The Dutton Writers' Room

How does a first-time author begin to promote her book?

First, I think it's always wise to research what more experienced authors in your genre have done, what's worked for them, and what hasn't. If something worked, ask yourself if that's something that would work for your audience. If not, move out, be inventive and find something that will. Really, the very first thing you need to do is to know your own book, and by extension, the would-be readers of your book. Once you understand your audience, you should be able to determine what they want. For instance, my audience is comprised mostly of tweens and teens. And let's face it, they want cool, free stuff. And most of those tweens and teens already love vampires and shop at Hot Topic, so I needed something free that they could find in that store, that would remind them of not just vampires, but also my book. I had buttons created featuring the vampire smiley face on the cover of Eighth Grade Bites for just this purpose. Some essentials for everyone, no matter your genre: a professionally developed webpage that reflects the style of your book, and an active MySpace page. Those are an excellent starting point. I've found a blog to be a great place to connect with readers, but some people are uncomfortable blogging. That's okay, but you'll want to find another avenue that works for you to take blogging's place. The connections you make, even before your book hits the shelves, are crucially important to your success. People tend to support their friends. So your number two priority (after knowing your book) is to make friends with everyone who expresses an interest in your book. (The bonus is that you get to know some really amazing people, all in the name of "work".)

What have been some of the most useful tools in promoting your book?

The single most useful tool has been the internet, by far. It's really made connecting with readers much easier. For instance, rather than years ago, when an author had no choice but to travel to connect with readers, I can connect with them around the globe with the click of a button. The internet has unified lovers of books in a way that wasn't possible before it. Word of mouth now travels at cyber speed, which can only be a good thing for authors. What was one of your most successful promotion ideas? One of the least? The most successful promotion idea I had was to create buttons (I call them "Minion Bling" and my fans my "Minion Horde". After all, who wants fans when you can have Minions?) featuring the vampire happy face on the cover of Eighth Grade Bites. The brilliant smiley was designed by Christian Funfhausen and has attracted much attention from potential readers. And the buttons were an easy way to share it with people. To date, I've given out over 2,000 of those (pardon the pun) suckers, and requests for more come in every day. Running right alongside the Minion bling has to be the hoodies I've had printed up to give away. They mirror the one Vlad wears on the cover, and are highly sought after. (In fact, the first thing I hear out of people's mouths after seeing my cover is, "Where can I get that hoodie?") The least successful promotion idea I've had would probably be the contest I ran requesting entrant's blood types. Not that it was a failure, exactly, but I've learned that not only are people more apt to enter a contest if there's little to no work involved for them, but the majority of people don't seem to know their blood type (much to the disappointment of Vlad).

When you think about ways to promote EGB, are you inspired by other authors?

Absolutely. Joe Konrath (author of the Jack Daniels series, HarperCollins) is a mastermind of marketing, during one summer having visited 500 book stores to promote his work. Jackie Kessler (author of the Hell on Earth series, Kensington) is an absolute inspiration in her continued efforts to reach out to both her fellow authors and her public. That being said, we each have our own, unique approach to self-promotion. After all, you've got to find what works for you. Joe's plan wouldn't necessarily work for Jackie, and Jackie's plan wouldn't necessarily work for me. That's something that you really have to keep in mind when developing your own self-promotion plan: what will work for you? And something else to ask yourself, that I've asked myself many times: what can you do that no one has tried before?

Did you learn anything about yourself in the process?

It really surprised me how good I am at self-promotion, marketing, and public relations. I've never pictured myself as the type of person who could go out in public and convince anybody that buying my book is a good idea, but apparently…I'm good at it. But then, for me, that's a big key: I don't sell myself to people. I don't push my book on people. I hate being sold to, so why would I do that to other people? I just like meeting people, talking to them, maybe giving them free stuff, and hey, if they buy my book, great. If not…well, at least I made a connection, and maybe I gave them a reason to smile. (Karma has to count for something.)

What should other authors keep in mind during the process?

Put yourself in the reader's place when doing self-promotion. How would you want to be treated? That's the most important thing, really. Be nice. Be genuine. Just be you, and the fans will follow.

Do you have any practical advice you’d like to pass along?

Shop around when looking for promotional goods. There are some extremely cheap places out there who do exceptional quality work. Get samples and compare, because odds are, you can find better craftsmanship for a better price somewhere else. (And if you're looking to have buttons made, check out Busy Beaver Buttons online—just Google the name—and ask for Sean. It's cool. They know me there.)