Monday, October 25, 2010

Game Plan

Excitement is slowly growing.  The countdown is starting in my head.  Beyond the Gate, Book #2 in The Futhark Chronicles, will be released January 1st.  There is so much to do.  This week I'm doing a final read through and kudos to my publisher.  I'm a third of the way through and have found only one typo. 
I had a little phone conference last week about promotion with the Paul and Bridgett from Medallion.  They gave me some great ideas and answered tons of questions for me.  I put some things together already and am working on a few more.
One of the first things I'm working on is a blog tour.  I've never done one though I've visited the blogs of many fellow writers in support of their tours.  One of my questions was when to start it.  Right before the release of my book?  Right after?  How many blogs?
Another thing I've finally set up was my author page on Amazon.  I'm still working on my page for Barnes and Noble online store and Goodreads.  I wonder if anyone ever visits those.  Will it bring me more readers, more sales?
I also have a few short stories in the works I'll be offering for free in various places.  I'm rather excited about the two I've started.  Both are prequels to The Keepers of Sulbreth and will delve deeper into the events that shaped a few of the secondary characters in The Futhark Chronicles.  I know people who've read the first book in the series will be interested in the short stories but will such things draw in new readers?
I'm also compiling a list of reviewers and hoping I can place this second book with more of the fantastic bloggers who regularly review books.  Many of them have hundreds of followers.
I read every blog I find on promotion and networking.  I've read the posts of many talented authors and agents but I'm still unsure if anything I'm doing is reaching prospective readers or only other authors.  Have you found any of the above mentioned promotional plans particularly successful as an author?  Have you discovered or investigated a new author from any of the promotional gambits mentioned? 

6 comments:

Helen Ginger said...

I'm not much help since, although I host visiting authors, I've never done a blog tour myself. It does seem to me that you'd want to schedule your tour to run right around the time the book is available for purchase. It seems like it wouldn't help to have the tour before they can buy the book.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

That's what I'm planning on right now. I know some people pre-purchase print books but I don't think they do that for e-books.

Anonymous said...

I need to work on my author pages for Amazon and B&N. Currently I do not have any author pages. But I am doing a Blog Book our for November. You can check out the EVENTS TAB and see of there are any hosts you know. And thanks for stopping by and saying hi today.

Stephen Tremp

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I will do that Stephen. I look forward to visiting you on your tour.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I've done six blog tours and usually start right before the book is released. January 1st is a rough day to begin - you probably don't want to start until the 2nd. Recommend an author page on Amazon - I have one.
And as far as promotions - you name it, I've tried it!!

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Thanks for the advice, L.Diane. I was thinking the same thing. How many people are reading blogs on January One?