Beginning my Book Promotions

Advertising isn’t what it used to be.  In days gone by advertisers hit you with a pitch that encouraged you to buy.  It was a sheer numbers game.  Get your ad in front of as many people as possible, and SOME will buy.  The internet alone didn’t change that.  In the early days of the World Wide Web, advertising was still delivered in a similar manner.  But social media changed all of that.  Advertising has become interactive, and to be successful it requires more than just blasting out your sales pitch.  You have to develop an online presence and interact with your audience. 

Developing an online presence isn’t something that happens overnight.  You can’t just set up profiles on all of the social media sites and post “You’ll love my book.  Buy it Now!”  That’s why it’s called “developing.”  Developing takes time.  Building a following takes time.  And the only way to build a following is to give people a reason to follow you, and interact.

At first I looked with dread and the marketing and promotional aspects of my books.  But now I’m excited.  In a moment of self discovery, I realized it was getting started that caused me trepidation.  It seemed like such a huge job, one that had to be repeated for each and every web site on which I wanted to have a presence.  My first instinct was to put it off “until I had more time.”  THAT will never happen.  It’s like in writing, the often heard lament of: “I have this great idea but I don’t have time to write.”

Soooooo, I am starting with Goodreads.com.  It took a little over a week to take possession of my author page.  Sure I would have liked it to be instantaneous, but I know these things can take time.  I’ve filled in most of the profile, wondered if my bio needs work, and realized I can have fun rating and/or reviewing all of the books I have ever read.

Yes, I am looking forward to developing my presence on Goodreads, and adding other sites as well.  And maybe, somewhere, I’ll make the time to work on my next novel.