Promoting your new book is easy amongst friends. That's what I'm reminded of as the big release day for mine approaches. I'm on the final countdown now--three days to go--and here I am with Kim Grant, acquisitions editor for Countryman Press (on the far left), my publisher.She arrived in town yesterday on assignment at the Royal Palms and scheduled a meeting between the four of us pictured here--all Countryman Press authors. Sitting next to Grant is Christine Bailey (Phoenix, Scottsdale, Sedona and Central Arizona Great Destinations: A Complete Guide), then me (Backroads & Byways of Arizona) and Teresa Bitler (Great Escapes: Arizona). Grant answered so many questions for me about the promotional process, what we can do on our own, what we can do together, how we can cross-promote (Arizona gift baskets, anyone?)...
I wish we had several hours more to chat about the process, but since I'm the newest author in the group, I didn't have as many questions (aside from a few basics) as Christine did; she's on her second edition. It's been two or three years since her book came out. I was told when my second edition time rolls around, I'll need to add several more chapters to the guide. The first one includes 12 trips. I'll need to add six more to the next edition. That's fine with me. I've already got a few ideas for that, based on what early viewers have requested. But I think I'll focus on this first one for now. It's got to sell.
Grant shared with us the bad news: books aren't really selling in this market. But she also had good news: Countryman Press is still looking for pitches. Great! I have a few of those as well.
The road ahead? It's going to be a long one. But I'm definitely on it!
What big road lies ahead for you? Are you prepared to ride it all the way through? Share the steps you're taking here.
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4 comments:
getting book proposals out is part of my road ahead too. all the best with this book, Jackie, and with the others you have in mind.
Well, you know some of what lies ahead in my long road, including a book proposal, or maybe an ebook. This "life is a journey" thing really isn't just a saying, is it?
Kerry and Kerri,
The book proposal process will be the easiest part, though it confounded me at first. I read three different book proposal guides before writing mine. Then I wrote three proposals for three different books before selling one of them.
In the end, though, what really helped me sell the proposal was this: I found a writer who had sold a proposal to the publisher I was submitting to and asked her for a copy of hers. She sent it, and I used that one to clean mine up. It was a lot easier than I thought. Still, I think I really needed to take the earlier steps in order to really understand what I was doing.
It took me two weeks to research and write the one that sold. That's all I worked on for those two weeks. I'm getting ready to start another one now.
So, so exciting!!! You are on a wonderful journey, Jackie. Good luck on the road ahead.
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