publicity

From embracing the Internet to leveraging blurbs, a debut novelist offers strategies for publicizing your own book, an imperative for many authors publishing with small presses whose limited budgets preclude broad publicity campaigns.

What do Ann Patchett, Jeff Kinney, Louise Erdrich, and Judy Blume have in common? Aside from being best-selling authors, they are all also dedicated booksellers, each having opened independent bookstores of their own.

In the current publishing environment, much of the responsibility for promotion falls on the author. Bookstore co-owner Lynn Rosen offers five steps for authors to take when trying to create successful event partnerships with local bookstores.

Clayton Smith has self-published several books, including his latest novel, Apocalypticon, and used his experiences to cofound Dapper Press, a company that provides essential services like editing, design, and promotion to self-published authors. Editor Kim Bookless and publicist Lissy Peace weigh in on Smith’s process, and such self-publishing necessities.

Having to approach other authors, some with weighty reputations, and ask for the time-consuming favor of writing a blurb can be an unexpected source of anxiety. A debut author shares her experience with part of the publishing process that many writers don’t talk about.