Sammie ~ Thanks for your book publishing tips. I really like the idea of thinking of your book as a “product” — and not your “baby.” After all, how do you sell your baby??

Marketing my ebooks is one thing I’m very, very bad at. I’m just not motivated to advertise or promote them, other than to list them in the sidebar of my Quips and Tips sites. I’d rather be writing than promoting my ebooks…which is why writers hire PR people, I guess!

Please don’t copy the whole article to your blog. Instead, I’d prefer if you took the first 2 or 3 tips for marketing your book, and then linking back here. If your readers want the rest of the post, they can come here. If not…they still get the gist of the article!

Thanks,
Laurie
.-= Laurie PK´s last blog post ..A Freelance Writer’s Spreadsheet for Invoices and Payments =-.

Thanks for that. I lost your address which accounts for the delay. I am not a natural blogger. It seems to take a special mind set. I have explored a number of blogger sites, WordPress and Blogger.com but they need so much care and attention, taking up time I don’t really have. I am also worried about Spam. I have had to change my emai address twice. I am in touch with a blogger in Yellowknife, John Mutford who has chosen my title as a prize in his Canadian Book Challenge. You are right about finding a Canada based publicist. I have already approached Raincoast books. They seem to have a problem with me being based here. I thought I had a publicist with Jim Carney, brother of Pat, but it was not his line of country. I did send Pat Carney a copy of the novel but did not hear back. Do you know what Steve Hume is doing? He thought he might lose his column at the Vancouver Sun.

Thanks for your interest.

Val Wake

I tried Authors Den once a couple of years ago, but not to market or sell my books. Rather, I was trying to increase my Suite101 exposure. As I recall, it didn’t really help….but I didn’t give it much of a try!

Definitely, it’s difficult to get your books in Canadian bookstores when you’re in Australia. Have you considered hiring a publicist or book seller, here in Canada? I think Raincoast distributes books, but I don’t know what their policies are.

Another possibility is creating your own blog or website, apart from Authors Den. There are so many writing blogs around! — so you’d have to make yours different somehow…for some writers, that’s tough to do. Other seem to have no problem carving out their own little niche.

And thirdly, have you tried Twitter? It might help with book sales, and it’d definitely connect you with other likeminded folk (though it does take time to find your “twibe”).

Let me know what you think of these book marketing possibilities!

Laurie
.-= Laurie PK´s last blog ..8 Tips for Breaking Bad Writing Habits =-.

My wife who is a BC girl used to spend her holidays on Bowen Island. My novel White Bird Black Bird was published by Booksurge and is available on Amazon.com. It is about the start of the aboriginal rights movement in northern Canada and is based on my experience as a CBC News reporter working out of Yellowknife. Your marketing tips are interesting. On my walks along our coast I hand out a Booksurge card about my book to fellow walkers. Only one Canadian bookstore has agreed to accept my novel on consignment. Its the Yellowknife Book Cellar in Yellowknife. I have tried very hard to get the book placed in other bookstores but from this distance it is difficult. Steve Hume, the author of Simon Fraser, and I worked together in Yellowknife during the 70s. I saw Steve in 2007 and thought he might be able to help in placing my novel but it didn’t work out. Steve lost his Mum at a critical time and he was also working on the Simon Fraser book.
If you have any thoughts I would be interested to hear from you. By the way Authors Den is a total waste of time for selling books but it does make a useful website reference.

Val Wake
2/6 Harbour Lane
Port Macquarie
NSW 2444
Australia