Writing - Marketing strategies including blog chains.

We are all in this business to express ourselves in the written word but we would also like people out there to read what we are writing. As I've said before not selling my work won't stop me from writing. So here are a few strategies and events that I use or have used in the past.

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Last weekend my good friend across the pond, Marmite eating, hard running ex Vietnam vet Bert Carson, invited me to take part in an 'author's blog chain'! Now like many others the concept of chain letters is not popular, however, when the process was described I decided to opt in.

 Bert CarsonIf you want to sample the chain click on the title Blogging Authors All In A Chain and read more. The group who agreed to have a go apart from me included Gae-Lynn Woods, Stephen Woodfin and Caleb Pirtle III. 
I am preparing to publish this coming Saturday/Sunday and will include good friends and supporters Claude Nougat and Carolyn Arnold.
As a strategy it is unlike chain letters in that there is no compulsion to publish and no money changes hands so what are the benefits? Well we are giving each other a wider scope of exposure and hopefully that will lead to sales but if it doesn't then we have tried a different strategy and if nothing else we are expanding circles of trusted and revered friends.
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Venture Galleries My third Steele novel 'The Biter Bit' is currently being serialised on Venture Galleries. This is another way in which our work is put out there for readers to sample. Use the link below to read the extracts.http://venturegalleries.com/serial/maybe-it-was-time-to-meditate-and-clear-his-mind/

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Smashwords This website enables writers to publish and be seen more widely in ebook form, particularly the USA.
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Completely Novel This is a link to my portfolio with the company who first published my novels in paperback. They have recently announced a link with Literary Agency Greene and Heaton who will consider books that are selling well through the parent website.
Whichever methods you use to sell your wares it is unlikely that one sole direction will suffice. Even authors with contracts through agents and traditional publishers are advised to run blogs, have Facebook IDs and to tweet. I wish you all who read this the greatest success if you write and if you're a reader consider relaxing with a book.
Don't forget to take a look at my author friends on the blog this weekend.
God Bless