Tag Archives: book launch

Strategies for Promoting a Book ~ Part 2

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Fellow author and blog-co-ordinator, Louise MacBeath Barbour continues to keep us all informed about the tortuous but fun writing process on the IWSG Anthology blog.

As she says in this week’s post, “Book promotion is a serious topic for all authors, and if it isn’t, it should be!” Last week five of the authors featured in the 2020 Insecure Writer’s Support Group Anthology, Voyagers:  The Third Ghost discussed the challenge of promoting our book in enterprising ways.

Now, check out the promotion strategies the second group of our Voyager authors use – including my own mistakes.

https://iwsganthologies.blogspot.com/2020/06/strategies-for-promoting-book-part-2.html

Launch Minus and Counting

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Equestrian thrills return on August 7th with the re-release of my first mystery set in the horse world. (Yes, there is a second in the pile of drafts.)

First published in December 2013 but out of print since I left the publisher, “Spiral of Hooves” returns in a new edition revised to address readers’ comments. For instance, one of the sub-plots was out of character so I have removed it.

Although this is a new edition of the eBook, this is the first paperback edition – by ‘popular demand’. I am preparing for the August 7th launch on social media and I am looking for some input and assistance beforehand and in the week of the launch.

  • BLURB: In Canada, researcher Armand Sabatier witnesses what could be the murder of groom Odette Fedon, but traumatic images from his past smother his memory, and a snowstorm buries the evidence. Harassed by nightmares but fighting through them, Armand remembers the crime a few months later. By then he is in England, where he is dragged into a plot involving international sport horse breeding.

  Suspecting everyone around him, Armand is forced to brave the past that he has kept buried. But what made Armand leave France? Where did he learn to survive and fight for justice? Why is the English rider Carly Tanner treading the same path as the first victim, Odette?

  Can he save Carly before he has more blood on his hands?

  • Genre – Mystery-thriller
  • Tone of the book – serious but not gory
  • Target audience – young adult upwards interested in horses and mysteries

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I plan to write an ‘interview with ‘the author’ that re-lives my past before the stable door closes and I forget all the events that lead to me writing “Spiral of Hooves”. If you have any suggestions as to crucial questions I should ask myself, please ask them in the comments.

During the launch week, I would welcome other bloggers running the interview along with some blurb on the book and the cover image (as above). I can supply the post material beforehand if you let me know, either below or by sending an email via the Contact Me form.

If you would like to read an ARC [advance review copy] of the novel, I can supply one in exchange for an unbiased review. The more reviews that appear around the launch the wider the impact.

If you are on Goodreads, the Want to Read shelf is also important, so please add “Spiral of Hooves” to your shelf.

On August 7th, I will be on Goodreads to answer questions at https://www.goodreads.com/author/6828334.Roland_Clarke/questions and any asked in advance.

I will also be at https://www.facebook.com/roland.clarke.79 where I am hosting a Launch Party. If anyone is willing to co-host that event, then I would be grateful for a stand-in while I take a break on what will be a busy day.

Do you have any further suggestions that could make this a successful launch on August 7th?

Launch Day Mnemonics

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Having struggled through a frantic first book launch, I need to avoid a repeat performance. So this handy name mnemonic – memory device – helps recall some of the key elements. Using the first letter of each element spells TROUP, as in Bobby Troup, composer of ‘Get Your Kicks on Route 66’ – play any recording to remember.

Time: make sure that time is on your side. Schedule enough time for the key elements. Good timing ensures that you’re not going crazy on launch day because something hasn’t been done.

Reviews: finding reviewers and giving them Time to read your book is essential. Avoid having all your reviews appear after the launch.

Originality: Look for a unique angle for your book launch – be original. Go beyond interviewing your characters, invite their alter-egos to the launch in costume. Organisation is also needed to ensure success, but that comes with Time. As for the Orchestra, you only book that for a stadium launch.

Unforeseen: Prepare for the unforeseen, things that creep up at the last minute. Goodies held up in the post. Guest speaker from Idaho arrested for giving his wife too small a box of chocolates.

Profile: By Profile I don’t mean Platform – that should be paved well-before the journey. Check that all your profiles on social media, your website, Goodreads, Amazon Author Central, etcetera are all up-to-date with the same text and photographs. As for the Launch Day Party, who is going to forget that?

That’s enough from me folks.

 


This is my monthly contribution to the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The October 1st post celebrates the forthcoming IWSG anthology, Guide to Publishing and Beyond. The awesome co-hosts for this special anniversary posting of the IWSG are Kristin Smith, Elsie, Suzanne Furness, and Fundy Blue!