Promotions--The Other Side of Writing

When I first began seriously writing, I was completely focused on the craft. I thought my job was to write a book, find a publisher, sell the book, and, um, live happily ever after.

After I sold my first book, I realized I was missing one very large piece of the writing picture: promotions.

Because it isn't just about writing a book--for a writer, a big part of this business is promotions. When I was talking with my husband the other day, he told me that promoting a book could be a full-time job, and the man was right. There are so many things that a writer could do to a promote a book that the promotion itself could become a full-time job. That's why writers have to be very careful. After all, you don't want to spend so much time promoting that you lose your writing time. And the writing time, that's the important time.

So, I've tried to prioritize my promotions. I'm still learning, still experimenting as I try to find the promo options that work--and the ones that don't. Over the last week, I've bundled over 8,000 bookmarks together. I'll be sending these bookmarks out to bookstores (via the RT Bookstores That Care program) and hoping the distribution will help with my next release. Only time will tell if this works...but I'll keep my fingers crossed.

As a reader, I love getting bookmarks. I love seeing ads for books in RT or the RWR. These items help to stir my curiosity and lead me to an author's website (where I try to find out more info about the books I might want). Ah...the website. Another vital promotional tool.

But, I'm curious...for the other authors out there, what promotional opportunities do you explore? And for the readers--what makes you buy a new book?