Promo R Us

Promotions: what sells it to me

1. Name recognition.
2. Book art and cover blurb

I'll pick up a new author but only if there's something on the cover that attracts me, a quote from an author I like or if the back cover blurb sucks me in.

Bookmarks, doo-dads, pens, all that stuff that's handed out at National Conference? Nope, it doesn't convince me to buy. Heck, I just skim the free books handed out and most of them I don't keep.

No, it's something on the book itself that makes me want to buy. This makes me a bit nervous since my books will be e-books initially and I'm not sure how I'll be able to suck folks in if they can't hold the book in their hands. I'm crossing that bridge soon. Believe me, we'll have more promo topics coming up since I'm gearing up for a big push in December/January.

Do you know what makes me cringe? It's when someone posts and their post is full of typos, grammatical errors, or misspellings. I don't mind the occasional lapse, but if I see an author posting who consistently has problems with grammar, punctuation, or spelling, then that convinces me not to pick up that book. I'll grant you, an editor can work wonders, but they shouldn't have to do so. The author should have all of those 'basics' down pat by the time the book lands on a desk.

Maybe that's setting my standards too high, but I've seen some posts from authors on social loops and other 'closed' loops that made my head spin. Good heavens, if they write the way they post, their books must be a minefield! I know, I know, it's a social loop, it's 'just us girls', it shouldn't matter, should it?

It does. Anytime you post any place with people who are relative strangers, you're opening yourself up to evaluation. Any time you put a picture out there, an illustration, a message someone may read that and categorize you according to what you posted.

The Web has brought us all so much closer, hasn't it? There is no anonymity anymore -- so be careful what you say 8)