With six weeks to go until my book’s birthday, I find myself in this strange spot of feeling both antsy because I want time to speed up, and anxious at how quickly the days are passing. It reminds me a lot of the weeks preceding my wedding, and the birth of my daughter — something BIG was about to happen, most of the planning and preparation was in place, but as for what the actual experience was going to be like?
WHO REALLY KNOWS.
Which is also my answer when asked, “What’s the most effective marketing or publicity idea to get your book noticed?”
WHO REALLY KNOWS.
Thankfully, there are teams of smart and savvy folks at Mira/HarperCollins who know their sh*t when it comes to marketing and PR, and thankfully THEY are the ones in charge. But that doesn’t mean I’m exempt from participating in both brainstorming and execution. So for the next couple of months, picture me like the woman below (except instead of laundry, cycling, and knitting, imagine a laptop and fast and furious fingers…) — a marketing multitasker, helping out wherever and however I can (without getting annoying or spammy, because that’s a sure way to make people mute you — and your books — forever).
So here’s what I’m going to do to try to help this little book of mine have a GREAT birthday:
1. Be willing to try anything — from blogs to essays to social media to video to Q&As, I’ll do it all.
2. Pay it forward — the writing community is so generous with its support, and it’s true what they say: what goes around comes around.
3. Enjoy every moment, even the less than perfect ones. Enough said, right?
(Having said all this, if you do in fact have the secret formula, please let me know … and if you know Oprah, well, then …)
