13 Crazy Promotion Ideas For Your Book!



 

I try to dream up ways to get a book noticed. I am thinking of them all the time. Here are a few things (not all are crazy) that I have thought up, some of which I've tried and some of which, I have not.

# Donate a copy to the library

# Request small or second hand book shops carry a few copies and share the profit. (This would probably work best with the smallest, personally owned book shops.)

Shops that carry my books

 

The Book Shop

AJ's Fashion And Beauty Supplies

Pets R Us

 

(Notice they're not all book stores? Not every place you approach has to be a bookshop!)

 

# Slip flyers, bookmarks, or business cards with your website/book name on them into similar books at the library. (For example, if you write mystery then slip it in a mystery book)

# Ask the library if you can do a reading. My local children's library likes to have people come in and read picture books to the children.

# Email everybody in your address book about your new book or your website

# Blog about it (Isn't this one mentioned way too much)

# Make trailers (using copyright free material) and post them on Youtube. I actually did this for Tokka Tuomela: Sixth Grader At Large

# Someone in this forum mentioned standing near a stop-light and selling books to passing cars. People in my town sell newspapers this way and I would consider also handing out flyers to passing cars (since it's quicker and flyers are free)

# Have an author website. If you don't have one you should get one. I use weebly as a host. They have a very user-friendly interface.

# Have an eBay auction with a signed copy of your book as the prize. You could also include other prizes such as related bookmarks and a signed photo of the author. You could include a better known book (and auction it off as a two book set). You could consider giving all or part of the money won to a charity.

 

#Consider Doing a giveaway with a noteworthy blogger. I did a giveaway of a signed Tell Me How You Say Good Night with Marilyn Panton of Storywraps.

# Ask local bookshops and your library to post flyers in their windows/on their bulletin boards. A lot of the places in my small town have bulletin boards full of flyers. In some small towns, especially where the internet is still not in every household, a flyer may be worth more than a website.

# Ask review sites/review blogs to review your book. It's better to go to the smaller, independent blogs. They have more time and are more likely to get to your book. They tend to have dedicated readers as well.

# Post a free sample chapter of each book on your website or blog.



The Inspiration Behind My Art Style

 

    To be perfectly honest with you, when I started out at the beginning of the long, winding road of becoming an author, I had no intention of illustrating my own books. None. I honestly did not believe I was good enough. And I think every artist is doubtful of there own work at some point in time. You just have to keep pressing forward.

Well, when it all came down to it, I ended up illustrating my own book because one of my own biggest influence's suggested it. My mom told me that I should illustrate my own books. At first I was still hesitant. Not because I didn't want to. But because of that little voice in the back of my mind.

That one that enjoys my grimace whenever it gets the chance to whisper, "You're just not quite good enough!"

But good enough by whose standards? I shared my illustrations with my circle who approved. And it was decided. I illustrated Destiny And Faith Go To Twincentric Academy myself.

 

Some people think the book's illustrations are great. Some don't think much of them at all. They are not "beautifully painted" or "masterfully created". They were simply sketched in a sketchbook. But why?

 

Some of my favorite reads as a kid included what I like to call "primitive" style sketches. I would stare at them for hours before trying to copy them. If these people could "sketch in books", why couldn't I?

 

Once of my major influences toward Destiny and Faith's style was, believe it or not, Ramona Quimby.

 

 

Louis Darling's illustrations of Ramona and her friends and family were rough and comical, exactly as I believed a chapter book illustration should be! And despite the fact that it is not a style many people would call a masterpiece, it fit Beverly Cleary's characters perfectly!

And isn't that the point of illustrating a book? To capture the character? Their personality, their essence, their humor, their overall being.

I think so.

One of the things I loved about Louis Darling's illustrations and the illustrations that I found inside many chapter books for kids was the fact that they looked like they had been sketched into the book.

Illustrators like Darling, who dared to sketch in their own unique style, are what truly inspired my artwork!

So if you are thinking about doing something, and you just keep hearing that little nagging voice in the back of your head, "You're just not good enough!" Ignore that voice! Go out and try it!

You just might find that you're better than you think!