Marketing Monday - Gail Gauthier

Marketing Monday is back!

Please welcome Gail Gauthier, author of eight children's books, including The Hero of Ticonderoga, an ALA Notable Book, and the Hannah and Brandon Stories series. Gail just re-released her book Saving the Planet & Stuff, this time as an eBook. She's here to share what it's like to go through the eBook marketing process with a book that was originally released in hardback.

So without further ado ... welcome, Gail!


Saving the Planet & Stuff first appeared in 2003 as a hardcover book traditionally published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons and marketed for grades 5 and up. This year it has been re-released as a self-published eBook marketed for YA and up.

Back in 2003, my marketing efforts were pretty much limited to the website and blog I was already maintaining and a few press releases that I sent out to publications in Connecticut, where I lived, and Vermont, where the book was set. The bulk of the marketing was done by my publisher, while I worked on my next book.

I am the publisher of the eBook, so this time I’ll be doing all the marketing. Ten years have passed and my platform is a little more extensive, anyway. In addition to the website and blog, I have a professional as well as personal Facebook page, an author page at Amazon, and I’m active on Goodreads, where I have a second blog.

Beyond that, my marketing plan has been developed around the fact that Saving the Planet & Stuff is now an eBook. The first marketing task was acquiring a new cover, which was created by Eric Bloom. This eBook cover carries a little more weight than the covers of my traditionally published books did. For one thing, it includes the tag line “An Eco-Comedy” because I wanted to make sure potential readers knew that this book is funny.

In addition, you’ll see “Gail Gauthier Author of Happy Kid!” printed at the bottom of the image. It’s not unusual to see an author’s earlier work noted on the cover of a traditionally published book. The reference to the earlier book could help sell the new one.

With eBooks, it’s supposed to work the other way, too. If readers like the new eBook they’ve just read, it’s possible they’ll buy another eBook by the same author, assuming they know it’s available. That explains why Happy Kid! is on the eBook cover of Saving the Planet & Stuff instead of my ALA Notable book, The Hero of Ticonderoga. G. P. Putnam’s Sons has published an eBook edition of Happy Kid! while Hero is out-of-print. With my new Saving the Planet cover, I’m trying to market two books, Saving the Planet, of course, and Happy Kid!.

I understand readers moving from one eBook to another because I’m an eBook reader myself. I’ve been known to finish reading one eBook and buy another in the same series in the middle of the night while I’m in bed. My own eBook purchasing habits have shaped another aspect of my marketing of Saving the Planet & Stuff. With an eBook, you don’t have to wait to go to a bookstore to purchase it. You don’t have to pick up the phone and order it from a store or go on-line to do so. You don’t have to wait for the book to arrive in the mail. You can order the book from your e-reader and be reading it seconds later. I wanted that kind of availability for anyone who saw or read anything about Saving the Planet & Stuff.

While I have been talking about this publishing project at my blog, website, and Facebook pages, I waited until the eBook had actually published before posting the book trailer to YouTube or approaching many bloggers to request reviews or guest posts.

I didn’t want people to see a trailer or early review and not be able to buy the book right at that minute. I’m making the assumption that other eBook readers shop the way I do.



I’m also considering doing some paid advertising through Amazon at some point. Because Saving the Planet & Stuff is an eBook, I don’t have to worry about making big sales right out of the gate in order to keep a traditional paper and print book on store shelves.

This whole project is an experiment for me. At this point, the experiment is going to involve approaching bloggers and continuing with on-line marketing for quite some time, instead of putting everything up front, at time of publication.


Thanks so much for the glimpse into the marketing differences between traditional and e-publishing, Gail! Best of luck with your marketing efforts. Saving the Planet & Stuff looks like a lot of fun--can't wait to read it!

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Gail Gauthier is the author of eight children's books, including The Hero of Ticonderoga, an ALA Notable Book, and the two volumes of the Hannah and Brandon Stories series, A Girl, a Boy, and a Monster Cat, and A Girl, a Boy, and Three Robbers, which were both selected as Junior Library Guild offerings. Her books have been nominated for readers' choice awards in six states, and published in foreign editions in Italy, Germany, France, and Japan. She has spoken in schools in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont, as well as at professional conferences. She maintains the weblog Original Content, where she writes about children's literature, writing, and time management for writers.

Marketing Monday: Loree Griffin Burns

Welcome back, Loree Griffin Burns!

Last week, Loree shared what made her transition from science to writing for kids. Her non-fiction middle grade books: Tracking Trash, The Hive Detectives, and Citizen Scientists can be found in many (many!) schools and libraries. Today she's here to share more about how she made that happen (aside from the obvious: she wrote terrific, information-packed books that are filled with wonderful illustrations).


Your books are packed with timely information, making them perfect for the classroom. How have you reached out to teachers and librarians to get your books into schools?

I’m very lucky to work with publishers that are experts at this. Both Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Henry Holt Books for Young Readers have worked hard to get my books into the hands of reviewers who, in turn, let the world’s teachers and librarians and parents and book lovers know about my work.

Most of my own outreach is focused on personal interactions—school and library visits, conference and festival presentations, and the like. I have also tried to establish an online presence through which folks can connect with me. I have a website, a blog, a Facebook page; I catalog my personal library publicly on LibraryThing, and I share track the books that delight me on Goodreads; I’ve recently learned to tweet!

On a very practical level, I maintain a database of email contacts—friends, neighbors, colleagues, teachers, parents—anyone with whom I’ve connected personally over books or nature. I’ve found this a useful tool for letting people know about new books and bookish events.

What have Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Henry Holt BYR done to promote your books? Do you have a sense of how the process might differ from promoting fiction?

As I mentioned, one of the wonderful ways my publishers support me is by providing review copies of my books to a long list of kidlit reviewers at professional journals and online. They also submit my books to prize committees and support/advocate for my participation in conferences that are relevant to my work.

As a great example, I’m typing this from Indianapolis, where I’ve been attending the National Science Teachers Association annual conference. I spent the past three days talking with teachers who use my books in a classroom setting, hearing directly from them why trade books on science topics are vital to their teaching, and sharing ideas for how we (writers and teachers and publishers) can continue to inspire a new generation of science-savvy citizens.

How important are school visits to spreading the word about your books?

School visits are a great way for me to interact with my readers. Classroom visits are hugely gratifying for me, because this is one of the only times I am able to connect in person with the people I write for. I love to see student reactions to the stories I tell, and to get their (always honest!) feedback on what works for them … and what doesn’t. And if I do my job well, the word-of-mouth that follows is a great way for other teachers and librarians to hear about me and my work. All of my school visits (I do about 25 events a year) comes about by word of mouth.

In my experience, however, school visits don’t lead to more book sales. This is likely a reflection of the way I do visits: for the most part, I limit myself to local venues in my home state, and I don’t require schools to sell books as part of my event. Authors that do great visits, advertise widely, travel afar, and tie book sales/signings to their events are much more likely to impact their sales figures.

I would imagine school visits are content-based, rather than focusing on the writing process. How do you make them fun, rather than another science lecture?

My presentations are, indeed, content-based, and I think I’m pretty lucky to be always sharing stories that are naturally interesting to students. I use props and personal anecdotes, and students really respond to them. In post-visit surveys, teachers insist that the part of my presentations that are ‘most effective’ are the bits where I share my own personal story. Kids like to hear that I was once a kid, too, I guess. They love photos. When I was just starting out with school visits, I felt compelled to keep these bits of the program to a minimum, thinking that my “job” for the day was to excite kids about science through the content I’d been invited in to discuss. I’ve come to realize that exciting kids about science includes helping them to see that everyone—even a kid like me … even a kid like them—can grow up and become a scientist. Or a writer. Or both.

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Nothing better than providing inspiration just by sharing your own story!

Thank you so much, Loree, for sharing your experience with us!

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Loree writes books about science for children ... and she loves her job. From an oceanographer who tracks plastic ducks through the world ocean to an entomologist who studied mason bees in his backyard to an astronomer who spent her life puzzling over ground drawings in the desert of Peru, the scientists she meets every day — in person or through her research — are fascinating and passionate people. She loves to share their stories through her  books.

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Marketing Monday: Holly Cupala

Marketing Monday is back! It's been a long time, I know, but it has been worth the wait!

Today, I have Holly Cupala, author of Tell Me a Secret (HarperCollins 2010).

Holly is currently promoting her second novel, Don't Breathe A Word (HarperCollins, January 2012; check out a two-chapter sneak preview). She's chock full of terrific information about how to spread the word. Read on to learn more!

How did you help to promote your first book, Tell Me a Secret?

I pretty much decided that I got to do this debut book once, so I gave it my all. Plus I have an amazing husband who did the same—we had a blast together and did some crazy things. Videos, sneak previews, trailer, events.

I worked hard to plan and work ahead as much as possible, especially with the blog tour and sending two-chapter sneak previews to 150 indie bookstores and at least that many bloggers.

We had a couple of audiobook offers, but we decided to produce our own so that we could hire award-winning actress Jenna Lamia, then ended up making a ground-breaking deal with Audible to distribute it (here). The TMAS trailer we produced was a finalist in the first SLJ Trailie Awards!

Awesome (and well deserved)! What are you doing to market Don't Breathe a Word? Are you trying to expand your audience with the second book, and if so, how?

After everything we learned from TMAS, we went for the highest impact efforts for the DBAW launch. We created a downloadable sneak preview booklet (http://www.dontbreatheaword.com/dbaw-preview.pdf), we’ve released a trailer with incredibly gorgeous graphics from our friend Realm Lovejoy (below), and a blogger fan generously put together a tour (http://www.hollycupala.com/2011/12/dont-breathe-word-blog-tour-coming-soon.html).

[Holly is also holding a contest for the trailer launch, so be sure to check it out!]

With the guidance of a couple of wise fellow authors, I enlisted the help of a street team to get the word out, so of course we’ve made stickers and posters and fun swag to send to them. We had a big launch party in Seattle, and I’ll be doing a few local and national events as well. I’m really excited to report it’s gone into a second printing, and I just found out Barnes and Noble chose DBAW as a Top Teen Pick for the month of February!

Sounds like your marketing efforts are really paying off! What advice do you have for debut authors who are just starting to think seriously about marketing?

Put a Google Alert on your name, your book name, your name + book name (spelling variations, etc., since if you are like me you will run into a fair number of misspellings). Watch for bloggers waiting for your book—you can always politely contact them about interviews, etc.

You can’t always send review copies (and most of the time publishers don’t give that many), but you can respond and see if they’d like to do an interview or guest post. As a side note, setting up blog tours can be very time-consuming, but there are a couple of blog sites out there that may want to organize one for you.

If you have an ARC to spare, check out some ARC tour blogs—they usually sign up ~10 bloggers who will mail one galley among themselves and review.

If you can get to a major conference (BEA, ALA, etc.), it’s great for exposure—see if you can get your publisher to sponsor you and/or schedule you for a signing.

And…pace yourself, because marketing can be consuming and exhausting! You can always do more, but I think it’s good to do what you can do well and what is fun for you.


Thank you, Alison, for inviting me to your blog, and I hope your readers enjoy Don’t Breathe a Word!

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Thank you Holly, for taking the time to share the secrets of your marketing success!

Holly is the author of Tell Me A Secret (HarperCollins 2010) and Don't Breathe A Word (now available!), two young adult novels about...well, secrets. Readers and reviewers are saying very nice things about her novels—she hopes you will read them and tell her what you think.


If you are a published author and you would like to share your experiences with marketing and promoting your book(s), I'd love to share your story! Please contact me at anpstevens [at] gmail [dot] com.  

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Marketing Monday - Katie Davis (part 2)

Katie Davis, author/illustrator of nine picture books, including Kindergarten Rocks!, I Hate to Go to Bed!, and Who Hops? uses podcasts and video to promote her books. Podcasts? Video? But that sounds so... hard!  Katie wrote up a terrific, two-part blog post about how to use YouTube to help promote your books. Read through her how-to post from last week, and check out her webinars for more great information.

The following post was inspired and partly excerpted from her upcoming eBook, How to Promote Your Children's Book: Tips, Tricks, and Secrets to Create a Bestseller, available August 4 at http://www.katiedavis.com.



Why You Need to Create your Own YouTube Channel

I did a lot of research about YouTube and then I interviewed Darcy Pattison, author of the Book Trailer Manual. Using my research and the interview with Darcy Pattison, I deleted my old YouTube channel and created a new one. The downside to doing that is that all the views and my followers were zeroed out too. The upside made that worth it.

Tip: keep in mind when you are creating your user name when creating your channel that that name will be the name of the channel, which is one reason I wanted to get rid of my previous channel.

Here is what Darcy, the book trailer maven, says about creating your own channel:

“Katie is right, you need your own YouTube channel. Take a look at her channel, here and mine, here.

“In April, 2010, Anthony Bruno reported that “fans are more engaged with videos posted to individual artists’ Web sites.” Of course, they are talking mostly about music videos, but we can probably generalize this to book videos. They report that “29% of the videos streamed on artist and label sites are watched in their entirety, compared to only 12% from aggregation services.” Warner Music Group, then, doesn’t license content to places like Vevo.com. The company, instead, drives fans to artists’ sites through custom-branded channels on YouTube.  A third-quarter study in 2010 confirmed the importance of individual artists’ channels.


Creating your own channel

“If you need another reason that you should create your own YouTube channel, listen to this.... You want your book trailer uploaded on your account, so you can control the settings. If you had help from a book trailer company, ask them to send you the video and let you upload it yourself. Otherwise, you’ve got to return to them for any revisions to the descriptions. For example, if you get a fantastic review that you want to add to the description, you can’t do it if you don’t have control. Upload it to your own channel. “Take the time to customize the look of your channel to match your website or the book cover, your choice. Notice that both Katie’s and my channel have the same color schemes as our websites.

“Another advantage of creating your own channel is that it allows you to monitor viewer statistics. YouTube Insight is YouTube's external facing analytics and reporting product that enables everyone with a YouTube account to view detailed statistics about the videos that they upload to the site. Just log on, then click Account >My Videos>Insight.

“As of the last quarter of 2010, Facebook and Twitter generate the most engaged viewing audiences for online video. So, once you get your video up–Tweet! Facebook it! (Which, of course, means you need a following on Facebook and Twitter too!)”

Tip: You don’t have to only do videos that are book trailers. I started my Video FAQs to both help people who come to my site as well as create some search engine juice. I made this kindergarten video that helps incoming students who might be a tad nervous about the big step. It also, of course, has images and phrases from my book, Kindergarten Rocks!, but isn’t about the book.

Thanks for all the terrific, thought-provoking information Katie. And see everyone else on YouTube!

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Children’s author/illustrator Katie Davis has published nine books and appears monthly on the ABC affiliate show, Good Morning Connecticut, recommending great books for kids. She produces Brain Burps About Books, a podcast about kidlit, a blog and monthly newsletter. Katie has volunteered in a maximum security prison teaching Writing for Children and over the last dozen years has presented and keynoted at schools, writing, and educational conferences. This year she served as a Cybils judge and has also judged the Golden Kite, smartwriters.com, and Frontiers in Writing awards. Recently Katie was selected to be on the Advisory Board for the Brooke Jackman Foundation, a literacy-based charity.

 
If you are a published author and you would like to share your experiences with marketing and promoting your book(s), I'd love to share your story! Please contact me at anpstevens [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Marketing Monday - Katie Davis (part 1)

Katie Davis, author/illustrator of nine picture books, including Kindergarten Rocks!, I Hate to Go to Bed!, and Who Hops? uses podcasts and video to promote her books. Podcasts? Video? But that sounds so... hard!  Katie wrote up a terrific, two-part blog post about how to use YouTube to help promote your books. So check out her advice below, check out her webinars, and come back next week for more great information on this underused method of book marketing.

The following post was inspired and partly excerpted from her upcoming eBook, How to Promote Your Children's Book: Tips, Tricks, and Secrets to Create a Bestseller, available soon at http://www.katiedavis.com.



There are so many things we can do to market our books, and in the 15 years I’ve been in this business, I’ve learned a lot, but the thing that has been intriguing me most lately is using video. YouTube is yet another social media site, and let’s not forget, the second largest search engine out there. It’s important, and it can gain you fans and readers.

YouTube
Why should the cute babies, stupid cat burglers, and people doing things they shouldn’t (back to the stupid cat burglers) get all the attention? You can easily harness the power of this incredible social media site for the benefit of your business. It’s easy to forget that YouTube is yet another social media site, isn’t it? But that’s exactly what it is, as you can “friend” people and follow them, by subscribing to their channels.

There are a few ways to use YouTube to enhance your business. Remember, too, YouTube isn’t the only video site out there, though sometimes it certainly seems that way! In fact, on Teachertube I’ve had almost 20,000 views of my videos, which is tens of thousands more than on YouTube! But we’ll talk about the behemoth for this instance.

One great thing you can do on YouTube is to link to your other videos in YouTube. This will lead a viewer to your next video, or an update if you need to post that. Here is a video I’ve uploaded to YouTube which I also added “talking bubbles” to, which as anyone who has ever read any of my books knows, I rely on for communicating subtopics and tangential information. What could be better?

Power-invoking step-by-step process to enhance your videos on YouTube:

1. Log into your channel (read further to find out why you need to create your own channel).
2. Look at the “Video Owner Options.”
3. Hit “video annotations.”
4. See lower left where there is a speech bubble icon and two other icons. You can also add a note or a spotlight.
5. Type in your message. Select time within movie you want that message to start.
6. Preview.
7. Play around with the speech bubble “tail.”

Check out how I utilized the power of this enhancement here, but make sure to watch till the end for the insertion of the link, because that’s the way you can get more people to go to your channel! Here is a video of how I learned to do all this.

Another way to get people to subscribe to your channel is to add a little 5 second video clip to every movie you upload, showing how to subscribe to your channel. It’s like hypnosis – they see it in front of their eyes, and follow suit! Ever since I created mine and added it to just two videos (so far!) I’ve gotten a more steady stream of subscribers. Here is one short video I where I used this method.


Thanks, Katie! Lots of great how-to information! Next week: why you need to set up your own YouTube channel.

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Children’s author/illustrator Katie Davis has published nine books and appears monthly on the ABC affiliate show, Good Morning Connecticut, recommending great books for kids. She produces Brain Burps About Books, a podcast about kidlit, a blog and monthly newsletter. Katie has volunteered in a maximum security prison teaching Writing for Children and over the last dozen years has presented and keynoted at schools, writing, and educational conferences. This year she served as a Cybils judge and has also judged the Golden Kite, smartwriters.com, and Frontiers in Writing awards. Recently Katie was selected to be on the Advisory Board for the Brooke Jackman Foundation, a literacy-based charity.

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Marketing Monday - Jen K. Blom

Marketing Monday is back! (There are more in the works, I promise, but all of the wonderful authors who are contributing their experiences seem to be just as busy as I am these days. Lucky for them, they're not about to make an intercontinental move. It's not an experience I recommend.)

Today, I'm thrilled to feature a personal friend, Jen K. Blom, whose contemporary middle grade novel, Possum Summer, is just now coming out.

I've heard reports that people in the U.S. have received their copies. I'm still waiting for mine. *taps fingers* *checks clock* *sighs*

Possum Summer sold out quickly on Amazon, in large part due to Jen's great promotional activities. In fact, her marketing is what gave me the idea for this series. So here's a bit more about how she (and Holiday House) marketed Possum Summer.



What has Holiday House done to promote Possum Summer?

Holiday House has been great! They've promoted Possum Summer everywhere, and recently my little book is at BEA, being shown to all the great Booksellers out there! They also helped with the marketing idea I had (called the Showdown, see below) Holiday House FTW!


What is the Great Oklahoma Animal Showdown? How did you come up with this idea, and how did you manage to coordinate it from another continent? (And how is it going so far?)

The Showdown is going great so far! I wanted to address my readers directly, but I also wanted to have a sort of party for my book that included them. So I thought: why not Oklahoma, where I grew up? Why not the public school system, which left me so many positive (and negative) memories? All my great teachers? They deserve the notice. So I worked it up.

The book is in the schools (as of June 1) and will be featured on 918moms.com here soon. It was a bit of a headache getting everything settled from a continent away. :-) My sister and her kids *waves* did the hard manual labor of sending out the envelopes I sent out, and putting stamps on them. Holiday House was AMAZING on this front, really working with me to fine tune the competition and even the CEO, Mr. John Briggs, had extremely helpful suggestions! They really are amazing.


What role do you see social networking playing in your marketing and promotion efforts?

TBH, not much with the kids. More with reviewers, who could read and review my book, and librarians and parents. I find a huge amount of people I interact with online are other writers, but they're parents too, and they're searching for a book for their kids that excites them, makes them cry, and helps them out. I'm hoping that Possum Summer fits that bill!


How long will those who haven't pre-ordered have to wait before Amazon restocks? ;)

HAHAHAHAH The LATEST you'll have to wait is June 1 (I hope)! I was astounded that it sold out so quickly! It is all a dream. :-D

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Thanks for sharing your experience, Jen, and congrats on the new release!


Jen K. Blom writes about animals, the land, and kids, not necessarily in that order. Her debut, POSSUM SUMMER, is available now.

Just the thing to give to a kid to start their summer of reading off right! (Available from your local indie, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, or Book Depository!)

Seen the book trailer yet?

If you are a published author and you would like to share your experiences with marketing and promoting your book(s), I'd love to share your story! Please contact me at anpstevens [at] gmail [dot] com. 

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Marketing Monday - Hilary Wagner

Whew! After an intense A to Z April, Marketing Monday is back!

Today, I am thrilled to feature Hilary Wagner, a middle grade author whose debut novel Nightshade City has already enjoyed terrific success!. If you're a children's writer, chances are, you are familiar with her blog posts or tweets.

Hilary has also been a terrific resource for other authors through SCBWI and in an interview for the CBI Insider.

She's fun, she's incredibly sweet, and she... well, she loves rats. What's not to love? ;) 



What did Holiday House do to help promote Nightshade City?

Holiday House has deep ties in schools and libraries. Even now, more and more libraries get my book every week. It's so exciting. It's even at several libraries in Singapore, Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands!

Among other events, Holiday House had me speak at the NCTE ALAN workshops in November at Disney World. That was a big honor and certainly something to mark off the bucket list. I'm happy to say I'll be on the NCTE Holiday House panel this year as well, to speak about my latest book. Anytime Holiday House has me and other authors speak, they always set up a dinner party too, wherein myself and the other authors get to sit down with Educators and professionals in the publishing industry to talk about our books and help spread the word, not to mention have a great time! They've truly been great and not knowing what to expect as a debut author, they surpassed everything I could have hoped for as far as marketing me.

What did you do to market your novel? When did you start getting the word out (and how)?

Well, I'm in an on-line writers group--not a critique group, but a group of writers who support each other through the whole process. So, as a group, anyone with a book coming out gets a blog tour and we are all part of it. We all write for different age levels, but that doesn't matter, spreading the word is spreading the word!

I did work with a book publicist as well. Through my publisher, my book got into Barnes & Noble and other retail stores, but I really wanted a strong Indie presence. I worked with my publicist to design postcards that went out to a huge list of independent booksellers. It worked too! Just the other day, I was at a local Chicago indie bookstore who said the reason they ordered my books was because they received the postcard!

I'm also pretty involved with social networking (twitter, facebook, blogging) and not just to push my book, but to make friends. The on-line writers' community is vast and truly supportive of one another. I've met wonderful writers, who've become good friends and great supporters of my books. It's also been a great way to land speaking engagements. Many of the panels I've spoken on and school visits I've been invited to have all been a result of some form of social networking.

Also, if not involved already, I suggest every children's writer joins the SCBWI. My local chapter (Illinois) is very active. I've made so many friends and I actually get to meet them in person! I was just on an SCBWI panel last month in Chicago, talking about social networking for your book, so your question is quite timely! It's such a wonderful resource for meeting fellow writers, joining critique groups, finding SCBWI meet-ups in your local area. I would be lost without them!

You have a quote from Rick Riordan on the cover. (Wow!) Do you think that helped Nightshade City gain some attention from fans of Percy Jackson?

I sure hope so! I was literally in shock with my agent read the quote to me. She was walking down the street in NYC and I was sitting in my office. I screamed out loud and everyone came running! What an honor! Apparently, Mr. Riordan's children had read the final manuscript and like it so he read it too! It's truly amazing how these things happen in life.


Nightshade City is in its second printing, a CBC Best Book, a Crystal Kite Finalist, and a Goodreads Choice Award Finalist. What do you think led to this success? (aside from the fact that you wrote a terrific novel)

I would think it's all the "terrific novel" part, ha, ha! Honestly though, I think much of it is getting the word spread about your book. It's a very organic process. I suppose you can compare it to how a rumor gets started, but with a bit of luck it's a good rumor in this case! ;)

What advice do you have for other authors who are just starting to think about promoting their books?

Well, when you first start out it's a little overwhelming. You don't need to join every social networking site or have three blogs going, posting every day. You just need to figure out what works best for you. I'm active with my blog, but really only post once a week. That's what works best for me. It's doable, I can manage it, and I don't feel pressure. It took a while to grow my readership--it won't happen overnight, so don't get discouraged. IT WILL HAPPEN! Just keep consistent with your posts, follow others in your field (usually they'll follow back), try and respond to folks who comment on your blog and have fun.

I'm also pretty active on Twitter and Facebook, but I use it more for fun than anything else. About 95% of the people I'm connected to are fellow writers and it's fun to joke and be silly with everyone, talk about our "regular" lives, as well as talk about our writing and publishing. The key is to be yourself! No one wants you to constantly blab about your book and your book alone. Frankly, it's annoying and a good way for people to drop you as a connection. To me, it is perfectly fine to talk about your book, provide links, etc, just don't make that all you are. Let me know you, because I'm sure you're wonderful and then of course, I'll want to support you and buy your book! ;)


Thank you, Hilary!!  The White Assassin, Hilary's sequel to Nightshade City, will be released in October. Don't miss it!

If you are a published author and you would like to share your experiences with marketing and promoting your book(s), I'd love to share your story! Please contact me at anpstevens [at] gmail [dot] com. 

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C is for Chris Barton (Marketing Monday)

For those of you who are new here (welcome!), I periodically run a Marketing Monday feature. Most of these are "case studies" of authors and what they (and their publishers) have done to market their books. If you're interested, you can see the others here. Today's installment is a little different.

When I contacted Chris Barton (author of The Day-Glo Brothers, Shark vs. Train, and the soon-to-be-released Can I See Your I.D.?), he replied that he didn't have time to write up a post. But, gracious Texan that he is, he didn't leave me empty-handed.

Last August, Chris did a Writer's League of Texas panel on book marketing. And it's all available on YouTube. So here is a ton of great information from a group of publishers: what they do and what you as an author can expect to do to market your book.

It's a 12-part series; if you're interested in the rest, go here for part 4.

If you are a published author and you would like to share your experiences with marketing and promoting your book(s), I'd love to share your story! Please contact me at anpstevens [at] gmail [dot] com. 

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Marketing Monday - Susanna Hill

Since last week was the My Favorite Picture Book Blogfest, it seems fitting that I have picture book author Susanna Leonard Hill on the blog today.

Susanna has published several picture books, including The House that Mack Built, Punxsutawney Phyllis, No Sword Fighting in the House, and Can't Sleep Without Sheep (among many others!), and her latest book, April Fool, Phyllis! comes out on April 1.

On top of all that, she put together a terrific post filled with great ways to get PBs - and other books for children - into the hands of teachers, librarians, and, ultimately, the kids for whom they were written.  Read on for more...


When my first book was published in November of 2002 I was over the moon. I was a published author - a dream come true! It never even crossed my mind that I would have to market or promote it. I assumed the publisher would do whatever was necessary to garner interest in my preschool pop-up title.

Even back then, I was wrong. My book had been published by a division of one of the biggest publishing companies in the US. They publish a staggering number of titles in a year, and their marketing budget is funneled toward big names and blockbuster books and titles they really want attention for, not little preschool pop-ups by first time authors :)

Since then, I have been lucky enough to have 8 more books published, 3 more with the original publisher, 3 with another publisher, and 1 each with 2 other publishers. The different publishing houses have approached the marketing of these books in different ways, but I learned early and I learned well: no one has more interest in promoting my books than I do. (And actually, that may not be quite fair. The publishing houses are always interested in having their books do well, but their time and budgets are limited, and since I am not J.K. Rowling, the power of their marketing dollars does not usually extend to me.)

The market has grown increasingly competitive, and publishers' marketing budgets are shrinking.

So I started thinking about things I could do to gain some notice for my books. There are so many talented authors and illustrators out there, so many fabulous books. How would consumers, from teachers and librarians to parents, even know my book existed?

Here are a few things I came up with:

• I started a website
• I compiled a mailing list of local schools and public libraries
• I made a flyer (on Microsoft Word!) and mailed it out to my new mailing list
• the flyer included the title and cover of my book and a nice review, my website and contact info, and the fact that I was available for school and library visits.
• I printed up business cards
• I did several school visits for free while I was learning.
• Some people may be naturals at getting up in front of large groups of kindergartners, but I am shy (one of the reasons I like writing!) and I had no experience with large groups of children, even though I had plenty of experience one-on-one and with small groups. I knew I had a lot to learn, and I was more comfortable learning knowing no one was paying me. It was enough, in the beginning, to gain the experience and have a chance to sell books.

On school visits, I usually read one of my stories and show the kids the process a book goes through from the original idea to what you see on the library or bookstore shelf. I tailor the amount of detail I go into on this to the age of the group.

For my first book, The House That Mack Built, I built a board with little velcroed on trees, a river with a popsicle stick barge, and brought a handful of construction vehicles that matched the story so I could show the kids how the feller and skidder took down the trees etc...

For Punxsutawney Phyllis and April Fool, Phyllis! I have a groundhog puppet who tells about groundhog facts and groundhog day, and even sings a song she made up. :) I also have a puppet for Can't Sleep Without Sheep, and songs for Airplane Flight, Freight Train Trip, and Can't Sleep Without Sheep.

With 1st and 2nd graders, I often share the first book I wrote when I was in 2nd grade. I always leave time for Q&A.


As time went my, I grew more comfortable with school visits, and I had some new titles published. So I did a few more things:

• I continued adding to and updating my mailing list, including nursery schools since a lot of my titles are intended for preschool
• I updated my flyer every year, making sure all new titles and covers were included, and adding a list of schools I'd previously visited and a couple of testimonials that people had been kind enough to send unsolicited. (one thing I didn't do, and that might be helpful, was to ask for recommendations. For you, it might be a way to get more testimonials more quickly.)
• I started a FaceBook fan page
• I started a blog
• When I go on school or library visits now, I always bring a clipboard with a page where people can sign up to be notified of new publications, book news etc.
• I started making book trailers for my new releases on imovie
• I started making and sending promotional postcards
• I asked my illustrators for coloring and activity pages which they and I both post on our websites for teachers and parents to share with kids
• I made classroom guides for several of the books to make them easier for teachers to incorporate into their curriculum
• I have made an effort to engage with other blog writers and been interviewed on literacy and children's literature sites
• I have made an effort to attend conferences which teachers and/or librarians attend
• I am a member of The Author's Guild, SCBWI, The Children's Literature Network, and The Reading Tub.

My books are in schools and libraries, in part by virtue of the fact that 3 of them are published by a house that sells directly to that market, but also because I have painstakingly built a list of teachers and librarians to whom I can send announcements of new titles, and made an effort to cater to their needs by creating classroom guides and activities they can use.

I find and schedule all my own school and library visits. With one exception where the publisher supplied them, I (or my illustrator partner) have made the promotional postcards for all the books I've sent them for.

I am probably forgetting things! But if you have any questions, please feel free to ask! You can contact me through my website, www.susannahill.com or my blog, http://susannahill.blogspot.com.


Susanna Leonard Hill wrote her first story titled, “The Girl and The Witch”, when she was five years old. Born in New York City, she graduated from Middlebury College with a double major in English and Psychology and holds an M.A. and an M.Ed. in Counseling Psychology and Special Education of Children with Learning Disabilities from Teachers College, Columbia University. She worked for many years as an educational therapist, but is now a full-time mom and author. Her published works for children include Punxsutawney Phyllis, which was chosen for the Book Sense Children’s Pick List Fall 2005 and the Amelia Bloomer Project Feminist Books For Youth List 2006, as well as The House That Mack Built, Taxi!, No Sword Fighting In The House, a Junior Library Guild Selection, Not Yet, Rose, Airplane Flight!, Freight Train Trip! and Can’t Sleep Without Sheep. Punxsutawney Phyllis and the April Fools is in production for 2011. Susanna lives on East Mountain in Poughquag, NY.


If you are a published author and you would like to share your experiences with marketing and promoting your book(s), I'd love to share your story! Please contact me at anpstevens [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Multitasking

Just like every other mom on the planet, I multitask. Of course, I can only actually DO two or three things at a time (dust and search for lost legos and try to follow my son's description of the dragon he saw fighting a ninja tiger. He saw it. Really.). Ask me to do more than that, and my carefully balanced stack of tasks topples to the ground. And I have to scramble to pick up the pieces.

Why do I share this? Because I've been dealing with sick kids, a traveling husband, and school closings while trying to finish my WIP for an upcoming revision workshop. They've put me way over my multitasking limit, and I forgot to schedule someone for today's Marketing Monday.

But if you're looking for some great marketing advice, check out Raquel Byrnes's tips on putting together a media kit. Next week, we'll be back to the regularly scheduled program. 

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Marketing Monday - Donna Gephart

Today I have middle grade author Donna Gephart, who not only agreed to share her experiences, she wrote up this fabulous post within a few short hours of my request.

Donna has two books published, with a third due out next year. She's full of terrific insight, so let's begin!



Now that I’ve sold three novels, I wish I could talk to myself when my first book came out. I’d tell myself, “Stop freaking out!”

“People will read the book. You will get amazing e-mails from young fans, teachers, librarians and old boyfriends. You will even win a couple lovely awards.”

To you, dear reader, I say, “Do what feels comfortable. Say, “Yes” a lot. Let people know about your book and about you as a speaker, then move on and write the next book. If contemplating marketing and promoting gives you hives, think about the process as connecting and giving.”

Here are some examples from my experience that may be helpful:

School Visits:

When a friend told me a local middle school library was desperately in need of books, I gathered a bag of books our kids were not using as well as copies of my two novels and headed over there.

The librarian and I hit it off immediately. She was friendly and enthusiastic and really appreciated the donation of books. When she found out I did school visits, she invited me to give a (paid) presentation to the entire sixth grade class (about 400 students) and sign books at the school’s book fair.

A win for both of us.

Since that time, I’ve gone in to help her encourage reluctant readers to find books they’ll enjoy.

Media Attention:

A friend, Janeen Mason, suggested I contact her friend, Marilyn Bauer, who writes a local arts column blog for an area newspaper.

Marilyn is lovely! After she wrote about me, a reporter from that paper read my novel, How to Survive Middle School, enjoyed it and wrote a review in the newspaper, saying my book was good for both children and adults. (He even posted the review on Amazon.)

A parent read that review and told her group about me when they were looking for a keynote speaker for an event they were hosting. I spoke to that group about surviving parenting a middle schooler.

Another time, I wrote to a local reporter, telling her how much I enjoy her weekly “Meet Your Neighbor” feature. I’d been reading and enjoying it for years. The reporter asked if I’d consider being featured in the newspaper.

Of course I agreed.

After that article came out, I was contacted by several area schools about author visits.

Blogging:

I’ve been blogging since 2007.

A favorite feature is my 6-1/2 list – a cleverly disguised guest blog. Here are a few examples:

1. Erin Murphy and author Audrey Vernick give great tips about how to elevate quiet books.

2. Cynthia Leitich Smith discusses How to Promote Your Book Like a Pro

3. Cynthia Lord shares tips on creating great school visits.

Don’t blog in a vacuum. Follow and comment on other blogs. Doing guest blog posts is a great idea because it gives you the opportunity to connect with new readers. Thanks, Alison!

Your Book is Your Best Promotion Tool:

When you hear the advice, “Write the best book you can,” there’s a reason. Once your book comes out, it must stand on its own merits. Take my word for it, you’ll be glad you spent that extra time revising.

My first book, As if Being 12 ¾ Isn’t Bad Enough, My Mother is Running for President! had a lot of support from Random House. They flew me to Philadelphia to meet with influential librarians at a cocktail party during ALA. They promoted the book in print. They even gave out “Vote for Mom” buttons at a few large shopping malls across the country.

With all that support from Random House plus all my promotional efforts, the book did NOT break any sales records.

But instead of spending all my time and energy promoting that book, I did exactly what I was supposed to do. I wrote the next book.

ARCs of How to Survive Middle School were sent to reviewers by Random House. That’s it. I sent out an e-mail letting people know my book was out. And not a whole lot more.

Guess what?

How to Survive Middle School got starred reviews right out of the gate. It landed on the Texas Lone Star Reading List.

Before long, I got the happy news that it had gone into its FIFTH printing and sold out its advance. And it hasn’t even been out a year.

That had very little to do with what I or Random House did to promote it.

It was the book not the promotion that made those things happen.


So, here are my 6-1/2 tips for you:

1. Write the best book you can.

2. Spend as much time as needed to revise and polish your book.

3. Instead of thinking about what you’d like to get (book sales), think about what you can give — your time, advice, expertise, etc.

4. Connect in ways that feel comfortable and meaningful. Blogs, FB, Twitter, School Visits, Library Workshops, Articles for Magazines — whatever works for you.

5. Don’t be shy. Let your friends, family and colleagues know about how excited you are about your new book. Give out your business cards liberally. Include your book and Web site/blog information in your signature line on every e-mail you send out.

6. If you’re introverted, get thee to Shrinking Violet Promotions.

6-1/2. Here’s the most important advice. My agent reminds me of it every now again. Don’t get so caught up in worrying about sales and marketing and promotion that you neglect to do the most important thing for a long, healthy writing career: WRITE THE NEXT BOOK.

Donna Gephart tries to remember to WRITE THE NEXT BOOK from her home in South Florida. Her newest book, Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen, about a girl determined to get on the TV quiz show, Jeopardy!, comes out in 2012. Visit Donna online at www.donnagephart.com and click on the hamster icon to view a hilarious singing hamster YouTube video.

Marketing Monday - Carole Anne Carr

Today I would like to welcome Carole Anne Carr, a children's author who has self published several books for children, including two novels and a picture book. She will also have fantasy based on Norse mythology available soon.

Many of you already know Carole from her blog; she writes historical fiction set near her home in England. Through her books, she is making a tour of Shropshire's historical sites, which must be a wonderful experience for local children.



What has the process of self-publishing been like for you?

Very hard work indeed. I began this process as I started serious writing very late in life and didn't think any publisher would be interested in me at my age.

First I tried to discover whether I was on the right track by completing a part time three year course on creative writing. When I did well, I then decided to go ahead with this project.

Then I had to work out how to be a self-publisher. I didn't want vanity publishing, or a pay on demand printer, so I set about finding a good printer whose work I liked and who would publish one hundred books at a time - a number I thought I could sell to begin with.

I then used Google to discover how to be a publisher, learned how to make print ready files, asked my Grandson how to design a book cover and also make it into a print ready file, and learned about ISBN numbers and how to attach them to the cover. From the printer I learned about types of paper, how my book would be bound, costs,how long the process would take. I visited the printer to see the whole process from start to finish.

Then I wanted to add a picture book to my published work and so purchased a simplified version of photoshop - elements 8 - which was the correct one for my needs and struggled to place my illustrations into the book file.

Of course I edited my own work, a long tedious process, found a friend who would act as accountant and helped me set up as self-employed. I have since found someone to help with the editing, dicovered on LinkedIn, who is also at the beginning stage of his career and as yet does not charge.

How has online social networking helped you market your books?

Not a great deal as yet. It leads people to my website and bookshop, but it is only by my author appearances that I later have people buying from the site. However, I have found many useful connections, people who have kindly helped me along the way, through LinkedIn. Moral support that I receive from Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, is always welcome.

What steps have you taken to market your books in person (with bookstores, schools, libraries, etc.)?

I have sold over 1000 books since I started at the beginning of 2010, not a great number, and this has been due to selling myself to independent bookshops, working in local libraries and schools as visiting author, (placing my books in county libraries), visiting schools, (I taught for 25 years) and reading from my books and teaching creative writing.

I have joined many societies, Women in Rural Business and joined them at large county shows, attended craft fairs, I'm a member of the Society of Authors, Jelly, and the National Association of Writers in Schools and attend their conferences. I keep in touch with Nielsen, and have finally been recognised by Gardners the big book distribution people. I also give talks to women's groups.

My books relate to historical sites, although children's fiction, and I have made sure they are for sale in museums and bookshops related to those sites. My next book is fantasy, I'm hoping to widen my apppeal. I am constantly working to improve my visibility whilst writing more books. My first two books are shortly to become eBooks so that I can reach a wider market. If you google me, you will find that I appear over many many pages, very hard work indeed.

What advice do you have for other children's authors who might be thinking of self-publishing?

It is possible to be successful, and I think with much persistance you can become reasonably well known as an author. If you have the ability, and you can always take courses as I did to make sure you are on the right track, and you have the drive, then I'd say 'go for it'. However, I must add that it is easier for me, being retired!


If you are a published author and you would like to share your experiences with marketing and promoting your book(s), I'd love to share your story! Please contact me at anpstevens [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Marketing Monday - Alex J. Cavanaugh

To pilot the fleet’s finest ship…
Few options remain for Byron, a talented young man with a troubled past and rebellious attitude. Slated to train as a Cosbolt pilot, Byron is determined to prove his worth and begin a new life. Much to his chagrin, Bassa, the toughest instructor in the fleet, takes notice of the young pilot. As war brews on the edge of space, Byron requires a navigator of exceptional quality to survive. Bassa must make a decision that could well decide the fate of both men. Will their skills be enough as they embark on a mission that may stretch their abilities to the limit?

Sound familiar? Today I have another well-known writer in the blogosphere: Alex J. Cavanaugh, author of the science fiction adventure CassaStar.

How have you made use of your online connections to market CassaStar? Did you find that your blog or twitter played a bigger role?

I was prompted by my publisher to get my butt online! So I started blogging first and then Twitter. Blogging has definitely played a bigger part. Through several blogfests and challenges, I built up my readership. My blogging friends really cheered me on when I posted my cover art and book trailer, which was cool. Before the release date of CassaStar, I put out a call for help and was overwhelmed by the response! Nineteen bloggers hosted my book tour and another eighty-plus featured my book and trailer on release day. Reviews and guest post requests continue to come in, which helps keep momentum going.

What did Dancing Lemur Press do to help market your book?

They made the book available in print and all eBook formats, sent out tons of review copies, and did a huge mailing and emailing campaign. They’ve worked hard to get my books into Barnes and Noble and libraries.

Have you done any marketing and promotion in person (beyond anything the publisher might have arranged)?

Sadly, no. I’m not comfortable in front of people, so I’ve had to rely on the Internet to promote my book.

Do you think social networking is more effective for writers of science fiction? Have you connected with readers through your blog?

I think it’s effective for any genre. What blogging taught me was to look beyond my genre, though. I followed a lot of science fiction blogs in the beginning, but it was the readers who were attracted to my own blog that showed the most interest, and many of them didn’t read science fiction. CassaStar is low-tech and character-driven, so it appeals to a wider audience than pure science fiction. This is something I would’ve never discovered without blogging!


Thanks for sharing your experience, Alex! Lots of good insight, particularly for those of us who are tend to be a bit more introverted.

If you are a published author and you would like to share your experiences with marketing and promoting your book(s), I'd love to share your story! Please contact me at anpstevens [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Marketing Monday - Sam Gosling

Sam Gosling, Ph.D., is a psychology professor at the University of Texas. Sam's research is remarkably well known. He studies personality.

Many psychologists study personality, but Sam is particularly interested in what we can learn about people without ever meeting them. He studies people's stuff. And he has done curious people everywhere a great service by writing Snoop: what your stuff says about you. I'll have more about Sam's book in my next post, but for today, Sam has agreed to share his experiences marketing Snoop.


What did Profile Books LTD do to market Snoop?

• [They] sent me on a 6(?) city book tour, where I gave talks at bookstores and local media.
• They sent out books and press releases to various media, with the greatest pickup in papers and radio.
• I did a day of radio interviews (where you sit in a room and do 20-ish consecutive interviews with regional radio).
• They had a double page devoted to it in their catalogue
• They sent out flyers to university professors who might adopt it.

What did you do to promote Snoop?

• I created a webpage where I posted a sample of writing, tour dates, etc.

How has the experience played out for you?

• There was a flurry of activity initially and there has been a modest but pretty constant stream of attention since then, with the occasional bigger thing.
• I also did a couple of days of media interviews in the UK.

In case you're curious what the "occasional bigger thing" might be, Sam was on Dr. Phil to discuss his book. He also put the contents of his book into action by snooping into the offices of Dr. Phil and some of his co-workers.

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Marketing Monday - Jody Hedlund

Chances are, if you're a writer and you blog, you know Jody Hedlund, author of the historical romance The Preacher's Bride. Jody's blog is always full of terrific advice about both writing and blogging. And Jody is just as helpful and delightful to work with in person (okay—via email) as she is on her blog.

Today, Jody is here to share what Bethany House (publisher of The Preacher's Bride) did to market Jody's book, as well as what she did as an author. She's got lots of great ideas, so be sure to read to the end!



What did Bethany House do to help promote The Preacher's Bride?

I’m fortunate to have a contract with a larger publishing house who has an excellent marketing and sales team. They did an incredible number of things to help promote my book. Here are just a few of the top things:

• They sent out advanced reader copies ARCs (to major book buyers, book reviewers, etc.).
• They provided me with free books, bookmarks, and other items that I could use for promotional purposes.
• They provided free books to a list of people (influencers) who agreed to read and help promote my book.
• They helped arrange an interview with my local newspaper which ended up being a full page in the Sunday paper.
• They got my book in all of the major online bookstores, book catalogs, and numerous bookstores (including Sam’s Club, Barnes & Noble, Borders, most Christian bookstores).
• On release day, my publisher did a big Twitter giveaway.

What did you do to market your novel?

Because my publisher did so many of the bigger things, I could focus my energy on things that I really enjoy. Here are just of the few of the ways I worked initially to promote my book:

• I did a “countdown” on my blog the month before the release date. Each week I posted a trivia question and did a giveaway drawing for those that participated.
• I had a “first-sighting” slide show. I encouraged readers to send me a picture of them with my book, and then I posted all of the pictures in a slide show on my blog.
• I did over 40 blog interviews (often with book giveaways) in a variety of different settings, and I posted each interview and link on my website.
• For anyone who reviewed my book on their blog, I also posted the review and link on my website.
• I planned an enormous local launch party at a privately owned bookstore in town.

How do you see your online presence contributing to the promotion of your book?

My online presence helped in many different ways. In my post The Snowball Effect of Social Media, I list many of the ways that social media directly and indirectly helped in the promotion of my book. Here are a few of the points I mention in that post:

• Many of my followers on the various social media sites supported me by buying my book, even if they weren’t huge fans of my genre.
• The connections I’ve made opened the door for other promotional opportunity (like the blog interviews I mentioned above).
• Followers who didn’t want to read my book, bought it for others they thought would be interested.
• Interestingly, my book made it to the CBA best seller list about three months after its debut. I’m convinced that my web presence helped contribute to that.

Be sure to read Jody's post on The Snowball Effect of Social Media for more insight into her experience as a debut author.

Thanks Jody, for taking the time to share your experiences! 

If you are a published author and you would like to share your experiences with marketing and promoting your book(s), I'd love to share your story! Please contact me at anpstevens [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Marketing Monday - Toby Speed

It's Monday! And wouldn't you know? Today I have the first book marketing case study.

Toby Speed is the author of six picture books and one book of poetry for children. Two Cool Cows was a ABA Pick of the List and won an IRA-CBC Children’s Choice Award. Brave Potatoes was on The New York Times Extended Children's Best Seller List and the Publishers Weekly Children's Bestseller List.

Toby published her picture books before the days of the online platform, but some aspects of marketing and promotion don't change. Read on to see how the process worked for her.


What did you or the publishers do to get your books reviewed?

I did nothing to get any of my books reviewed. Besides the reviews listed on my website, there were many others that appeared in newspapers and magazines around the country. My publishers (Stewart, Tabori and Chang for ONE LEAF FELL and Putnam for most of the others) did all the legwork. In those days, I looked forward to stuffed-looking envelopes coming in the mail that contained newspaper and magazine clippings. I'd call my mom, celebrate quietly, then file them away! I believe that initially both publishers sent me questionnaires asking me to identify local media.

How did you market your books? Did you use the same general approach for all, or did you pursue different avenues for each one?

I called or stopped into every single Borders and Barnes & Noble on Long Island, the Nassau and Suffolk County Library System, and many independent bookstores, and I connected with their community relations person. I handed them a press kit consisting of a press release I'd written myself about my book, a sample book that they could borrow, background information about me, and the type of program I was offering. For each one of my books I created a program that combined a reading with a craft for children, followed by a book-signing. I often requested that they put my books face out on the shelves (or I turned them that way myself!).

What did the publishers do to market your books?

Putnam did a great job of creating displays for several of my books that were used in bookstores—racks that included not only my current book but others they'd just published that they were trying to push. Putnam also had agreements with third parties that allowed them to market my books in various ways. For instance, a restaurant chain in California called Carl's Jr. asked to use TWO COOL COWS as part of a promotion. Jigsaw puzzles were created to give away with meals to customers, and they had posters in their windows showing the book cover. For BRAVE POTATOES, Putnam made postcards and sent me a supply, and I handed them out everywhere. For future books, I'd make my own bookmarks or postcards to use as giveaways. BRAVE POTATOES was also performed as a musical in Chicago. [wow!]

What other kinds of activities did you pursue that helped with marketing and promotion?

I did many arts-in-education programs in elementary schools throughout Suffolk County (where I live) and in parts of Nassau County. Occasionally I'd get a request from the city or farther away, but I accepted those only occasionally. In schools, I'd do poetry or story-writing workshops with the kids. Sometimes I'd do an assembly, too, which was more of a talk about the life of an author. And I joined the Long Island Children's Writers and Illustrators (they weren't called that back then, but were more of an informal group) and went to Author Illustrator evenings in the public schools. They run about 35 of these each year in my region. A bookseller is on hand to sell the books, and we just sit at tables and sign. I also spent summers in northeast Pennsylvania, so I did library programs there as well.

You recently finished writing a novel. If/when it gets published, how do you envision marketing it?

Ahh, here's where things get very different. First of all, I'll be spending a lot of time looking for an agent to represent me. I never had an agent for my children's books. So I'll be going the query route and persisting until something good happens.

I'm now blogging, which offers myriad possibilities. I already have an "interview" on my website with one of the characters in my book. I plan to post a series of interviews and guest posts with my characters and use social media and networking to draw people to the site. I am already using Facebook and Twitter to connect with people in the industry. I plan on attending some mystery writers' conferences, also for networking, and will set up as many bookstore and library appearances as I can.

It is so wonderful that we have all the resources of the Internet now and can get to know people halfway around the world, as in the case of you and me! I enjoy using social media and making friends in the creative communities out there, so I'll just keep that up and continue to hope that my work will steadily grow to reach a wider audience. Certainly, if I'd had these resources back when my picture books were being published, I'd have been able to get the word out about them much more easily and maybe help to keep them in print. We need to rely on our allies and supporters in the online world, plus it's so much fun to be a member of the community.


Thanks for the terrific overview of your experience, Toby!

What aspects of Toby's experience do you think might be useful in today's market?

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