1. Buy the books for yourself (apparent, I know, but sometimes it really doesn’t hurt to state the obvious. You would not believe the number of people who have asked me for a free copies of the Behold the Eye trilogy, even though I have to pay for the books just like everyone else)
2. Buy the books to give as gifts.
3. If you have ever purchased anything on Amazon.com, you can write a review. So go ahead–write one! (You could start with Braumaru) You don’t have to use your real name, the author does not need to know that you are the reviewer. (I wouldn’t, I promise!) The more reviews posted, the more popular the books seem, the more popular the books become! (People love to read what is popular, no one wants to feel left out of the know)
4. Make a list on Amazon.com that includes the books, and include other already popular books of a similar nature. You know the old saying, birds of a feather flock together!
5. Talk about the books to friends,acquaintances, and random people you meet on the street. (you might get the right person interested, and suddenly, the books are to be made into a movie. I can see it now, everyone will be talking about my trilogy. The bright lights of Hollywood, the…oh, sorry, I got a little carried away)
6. Teachers often read novels to their class. If the books are appropriate for school, like my Behold the Eye trilogy (5th grade and up), ask a teacher if he/she would read it to his/her class. Or, be still my heart, use it as a classroom novel!
7. Request the books at your library. Most public libraries welcome purchase suggestons, there is usually even a form online. (You do all have library cards, don’t you?)
8. Ask bookstores if they carry the author…they probably don’t now, but you never know, they might start.
9. If you come across a site that allows comments about books, don’t be shy! Use every opportunity to get the word out about the books. There are a lot of people out there who would probably love the books (i.e. Behold the Eye trilogy) if they only knew about them. Spread the word! Spread the word! (You might even post a link to the author’s site, which will also help.)
10. Books like the Behold the Eye trilogy are not backed by a big New York publishing budget. As a matter of fact, the small publisher who published the trilogy has an exceeding slim budget, one of those typically called shoestring. Since I want the books to do well, I have to do the marketing work myself. Alas I, like everyone else in the world who works fulltime and has a family, am very busy. So any and all support counts for a lot. If you want to help my books, it would be a very friendly gesture if you just let people know about them. Maybe we can find out if word-of-mouth advertising really works! (I struggled to come up with a really good metaphor about how knowledge of the trilogy could spread, but I somehow kept mixing growing flowers with exploding stars. It didn’t work, so I’ll just spare everyone and leave it out.)
Thanks! I have several authors I like, so it is good to know how I can help them out.
Dear Veronica-
I love your books,and I have recommended them to my friends on my email… all of them have read it by now. You would remember me by my love for dogs…
Aren't dogs great! I hope you enjoyed the pictures of Pepper I put up. She's such a cutie (although she's rarely sits still enough for me to take pictures) and so sweet. Her personality matches her sweet face.
Thanks for telling other people about my books. I really appreciate it!