Cat Grant's Blog: Memoirs of an Amnesiac - Posts Tagged "2014-resolutions"

WRITE MOAR WURDZ!

It's Sunday afternoon, and I'm sitting here in my jammies contemplating the final pages of LA Witt's and my rock star novel. Why are endings always so damn hard?

Beginnings are hard too. I've decided 2014's going to be my "begin as you mean to go on" year. Which means re-evaluating a lot of stuff.

Numero uno? My marketing strategy. In the (close to) six years since I was first published, I've tried pretty much everything--paid advertising, blog tours and giveaways, blog hops, etc. And frankly, none of it has really worked.

So, in this brand-spankin'-new year of 2014, I'm going to try a new marketing strategy, which is. . .

WRITE MORE. PUBLISH MORE.

Simple, right?

'Cuz the only real uptick I ever notice in my backlist sales is when I have a new release. So obviously I need new releases more often!

Last year I released seven books, all but one of them self-published--and the self-pub stuff was a much bigger success than my last two or three e-published books.

That's right--the Courtland books, originally published from 2008-09, are paying my bills these days. There's a lesson in that, I think.

Keep your backlist in print, even if you have to do it yourself.

Especially if you have to do it yourself. IMO, every author should self-pub at least one book, just for the experience. Nothing gives me a bigger boost than knowing I have full control over my work.

 photo Guarded_400x600_zps710f107e.jpg

So, write more. Send my new stuff to Samhain, self-pub my backlist and a few special side projects, including Lori's and my rock star book, Guarded. Stop worrying about blog tours and giveaways--they used to be a fun, unique way to bring attention to your work, but now Facebook and Twitter are clogged with them. Hard to set yourself apart from the crowd when the crowd's doing the same damn thing.

I'll still be hanging out on Facebook (mostly) and Twitter (sometimes). I'll still be maintaining my blog and website. Sending out newsletters a few times a year. As for conferences, I'm already signed up for Rainbow Con and RT, and I plan to sign up for GRL when the time comes. (I should also try to be a little less tired at these things, but jet lag's a bitch for an arthritic old lady like me.)

So, I'll still be out there, just not as much as before. After thirty-odd books, I deserve a break from the endless grind of self-promotion. Time to let my front list drive my backlist, and see what happens. :)
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Published on January 19, 2014 14:19 Tags: 2014-resolutions, guarded, la-witt, rock-stars, self-pub

Memoirs of an Amnesiac

Cat Grant
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