Saturday, March 15, 2008

The Ides of March ... or the Ideas of March?


Once again, a whirlwhind month. New contracts signed, new and old books out.

I think I'm getting better at taking it all in stride. A book released at the end of February and I'm doing some low-key promo for it. Another book came out in print (Your Saving Grace, obligatory link here). And I signed 2 or 3 more contract this month. I don't mean to sound blase, but I've really lost track of when I signed them. I know I signed 1 this week and 1 last week, and at least one other earlier in the month.

I'm beginning to see I'm in this business for the long haul. I'm no longer frantically pimping my books here and there, rushing to post excerpts, raising my hand (metaphorically speaking) and shouting WE ARE HERE WE ARE HERE (okay, I just saw Horton, sorry). But you know what I mean -- rushing off to have 'web parties' and chats and make sure everybody reads my character interview, etc.

I'm starting to understand that a few well-placed reviews, a solid story, a bit of promo in the right place and a good back list will be as useful as all that running around and shouting. I'm starting to narrow down where I want to post, where I want to put ads, and where I want to spend my time. There is no magic bullet, no 'right way to do things'. I'm still sticking by my rule of 'do what I'm comfortable doing and have fun doing it'. And it's starting to fall into place.

Now if I could just get the damn construction done at my house, I'd have an office again! But that's a tale for another day ....
J

2 comments:

Mechele Armstrong said...

Congrats on the new contracts and releases. Sounds like you are coming to a great point in your career. Which is wonderful.

Anonymous said...

I tried the whole frantic promo thing once. It lasted for all of a week before I decided I liked writing more than trying to sell the book.

Now, I buy a few ads, update the website, and go back to writing the next one.