EPUBBING with NICOLA FURLONG » book signing

Seven Secret Clues to Successful Author Self-Promotion (5)

Nicola — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:29:29 +0000

This is when you put your metal to the pedal to the road.

You’ve got some solid marketing pieces together (like a snazzy press release, positive reviews, a professional photo and an intriguing bio) to assist you in successfully self-promoting your book.

Get the Word Out (credit E. Polinsky)

My fourth clue is how and where to use them. After all, your marketing bits and pieces aren’t much good to you if they languish on your hard drive.

CLUE 4:

Get the Word & the Book…OUT THERE:

• Create a blog/website exploding with promotional pieces, such as the book cover, excerpt, reviews, links to booksellers, etc. (see clue #5 for more info)

• Issue press releases online to free sites like or commercial sites like

• Issue press releases to local TV, radio, and a variety of newspapers, both local & national

• Send more review copies to book reviewing web sites, forums, chats groups, newspapers and bookstores

• Create/order a book marketing video trailer & upload to various video sites, like youtube, previewthebook & book-trailers. (If you need advice, have a look at my BookGloss trailers and get in touch)

• Create/order bookmarks, postcards, business cards or flyers using your cover photo as image enhanced with sample book details, such as summary blurb, reviews, bookseller locations, etc.

• Send these to your mailing lists of bookstores, libraries, reporters, fans, relevant organizations, etc.

• Give them to friends, family, strangers; scatter them around town (dentist/doctor/hair stylist)

• Write articles for related magazines, papers, websites and add book related info to your credit/signature line

• Consider attending conferences and seminars focused on related subject matter; nowadays, these often happen ‘virtually’ so you may attend from your desk dressed in jammies

• Offer to speak at local libraries, professional clubs, etc., and consider guest blogging opps

• Comment on relevant websites, blogs, newspapers and add book related info to your signature line

Wow, if you’ve accomplished even half of the above, give yourself another pat on the back.

If you’ve done more, do a little self-congratulatory twirl. You deserve it but don’t get lazy ’cause there’s more ahead in Clue 5.

Seven Secret Clues to Successful Author Self-Promotion (4)

Nicola — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:02:51 +0000

So, now you should be getting the hang of how to promote yourself and your work using my Seven Secret Clues to Successful Author Self-Promotion.

My next, third clue, takes you away from public speaking and into scrounging some key elements for your ‘media kit’.

CLUE 3:

Lounging Lions (credit E. Polinsky)

Get Your Lions in Order

Write a snappy press release announcing the publication of your book for submission to media & online
Pay for a professional photograph
Seek marvellous reviews & blurb/quotes for your cover
Invent an interesting bio; you’re a creative writer, remember?
Brainstorm hooks—like a book’s locale, where you live, went to school, work—to help generate interest & find like-minded buyers

Now, you’ve got the makings for a media kit. Next, Clue 4 reveals how to use them.

Seven Secret Clues to Successful Author Self Promotion (3)

Nicola — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 23:03:24 +0000

As I mentioned in my previous post, if you are an author considering self-promotion and concerned about costs, don’t sweat.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money but it helps if you follow my Seven Secret Clues to Successful Author Self-Promotion:

CLUE 2:

Be Bold (credit: E. Polinsky)

Swallow Your Shyness and Be Bold

Fake it, if necessary!

Master public speaking:

Practice on your own, in front of a mirror and then with your family and friends. No, it’s not easy; Yes, it can be embarrassing…but just do it. Otherwise, being terrified of speaking in public will seriously hamper your opportunities for promotion
Take a Christopher Leadership-like course: you’ll receive terrific and helpful tips on creating speeches, memory techniques & effective delivery
Join an amateur acting troupe. Not only will you have fun, you’ll begin to appreciate the cadence of dialogue, the power of silence, the varying ways of talking and add to your writing toolbox an understanding of the power of formal speech, colloquialisms and accents
Volunteer to speak at local clubs, business networks, etc.
Offer to read and sign books at local bookstores and libraries.

After all, you want people to read your books, don’t you?

Good. Now you’re ready for the fourth clue…

Seven Secret Clues to Successful Author Self-Promotion (2)

Nicola — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:01:02 +0000

Don't Be Shy (credit E. Polinsky)

Okay, so you’ve made the gutsy decision to put your work and yourself out there.

Great. A tough but necessary step to finding your market.

Now, what do you do?

Well, over my decade-plus years as a published mystery author, I’ve run the gambit of promotional efforts: book signings, attending conferences, giving speeches and interviews, teaching, writing articles/stories, seeking out reviews, creating and sending promotional bumpf like postcards & bookmarks, maintaining a web site presence and now blogging. And I haven’t finished yet.

Gaining Courage (credit E. Polinsky)

It takes time, determination and moxie.

But, it can be done. On your own. Without costing a fortune.

How? Don’t sweat. I’ve got seven secret clues to successful author self-promotion…and you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to understand them.

CLUE 1:

Competition’s Fierce, So You’ve Got To Have F.L.A.R.E.:

• Be Fresh & Original

• Be Loud both in Voice & Appearance

• Be Articulate for Panels & Interviews

• Be Respectful to Audience, Reviewers & Booksellers

• Have the Endurance to Smile & Survive

See…not so hard, is it?

A Book Signing Tale for National Bookstore Day

Nicola — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:33:13 +0000

Today is National Bookstore Day and I give thanks to the very special people who own and operate bookstores, though they might claim they are owned and operated by their bookstores!

Cover for Teed Off!

Some of my faves are Prime Crime in Ottawa, The Sleuth of Baker Street in Toronto, Greenwoods Bookshoppe in Edmonton, Whodunit in Winnipeg and Tanners in Sidney. I have signed books in most of them and they are incredibly supportive to Canadian authors.

In their honour, I offer this little tale of a book signing horror story, originally published by one of the great news/reviews sites, The Mystery Reader.

BTW, this did not happen in any of the above stores!

Book Signing: A Swing and A Miss:

Ahh, book signings — the very essence of the glamorous life of an author.

NOT!

My first mystery, Teed Off! has a pro golfer/coroner as protagonist and women’s professional golf as the backdrop. Being a shameless self-promoter, I attended a number of bookstores and trade shows (golf and women’s) to flog my swinging whodunit.

Picture this, me smiling at my booth, supported from behind by a huge, colourful banner which reads “New Murder-Mystery Novel” plus a few juicy quotes and in front by a table laden with copies of the book and promo material.

Time and time again, a visitor — sucked into the vortex of my pitch “Are you a mystery fan?” — would cautiously approach my booth, then stand, uncertainly, staring at the piles.

Finally, gaining courage, she/he would touch then pick up a paperback only to exclaim “It’s a book!” as if this were a revelation.

“Of course,” I’d reply, hiding my dismay and warming them up with a catch-all spiel, “It’s like Agatha Christie meets the Ladies Professional Golf Association.”

To which, many would reply “Who?” or slicing even deeper into a writer’s heart, “Oh…I thought it was a game.” Or “What a great idea!” In every instance, the book is gingerly replaced followed by “Sorry, I don’t read.”

It’s enough to make you wanna take a five iron to your keyboard.

So, why not visit your favourite bookstore today? And please, tell them I said “Hi”.