Connie Johnson Hambley's Blog, page 28
March 4, 2014
March Author Events
In addition to the private book club events I'm always happy to do, I'm very pleased to have been invited to speak at several public author events. Spread the word and I hope to see you there!
Tuesday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Ipswich Public Library
25 North Main Street
Ipswich, Massachusetts
Friends Program7:30 PM THE CHARITY
An Author Talk
Connie Johnson Hambley will discuss her suspenseful horse-themed novel The Charity which is set in Hamilton. Ms. Hambley writes about strong women in situations that demand the most from them. She uses her law and investment background along with her experience at a major Boston bank to incorporate clever schemes people dream up to launder money. This event is free and open to the general public and will be held in the Collins Room at the Library, 25 North Main Street, following the Friends Annual Meeting at 7:00 p.m. Sponsored by the Friends of the Ipswich Library.
Wednesday, March 26 at 6:30 p.m.
Georgetown Peabody Library
2 Maple Street
Georgetown, Massachusetts
http://georgetownpl.org/category/upco...
Friday, March 28 at 10:00 a.m.
Merrimack Council on Aging
100 East Main Street
Merrimack, Massachusetts
Join a large and lively book club discussion.
December 5, 2013
A2R Marketing: Be Relentless
Don't fool yourself. Positioning your work and your brand to find readers is not easy. You may have pushed through the top trending five steps to success and wonder why you're not swimming in readers. You've done what the experts have told you to do but wonder why success hasn't been bestowed upon you yet. What are you doing wrong?
Most likely, you're doing everything right. The only tweak needed is to become relentless.
Applying concepts from business development and marketing is not easy for many writers and authors. You've swallowed the castor oil of identifying your core identity (brand), crafting a message, targeting an audience and reaching out via your different platforms. Then you wipe the sweat from your brow and sit back, waiting for the readers to come. When they don't flock in the numbers you want, you think the process was flawed and you thrash about finding and experimenting with another recipe for the magic sauce.
Stop thrashing and adopt an athlete's focus. Success comes from doing the same sprint or lifting the same weight over and over again. The mindset needed is not much different from what we writers do when crafting a paragraph. We go over it repeatedly. We are relentless in our craft. We just have to apply that to our marketing efforts.
Failure or the word "No" are things that most writers shrink from but business development professionals take in stride. We writers can be a fragile bunch with all of our yearning to be read and liked, but BD folks know that you learn a lot from rejection and a failure. Failures don't stop them in their tracks. Instead, the reasons why something failed are examined and a new or modified approach is taken. BD folks don't let the Big Account get away just because one pitch on one particular day did not succeed. They circle back, reassess and re-approach with a refined pitch.
Once you've committed to writing, you must commit to the fact that it takes time to build a following. Don't stop. Keep going. Go back to the well again and again. Be relentless.
Most likely, you're doing everything right. The only tweak needed is to become relentless.
Applying concepts from business development and marketing is not easy for many writers and authors. You've swallowed the castor oil of identifying your core identity (brand), crafting a message, targeting an audience and reaching out via your different platforms. Then you wipe the sweat from your brow and sit back, waiting for the readers to come. When they don't flock in the numbers you want, you think the process was flawed and you thrash about finding and experimenting with another recipe for the magic sauce.
Stop thrashing and adopt an athlete's focus. Success comes from doing the same sprint or lifting the same weight over and over again. The mindset needed is not much different from what we writers do when crafting a paragraph. We go over it repeatedly. We are relentless in our craft. We just have to apply that to our marketing efforts.
Failure or the word "No" are things that most writers shrink from but business development professionals take in stride. We writers can be a fragile bunch with all of our yearning to be read and liked, but BD folks know that you learn a lot from rejection and a failure. Failures don't stop them in their tracks. Instead, the reasons why something failed are examined and a new or modified approach is taken. BD folks don't let the Big Account get away just because one pitch on one particular day did not succeed. They circle back, reassess and re-approach with a refined pitch.
Once you've committed to writing, you must commit to the fact that it takes time to build a following. Don't stop. Keep going. Go back to the well again and again. Be relentless.
December 4, 2013
Author's Tea at Newbury Library
Special Author Tea at the Newbury Town Library Thursday, December 5 from 4:00 - 5:00 pm
I'm very excited that the Newbury Town Library has invited me to be the featured speaker at their inaugural Author's High Tea. They are expanding their hours and programs and I am very pleased to help them launch their new initiatives.
The excitement around The Charity continues to grow and I look forward to speaking about the hidden stories of The Charity and more about the process of writing and publishing. What better way to celebrate Jessica's tale than to enjoy a hot cup of tea and talk about a hot book!
The Charity tells the story of a Hamilton, Massachusetts native, Jessica Wyeth. Jessica cannot connect the death of her family to being framed for murder. Her search for truth uncovers a network of powerful people with secret ties to terrorism.
Called a "stunning suspense thriller," The Charity brings the reader on a journey from innocence to guilt through the coercive power of a terrorist's heart. Irish roots and Boston lore of the Irish Republican Army (the IRA) are used to weave a compelling and timely story.
Please join me at the Newbury Town Library Thursday, December 5 from 4:00 - 5:00 pm. I will share stories behind the book and answer any questions. Copies of The Charity will be available for purchase and a personal inscription!
November 10, 2013
A2R Marketing: Affinity Marketing is an Author's Best Friend
It's not just credit card companies that benefit from affinity marketing. Selling head to head against a widely known title is challenging. A smart marketing strategy is an author's best friend.
We've all seen them and most of us have them in our wallets - those credit cards that tout our favorite sports team, organization or even airline. It's silly if you think about it. A Visa card with a Patriots' helmet on it works the exact same way that a plain old silver Visa card works. So, what made us sign up for a card that often carries a slightly greater cost? The answer is simple: We felt connected to it on an emotional level.
Those corporate marketers (a.k.a. the Big Boys*) are smart. In a crowded marketplace, they want us to feel an immediate connection to their product. They want us to identify some part of ourselves with their product. Doing so elevates their product in our mind and singles it out of the din. It's an easy leap from there to "win" our dollars.
If you are an author with a small marketing budget behind you - publishing house backed or indie digging into your own pockets - you want to make your pitch matter. The goal is to efficiently connect with your potential audience and ignite that desire to purchase your book. The assumption is that your audience does not have unlimited dollars or unlimited time to buy and read every book on the "Women's Fiction" or "Mystery" shelves. They are going to choose one or two to buy and cozy up with at home. The more books to choose from, the harder your job is in making your book stand out and be purchased.
Rule Number One: Don't compete head to head with the Big Boys. Just launching a child's action adventure series? Competing with Rick Riodan's Heroes of Olympus series isn't going to give you an easy win over a tried and true name and brand. Instead, find another love of your target audience and market through the "back door."
Rule Number Two: Don't think that books have to be sold in book stores: I'm the first one to say that supporting your local bookstore should be one of your missions in life, but after you've secured a spot on their shelves, then what? Think of where people might want something to read or might be ripe for an impulse buy. How about your local deli or pharmacy? Your reader's wallets are already open and seeing your book next to something they need or want may be just the trigger needed for a sale.
Rule Number Three: Find something inside book that can spark a connection. Positioning your book with something you know your target audience already loves is key. Do you have a collection of short stories that references a love for a dog? Contact bloggers of all things animal and tell them about your work. Find a pet store that will place your book in the isle beside dog treats or get the email list for the local dog park and let the members know about your book.
Rule Number Four: Find something in your life story that can spark a connection. We see books marketed like this all the time. The obvious cases are those people who have endured a life altering experience and live to tell the tale. The less obvious are professionals in a field who then write fictional tales using that deep knowledge as the core for their story - doctors turned forensic sleuths. A great avenue for promotions that many authors miss is contacting your alma mater or any organization you are a part of. Volunteer for a local fire department? Contact them and the national organizations surrounding them. Most colleges or organizations are always looking for a cause or person to highlight in an article or website.
The positioning can be physical as well as virtual. I recently spent a weekend marketing my book at a major national horse exposition - think convention in denim or breeches and boots. The Charity has a strong narrative thread comprised of the horse world but as a mainstream thriller, it does not immediately trigger the "horse-lovers-are-going-to-love-this-book" switch. The exposition was the perfect venue to find horse lovers who are also avid readers. It helped that I had done my legwork and had reviews from major horse magazines touting my thriller. I sold a lot of books, but the better part was I got the word out to a huge new readership. Even for folks who may have only glanced at my cover, they will associate my book with something they already have a deep interest in and affinity for.
So, mine your background and your book for those hooks that will pique a reader's interest and begin the process of separating your work from the crowd and establishing an emotional connection.
*By using this term, I am in no way excluding the brilliant work of women marketers in corporate America. After all, I was one.
October 24, 2013
A2R Marketing: Going Local
It's not just foodies who are interested in the "going local" trend. Readers love going local as well. Authors promoting their books are smart make part of their promotional readings to include house calls to local book groups!
This picture is of an active book group near where I live. They had read about my book, The Charity , in a local paper and chose it as their October selection. One of their members reached out to me because the book is set on the North Shore and relates to a passion of hers, horses. Learning I live close by, she offered a tour of the New England Equine Rescue facility as an enticement to join them. I happily accepted her invitation for an evening of chardonnay and laughter as we shared impressions and insights of the book. They said they rarely agree on whether a selection was liked by each member of their group, but The Charity won their unanimous praise.
The evening was interesting for a couple of reason. First, in the best of book group traditions, members sampled a genre not typical for them. One women would not have picked up a book in the thriller genre, but ended up loving the story and the main character. They also enjoyed reading a book that gave them a window into a darker side to their home surroundings. Having the author come to their home and share inside secrets on the research and writing of a book they loved was a bonus.
The other reason why the evening was notable was due to the changes in the publishing industry. Authors are needing to be more creative in their outreach to gain new readers. An author's work no longer ends with a polished manuscript, but continues into worlds most writers know little or nothing about - business development and marketing. Any little hook that piques a reader's interest is worth the effort.
As an emerging author, it's difficult to compete with the big advertising budgets and supreme PR machines that the big guys have. Keeping your focus on what is interesting and intriguing to your neighbors helps get that traction that any growing buzz needs.
There are a lot of winners when you keep your focus local. Certainly, the women enjoyed an interesting evening of talk and sharing about a book they loved. Local bookstores benefited, too. Because the readers needed the book quickly, they shopped local instead of shopping online. Jabberwocky Books in Newburyport, which is one of the several area stores to carry my title, did a great business thanks to these ladies! Also, New England Equine Rescue was planning a silent auction and fundraiser and I happily donated a signed copy of my book to support their efforts.
It's always smart to keep the bigger picture in mind when promoting your work. But it's even smarter to stay focused on what's right in your own backyard.
This picture is of an active book group near where I live. They had read about my book, The Charity , in a local paper and chose it as their October selection. One of their members reached out to me because the book is set on the North Shore and relates to a passion of hers, horses. Learning I live close by, she offered a tour of the New England Equine Rescue facility as an enticement to join them. I happily accepted her invitation for an evening of chardonnay and laughter as we shared impressions and insights of the book. They said they rarely agree on whether a selection was liked by each member of their group, but The Charity won their unanimous praise.
The evening was interesting for a couple of reason. First, in the best of book group traditions, members sampled a genre not typical for them. One women would not have picked up a book in the thriller genre, but ended up loving the story and the main character. They also enjoyed reading a book that gave them a window into a darker side to their home surroundings. Having the author come to their home and share inside secrets on the research and writing of a book they loved was a bonus.
The other reason why the evening was notable was due to the changes in the publishing industry. Authors are needing to be more creative in their outreach to gain new readers. An author's work no longer ends with a polished manuscript, but continues into worlds most writers know little or nothing about - business development and marketing. Any little hook that piques a reader's interest is worth the effort.
As an emerging author, it's difficult to compete with the big advertising budgets and supreme PR machines that the big guys have. Keeping your focus on what is interesting and intriguing to your neighbors helps get that traction that any growing buzz needs.
There are a lot of winners when you keep your focus local. Certainly, the women enjoyed an interesting evening of talk and sharing about a book they loved. Local bookstores benefited, too. Because the readers needed the book quickly, they shopped local instead of shopping online. Jabberwocky Books in Newburyport, which is one of the several area stores to carry my title, did a great business thanks to these ladies! Also, New England Equine Rescue was planning a silent auction and fundraiser and I happily donated a signed copy of my book to support their efforts.
It's always smart to keep the bigger picture in mind when promoting your work. But it's even smarter to stay focused on what's right in your own backyard.
October 10, 2013
New Thriller Features ‘Independent-Thinking, Strong-Minded’ Bowdoin Grad
New Thriller Features ‘Independent-Thinking, Strong-Minded’ Bowdoin Grad
Creating a fictional character is a great deal of work...and fun. The characters can be crafted out of the barest whiff of truth or can be grounded in a composite of the best attributes imaginable.
A character should be treated with the same care as the story itself. I've written before that finely crafted thriller hangs its plot lines on real events and real places, giving the reader more to grip onto. This makes the reading experience more engaging. If a story contains a larger-than-life protagonist, then the backstory, no matter how faintly alluded to, should answer why or how that character came to be. The backstory should always support the created character and not run in conflict with it.
Even a seemingly small detail like where that character may have gone to college is an important part of their persona. Feel the difference when a character "shopped at only the finest boutiques" and "prowled the clearance racks at the local thrift store." Where he or she shopped could be the most inconsequential aspect of the story, but that one detail shapes the reader experience of the character and thereby shapes their experience of the story.
Choosing my character's alma mater was an easy choice. Intelligent, robust and hailing from New England, Bowdoin College was a natural fit for Jessica Wyeth. By connecting a fictional character to a real college, the character becomes imbued with the perceptions the reader holds for that institution and becomes someone the reader can relate to or identify with. Conjuring that image can take pages or it can take the faintest of brush stokes, but it also has to mean something.
A good thriller doesn't clutter itself with irrelevant facts, but it does have to contain enough detail to help build the tension. Supporting the character's traits with real life details fleshes out the character and makes a fictional story more real.
The link above to the Bowdoin Daily Sun tells why I chose it for my character's backstory.
Creating a fictional character is a great deal of work...and fun. The characters can be crafted out of the barest whiff of truth or can be grounded in a composite of the best attributes imaginable.
A character should be treated with the same care as the story itself. I've written before that finely crafted thriller hangs its plot lines on real events and real places, giving the reader more to grip onto. This makes the reading experience more engaging. If a story contains a larger-than-life protagonist, then the backstory, no matter how faintly alluded to, should answer why or how that character came to be. The backstory should always support the created character and not run in conflict with it.
Even a seemingly small detail like where that character may have gone to college is an important part of their persona. Feel the difference when a character "shopped at only the finest boutiques" and "prowled the clearance racks at the local thrift store." Where he or she shopped could be the most inconsequential aspect of the story, but that one detail shapes the reader experience of the character and thereby shapes their experience of the story.
Choosing my character's alma mater was an easy choice. Intelligent, robust and hailing from New England, Bowdoin College was a natural fit for Jessica Wyeth. By connecting a fictional character to a real college, the character becomes imbued with the perceptions the reader holds for that institution and becomes someone the reader can relate to or identify with. Conjuring that image can take pages or it can take the faintest of brush stokes, but it also has to mean something.
A good thriller doesn't clutter itself with irrelevant facts, but it does have to contain enough detail to help build the tension. Supporting the character's traits with real life details fleshes out the character and makes a fictional story more real.
The link above to the Bowdoin Daily Sun tells why I chose it for my character's backstory.
September 5, 2013
A Simple Act
The dreaded iron fist of writer's block had me in its grip and I needed a change of pace. I was on my way to a self-imposed writer's retreat to spend an internet and phone free week, when I rounded the corner of Route 30 in Bondville,Vermont, a little before the Stratton access road. I was amazed at what I saw. In a bend of the river that runs along side the road were hundreds of small stone cairns. The stacks of washed white of the stones stood in stark contrast against the lush green of the forest behind them and the rushing river that surrounded them.
It was a perfect summer day, so I pulled over and scrambled down the bank to get a closer look. The cairns, or trail markers to some, ranged from just a few simple stones of gradually smaller sizes to more elaborate structures. Some used bits of driftwood or logs to balance more stones on outstretched planks or to make an arch, a stone version of a snowman (appropriate for Vermont) or even something like a pagoda.
What was this place? How did these things get there? Possible scenarios sparked my imagination, but knowing how the rivers swell in spring, I knew these monuments could not have been there for long, nor would they be there forever. In spite of that, the setting had an eternal quality to it that somehow let time slip away. I let myself linger, to meditate and pray and to just be. It just seemed like the right spot for it. I'm not sure how long I stayed, but I knew the scene would forever be in my memory.
I was stunned when a week later I learned that a local Vermonter had deemed the site a traffic and environmental hazard and raked down each of the cairns. Evidently, I was not the only person who had stopped there and the place had begun to be quite a draw. It irked him, so he went into his shed, grabbed a rake and went to work. It took him only two hours to undo untold hours of work.
Other locals came to the defense of the site. It seemed that more people - a lot more - loved it and what it represented. So, a day or two after Mr. Rake had his say, an estimated fifty people showed up and rebuilt the cairns. Some were bigger and better than ever. Others were more humble, but the effect was still incredible. A bunch of stones, a placid river and a quiet forest combined to give people an experience that was more than the sum of its parts.
But why? I got my answer from my sister who lives a bit north of Rawsonville, the official town of record for that particular river bend, who heard about it on the local news. It seems that a young man, Grant Bercik, had a very special bond with his dog, General. Where the river takes that turn was one of their favorite spots to walk. Grant would skip a few rocks and General would fetch a stick or maybe chase a squirrel or two. Then the unthinkable happened and General was killed by a truck this past spring. Grant was bereft and each time he felt lonely for his dog, he built a small stone cairn in their favorite spot. He loved his dog a lot. He missed his dog a lot. In a few weeks, Grant had built a few dozen cairns. Gradually, locals and flatlanders alike added their own cairns. Whether their markers were memorials or not is locked inside their hearts and it really doesn't matter. Together and unbeknownst to each other, they rehabilitated a place that resonated inside of them and in the hearts of many.
I revisited the river a few weeks after all of the building, demolition and rebuilding took place. A few cars were pulled over and families stood on its banks snapping pictures, building their own tower or just staring in awe. I had a chance to tell the story to two young women. As I spoke, one woman repeatedly rubbed her arms with her hands, shoulders slightly hunched. "That story gives me chills," she said.
She said something else that will stay with me forever, too. "This is bigger than one man and a dog and it's bigger than one man with a rake," she said, looking around us. Turning to her friend she added, "Let this be a lesson. The reason was right and the energy was positive. He created something bigger than all of us."
That was it. I felt a subtle splintering of something hard deep down inside of me. Some guy, a dog, a rake and some rocks did what countless blank hours in front of my computer had not. I sat down and let the words pour out.
July 14, 2013
Summer Beach Reading
I'll confess that it is seriously cool to walk down a beach and see people reading my book. I've been blamed for dinners not cooked, kids forgotten on ball fields or at schools, missed trains, lost sleep and more because readers became too engrossed and lost track of time. I'm afraid now I'll be blamed for sunburns and skin cancer. So, readers, listen up. This is my one and only Public Service Announcement:
Put sunscreen on BEFORE you begin reading.
Enjoy!
June 5, 2013
A2R Marketing: Using Author Profile Articles Strategically
It's nice to see a proof of concept that means more than "Oh, right. Interesting idea."
The June/July issue of Massachusetts Horse magazine just hit the news stands. I'm pleased to have been featured in a very nice two page article. It proved the concept that sometimes the best way to find readers not to club them silly and drag them by their hair to your book. Sometimes a bit of finesse works wonders. I know what you're thinking...horse?
There are two parts to the finesse concept. The first is "pull." Every author, from the minuscule indie to blockbuster best selling author, wants you to read their book. You know exactly what they want because you see images of the cover everywhere, reviews start popping up and you hear the "Read me. Read me." mantra. The summer reading season ensures that readers are inundated with ads and missives bluntly telling them what books to stick in their beach bag. Eventually readers become immune to the push of the direct ad. What they want is a siren song pulling them toward their next great read.
The second part is "brilliance." Readers are a very smart group of people. They can easily sniff out a ploy which is also why the direct approach has its problems. They don't want to be told what to do or to be tricked into something. Feeling as if they have made a discovery on their own, they are then much more likely to share that discovery with others. If you feed your reader's innate curiosity enough to pull them to a topic, they will brilliantly discover your book.
An "author profile" is a great way to tickle your reader's curiosity and dangle your book out there without walloping them with a "read me" message. I've mentioned before that having a credential or two behind your fictional writing strengthens your written word. It also strengthens the bond you have with your reader. An author profile that showcases another aspect of yourself makes you more familiar and approachable. If the readers are interested in you as a person, they will be interested in learning what you have to say.
Susan Winslow's profile of me in Massachusetts Horse article is a great example of this. My book, The Charity, is not a book about horses. However, the main character and the story have strong bones there. I drew on my past of raising and training six horses and riding competitively to weave story threads that would ring true to an expert or a novice. The profile does a great job in writing to an audience of horse enthusiasts about someone who shares their passion and who might also be interesting to them.
So, in the process of marketing your book, consider the benefits of indirectly introducing your book to your readers by finding opportunities to introduce yourself.
The June/July issue of Massachusetts Horse magazine just hit the news stands. I'm pleased to have been featured in a very nice two page article. It proved the concept that sometimes the best way to find readers not to club them silly and drag them by their hair to your book. Sometimes a bit of finesse works wonders. I know what you're thinking...horse?
There are two parts to the finesse concept. The first is "pull." Every author, from the minuscule indie to blockbuster best selling author, wants you to read their book. You know exactly what they want because you see images of the cover everywhere, reviews start popping up and you hear the "Read me. Read me." mantra. The summer reading season ensures that readers are inundated with ads and missives bluntly telling them what books to stick in their beach bag. Eventually readers become immune to the push of the direct ad. What they want is a siren song pulling them toward their next great read.
The second part is "brilliance." Readers are a very smart group of people. They can easily sniff out a ploy which is also why the direct approach has its problems. They don't want to be told what to do or to be tricked into something. Feeling as if they have made a discovery on their own, they are then much more likely to share that discovery with others. If you feed your reader's innate curiosity enough to pull them to a topic, they will brilliantly discover your book.
An "author profile" is a great way to tickle your reader's curiosity and dangle your book out there without walloping them with a "read me" message. I've mentioned before that having a credential or two behind your fictional writing strengthens your written word. It also strengthens the bond you have with your reader. An author profile that showcases another aspect of yourself makes you more familiar and approachable. If the readers are interested in you as a person, they will be interested in learning what you have to say.
Susan Winslow's profile of me in Massachusetts Horse article is a great example of this. My book, The Charity, is not a book about horses. However, the main character and the story have strong bones there. I drew on my past of raising and training six horses and riding competitively to weave story threads that would ring true to an expert or a novice. The profile does a great job in writing to an audience of horse enthusiasts about someone who shares their passion and who might also be interesting to them.
So, in the process of marketing your book, consider the benefits of indirectly introducing your book to your readers by finding opportunities to introduce yourself.
A2R Marketing: Author Profile Feature Article
It's nice to see a proof of concept that means more than "Oh, right. Interesting idea."
The June/July issue of Massachusetts Horse magazine just hit the news stands. I'm pleased to have been featured in a very nice two page article. It proved the concept that sometimes the best way to find readers not to club them silly and drag them by their hair to your book. Sometimes a bit of finesse works wonders. I know what you're thinking...horse?
There are two parts to the finesse concept. The first is "pull." Every author, from the minuscule indie to blockbuster best selling author, wants you to read their book. You know exactly what they want because you see images of the cover everywhere, reviews start popping up and you hear the "Read me. Read me." mantra. The summer reading season ensures that readers are inundated with ads and missives bluntly telling them what books to stick in their beach bag. Eventually readers become immune to the push of the direct ad. What they want is a siren song pulling them toward their next great read.
The second part is "brilliance." Readers are a very smart group of people. They can easily sniff out a ploy which is also why the direct approach has its problems. They don't want to be told what to do or to be tricked into something. Feeling as if they have made a discovery on their own, they are then much more likely to share that discovery with others. If you feed your reader's innate curiosity enough to pull them to a topic, they will brilliantly discover your book.
An "author profile" is a great way to tickle your reader's curiosity and dangle your book out there without walloping them with a "read me" message. I've mentioned before that having a credential or two behind your fictional writing strengthens your written word. It also strengthens the bond you have with your reader. An author profile that showcases another aspect of yourself makes you more familiar and approachable. If the readers are interested in you as a person, they will be interested in learning what you have to say.
Susan Winslow's profile of me in Massachusetts Horse article is a great example of this. My book, The Charity, is not a book about horses. However, the main character and the story have strong bones there. I drew on my past of raising and training six horses and riding competitively to weave story threads that would ring true to an expert or a novice. The profile does a great job in writing to an audience of horse enthusiasts about someone who shares their passion and who might also be interesting to them.
So, in the process of marketing your book, consider the benefits of indirectly introducing your book to your readers by finding opportunities to introduce yourself.
The June/July issue of Massachusetts Horse magazine just hit the news stands. I'm pleased to have been featured in a very nice two page article. It proved the concept that sometimes the best way to find readers not to club them silly and drag them by their hair to your book. Sometimes a bit of finesse works wonders. I know what you're thinking...horse?
There are two parts to the finesse concept. The first is "pull." Every author, from the minuscule indie to blockbuster best selling author, wants you to read their book. You know exactly what they want because you see images of the cover everywhere, reviews start popping up and you hear the "Read me. Read me." mantra. The summer reading season ensures that readers are inundated with ads and missives bluntly telling them what books to stick in their beach bag. Eventually readers become immune to the push of the direct ad. What they want is a siren song pulling them toward their next great read.
The second part is "brilliance." Readers are a very smart group of people. They can easily sniff out a ploy which is also why the direct approach has its problems. They don't want to be told what to do or to be tricked into something. Feeling as if they have made a discovery on their own, they are then much more likely to share that discovery with others. If you feed your reader's innate curiosity enough to pull them to a topic, they will brilliantly discover your book.
An "author profile" is a great way to tickle your reader's curiosity and dangle your book out there without walloping them with a "read me" message. I've mentioned before that having a credential or two behind your fictional writing strengthens your written word. It also strengthens the bond you have with your reader. An author profile that showcases another aspect of yourself makes you more familiar and approachable. If the readers are interested in you as a person, they will be interested in learning what you have to say.
Susan Winslow's profile of me in Massachusetts Horse article is a great example of this. My book, The Charity, is not a book about horses. However, the main character and the story have strong bones there. I drew on my past of raising and training six horses and riding competitively to weave story threads that would ring true to an expert or a novice. The profile does a great job in writing to an audience of horse enthusiasts about someone who shares their passion and who might also be interesting to them.
So, in the process of marketing your book, consider the benefits of indirectly introducing your book to your readers by finding opportunities to introduce yourself.
