Writing: The Art of Shameless Self-Promotion

by Martina Boone

The second article in our author marketing and promotion series is by Lisa Desrochers, acclaimed author of PERSONAL DEMONS and the upcoming ORIGINAL SIN (July 2011). You can catch Lisa on her website, her blog, or on http://www.twitter.com/lisadez. As we mentioned in Tuesday’s article by Shannon Delany, Lisa’s book is also one of the prizes in our Viral Marketing Experiment and Contest. Please help us see how far and fast word can spread on the ‘Net.

The Art of Shameless Self-Promotion

by Lisa Desrochers

FREE STUFF! Everybody loves free stuff. And, everybody knows I’m the queen of giving away free stuff. In October and November alone, I gave away signed books by Melissa Marr, Claudia Gray, Maria V. Snyder, Ally Condie, Andrea Cremer, Melissa de la Cruz, Kiersten White and Sophie Jordan. I also gave away signed copies of Personal Demons, two iPods, and tons of swag. Why, you ask, do I give away so much stuff? Answer: Because it warms my heart to see you readers sooo happy when you win something really cool! …Oh…yeah. It also helps me promote my book. Personally, I think free stuff is one of the best ways to draw attention yourself and your book.

Myra is going to talk about pre-publication promotion, but that’s really where it all started for me. My timeline from book deal to shelves was anything but traditional. Personal Demons sold on December 21, 2009, and I found out in January that my publisher was crashing into the September 2010 list.

I freaked.

The more typical timeline of 18ish months allows plenty of time to get the word out and create buzz for a book. I was sure Personal Demons would release in September and no one buty my mother would have ever heard of it.

GIVE-AWAYS

So, I started giving stuff away. And I used other unsuspecting authors shamelessly to do it. First thing in January, when no one knew I existed, I started my monthly 2010 Debut Contests. Each monthly winner had a choice of one of four YA debut books that were releasing that month, or a signed ARC of Personal Demons when I got them. I tweeted the crap out of my contests and entries grew incredibly fast. At first, I felt kind of bad dovetailing on other authors buzz, but you know what? Most of them retweeted my contests, and I’ve become Twitter buds with a lot of them. (Incidentally, all winners except January chose Personal Demons. :p) As an author, don’t be afraid to ask others of us for signed books for giveaways. We’re all looking for ways of promoting our books and many of us would be happy to oblige.

SWAG
Of course, any good book giveaway needs to include swag. Bookmarks are always popular, and I’ve gone through thousands. (Sometimes they’ve mysteriously found their way into other popular YA books at my local B&N. Shhh…) Be sure on your bookmarks to include all your contact info (email, web, FB, Twitter etc) and then they double as business cards.

Creative swag is always fun. Shannon’s bookmarks and the whole AR thing (see Tuesday’s post) is totally amazing. A favorite of my readers has been the Team Luc and Team Gabe tattoos. (Luc and Gabe are tagging souls via these tattoos, btw.) There are several sites online where you can design your own custom tattoos. My daughter designed mine. I also designed a logo for tank tops. You can use your book cover, or part of it if that works better, or you can use fan art or your own design. Again, there are several online shops that have a design center where you can uses your own art to come up with just the right shirt. (customink.com and cafepress.com come to mind)

VENTURING OUT (into the cyber or real world)
When you go on the road, you’ll want to bring all that great swag with you. If you’re doing school visits, tattoos and stickers are popular. You should always have enough bookmarks to hand out to every single person who crosses your path at any book function (because they’re your business cards, remember). I also give away tank tops. These are great incentive to encourage people to ask questions. I’ll usually talk for a few minutes, read a few pages, then ask for questions, giving tank tops to the first two or three people to ask.

Which brings me to general logistics of author events. I’ve found it’s usually better to have my publicist set up signings. In turn, the bookstores are usually happy to set up school visits in their local community. You can set up signings on your own by contacting the community relations manager (at chains) or the event coordinator (at indies). They’re often very friendly and happy to work with authors. When I travel, I always stop into the local indie and chain bookstores to sign stock and chat up the booksellers, leaving a bookmark in each signed copy.

There are myriad options for reaching out to the on-line community. Many bloggers host live author chats where everyone piles into a chat room and the questions fly. If you’re friendly with a blogger or two, ask if they’d be willing to host a chat for you. The most effective time to do online chats is just after a “buzz generating” event, such as your cover reveal or release of your book trailer (which bloggers are wonderful about helping with, btw). Unlike “live” audiences, online chatters are never shy about firing off the questions or comments. This is a really fun way to connect with readers. Other authors like to do Skype chats. Shannon covered most of the social networking opportunities, which I encourage you to take full advantage of to publicize your live and online events. I blog daily (lisadesrochers.blogspot.com) and live on Twitter (@LisaDez), linking my Facebook page to my Twitter feed for maximum publicity of all upcoming events.

And that’s Shameless Self-Promotion 101. Questions?

Martina Boone

Martina Boone is the award-winning author of the romantic southern gothic Heirs of Watson Island series, starting with COMPULSION from Simon & Schuster, Simon Pulse and the Celtic Legends Collection of novels set in Scotland, Cornwall, and Ireland beginning with LAKE OF DESTINY. She’s passionate about improving lives through literacy and the love of books, and she runs the Compulsion For Reading program to distribute books to underserved schools and libraries.

She lives with her husband, children, Shetland Sheepdog Phinney, and Zoey the lopsided cat, and she enjoys writing contemporary romantic fiction with a hint of magic set in small towns and beautiful places. When she isn’t writing, she’s addicted to travel, horses, skiing, chocolate flavored tea, and anything with Nutella on it.

Post © Martina Boone and/or Adventures in YA Publishing. All rights reserved.

Posted: Jan 27, 2011

Category: Imported from AYAP

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The first slide is an animation of a science/magic room in a castle. A cartoon character of a mad-scientist looking man in in the foreground says: “Hello! Dr. Frankenstein here to say, Well Done on kid lit zombie week! I’m an expert at reviving the dead, and let me assure you, with a little spark, you can bring dead projects to life. Especially if you dig up parts from other dead things. I’ll even let you have a sneak peek at my laboratory’s store room to consider potential parts for your dead project. If you see something with a yellow glow, that means you should click it. Have fun!”

He points to the right side of the screen and a new scene slides in of a castle science/magic storage room. There are various cartoon Frankenstein body parts scattered around. Some of them have a yellow glow. If you click on them, the images below appear (I’ve added alt text to them, so I hope it works).

The Heart of your story is the main character. The protagonist is the beating core that truly brings your story to life. If your MC doesn't make kids (and their grown-ups) care within the first few pages, your story will flatline. </p>
<p>Your main character needs to be:<br />
• Relatable enough for kids to see themselves<br />
• Unique enough to stand out in the slush pile<br />
• Active enough to drive the story<br />
• Memorable enough to survive multiple readings at bedtime</p>
<p>Where do you find this amazing donor heart? It might be the very thing you loved so much about the manuscript you want to revive. It might be the younger sister from your shelved YA novel. Or maybe it’s the hilarious kid you blogged about meeting at a school visit. Find a character beating with potential and place it in the center of your story.<br />

The Brain of your story is the theme or central message. The theme is the big idea that controls everything else. Picture books are more than stories - they're tiny life lessons disguised with humor and heart.</p>
<p>But your theme needs to be:<br />
• Subtle enough not to trigger the dreaded "didactic" rejection<br />
• Clear enough for a four-year-old to grasp<br />
• Universal enough to speak to both kids and adults<br />
• Fresh enough to prevent agents and editors from responding with "Not another sharing/bedtime/first-day story!"</p>
<p>Check your other dead manuscripts to see if there is a recurring theme, something that really seems to be speaking to you. Find the bit of poetry you scribbled on the back of a receipt to see what theme inspired it. Reread the pep talk you texted your critique partner at 1am. Pick the theme that will drive your story, giving it purpose, direction, and deeper meaning.<br />

The Legs of your story is the plot. Not to be confused with a grave plot.🤪 The plot is what keeps everything upright and moving, as well as providing support for all the other elements. You have very few words to use in a picture book, so you need to do a lot with each plot point.</p>
<p>In general, your plot should:<br />
• Hook readers fast<br />
• Build tension that a child can follow<br />
• Create page turns that feel natural<br />
• Wrap up in a way that satisfies</p>
<p>You can borrow a plot twist (a leg) from one manuscript and the opening (the other leg) from a different manuscript. Consider if the subplot of the middle grade novel you trunked would work better as a picture book. Or maybe your Facebook post about a disastrous camping trip could become a story for kids. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other until you have your storyline.

The Arms of your story are the side characters.

The Torso of your story is the setting. Setting helps a story breathe and connects all the elements of the story. It isn't just where your story lives, it's what makes your story ALIVE. It's the difference between "this happened in a park" and "this happened in that park, the one with the twisty slide that burns your legs and the creaky swing that sounds like a baby crying.”</p>
<p>Your setting should:<br />
• Make your character's world feel real<br />
• Contain your story in a way that makes sense to young readers<br />
• Connect different scenes and moments organically<br />
• Give your illustrator enough room to add visual subplots</p>
<p>Half-finished manuscripts are a great place to dig up settings, since you worked out the place details before the plot petered out. Or maybe you had to cut a second fantastic location from your chapter book. You can also revisit the detailed caption from your Instagram carousel documenting your tour of that delish candy shop. Disinter a robust setting that can house all of your story's vital organs.

After you press the Click When Done circle button, the lights flash with the sound of electricity buzzing. Then the screen goes black and lightning zaps across the screen with the sound of thunder.

The screen then lights up to show the storage room, and all the Frankenstein pieces have been assembled into the whole monster. An upbeat song plays in the background. Then a speech bubble pops up with the words, “I’m alive! I’M ALIVE!” Then the screen goes to black.

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