Interview with Kelly Kathleen Ferguson

Kelly Kathleen Ferguson'sbook, My Life as Laura, was publishedtwo months ago by Press 53. Shortly thereafter, Ferguson posted an essay on theHunger Mountain blog about her experience with promoting the book: Being My Own Book Publicist. The essay is one of the most complete I've seen onthe subject of marketing, and well worth the read.
It begins: "Most writers I know have a distaste forself-promotion. Many of us have chosen to speak through the page for a reason.We want to be Oz, the Great and Terrible—but from behind the curtain. Iremember those MFA dreams of New York City publishers who would sweep me away.These creatures would care for my Art, and manage all that distasteful book-peddling."
Except it doesn't work out that way.


I thought it would be fun to follow up with Kelly, andthe result is this mini-interview:
CG: Kelly, your HungerMountain blog post was written in October. Your book has now been out fornearly two months. Have you learned any more about book marketing since then?
KKF: That it's freakingexhausting? I think of Little House in the Big Woods whereLaura and Mary would play with an inflated pig's bladder, batting it back andforth so it wouldn't touch the ground. My "internet presence" (quotes becauseit is so tenuous) requires constant maintenance. I blink and whatever momentumI've managed to gather goes splat.
I'm continuing to learn youcan't plan too far ahead for book reviews and readings. I thought I'd be out onthe road promoting before Christmas and I'm still putting events together. Igive myself a break in that with Press 53 I had no access to advance copies, sothat limited what I could set up ahead of time.
One tactic I've added is tobacktrack the press trails of authors working similar markets (Laura IngallsWilder books, for example). I Google to see where they are being reviewed andfollow suit. Kakutani of The New YorkTimes has yet to respond, but I have discovered some great blogs (such asthis one!) run by people who write back, even if they don't have time for areview. The online literary community runs deep. One book review blogger justnow let me know that while she might not get around to my book for threemonths, she sent me links to five other websites that might be interested. 
I've also learned toinvestigate local writers' groups. A colleague of mine gave me a few contactsand I've set up two readings/craft talks. No, I'm not the keynote at Bread Loaf,but I can drive less than an hour, receive a little honorarium (usually$50-$100), and reach an interested audience.
CG: Specifically, have youexpanded your presence in independent bookstores? How's that working out?
KKF: Um, not so well.  I'veadded one since that post. To be clear, it's not that bookstores are shootingme down (only one has said "no" so far). I haven't put much effort into asking.
It's weird because my dreamfor so long was to go into bookstores and see my book, but Press 53 doesn'tprovide distribution, so each and every placement is up to me. Every time Ihave to muster up this Oliver Twist plea, "Please sir, would you carry mybook?"
That being said, queryingindependent bookstores remains on my to do list.
CG: You mention the MontanaFestival of the Book in the blog post. Have you discovered other bookfestivals? And how does one find out about these things?
KKF: Basically, every stateand most major cities have a festival, so then it's a matter of targeting onethat might want you to present. No one has yet to contact me, as I'm notenough of a name. I have my MFA from Montana, so I had a personalconnection there, but I had to ask.  I am going to try and query a few forthe future. (Again, remember that readers and presenters for these events areset up months in advance). For example, I'll try to present at the NorthCarolina Writers' Association Conference next year, since Press 53 runs a tableevery year and I lived in Durham for twenty years. My approach is to Google thefestival website, find the email of the coordinator, send a polite email inwhich I mention any relevant connections, and attach my book cover and pressrelease. It's worked once so far!
CG: Have you connected withbook clubs? How did that happen, and what was your experience? Is it somethingyou recommend?
KKF: If I could connectwith every book club ever I would do it. What's better than having a group ofpeople discuss your book? I mean, unless they are talking about how they didn'tcare for it. So far My Life as Laura has been the topic twobook clubs that I know of, both run by friends. I tried to Skype one but thatfailed so we had to go to speakerphone. Since my friend was there I feltnaturally gabby.
CG: Have you done jointappearances with other authors? Is that something you recommend?
KKF: I've run a fewreadings here at Ohio University that are just as much informal parties asanything else. I picked people who I know are good readers and who I couldtrust to keep it short. All it takes is one person who overstayshis or her stage time and the reading goes south. I've also been on a fewconference panels with literature scholars who presented their critical workand I read. I wish there were more collaborations like that.
Come to think of it, mostof my readings have been with at least one other person. The obvious benefit isthat friends of all readers will attend. It also eases the pressure. There'sdefinitely a difference between being placed on a panel, versus organizing thereading yourself. I've been trying to put together an off site reading for AWPbut three people canceled and I'm about to give up. Joint appearances are justlike anything else involving other humans—amazing, frustrating, energizing,enervating, etc. I'm still new at this book promotion gig, but generallyspeaking I'm a people person, so in answer to the original question, yes, Irecommend reading with other authors.
CG: What's the single mostimportant thing you've learned about book marketing?
KKF: That every day isSadie Hawkins Day. (I trust dudes can translate the analogy). My fortune cookiewisdom is, "If you don't ask, you won't know, and have some treats handy forwhen you ask and they don't answer, or worse."