Marketing Bits and Pieces

April 23, 2015 By 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!

Anticipation Angst—and Announcement!

February 5, 2015 By 1 Comment

If you’ve ever visited The Goose’s Quill before, you are no doubt looking at the screen wondering what the heck happened. So here’s the announcement: What happened is that I have a brand-spanking-new website, and my blog is now integrated with that. After you’ve read the blog, feel free to poke around and see what else I’ve been up to.

Meanwhile, I am experiencing what I call anticipation angst. You remember that feeling when some exciting event approached—like Christmas or the start of summer vacation? A taut push-pull between anxiety and excitement. That’s where I am in the publishing process for The Witch of Zal.

People outside the process don’t realize how much waiting is involved in traditional publishing. Between every step of the process is often a stretch of time where the author sees little happening, but much is going on behind the scenes. I am in one of those phases now. And I am sure that when things do start happening, everything will happen at once and suddenly I will have way too much to do!

How does one combat anticipation angst? By keeping busy. I have been doing some things that I know will be needed down the line to market The Witch of Zal. I have done book club questions, am creating visual quotes to use as memes, and working on a Teacher’s Guide. I also have been editing a short story I’ve been trying to get back to for a long time. My critique group work keeps me both reading and writing, and there is the normal round of blog posts every week.

And of course that doesn’t include taking care of my preschooler and the normal chores of living. So I think I have succeeded in keeping busy.

I am enjoying every minute of my journey so far, and I am so excited to see what happens next!

How do you deal with anticipation angst?

GoosesQuill FB

Publisher Edits Done: What Next?

June 19, 2014 By 2 Comments

My journey towards publishing took another step this past weekend. I took advantage of being childfree to delve deep and finish the edits my publisher had sent me for my novel OZCILLATION. After working on them for weeks, I could hardly believe when I made the final change and hit Save.

I sent them off to my editor with much jubilation.

So what now? There will be at least one more round of edits. As my editor explained, the first round is for the “lumps”—the bigger picture things that need to be smoothed out. Such as extending the ending, tweaking the voice, adding more depth to the world. The next round will be a “polish” edit, focusing more on the nit-picky details of grammar and word choice and things like that. I suppose, if necessary, we would do a third, but hopefully that won’t be needed.

We are also starting to move into the marketing side of things. Most importantly, do we keep the title or change it? I personally like OZCILLATION for a number of reasons, but if we can come up with a more market-friendly title that resonates with me, I am not opposed to changing it. I am terrible at coming up with titles, so I hope the publishers have more ideas!

I am starting to work behind the scenes for when we need to start the book buzz process. I am getting my website and blog revamped. I want to work on a Teacher’s Guide and Book Club questions. I am trying to network with librarians, teachers, parents, and kids to see how I can fulfill some need for them while getting word out about my book.

There’s so much to do! The journey continues into uncharted territory.

Any published authors out there who can suggest other things I should be thinking about/working on?

GoosesQuill FB

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