Marketing Archives - Page 6 of 6

Marketing Flurry

February 4, 2016 By Kerry Gans Leave a Comment

After digging out of 20” of snow a week ago, this week found me hit with a marketing flurry. I have felt out of my depth since I hit the marketing side of publishing. Even though I’ve read a ton about it, when it came to actually making a plan the details overwhelmed and paralyzed me. So I’ve waded into the fray, rather than jumped.

This week started off with receiving my book trailer from Keith Strunk, who put it together for me. I had an unplanned public unveiling of the trailer at the Willow Grove Writers Coffeehouse, and people seemed to like it. I know I sure did!

So one thing I did this week was start a YouTube channel for myself. At the moment, however, the channel has no content, as I am having the dreaded “technical difficulties” loading the trailer to the channel.

Coming Soon to a Viewscreen Near You!

The next marketing task that surfaced was an interview I did with Linda C. Wisniewski for the Bucks County Women’s Journal. My first interview as a professional author!

The interview of course kicked off a round of social media posts announcing it—Facebook, Twitter, Google+. I also hopped onto my website and added the link to my News & Events page—which I managed to do without breaking the Internet!

Finally, because I felt the need to have some focused marketing help, I joined BadRedHead Media’s 30-Day Book Marketing Challenge. The amazing Rachel Thompson sends us one tip and how-to every day for 30 days, and we then implement them. We are 3 days in, and so far I have spruced up my Twitter bio and header, pinned a tweet to my feed, and begun Following people with a more targeted focus.

So my week has been filled with flurries—marketing flurries. It’s good, though, because I feel a little more settled in my marketing mindset. I may never be a marketing powerhouse, but I am moving forward—and that’s what counts.

How about you? Did you dive in the deep end with marketing, or wade in hesitantly?

Focus Forward

December 31, 2015 By Kerry Gans Leave a Comment

As 2015 draws to a close, I have a lot to be thankful for. My family is healthy and happy. I am comfortable in my life. And my first novel, THE WITCH OF ZAL, debuted from Evil Jester Press!

Now 2016 looms large ahead, and my focus is turning to the future. What do I want to accomplish in 2016? I decided to keep it simple and focus only on things I could control, because to do otherwise is an invitation to stress and frustration.

So what are these goals?

Create and implement a new marketing plan for THE WITCH OF ZAL.

Finish revising and polishing at least 2 of my works-in-progress.
- THE CURSE OF THE PHARAOH’S STONE is close to finished—one more go over and sending it out for proofreading. So I should easily reach this goal.
- VERITAS. This WIP is in a monster revision right now, and I feel that I have been procrastinating because of the magnitude of the task. Once I begin, I will be able to chip away, and there is no reason I can see that I should not finish this by the end of 2016.
- THE ORACLE OF DELPHI, KANSAS has been complete for a year or more, and has made the rounds of some agents. The feedback I received showed that I have some work to do on this book, but I have not yet looked to see how large a task fixing the issues would be. It is possible that this, too, can be done by the end of 2016, but I consider this a stretch goal.

When one of the manuscripts above is ready, I will send it out to agents. With luck, I will find one that connects with my work.

And that’s it!

Three things.

I can do that.

What are you looking forward to in 2016?

The New To-Do List

November 19, 2015 By Kerry Gans 4 Comments

First, I want to take a moment to recognize the tragedies in Beirut, Paris, and Nigeria. The loss of life is horrific, and the grief is universal no matter what continent you are on. The terrorists wish to inspire fear and hatred and chaos. I choose not to let my fear turn to hate. I choose to stand with the grieving and raise my voice with those speaking for peace. The terrorists fear our unity and seek to splinter us. United we stand.

I attended my first conference as a published author this weekend. The NJ Association of School Librarians sponsorsan Authors’ and Illustrators’ Alley where you can display your wares and talk with the conferees. I’ll admit I was terribly nervous—my anxiety was running in high gear. But once I got there, it all went smoothly. Chatting with the librarians and teachers was fun, and I learned a great deal about presentation from my friend and table-mate Donna Galanti.

So now that is over and I turn my attention to the other things that need to be done now that THE WITCH OF ZAL is a real, live book. What sort of things are on this to-do list?

Updating my website: I need to get the cover on the front page, and add buy links, and some of the blurbs. I need to update my events page as well.

Book Trailer: I’ve sent the elements of the trailer to Keith Strunk, whose company will be putting it together for me. As a long-time professional editor, I actually did the trailer myself but my editing software is so old it does not support true High Definition, which is necessary.

Reviews: I have no reviews yet, but I do have a list of bloggers that I am ready to reach out to and ask for reviews. I have the emails mostly ready, I just need to add some final details (like the cover) and send them out.

School visit presentation: I need to sit down and concentrate in detail on what I want to say and cover in a school visit. I have a firm idea of the topic now (thanks again to Keith Strunk), but I need to think about the flow and the details I need to cover.

School visits: After that, I need to actually book some school visits. A big issue is payment—so many of the librarians at the conference said they simply have no budget for author visits. So, do I work for free and accept the book sales as payment enough? That’s a question each author needs to answer for themselves.

Interviews: I have at least one interviewer who has sent me questions, so I need to get those done.

Distribution: I have contacted the Doylestown Bookshop about handling pre-orders for my school events, and thankfully they have said they can handle that for me.

Taxes: I seem to have all the paperwork in order, but I am still unclear on how collecting sales tax works in states outside of my home state. So more research is needed.

Copyright: I need to register the copyright of my book within 3 months of publication. Some authors may say not to worry about it, but for $35 it’s worth having the extra protection. (Fees vary depending on how you register.)

Launch party: Now that THE WITCH OF ZAL is out, I need to celebrate! I’ll keep you apprised of developments there.

So, those are some of the things on my new to-do list. Oh, and write. Gotta keep doing that.

Anything I forgot that should be on my list?

THE WITCH OF ZAL Cover Reveal and Surprise!

November 12, 2015 By Kerry Gans 8 Comments

Hey, everyone! I am so excited to share the wonderful cover for THE WITCH OF ZAL! My publisher, Evil Jester Press, did a fantastic job.

And…SURPRISE! My book is available for purchase RIGHT NOW in paperback and Kindle.

I hope you love the cover as much as I do–and I hope you have as much fun reading the book as I did writing it!

I’ll keep you posted as my journey continues. Thank you all for coming along for the ride!

The First of Many Firsts: Preparing for the NJASL Conference

November 5, 2015 By Kerry Gans Leave a Comment

On Sunday November 15th I will be attending my first ever conference as an author. The New Jersey Association of School Librarians has what they call Authors’ Alley where authors can get a table and speak to the many librarians who are there for the conference. I am so excited to be able to talk to so many librarians at once about my new book. However, I am also quite nervous. Luckily, friend and fellow author Donna Galanti will also be there—which will make the experience much more fun and less nerve-wracking.

Preparing for a conference as an author is no easy thing. I need to have many pieces in place. Such as:

BOOKS

The first thing I need to do is order books to have with me at the conference to sell or to show the librarians who are interested in the book. I did that today and they will be arriving sometime before the 15th. I can only imagine what it will feel like when I open my first box full of my own books and see all those wonderful covers looking up at me. 🙂

SWAG/MARKETING MATERIALS

I would like to have bookmarks ready to give out to people who are interested in the book but may not wish to buy at this time. I also want to have flyers announcing my school visit topics and availability to give out. I’m thinking of getting new business cards to bring, if I have time to get the new card and if my pocketbook will stretch to that much expense. My old cards are certainly sufficient to allow people to get in touch with me on social media and my website. The only drawback is that the cards do not have the cover of my most recent book on them.

MONEY

There are also business things that need to be taken care of prior to that and I have already completed those. I needed to get a federal tax ID number and register my business with the state of New Jersey so that I could collect sales tax on any books that I sell at the conference. I have also bought a Square credit card reader for my smartphone so people can pay me with a credit card. I tested it out and it works great!

ERRATA

I need some sort of display stand to put up a flyer on the table. I need to bring order forms in case there are people who wish to order the book later, so they can still get the special pricing I’m giving for the conference. I also need to remember to bring things such as my laptop a copy book for writing, and snacks and water so that I can make it through the day without fainting away.

I had hoped the have my book trailer available by this time but it simply will not be possible to get it done. However I do hope to have that finished by the end of the month. I had a lot of fun putting it together and I hope people will enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed making it!

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Eventually all those items above will be checked off my list, and the only thing left to do will be to pack up the car and head out. Then my worry will be: Can I actually find the venue? Thankfully my smartphone has a GPS, so now I have a little bit more assurance that should I get lost I will actually be able to find my way to where I need to go.

With this conference I am officially launching my career as a published author. I’m on the path that I always dreamed about the time I was young. I cannot express to you how amazed I am that this dream is finally coming true.

Anyone have more tips for this conference newbie?

Adventures in the Land of Zal

October 22, 2015 By Kerry Gans 2 Comments

This week’s post is going to be short and sweet, because I am neck-deep in reviewing the galleys of my book THE WITCH OF ZAL.

What’s a galley, you ask?

Before a book goes to print but after it has been formatted, they create a galley of it—an uncorrected proof of the text. The author then goes over the galley to catch any last-minute typos or issues that might have been missed earlier. Since there is a substantial lag time between turning in the final edits and reading the galley, the author can see it with fresh eyes.

I found that the galley, which uses a different font and formatting than my final submitted manuscript did, makes mistakes easier to find. Thankfully, I am not finding many! I have to read both the print galley and the ebook galley. I’ve read the print, and hope to finish the ebook today.

The other exciting news is that the cover is finally finished! I saw a sneak peek earlier this week, and am eager to share it with the world. Having a cover makes the book very real.

And I’m glad it is real, because I have booked my first conference, at the New Jersey Association of School Librarians (NJASL) conference November 15th. Discussing books with hundreds of librarians is going to be a thrill, and I can’t wait to meet them. After all, I’ve known since I was young that libraries are magic and librarians are magicians.

THE WITCH OF ZAL is almost at the finish line, and the next phase of my writing life will begin!

Official Announcement for THE WITCH OF ZAL

June 4, 2015 By Kerry Gans Leave a Comment

My publisher made the official announcement for my book! It’s getting real!

“The Witch of Zal is an absolutely delightful Steampunk twist on a beloved classic. Inventive, fast-paced and so much fun! Highly recommended.” – Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of THE NIGHTSIDERS and ROT & RUIN.

Evil Jester Press is gearing up for a great summer/fall with some really cool new releases, and we’re finally ready to announce our first for 2015, hot off the development table and bound for production. Being a HUGE fan of the Wizard of Oz, I just had to get this book from the talented author, Kerry Gans, our first book for young readers, too. Honestly, The Witch of Zal will appeal to all ages.

Back Cover Blurbs:

“An enchanting, witty, whimsical Wizard of Oz meets Steampunk ride! With endearing characters, vivid world-building, humor and fun, The Witch of Zal also has its serious side, digging into the meaning of freedom and individuality. Kerry Gans’s writing has a ton of heart and soul.” Kit Grindstaff, author of The Flame in the Mist (Delacorte Press), SCBWI Crystal Kite award winner 2014

“Brothers Grimm meet The Giver in this richly imagined retelling of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with an apocalyptic twist. Gans gives us an uplifting story of friendship and sacrifice that empower one girl to find the courage to transform her authoritarian world.” Donna Beckley Galanti, author of Joshua and The Lightning Road series (Month9Books)

“The Witch of Zal is a truly exciting adventure…futuristic… sure to thrill. In a place where no one has free will, one girl dares to make her own choices when she decides not to let the government take away her beloved petbot. Where evil zombicorns roam, where the future of a world is at stake, the only true salation rests with one girl who dares to be different. An unforgettable ride!” Marie Lamba, author of What I Meant…, Over My Head, and Drawn

“Kerry Gans reweaves the classic journey in the Land of Oz in a voice that speaks directly to the young reader of today… The Witch of Zal grabs you from page one and creates a world full of mystery, adventure, and extraordinary characters that explodes in your imagination with dazzling color while exploring how choices impact friends, family and the essence of who we are.” Keith Strunk, actor, author, teacher and co-founder of River Union Stage, bringing Shakespeare to 4th and 5th grades for 14 years.

Book Trailer Beginnings

May 7, 2015 By Kerry Gans 6 Comments

My marketing ramp-up continues! I have created a list of reviewers to contact about the book, but the contacting has not yet begun. I still have a few pieces to put in place before that can get started.

However, I HAVE started work on my book trailer!

Since I was a professional video editor, I figured I could do a passable trailer myself. The hard part always is getting good audio and good visuals. For me, the audio is the more difficult of the two. I often have some ideas of the visuals, but the audio is sort of “I’ll know it when I hear it.”

That doesn’t make searching for audio easy.

However, Keith Strunk (who had given book trailer pointers at the Liars Club Writers Coffeehouse last month) directed us to the music of Kevin MacLeod. Mr. MacLeod’s music is diverse, searchable by type or mood, and (in exchange for attribution) free! Because I was able to search by mood, I narrowed down my choices quickly, and found one that worked with only an hour or so of searching. I knew it when I heard it!

I had already compiled the visuals I wanted to use, since I have already created 12 quote memes for the book. When I chose background images for the quotes, I purposely chose ones I thought I could use in the trailer. I did some Photoshop work on a few of them, added some movement to the still pictures, and voila! A rough cut of the trailer.

Why is it a rough cut, not finished? For several reasons.

First, I am waiting on the cover to my novel. I am hoping to replace a couple of the current visuals with elements from the cover, and to use the same font for any text on the screen.

Second, I am still toying with using a voice over (VO), or simply text, or a combination. Text only is certainly less expensive, but a VO can carry emotion that text alone can’t. So I am mulling.

Finally, I of course need to run the trailer past my publisher and get input from them. Since we are coordinating marketing efforts, we need to know what the other is doing, and we should harmonize wording and blurbs and taglines when necessary.

I have enjoyed returning to my roots as a video editor for this project. It’s always a thrill when what you envision in your head comes to life on the screen.

Do you use book trailers in your marketing? Feel free to post trailers you like in the comments below.

Marketing: Doing The Things You Don’t Want To Do

April 30, 2015 By Kerry Gans 5 Comments

For those who read my blog last week, you can see that I’ve done a lot of things to help with the marketing campaign for my book THE WITCH OF ZAL. If you look at the list, however, you will see a common thread—the majority of items did not involve interacting with people.

I am a classic introvert and I have an anxiety disorder that manifests mainly in social situations. So I tend to a hermit-like existence. As soon as I signed my book contract, my published friends told me to do two things: network with other writers in my genre and get to know the book bloggers in my genre. I put those two things on my To-Do List, and there they languished.

Why? I could tell you that since 18 months seemed like a long time until publication, I just let it float and lost track of it. I could say that the research involved in both of those things was overwhelming. Both of those things are true. But they are not the reason I kept putting them off.

I kept putting them off because they are hard and scary for me and my subconscious made every rationalization it could to avoid them.

Some of the things we do in marketing are not easy for us. But we have to do them anyway. I didn’t network with authors in my genre until very late in the game, so when it came time to ask for blurbs, I stressed. Luckily, I had other fantastic authors willing to blurb for me, so my procrastination was not as destructive as it might have been.

Now, I am seeking reviewers in my genre and once again it caught me by surprise, even though it should not have. I knew I had to do it, but my brain kept saying, “Tomorrow. Tomorrow.” And because my brain told me what I wanted to hear, I listened. So the Procrastination Pressure is on again! Once again, a fellow author gave me a huge boost in the right direction, and I am now on the road to reviewers.

My first point is this: my avoidance of the things I didn’t want to do could have seriously damaged my marketing efforts. We have to do the parts of marketing we dislike or that frighten us with the same diligence and planning as the parts we enjoy. I knew what I had to do, but allowed my inner demons to get the best of me anyway, causing a great deal of pressure and stress I didn’t need to go through.

My other point is: be grateful for the writer friends you have in your life. My writer friends caught me when I fell on my face. They have listened to me when I freaked out. They have been with me through this whole long process, and I could not have made it this far without them.

Marketing involves some things we are reluctant to do. Your list of uncomfortable marketing items will differ from mine. Do them anyway, when they need to be done. Save yourself the stress of waiting until the last minute.

And lean on your friends to help you through the hard parts. You can return the favor when it’s their turn.

Which part of marketing do you find the hardest? How do you motivate yourself to get it done?

How Do You Get Motivated?

Marketing Bits and Pieces

April 23, 2015 By Kerry Gans 5 Comments

A while ago I blogged about the next steps in the publication process, now that my edits have been completed. At that time, I was asking for blurbs from fellow writers. I am pleased to say that they came through with some wonderful blurbs for my book! So what now?

We have finalized the title, THE WITCH OF ZAL. It’s a much better title than my working title of OZCILLATION in that it is much clearer as far as genre, market, and content. It’s easy to pronounce and easy to remember. And I get all shivery when I say, “The title of my book is…” It’s still hard to believe!

The cover is still in development (believe me, I will share it with you as soon as I can!), but I have moved along some of my own marketing efforts. Like what, you ask?

I just received a completed Academic Guide from Deb Gonzalez, who did a great job breaking down the book, thinking up class activities, and aligning all of it with the Common Core Standards many schools are using now. The Guide touches on everything I would want kids and teachers to discuss. I am so glad a writer friend recommended Deb to me—I’m very pleased with the results.

I also have put together Book Club Questions for library use. Several writer friends with book club experience helped me polish them up and deepen the focus. Where would I be without my writer friends?

I chose twelve quotes from my book and created visual memes that I can use on Facebook, Pinterest, and other social media to hopefully intrigue people enough to check out the book. I really enjoyed doing these, as it uses my graphic arts skills, which I rarely get to use these days.

I am toying with book trailer ideas. I have two alternate scripts, one which requires a voice over, one which does not. I have some visuals I like to get me started, but I am searching for music to excite me. I have some leads, and will be following up. Since I used to make my living as a video editor (earning two awards for my work), I should be able to put one together once I have the pieces assembled.

Most of the things I have been working on are things I can do on my own and at my own speed. I have the feeling that once things start happening, they will happen at full tilt and leave me breathless, so the more material I already have in my pocket, the better.

These are also marketing avenues I am comfortable with and enjoy. I am hoping that readers will sense the excitement I felt in creating these media and get excited, too.

So that’s how I’m using the current down time. I am keeping busy while waiting for my book cover and my final release date! I’m also, of course, working on other stories, since writers never stop writing.

Stay tuned for future developments!

Follow Me