7. Consider starting a web page before you sell. Val Taylor, who wrote The Mommy School, had her website up well before her first release, and was receiving over a 1000 hits per month before her book was out! Once you're selling, you might not have the time to research all of this, so consider doing it early. There are many sites which offer free web pages, and also give you free use of easy-to-use software. You can also purchase your own web page software, or hire a web design service, but beware of costly web designers who charge substantial fees for set-up, maintenance, and each update.
8. Join a number of larger RWA chapters, and announce your good news (contest placings, first sales) in their newsletters. Your news will be reaching hundreds of people, and your name will become more familiar. But DON'T send in your negative news ("I got rejected again..." or "Well, I'm in a terrible slump right now...") because most chapters send their newsletters to the editors at all the major romance publishers.
9. Pick up promotional materials at every conference. Study what works, what doesn't. Keep a file.
10. Start a database early: learn how to use one before you sell. Sources of addresses: anyone who has given you encouragement along the way (such as contest coordinators, and judges who answered your thank you notes), members of your chapters, old school friends, relatives, old neighbors, etc. Soon you'll be adding the addresses of readers who write you about your first book!
11. Learn publishing software and mail merge early on--don't wait until you are swamped by deadlines!
12. Save online posts and chapter newsletter articles on how to develop press kits and press releases.
13. Keep a notebook on your contest placings, articles you've done for newsletters, any newspaper articles about you, honors or achievements, speaking experiences, etc., so it will be easier to write your bio later.
14. In that vein, start working on bios to use for your press kit, newspaper reporters, the proposals you might write for giving conference workshops, speaking engagements, and so on. These may each have different slants, and will need to be amended later, but you'll have something started.
15. Buy business card paper at your office supply store or via catalogs. Print up your own business cards in moderate quantities, so you can amend the content easily without a lot of waste.
16. Print your own bookmarks, using heavy weight cardstock. It's available in bright colors, you can print on both sides, and then cut them cleanly using a paper cutter. You can scan and use your photo or book covers, but keep these color pictures fairly small, because they use a lot of ink!
17. Develop promotional flyers for different groups--readers groups, the local library, writers' conferences, and so on. You can print these double-sided at home on bright paper. Consider putting writing tips or an article on the front side, to increase the chances that people will pick them up.
18. Never leave home without your business cards and bookmarks. There will be countless opportunities to distribute them. When you see your books in the stores, tuck a card inside each one.
19. Before your book comes out, send a press kit to the local newspapers--the major papers, and the smaller ones that cover community news.
20. Offer to speak at the local library, at your children's school, at the local bookstores.
21. On your computer, do colorful postcards to send to bookstores. I found pretty floral cards at Kinko's, four cards per sheet. Announce the release of your book to bookstores in your current town, your hometown, the area in which your story is set. Find bookstore addresses via the yellow pages on the Internet.
22. Stop in at bookstores everywhere you go--even on family trips. Leave bookmarks, talk about your books to the manager.
23. When your book comes out, offer to sign and sticker the copies at your local bookstores. Slip one of those business cards in each copy. J A signed book is a sold book!
24. Offer to do signings--especially if you can do them with other authors, which can make the experience much more comfortable.
25. Contact your local Anderson News, Levy, or other book distributors. Promote yourself as a local author, ask if they'll order more copies and let you come to the warehouse to sign and sticker each one.
26. Maintain those memberships to the larger RWA chapters! Some have free or low-cost options for your book to be included in promo flyers that go out to hundreds of bookstores across the country. Many chapters will include a scanned cover and blurb about your book in their newsletters, and also feature their published members on the chapter website. This is a lot of coverage for the price of membership. From four chapter memberships, information on my first and second releases went out to over 1,800 addresses.
27. The Old Book Barn Gazette, in Illinois, will include your promo material with their newsletter. For $60, your bookmark or flyer will go to 550 addresses around the world. E-mail them at oldbooks@earthlink.net
28. Time your "First Sale" announcement in the RWR to appear the month before your book comes out, and you have over 8,000 notices going out there, as well!
29. Romantic Times will distribute your promo materials to bookstores and distributors. The most recent information I have: 1000 flyers, postcards, etc. for $75.00. Contact them for current fees and services.
30. Look for opportunities for you and your chapter to have a booth at a regional bookseller's convention, or major women's events. The Women's Expo in Minneapolis drew over 60,000 women this year!
31. Before developing any of your promotional materials, be sure you establish a post office box address. It may sound far-fetched, but don't risk the attention of a potential stalker. I know of three authors who have been stalked, and there are probably many more. Don't advertise your phone number and street address.
32. Scout for mutual website opportunities, where you can share the cost of additional promotion online. Many authors have joined others writing for the same house, and will welcome you. For an example, check out www.superauthors.com
33. After your first sale you can contact the ToBeez/Rising Stars online support group. The group has done joint advertising in Romantic Times, shared many contacts for promotional opportunities, produced promotional materials for distribution at conferences, and is a solid, supportive network. Membership is free.
34. Join Pan and Panlink. There are free online promotion opportunities that can be accessed by readers, booksellers, and librarians.
35. List your books with the RWA website. It has been revamped, and is expected to receive a lot of traffic!
36. Put your website address on your stationery.
37. Do return address labels on your computer, and list your upcoming release(s) under your name. Use them on all of your mail!
38. Run contests for free books, a piece of jewelry, etc. on your web page, to encourage repeat traffic.
39. Check out your book's listing on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Borders. Post your author comments, to help interest people in your book. Check every now and then, for what readers post. One author discovered very cruel comments, which could have greatly impacted her sales. When she notified Amazon, they were able to take the comments off and also track down the source.
40. Be sure to link to Amazon from your website, so a visitor can hop right over and buy your book!
41. It may seem scary, but moderate workshops at regional and national conferences. It's good exposure for you, and if speaking makes you nervous, it’s a gentle introduction that can help you gain enough confidence to do workshops on your own.
42. Sign up to be a part of the literacy book signing event at the annual RWA Conference. It may seem intimidating, but it’s a great experience and again, provides you with extra promotion and exposure.
43. At conferences, spend time at your publisher's suite--its another good opportunity to network--with editors, writers, and those who are visiting.
44. Do your research before seeking advance reviews--some online sites are known for blistering attacks, others are much more fair. You can't expect to receive roses every time, but there's no need to put your head on the block, either! Quotes from established authors are best sought through your editor or agent, unless someone has specifically volunteered. An author who had judged my ms in contest wrote a note on the score sheet, saying she would love to do an author quote when the book sold. When I contacted her, she agreed... but I wouldn't have asked her otherwise!
45. BE PREPARED. And DON'T BABBLE! J Out of the blue, you may receive a phone call from a newspaper reporter wanting to do an interview at that very moment. It has happened to me twice in the past year, and while this is a great opportunity for promotion, it's also a potential disaster! Be careful about what you say---if you ramble, and start to say anything inane, you can bet it will appear in the article. Offer to e-mail or fax a copy of your bio immediately....and if you have publicity photos, offer to send one. Don't forget to impress on the reporter that you work very, very hard at your writing--that your book has taken X number of months or years to write, and that you've spent a lot of time researching your facts. All too many reporters take the sleazy route and toss off phrases such as "...churning out these romances" or otherwise try to belittle the genre. RWA has a great flyer that can be faxed to you, covering very impressive statistics on the romance genre. Harlequin also has excellent material on the massive romance market, and they can fax it to you, as well.
Roxanne discovered romance novels in 1993, when a friend handed her a Judith McNaught historical and dared her to put it down. She did--at four o'clock the next morning. Completely hooked, she devoured all of the romances she could find, and then started writing one herself.
Her first manuscript, DECEIVED, won the Long Contemporary Golden Heart in 1995. WINDSWEPT, her second manuscript, was a 1998 Golden Heart finalist, and won firsts in New York's "Hook, Line & Sinker", New Jersey Romance Writer's "Put Your Heart in a Book", and Northeast Ohio's "Romancing the Novel" contests. It was an August, 1999 Superromance release titled HER SISTER'S CHILDREN, and is still available through amazon.com.
Her third manuscript, MONTANA LEGACY, won firsts in the West Houston Emily, Saskatchewan's "We Dare You", the "Golden Rose", and "Haunted by Love". It was a February, 2000 Superromance release. Her fourth manuscript was also a West Houston Emily winner, entered under "Rainbows and Promises". As THE HOUSE ON BRIAR LAKE, it will be a 10/00 Superromance release. Two titles are slated for 2001.
Roxanne has a Master's Degree in Nutrition, and is a consultant dietitian for hospitals and health care facilities. At the 1998 RWA Conference she co-presented "Using Contests to Advance Your Writing Career" with Silhouette editor Karen Taylor Richman and author Tracy Cozzens. Roxanne and Tracy conducted a survey of past Golden Heart winners, and their article "The Golden Heart--14 Karat or Brass Plate?" appeared in the October, 1998 Romance Writer's Report.