Will you join my army of squirrels?

It's war, people, and I need an army.

You've heard of guerrilla warfare? For us authors, it's called guerrilla marketing, and you can imagine all that entails: Work. Scheming. Work some more.

Well, I've realized that's about what it will take to get my blog seen, read, visited, shared. That's what it's going to take to reach my target audience to even know I exist, let alone buy and read me.

Alas. I'm just not that kinda gal.

Oh, I've tried a few things in my day to woo the would-be reader; I admit it. (Let's call them little squirrels who are all nice and cozy in their fur-lined dens, snuggled against a stockpile of favored nuts to chew on when they get peckish. They have no need to poke their noses out into the cold to sniff for other, new and as yet unsavored seeds. No. Would should they? I know I wouldn't.)

I've done what I can to woo the little critters. I've built my brand with posts that are relevant to the type of writing I do. I've offered samples. I've given books away in contests wherever I had a chance, I've sought out reviews, gotten impromptu reviews, I've chatted on twitter and Facebook, and Goodreads. I've passed out coupons and freebies and guested on other blogs. I've answered interview questions, posted on forums, and given other writers opportunities to guest on mine, paid it forward, paid it back, and paid it sideways.

Sigh.

I'm not good at marketing. I write. I'm a writer. It took me years to let myself wear that label and I'll be durned if I paste another one onto it. I figure if I can continue to craft my tales with care, study to hone my craft, keep learning and applying, eventually someone will find me.

Nope. Not at all. The squirrels have no reason to trade out those nuts.

So I need an army.

But I won't recruit one like John Locke seems to have been able to do. (Way to go, John!)

I, like so many authors I know, will merely quietly harbour delusions of a horde of timid squirrels rising up from their pile of fragrant seeds and nuts and realize they want something new. I see an army of them overrunning the 'jungle' (hitherto known as the Amazon) and swarming over the small, but delicate flavor of the Thea nut–to find it very tasty indeed.

Here little squirrel. Come see what I have for you. Won't you join my army?

-30-

 

Ratling Bones is FREE

Folks: My newest woo nugget is available for free on Smashwords and Feedbooks. It's a short story collection that I believe will appeal to the women's fiction reader who isn't afraid of a little shadow in her light read.

Please, if you've wondered whether or not the 'Thea nut' has any flavor at all, go pick up a copy and read a few stories.

 And if you want to be part of the Thea army of squirrels, please pass this blog post around, share it on Facebook, link to it on your own blogs, Stumble or Reddit, or whatever you do. I'll take anything.

 If you liked this post, please do share. If you tweet it with the hashtag #theagimmesome I will enter you into a random draw to win a Thea ebook.

 Related Reads:

Buzz Marketing with Blogs
Finding your Target audience
The Other Side of the Story

 Related articles

Story feedback at Feedbooks and Smashwords (marklord.info)
Rock n Roll Writer advice: Never Release a book in summer @westofmars (theaatkinson.wordpress.com)
Talking about birds on a wire: a guest post by @jarretrush (theaatkinson.wordpress.com)


Filed under: Thea bits