Working With a Publicist

Marketing Image courtesy of ddpavumba at FreeDigitalPhotos.netOver the next few months, I’m planning on sharing some of the things I’ve learned about marketing since publishing my first book in 2011. To be honest, I’ve found marketing the hardest part of publishing a book. You work your guts out to get this product ready and then you have to work even harder to let the world know about it.

Last month, I chatted about the usefulness of cover reveals, this month I want to talk about collaborating with a publicist.

When I first started out in this business I thought if I saved my pennies and spent as little as possible, I’d make more money. It took me way too long to figure out that this is indeed not true. Money needs to be spent in order to be recouperated. I’m not saying be frivolous; wisdom and care is still needed in choosing what you pour your money into, but if you want to look at making a bigger impact in the market, then money does have to be invested to some degree. Continue reading “Working With a Publicist”

Making a Splash at Book Festivals

Tucson Book FestivalI used to live in Tucson, Arizona, where they started a new Book Festival back in 2009. That first year, there were over 50,000 attendees, and by the third year that number had jumped to 100,000. Quite quickly, the Tucson Festival of Books was rated in the top 5 book festivals in the country. I attended every TFOB until I moved out of the area, and it was gratifying to see so many people excited about books and reading. But being used to smaller events in book stores and libraries, I quickly realized that a book festival of this magnitude was a completely different animal, and there was a lot to learn. Every year I did things a little differently, and every year I had a more successful time. Continue reading “Making a Splash at Book Festivals”

Planting Seeds…

Author Ken La Salle
Author Ken La Salle

Guest post
by Ken La Salle

As a writer, I sometimes have to remind myself to think beyond my current project (or projects). I find it important to remember to play the long game and not focus only on the immediate. This is a career I’m building, not a fairy tale. Things take time.

It is with this in mind that I decided to write these words to share with you.

Recently, I’ve been trying to get my philosophical memoir, Climbing Maya (available in ebook and paperback), recognized by a few media outlets in the hopes of driving up sales. When I talk about media outlets, I’m talking about newspapers, magazine, television and… oh, but I live in southern California where nobody reads and the TV market isn’t even aware of my existence. Taking that into consideration, media becomes blogs, podcasts, and radio (with a smattering of others hopefuls along the way). Continue reading “Planting Seeds…”

How to Write a News Release

Back when I was a journalist, I saw more attempts at eye-catching news releases than you could shake a stick at. Releases in color-coordinated folders, accompanied by a pile of color brochures on slick paper. Releases accompanied by little giveaway items, like a pen or paperweight graced (of course) with the sender’s corporate logo. Sometimes we’d get really good swag, like a t-shirt or a CD, with a news release.

But tchotchkes don’t make a story newsworthy. If you want a reporter to do a story about your announcement or event, the only thing you have to send is a good news release. (I’m using the term “news release” instead of the more common “press release” because I worked in broadcasting, and broadcasters – ahem – don’t have presses.) Continue reading “How to Write a News Release”