protect your device!

I’m sure over the years I’ve done stupid things out of ignorance.  I’ve said too much about a book I didn’t like.  I’ve complained about slow response times or whined about rejections.  Just remember that once you post something online, it’s out there and available for a very, very long time.  In especially juicy blogosphere showdowns, people are going to capture screen prints of your comments or rants. 

Remember, too, that “anonymous” will only protect you so far.  People can figure out who you are if they’re so inclined.  If I’m afraid to put my own name on a comment, then I’m going to think really really hard about whether I should post as anonymous.

What else do authors do as online promotion that drives you nuts?