P is for Promotion

Promoting yourself is hard. That's why I started this blog - so that I, or, we, rather, could practice promoting ourselves together. I haven't really encountered a need to actively work on my promotion seeing as how I don't have a book to send out to the world, but my amazingly talented critique partner, Kimberly Ann Miller, does.

This is Kimmy! Kimberly Ann Miller, I mean.

Remember how I said yesterday that you should always look for opportunity? When Kim got the deal to publish her book and began to ask me a few marketing questions, I thought, what a great opportunity to share the process with the blogosphere. I told her I'd love to give her some ideas and asked if she'd let me share here. She said yes! Welcome to another occasional series following Kim's book promotion from contract to launch.

Today is for introductions only, but I am very excited to give you my crit partner, Kim.


So Kimmy, tell us about your book and publishing deal: 
Triangles is a young adult contemporary fantasy. Here is the blurb from Spencer Hill’s website:

A cruise ship. A beautiful island. Two sexy guys. What could possibly go wrong?

In the Bermuda Triangle—a lot.

Hoping to leave behind the reminders of her crappy life--her father's death years ago, her mother's medical problems, and the loser who’s practically stalking her--seventeen-year-old Autumn Taylor hops on a ship with her sister for a little distraction. When she wakes up in the Bermuda Triangle, she fears she's gone nuts for more than one reason: that loser’s suddenly claiming they're a happy couple... a hot guy is wrapping his arms around her and saying "Happy Anniversary"... and suddenly, she’s full of bruises, losing her hair, and getting IV medication. Autumn visits the ship's doctor, hoping for a pill or a shot to make the craziness go away. Instead, she's warned that these "alternate realities" could become permanent.

She just has to ask herself one question—how the hell is she going to get out of this mess?

I had an interesting journey leading me to Spencer Hill Press. I entered a query contest on Kate Kaynak’s blog, Disgruntled Bear, last October. She is an editor and author at Spencer Hill. She liked my query and invited me to send it in when they opened to submissions on December 1, 2011. I had it ready and sent it per their submission guidelines on that exact date. A few days later, Kate requested the full manuscript. On February 21, 2012, I received an email from Kate offering me publication! They have been fantastic to work with since day one. I have already spoken to three editors and a cover artist! I am thrilled to have such a great publisher behind Triangles.

Before you landed your deal with Spencer Hill, what social media were you using?
I had a Facebook page and was fooling around with Twitter. I also had read along the way that it was a good idea to have a website, so I set up a basic site using my internet service provider.

What advice has Spencer Hill given you? What have you done since signing?
Since it’s early in the process, we haven’t gotten too deep into marketing, but my editor told me we will be working on a comprehensive marketing plan soon. So far she has made some suggestions such as becoming more active on social media, joining Tumblr, and improving my website’s look and color. We also talked about the importance of a great cover and captivating jacket copy. She’s interested in hearing what your suggestions are and coordinating our marketing efforts!

Isn't that cool? Her editor is interested in hearing what I have to say!! This is very exciting to me, especially since I have known Triangles for awhile now and feel very close to its success (it's a GREAT story!). So I typed up a bunch of suggestions and the team is looking them over now. As Kim and Spencer Hill move forward, I will share with you our ideas (as I'm able) so make sure to check back often. 

Find Kimmy at:
Twitter: @KimberlyAnnNJ: https://twitter.com/#!/KimberlyAnnNJ
Facebook: Kimberly Ann Miller: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000972287894
Email: KAMillerWrites (at) aol (dot) com
Website: kimberlyannmiller.com
Tumblr: http://kimberlyannmiller.tumblr.com/

Your turn, readers: what aspects of promotion do you find the most difficult?