Edge of Despair

Good morning and welcome to Monday Blogs. Today, we’re going to be discussing the edge of despair for most authors, or learning how to promote without sounding desperate.
Most of the authors being published in the twenty-first century are with small online publishers or self-publish. They don’t have the luxury of a publicist assigned by their publisher. No one sets up their appearances, gets their books in the right brick and mortar stores, or arranges appearances on all of the top talk shows. Sounds rather depressing, doesn’t it?
Actually, as the author, you know your book far better than any publicist. You are the one with the background on your characters firmly embedded in your head. You know exactly how they feel and why they react the way they do. Who better to set up promotion, to arrange interviews with newspapers and television shows, or to plan events?
Now that you understand it’s not always necessary, but occasionally nice, to have an independent individual doing your promotion work, you need to master the art of promoting without seeming desperate.
First of all, don’t make all of your posts on social media about buying your book. Share memes and other cute pictures and/or sayings from your friends or followers. Find music videos of your favorite songs and share those. Stay away from religious or political posts, though. You are an author who will have fans on both sides of these issues. By having a strong opinion about these issues and expressing it, you will alienate at least half of your fan base. Coming back from that won’t happen.
You will also have to arrange interviews with newspapers and television shows. Yes, these can happen, if you do your research. On the day of the interview, be prepared. Have practice sessions with your significant other if necessary. Remember to smile, to look the interviewer in the eye, and remember to relax, but not too much. You don’t want to come off as disinterested in the interview but you also don’t want to look like a robot.
Through all of this, you also have to be plotting/writing your next book. And thinking about how to refresh your promotional tools. Maybe check out a writer’s conference that’s coming to your town in a few months.
In other words, you’ve not taken on the most difficult full time job in the world, but learning the tricks to promote and write at the same time is well worth developing. You’ll garner more attention for your work.


About the K.C. Sprayberry
Born and raised in Southern California’s Los Angeles basin, K.C. Sprayberry spent years traveling the United States and Europe while in the Air Force before settling in northwest Georgia. A new empty nester with her husband of more than twenty years, she spends her days figuring out new ways to torment her characters and coming up with innovative tales from the South and beyond.
She’s a multi-genre author who comes up with ideas from the strangest sources. Those who know her best will tell you that nothing is safe or sacred when she is observing real life. In fact, she considers any situation she witnesses as fair game when plotting a new story.
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