One big regret I have on this blog is that I didn't keep up with describing the process I was going through as I promoted Two Gun Hart. I wanted to give a detailed account as I went through the tedious process. I'm still sort of going through it, but it's the waning steps of promotion, especially for this project in particular. The truth is, I just got so busy with the promotions leading up to release that I didn't have time to write about it. So now, months after most of the work was done, I'm going to try to summarize what happened for you. In this issue of the blog, I'm going to give an overall summary of the plan, then, in the next three blogs, I'm going to describe each period along the way in closer detail.
So book promotions typically have 3 phases:
6-3 months pre-release (what I call pre-pre-release)
3 months pre-release to release (what I call pre-release)
Release and post-release (what I just called post-release)
Generally, the pre-pre-release phase is the period where you're priming the pump. You're sending the book out to get reviews, maybe even to some friends to get some last minute suggestions on final changes, and generating some very basic buzz on the project. This phase is primarily intended for getting the word out to any organization or person that needs time to go over your materials, or which publishes on an irregular basis. So magazines should be contacted at this time, and news organizations that you're going to want to interview you in advance of the release. But most of all, get those advanced reader copies into the hands of reviewers.
The pre-release phase is where you build up the buzz to a crescendo at the release of the book. You're going to start sort of light three months away, getting some people to talk about it in their social media, letting everyone know what's coming. Then you're going to build interest by getting it talked about in as many blogs as possible, and having stories released in the media. Hopefully you'll get some radio and newspaper interviews, and you're building up the reviews. This should built to the point where, just before release, your audience can't wait to get the book. The primary element of this phase is to get as many people to pre-order the book as possible because...
...on the week of release, all sales in pre-orders are counted as being sold on one day for the purposes of the New York Times Book Review and other book sales sources. If you were successful in the second phase, this will jump your book way up, and the third phase will be much easier, as many, many people will hear about your book through the aforementioned sources. They will also have heard about it through the hype built in phase 2. Regardless, you will be spending a lot of time in the post-release phase going to events and giving talks. I underestimated the importance of this phase in my planning, and as you will see as I talk more in-depth about it, there are more things you can try to do than just arrange signings at bookstores that often do not welcome self-published authors. (Even though they are also independent and are asking people to bypass major corporations to come to them.)
#Bookpromotions #independentpublishing #self-promotion
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