New Year, New Opportunities

The last quarter of 2018 pretty much sucked. Not all of it, true, but a good portion.

First, the good. Got edits for The Judas Dilemma back from Lea at MuseItUp Publishing. She enjoyed the novel, which made me happy. No release date or cover reveal yet, but I'm glad another publisher rejected it. I think it'll have a better home at Muse.

The bad? The DH fell seriously ill back in the autumn. He's doing much better, but the specter of his illness still remains and must be monitored.

Needless to say, I didn't get much writing done. Instead, I worked on required government and court-related forms, which had deadlines, took over the finances, and took on the role of caretaker, not only for him, but also our adult daughter who has autism. So here's a shout out to you caregivers out there.

But, as the post title indicates, it's a new year and new opportunities. I've been studying self-publishing, marketing, and promoting. The main thing I've learned is about building relationships with potential buyers, such as in the form of a newsletter. I've put off putting out a newsletter for years, but this year, I'm going to do one. The other advice is authors need to be at the forefront of people's minds. If no one remembers who you are as an author, then it's doubtful he/she will buy your books. I've noticed on Facebook, for example, those authors who engage their readers/potential readers. While I tend to be introverted, if they can do it, so can I.

It's time to put what I've learned last year into practice. Fingers are crossed.

Who Am I?

Recently, the Smithsonian Channel aired a documentary about The Doors album, LA Woman. Being a fan of the band, this had me thinking of the cult that has sprung up around Jim Morrison. Here was a singer/poet/songwriter who knew how to brand himself, even making a anagram of his name: Mr. Mojo Risin' and calling himself "The Lizard King."

Ah, branding. It's not a four-letter word, but, like "platform," many authors would probably prefer running a marathon than deal with it.

This past Saturday, Charlene Burke, of Search by Burke, was the guest speaker at our local Sisters in Crime presentation, and she talked about this very topic. She gave me some ideas, like starting a Facebook page for my book and revitalizing character blogs I'd abandoned. Readers want to connect to characters as well as authors.

I know I need to work on my marketing platform. One of the things I've been considering is moving my stories into a different genre, given the current ones are over saturated.When you're an unknown author, you have to work harder to get noticed, and sometimes it's like being out in the middle of the ocean and holding up one finger. Yeah, who's going to notice that?

I see authors with banners touting their catchphrases, and I think how cool it would be if I could come up with one. Well, I have one, but it'd probably raise a few eyebrows. I'd share it, but I want to tweak it and run it by a trusted friend or two, before I unveil it.

Getting ready to start working on my marketing plan, not just for my upcoming book, but for my overall writing persona. And maybe I haven't yet discovered who that is.

Maybe I've been looking in the wrong place. Maybe I should study singers and bands and see what marketing ideas they've come up with.