Wednesday, April 18, 2012

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? 

41 comments:

Writertoni said...

Great interview! I'm one of Kimmy's critique partners and I LOVE Triangle and LOVE Kimmy! She is just about the most enthusiastic person I know and such a great cheerleader that she helped ME land a deal. So I will definitely be following along to see what promotional advice you all have.

I'm on Twitter, FB, Tumblr and my publisher, Crescent Moon Press, has also set up a group on Triberr so that their authors can share their blogs.

Jamie Gibbs said...

Very cool! I love seeing how different authors promote their books. The promotion for Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone in particular was awesome.

Jamie
Fellow A-Z Buddy
Doing a monumental blog catch-up
Mithril Wisdom

Kimmy :) said...

Aw, thanks Toni!

Jackie said...

*waves* to two of my awesome betas! I'm one lucky girl to have you both (and K.T.) in my corner.

Triangles is an amazing read! Kimmy writes such great characters that they stay with you long after you've finished reading. She's a wonderful person, CP, and friend. I'm excited for her and the journey she's on.

Francene Stanley said...

Thanks for sharing this. My writing partner Edith Parzefall and I are at about the same stage. The cover is in the first stage of design and the book, Wind Over Troubled Waters will be released in two weeks. I wish Kimmy every success with her sales--that's the hard part. No, I guess getting a publisher is that. I should have said, that's the next challenge. Blog on!

http://francene-wordstitcher.blogspot.com

Kimmy :) said...

Thanks Jamie and Francene! Every step in the writing business is difficult for one reason or another, but it is worth it! Good luck with your release, Francene. I hope it's a huge success!

Victoria Caswell said...

YAY for kimmy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
interesting to hear her journey!

Christine said...

Kimmy has the type of motivation to write that is truly an inspiration. I'm so happy to have her as a fellow critique partner and I can't wait for her book to come out!

Jackie said...

Okay, earlier I commented using my cell phone, but it's not here. :(

Anyway..... *waves* to two of my awesome betas! I'm one lucky girl to have you both (and K.T.) in my corner.

Triangles is an amazing read! Kimmy writes such great characters that they stay with you long after you've finished reading. She's a wonderful person, CP, and friend. I'm excited for her and the journey she's on.

Claire Hennessy said...

So inspiring to hear about another author's success. And great to learn some tips that work. Thanks.

Jennifer Pitts said...

As soon as a I read 'Promotion' my knees started shaking. Just the thought of selling your work, a necessary evil, is hard for those who grew up trying not to be the center of attention. Great insight. It (almost) made me feel less nervous about the prospect.

j-scribbles.blogspot.com
Happy A to Z-ing!

AJ Lauer said...

So glad I found you through A-Z! I am just starting in the self-promotion circus so any help will be super. Following now :)
~AJ @ frodofrog.blogspot.com

Kimmy :) said...

Aw, thanks Jackie! Your stories are amazing too and it's only a matter of time before they get picked up!!!

Kimmy :) said...

Thanks Vic! Can't wait to share your amazing cover with the world!

tkd2lady said...

Nice interview. Laura and Kimmy...I didn't know if you knew about the free promotion that I am doing for ANY children's book author (PB, MG, & YA) at my booth on Saturday, May 19th, at the Knoxville Children's Festival of Reading. Here is the link in case you would like to know more...http://donasdays.blogspot.com/2012/03/calling-all-authors.html and this is another one with an update on how many authors are participating so far...http://donasdays.blogspot.com/2012/04/calling-all-authorspart-two.html

Kimmy...I wish you much success with your new book and thank you, Laura, for a great interview!

Donna L Martin
www.donasdays.blogspot.com

Kimmy :) said...

Donna, this is so amazingly generous of you! But I have to say this is very early in my journey and I do not have any book stuff to give away just yet. And thanks for your well wishes. I will post a link of your blog to my facebook page to see if I can help get your word out and make your booth the most awesome booth ever!!!

Chrisy said...

I am sooo proud of Kimmy. It takes alot of blood, sweat and tears to get this far. She has been writing for several years now, and all her hard work and preserverance has paid off!!! Things are moving quickly for her now and she is very happy with Spencer Hill Press. Not only is she an awesome author, but also an awesome sister. I look forward to holding her book in my hands!!

Daisy Carter said...

What a great post. I look forward to hearing more about Kimmy's journey through promotion! And Laura, good on ya that Spencer Hill wants to coordinate - what an honor! Best wishes to you both!

Kim said...

Thanks everyone! And thank you, Laura, for having me. It's been a pleasure!

Kim said...

Thanks Christine! You're so sweet.

Kim said...

Did mom pay you to say that?! Thanks :)

Kim said...

Thanks Daisy!

Eliza Tilton said...

yay Kimmy! It's awesome to see a fellow QT make it : )

Julie Hedlund said...

Wow - what a great story! I can't wait to read more about the marketing and promotion of it.

Kimmy :) said...

Thanks Eliza! I'm so excited about this!

Kimmy :) said...

I'm looking forward to putting some of Laura's great ideas to work! Thanks for commenting!

Kimmy :) said...

Thanks for journeying along with me!

Laura Barnes said...

She's a total cheerleader. She so deserved this. Thanks for commenting!

Laura Barnes said...

Because Laini Taylor is AWESOME. I'm not as cool as her promotion team, but, hey, we can try!

Laura Barnes said...

Thank you and good luck to you!

Laura Barnes said...

Thanks for stopping by, Victoria!

Laura Barnes said...

Let's hope we come up with something good and not ridiculous. LOL!

Laura Barnes said...

Yes, my stupid blog commenter system doesn't work with cell phones. Sorry!
And, hi, Jackie! *waves back*. Glad you came by!

Laura Barnes said...

I hope it made you less nervous. I love promotion! My knees shake when my ideas don't pan out, but I love thinking of them. :)

Laura Barnes said...

Glad to meet you! I'm so behind on visiting other blogs. I'm glad you found me. ;)

Laura Barnes said...

Donna, thanks for offer. What a great service. Good luck with it!

Laura Barnes said...

Well, I sent them a list of 12 ideas so far. Let's see if they like any of them. *crosses fingers*

Laura Barnes said...

QT rocks!

Laura Barnes said...

Thanks, Julie!

Kimberlee Turley said...

I've heard all sorts of great things about SHP and there's so much positive buzz going around about its great authors.

Congrats, Kimmy!

Laura Barnes said...

I know it! I'm not afraid to say I'm totally jealous. :)

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