Book Marketing Buzz

Book Marketing Buzz: Book Promotion & Publicity Tips: How to Promote Your Books is a continuing series to help authors learn how to promote their books. If you would like to be a guest blogger for our book promotion and publicity series, click here.

Our guest blogger for today is Cody McFadyen, author of The Darker Side.

Ahhh, promotion. How I wish there was a secret to success in publishing. My third novel, The Darker Side, just came out in the US bookstores (it pubbed a little earlier in the UK), and this is the year I opted to really come out of the closet and hit the road.

Prior to this book, I’d been taking most action from a distance, which I think was a huge mistake on my part. I was told to hold off on touring till I had an audience (cuz no one will come to sign when they don’t know you anyway) but now I am convinced that you should hit the bricks right out of the starting gate. Go and see the booksellers, the people working on the front lines to sell your books every day. If all you do is meet them, talk to them a little, shake their hands, and thank them, you’ve at least put yourself in their head a bit. The next time they’re doing a display, perhaps they’ll remember you and give you a prominent spot. I just did a stock signing at a Borders in the San Francisco Bay area, for example. That particular store wasn’t even on the list, and they weren’t expecting us, but it was right there, so we stopped in. The manager was very nice, and brought out my books to be signed. We chatted for a bit, and then she looked thoughtful and said: “Hmmm… you know, I’m doing a table for local authors. You’re at least California local, so I could put your books there, too.”

Also, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard from various booksellers, about authors who’ve come through, ‘he was a really nice guy!’ It’s always said with a certain air of amazement, which makes me think that we’re all pricks by default until proven otherwise… point being, they DO remember the person and not just the book. Remember: they see thousands of books go by. Why should they care about yours if you don’t care enough to go and see them?

I’ve also been attending the various conventions. This year, I went to Thrillerfest, Harrogate (in the UK) and Bouchercon. I was on a panel at each event. I got to meet other writers and talk to them about what they were doing to promote their books. Best was the chance to meet readers, bloggers, reviewers, and booksellers. I got a number of reviews as a direct result of going to Thrillerfest that I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.

On the non-travel front, I did a full redesign of my website (it was kinda poopy before) including a blog. I hired a publicist prior to all of this, and we’ve bought ad space on various websites, and I have done a ‘virtual tour’ for the paperback release of my last book (The Face of Death) and my current novel. I’ve seen direct results from this. People have written me saying that they bought my books after reading a blog entry, or clicking on a banner.

Have I hit the NYT best seller list? Not yet. But I’ve worked hard and gotten a number of new readers as a result. I’ve made a passle of new friends, and gotten a much better idea of just how much work it takes to get your book noticed.

The day I’ve finished working out the exact step by step formula of how to promote your novel into an instant best seller, I’ll come back here and tell everyone. That’s right – don’t hold your breath.

In the meantime, remember, there is one primary secret to success: write a good book. That’s always under your control, and it will always count. Don’t doubt it.