Other Promotion Ideas on a Budget

Looking over promotion ideas for published books, I've blogged on the importance of book blog tours and investing in book trailers. Today as I'm stamping postcards to mail out, advertising my newest release - Love Finds You in Bethlehem, NH, I'd like to take the opportunity to talk about other avenues of promotion available and that I'm using right now with my Christmas releases this year.

Postcards and bookmarks are great tools in getting the word out about your books. All readers love to have a bookmark in their favorite novel. So have some on your person to give out. I had the opportunity even on the plane heading for a Christian Writers' conference to hand out a few bookmarks to nearby passengers (in fact, one even became a Facebook pal after we were introduced not once but twice on the plane!). Bookmarks can be placed in many places such as in libraries, bookstores, offices like doctors and dentists, anywhere people might be reading or looking at books. Check with your publisher to see if they can print up bookmarks and postcards for you. Postcards can be mailed out to contacts in your address book. I am also using the tear-off sheets sent to me from my previous Heartsong novels to send a postcard announcing my latest release to those who have supplied mailing addresses, letting them know what's available.

Another great promotional tool I've used is found at Vista Print. Here I was able to order some huge posters to put up for my booksignings happening this November, and for little money. As a bonus, they also printed up my own T-shirt that advertises me as an author along with my website. Oriental Trading Company offers little notepads where you can put address labels printed with your website address that can be handed out as freebies. People love the idea of little notepads. And I was able to get some personalized wooden pens also, a cheap but nice way to advertise your books without spending a lot of money.

These are a few promotional ideas I've used and am using now with my releases. If you have any other suggestions, feel free to comment.

The Road of Blog Touring

Our road tour as we traveled the White Mountains to search out the sites for my newest book.

Ever go touring? Like taking a nice, long Sunday drive to see the sights?
My new book, Love Finds You in Bethlehem, New Hampshire is taking a drive for the next few months to different sites on an official blog tour. I've been busy answering interview questions and sending out cover art and my bio to multiple authors to post on their blogs and web sites. And why is this important? Because the Internet is the biggest tool for marketing out there. Right at their fingertips, readers can find out more about you, why you wrote your book, and other interesting facts that will encourage them to pick up your book. It's all a part of building a readership for your books. It takes valuable time and effort, to be sure. I never used to do much in the marketing angle, and I was really missing out on the valuable tools available so authors can connect on a more personal level with readers on this journey.

So keep in touch on my Love Finds You in Bethlehem blog to see where the tour is stopping next. And along the way there will be plenty of opportunities to get a free book and other goodies, too. It will be a tour worth the journey.

This is the week...

...where we find love in the town of Bethlehem! Wow, and what better place too, as all of us know of the love that was born in a manger long ago....

And that's exactly what an unsuspecting pair will discover when they cross paths in the actual town of Bethlehem, New Hampshire!

This is actual Main Street in the town of Bethlehem

You can read much more about my new release - Love Finds You in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, published by Summerside Press, on my official blog that showcases reviews, historical tidbits, links to the town, and the movie trailer produced by Trailers to the Stars!

Promoting Part 2: Book Trailers

As I shared last week, there is a great deal involved in promoting your book. Writing is not all. Authors now need to get their books into the hands of readership so they can enjoy the fruit of one's labors - which is an entertaining story. This week I want to explore other areas of author promotion, specifically through the use of media. Above is the book trailer that Trailer to the Stars produced for my new release this fall, Love Finds You in Bethlehem, New Hampshire. Many authors are now resorting to this new use of a multimedia presentation to promote books. It is like a commercial, if you will, to showcase the important aspects of the book and allow a glimpse between the pages through the use of visual arts, music, narration and special effects. Some choose to produce their own video trailers while others use professional companies such as the one that produced this video to make a quality product. While this avenue did require an investment on my part, it is a way to reach readers much like ads on television do to reach consumers. The money invested also pays for copyrighted material of photography and music (which authors need to be aware of when producing their own trailers) as well as a professional narrator. Having the trailer then allows for creative outlets to advertise the book on the Internet through web sites such as Christian Book Videos which then displays videos for potential readers to examine. You can also make DVDs of the trailer to pass around to interested readers and in bookstore promo packets, or to embed in other sites such as your Facebook account and web sites.

One day I have a desire to see a book brought to the big screen. For now this is my tease, if you will, a glimpse through photography and music that I hope will bring interested readers into the pages of this historical novel.

Some New Promo Ideas

I've spent the last week gathering some new promo ideas and places to showcase my books. If you look at my blog, you will see a new widget for a group called Goodreads where readers share reviews and comments on books they have read. I have a link to my web site and I am able to connect with readers on a more personal level as I share my thoughts on the books I have read or will read.

Other widgets I have displayed include my Facebook account as well as Twitter. These are other places to network with both writers and readers. I also have accounts at Tangle, Linked In, and Shoutlife.

On the bottom of my blog is my newest addition - a "carousel" widget from Amazon that displays several of my many books for sale. I have also set up an author page on Amazon detailing a biography as well as a list of my books for sale. While all this has taken time to do, I realize it's important as an author not only to write books but to make certain others know that the books I have written are available. The Internet is an invaluable tool to reach a great many people world wide with our work. And the more places we advertise ourselves as writers, the better chance we have of readers connecting with us and our work.

If you have a favorite site to connect with your readers, I would love to hear about it!