Stuff I need to be doing

[annathepiper]

So yeah. E-book coming out. Which means I've got some stuff to get done while I'm waiting for the folk of Drollerie to say OH HAI YOU CAN HAS EDITOR.

Domain names must be purchased. Done. I am now the proud owner of angelakorrati.com, as well as one other domain which astute beta readers may remember that I actually mentioned in the text. When I wrote the book in the first place, I checked to see whether unseeliecourt.net was taken; it wasn't. I checked again and it still wasn't, five years later. I am stunned! STUNNED I TELL YOU. But now owner of that domain, too.

Which means of course that yes, Elessir's email address will also work. Muah.

Account space must be created on murkworks.net for my formal writing site. In progress.

I must actually put UP a formal writing site. I have some initial ideas for what will be on it, and I can certainly whip up a minimum site fairly quickly. Something definitely needs to be in place before this book achieves its final form. If any of y'all have ideas about what would be cool to have on my l'il ol' author website, drop a comment!

Do required reading of email archives and associated files from Drollerie. My first stop in learning exactly what I should be doing and who I should be talking to. In progress.

Start finding out where I can go locally to promote. I don't know how much of this I will be able to pull off until I have an actual print edition, but I'm eying the U Bookstore, Elliott Bay, and of course Third Place. The fun part of this will be figuring out the proper channels through which to go to say hi, I'm a local author (REALLY local, as far as Third Place is concerned) and I have a new book, can I interest you in carrying some copies?

Advice from any local authors reading this is definitely, definitely welcome.

Norwescon. Make hopeful noises at the Norwescon concom about whether I could be a guest. I could be on panels about e-pubs. And I could definitely yak for an hour about how MUSHing was both mightily helpful and a massive, massive bane when it came to writing. ;) At the very least, I should be prepared to bring promotional materials to the next convention. Which brings me to...

Promotional materials. serasempre has already offered useful guidance in this direction, though this will hinge on when I can get some actual cover art.

Again, advice from any local authors reading this is definitely welcome, re: what you've tried, what has worked and what hasn't, etc. Postcards and bookmarks seem like a no-brainer but I'm open to other suggestions that would be in scope for what I'm doing here.

Start thinking of where I can go online to promote. This is for all the authors who may be reading this, not just the local ones--are there particular sites, forums, mailing lists, etc., that you've visited and/or joined that you've found to be helpful for promoting your work?

Also, I am putting heavy thought into an informal round-robin blog tour kind of thing. So if anybody out there would be interested in such a thing, let me know--I'd love to discuss such a concept. This is mostly aimed at the other e-pub/small press folks (shadowhwk? dr_pretentious? l_prieto? karenjunker?), and folks who would like to promote short pieces published online as well. But of course any of the authors on my Friends list would be welcome.

Those of you who aren't authors, y'all could help by suggesting fun questions. Writing-related things, of course, as well as questions relating to participating authors' works. But entirely non-writing-related questions could be cool too.

Whaddya think, sirs?

Comments

[kieri.livejournal.com]

For the UBookstore -- get a copy to Duane. Duane reads book. Book is found on shelves, prominently displayed face out, with a staff card recommending it below. :D

The man's pretty mythic. And very tall.

[kieri.livejournal.com]

Oh, addendum -- does it have a romantic slant to it? (Been ages since I've kept up with it) If it does, why not throw a copy at smartbitchestrashybooks.com? They review non-romance -- Sharon Shinn, for instance, who has some nice genre cred in SF. And their community is oh so mighty.

Ann Aguirre did some promotion with them and much huzzah was made. :)

[annathepiper]

I dunno, I may not have enough of a romantic slant to interest the Smart Bitches... but then again, they also did review His Majesty's Dragon, so hey. ;)

[seimaisin.livejournal.com]

It's worth a shot - they seem to review pretty much anything with a strong romantic element. Also, you might try Dear Author - they review more books than the Smart Bitches these days, and have a really large readership. They're also a lot more critical (A grade books are rare, B grade books are considered awesome), though, so be sure you're skin's feeling thick if you do that. ;)

[annathepiper]

*peers at DearAuthor* I've heard of them of course, but do they dip over into SF/F much? They seem pretty heavily romance-focused, with occasional diversions out into high-profile non-romance stuff like Twilight...?

[annathepiper]

Already thinking of him, yeah; I have heard tell of him in song and story. ^_^ But I don't know how to contact him!

[kieri.livejournal.com]

Easy enough - to go the SF&F section of the bookstore on, say, a Tuesday night. :) If he's not around the stacks you can always leave a copy for him at the Children's Books info desk, I think that's where his office is located.

They don't usually turn down free books. :D Or you could mail an ARC to him c/o UBS with a letter of explanation. Again, free books. :)

[annathepiper]

Cool, though I daresay this will have to wait till I have a print edition. I'm not seeing much use of trying to promote an electronic one in a physical store! :)

Thanks for the pointer, though! I'd definitely like to get Faerie Blood on the shelves at the U Bookstore if nothing else just 'cause I wrote the durned thing while living in the U district, and the U district's even on camera briefly in a scene. ;)

[karenjunker.livejournal.com]

I think doing a bunch of blog guest appearances is a good idea. Also, I always suggest to my critique partners (right before they get published and ditch me) that we really should form a consortium or cabal and start our own website/blog. A group of like-minded writers, that is. People who have, for example, met through Writer's Weekend or the like. See blogs like www.witchychicks.com for an example - that's Kate Austin, Yasmine Galenorn and some friends. Or Lauren Dane started the Maverick Authors blog with Megan Hart and Anya Bast after they met at WW.

[annathepiper]

Thanks! Yeah, I figure if there's anything I know re: promoting myself, it's yakking up a storm on LJ. ;) And if I can go visit other people's LJs and blogs and yak, all the better!

I think I knew about witchychicks.com but not the other. Cool. I'm also aware of the Team Seattle crowd and the League of Reluctant Adults. That whole group blog thing definitely seems like fun and if I can find interested parties I'll do that in a heartbeat.

[karenjunker.livejournal.com]

PS I have Duane's email addy around here someplace - I'll try to find it and send it to you. Or you can just call him at the store.

[annathepiper]

Thank you very much! Though yeah, I think this'll have to be on the queue for when I have an actual print edition. Difficult to promote an electronic edition in a physical store!

[karenjunker.livejournal.com]

For signings when all you have is an ebook, what some people do is have printed out postcards of their cover, then CDs of the actual book - you'd have to get permission from Drollerie for this, of course.

[janne.livejournal.com]

Which means of course that yes, Elessir's email address will also work. Muah.

Muahahaha! This ought to be fun :D

[annathepiper]

I'm thinkin', anybody actually tries to email that address, it triggers a suitable journal post in reply. ;)

Suggestion for place to go

[(Anonymous)]

Gary's Games & Hobbies had a book by a local author out on their shelves before. And they have a large section of books in the back. You might at least try them.

--Former WA resident.

Re: Suggestion for place to go

[annathepiper]

Thank you very much!