Monday Moods-Determined . . . or maybe to be determined

Do It At The Right Time!

For the past few Mondays I've been focusing on the promoting side of this writing/publishing business. I keep finding all kinds of hints, studies and blog posts about what authors should know. If you're going to promote yourself as an author, you might as well do it when it's most effective, right? So to help my readers as I'm helping myself, here are some more tips.



 Shareaholic reported they found that:




If you post on Mondays and Thursdays your content goes further. 
Monday blog posts will pull in the most traffic. 
Thursday posts are shared more than others on social networks. 
If you post between 8:00 and 9:00AM Eastern time that's the best if you want to reach a large audience. 9:00PM Eastern time will also reach more people than at other times. 

If you're like me, the idea of promoting your books is overwhelming. When I first started, I didn't have a clue. Today I have a few clues.



Where to start and what to do has always been a huge question.



I guess the answer to #1 is to have a plan. Susan Kaye Quinn recently posted on this very topic, so I'll give you a link to her site. What's she's set out is very worthwhile for any author, self-published or not.





Book Signings are fun. You sell a few books. You meet booksellers.

As to other promotional activities that might be worth your time, here are a couple that I'm testing.




On Twitter I'm searching for conferences that host YA and MG writers. Then I'm jumping into the conversations to connect with the people who are there exchanging ideas. I've shared tweeted conversations with two editors and one agent just this month. I'm not sure how this will sell me or my books, but as in any advertising, I'm hoping for name recognition and maybe a few tidbits of wisdom.
I'm also looking into signing up for an author training program, starting March 29. It's called The Ultimate Book Marketing Plan Workshop. Here's the link. I am in no way connected with this program. I'm only considering taking the course to see if I can streamline my promotional activities.

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Sliding on the Edge, C. Lee McKenzie, WestSide Books, Spring '09
The Princess of Las Pulgas, WestSide Books, Fall '10
The First Time, Fall '11 (Anthology story: Premeditated Cat)
Alligators Overhead, Outskirts Press, Fall '12