Thursday, October 27, 2011

The Best Kind of Promotion

The best kind of promotion we can do for ourselves is to promote the work of other authors. This might sound counter productive, but when an author promotes their own work and nothing else, then interest often fades. To avoid the urge to spam the internet with news of our books, we should promote each other. Those we promote will often return the favour. Apart from that, praise for a book has far more authority when it's not coming from the author. 

While there are many ways to promote a book, what do you think are the best ways?

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Contest: The writers at Scribbler's Cove are running a contest to promote two up and coming book releases:



Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn, release date November 1st



 




Darkspell by Elizabeth Mueller, release date October 31st






Be sure to check out their websites and the contest is found here.
   

A-Z Challenge 2012
The amazing Arlee Bird is doing it again. For updates pop on over to this dedicated A-Z website every Tuesday.



Awards:
A huge thank you to Miss Cole of  Miss Cole Seeks Publisher for the One Lovely Blog Award.

And another huge thank you to the lovely Madeleine at Scribble and Edit for the Friendly Blogger Award. Although they are all special, this is one I've not received before.

42 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Best way to promote is with the help of friends! Looking forward to Elizabeth's blogfest next Monday.

Mark said...

I agree. It's kind of like life in general...do onto others and what not. Besides, there's tons of great stuff being written out there, why not praise it:)

Jessica Therrien said...

Agreed!! I'm promoting a fellow author Jennny Bellington on my blog today. Here's to writers supporting writers! http://jessica-therrien.blogspot.com/2011/10/writing-world-jenny-bellington.html

Carol Riggs said...

I definitely think we should promote others! It's not a big competition. We're supporting writing, novels, and reading. That's the important part!! Congrats on your award. :)

Emily R. King said...

I totally agree. Promoting others shows people we're interested in the industry as a whole, not just our own writing. Great post!

Unknown said...

I agree 100%!

Suze said...

'Promotion' is not my forte ...

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Linda, thank you SO much for your kind generosity, girl.

You're so right, it's great to see the kind of support I've been given and my heart warms for it.

One way that I show support for my fellow authors is posting reviews when they ask, or interviewing them. I do shout outs for their author pages over on Facebook.

You're awesome, girl! :)


♥.•*¨Elizabeth¨*•.♥

Can Alex save Winter from the darkness that hunts her?

YA Paranormal Romance, Darkspell releases October 31st!

Old Kitty said...

Bookmarks!

But seriously!! Yay for the writerly blogging community helping each other out with promos and getting the word out there!!

Good luck everyone! I hope to join in with Elizabeth's blogfest promo on the 31st!!! Take care
x

M Pax said...

The best way is to ask for help from friends and other bloggers. It's still not easy.

DEZMOND said...

a big hooray for our dear Mister Arlee :)
Interviews are also a good way for promoting books. Some authors who did interviews for my site, told me it brought them new buyers and readers.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Alex, friends are awesome!!

Mark, exactly right

Jessica, cool, I'll pop on over to check it out

Carol, you are so right. Promoting the joy of reading in general is so important.

E R King, exactly!

Elle, thanks

Suze, I think you might surprise yourself. We don't need to even talk about our books to promote them.

Elizabeth, best of luck with your debut. I'm expecting it to be brilliant.

Old Kitty, yes, bookmarks are great...except for ereaders ;) And yes, the writing community is truly amazing.

Mary, agreed

Dezzy, I believe it. You have so many readers. They may not always comment but they are certainly there and interested and that's what matters.

Sarah Tokeley said...

Who wouldn't want to promote others? When I find something or someone great, I just have to share :-)

Golden Eagle said...

I agree! :)

Congratulations on the awards.

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Best promotion? Write a book that doesn't suck so that the few readers you do get are so impressed they tell others about it.

Barring that...if you do write a book that sucks...then maybe you can get more mileage from promoting other authors because the spam monster will surely destroy you otherwise.

Great post.

Liza said...

I am always so impressed how the online writing community supports each other. You nailed it here. Thanks for the links and congrats on your awards!

Susan Kaye Quinn said...

Thanks for plugging the contest!! The writing community is an amazing place, and I feel very lucky to be a part of it. :)

Gyran Gymble said...

You might paint the details of your book on the side of an elephant and then "accidentally" leave the enclosure gate open.

Joanne said...

The blogging community helped me find a mentor and author for my first novel. It's what brings us together - to support and share. :)

Luanne G. Smith said...

There is no better promotion than word of mouth from satisfied readers. When I hear someone praising a novel they've read I do get interested.

I tend to tune out people who tweet "Buy my novel!!!" all day long.

Carrie Butler said...

You can never beat word of mouth, even if it's in text-form. :)

Anonymous said...

So true - and its so much fun praising other authors.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Sarah, yes, exactly

Golden, thanks

Michael, hahaha yep, worth of mouth generated by a good book is definitely the best.

Liza, thanks

Susan, no worries! I'm looking forward to the release of your book!

Gyran, lol, that's awesome!

Joanne, yes, and the support is truly amazing

Luanne, same here

Carrie, so very true

Michelle, it IS fun!

Jennifer, yes, that's true. I rely on reviews a lot of the time before I buy unknown books.

Jamie Gibbs said...

Congrats on the award! And I love it when bloggers come together to promote each other's books. Makes for good feelings inside :)

Theresa Milstein said...

How nice of you to promote Susan and Elizabeth. Arlee's A to Z Challenge was so popular last time. If I tried to post everyday, I'd lose it!

Unknown said...

Blog tours/offering to interview authors on your personal blog has proved a great path, at least for me, to finding new writers. Also, joining a local writing chapter with published authors can and will help promote not only them, but you. Attending book signings is a biggie, as well; even if you don't buy the author's book (like me, your book money may be a bit slim this month), you can stop by their table, chat with them for a moment or two. Trust me, they will LOVE you for it.

Unknown said...

I love promoting the work of fellow bloggers. I'm not perfect at it but I love doing it nonetheless. Thanks for the links. I plan to do Arlee's challenge again next year.

Stacy S. Jensen said...

I'm not very good at self-promotion, but love to share the work of others. Two authors, who presented at a retreat, said they've done many things and rarely see results from promotional items, etc. Both said they typically sell a few books following a teaching gig. I know I purchased a book from each author.

Shah Wharton said...

Oh goodie - I love 'head-up' posts of this nature. Keeps me abreast of things without my having to did around. I did the Challenge last years and loved it. I'll see if I have the energy though this year. Have a lot more on, hopefully working on the results of my first nanowrimo! That'll be fun. ;D

I totally love helping authors out. I offer guest post/Q&A-features/ or simply the platform to 'brag' about their work. I even helped set up a book tour for one horror author. He's back on my site this weekend with a giveaway actually (that reminds me to check through his post one last time). Perhaps I'm hoping for a little karma when it's my turn.

The second book looks worth a look. Great cover.

I'm a new follower, although I already popped you up on my blog-roll. Brilliant blog. And thanks for popping by to see mine. Shah X

Shallee said...

I agree with promoting other's books! Not only do I love reading and want to share good books, but as a writer, I can really appreciate other people marketing on my behalf. Thanks for the post. :)

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Jamie, great feelings indeed

Theresa, yes, the A-Z Challenge is a definite challenge posting everyday.

Alyssia, I always feel sorry for authors sitting alone at book signings.

Clarissa, yay for Arlee's challenge!

Stacy, I'm not surprised at selling books after a teaching gig.
Makes sense.

Shah, good luck with your NaNo work! And thanks so much for the blog roll.

Shallee, yes, it is about sharing isn't it :)

Prasetyo, thanks

Melissa Sugar said...

I agree that promoting the work of other authors is the best. It pleases me to see so much of this on the blogs I read. I am happy that the authors we meet through blogging, writer's groups, conferences etc. do not feel the need to compete against one another. It is an awesome feeling to belong to such a helpful and supportive group of writers.

Thanks for the information on the challenges. I started blogging way after the A-Z challenge began. I read many entries, but I often felt left out and am looking forward to participating in this one.

Laila Knight said...

Well they do say what goes around comes around. And you can only toot your own horn for so long. Hmm, I signed up for Elizabeth's contest already. Will have to check out the other book. :) Congrats on the well deserved awards. :)

Rachna Chhabria said...

Best way to promote another writer's book is either by reviewing their book, carrying their interview or talking about their book or hosting them as guest bloggers.

LTM said...

I don't think there's any beating word of mouth. I mean, I've bought so many books because friends have raved about them. Tell tell tell. :o) <3

Toyin O. said...

Thanks for sharing.

Maeve Frazier said...

I love our writing community. It is great that while we are all trying to get our work(s) published, we can take glory in others who have been published and cheer them on!

Anonymous said...

So true. It's part of what makes this community so special.

Unknown said...

Tweeting is a great way to promote one's work. Also, like you said here, paying the praise forward always helps.(:

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Melissa, yes, I missed the first one and got that feeling of being left out too because it's just a brilliant challenge.

Laila, good luck in Elizabeth's contest!

Rachna, great examples

Leigh, yes, exactly!!

Maeve, yes, indeed. Our writing community is truly brilliant and supportive.

Madeleine, yes!

Andrea, Tweeting is a fabulous promotion tool.

Vyankatesh said...

Nice idea!!

Jasmine Walt said...

I agree with that-- tooting your own horn gets old really fast, and it makes me feel kind of silly. Great books you're promoting there, btw! :D