Building the Buzz

At long last, it’s finally here. It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. The cover for Next Time, the second book in the Time for Love series, is about to be revealed. Before we get to that, let’s talk about building the buzz.

I’ve told you before I’m one of the worst when it comes to promoting my own novels. I can write the hell out of them, but I can’t seem to market them effectively. This year, I’ve been making a concerted effort to improve in this area.

According to an article I read in Publisher’s Weekly, authors should start promoting their work a year before its actual release. A year? Maybe that explains why I’m floundering when it comes to marketing my novels. I’m waiting too long!

I must admit, I’m not quite sure about promoting a book an entire year before it comes out. As an independent author, I don’t always know a year ahead of time that I’m going to release a novel. I suppose I could always hold off on releasing it for a year while I start promoting it, but that seems like a bad idea. Rather than building excitement for the novel, I fear it would instead cost me readers who would grow bored waiting for its release.

Okay, that’s out. I’m not going to spend a year in advance promoting my novels. So now what? I guess I just forge ahead. I can still do other things that will work, hopefully just as well. For instance, my recent virtual book tour was a huge success netting me social media followers and more importantly, new readers. I’ve also done some small scale advertising on Face Book and have promoted my books on author groups on the site as well. And I’m about to have my website overhauled to give it a fresh look. Not to mention, I’m not above begging my friends and family to buy and promote my books!

All the research I’ve done recommend doing these very things so I’d say I’m on the right track. Another thing that’s been suggested is releasing excerpts from the book to get readers excited. The idea is to leave them wanting more and motivate them to purchase. I’ve done that so I’m ahead of the game.

It’s also been suggested that a cover reveal is a good way to entice readers to buy your book.  A good cover is sometimes all it takes to attract new readers.

So, are you ready to see the cover for Next Time? All you have to do when you finish reading this article, is check out my Face Book author page to see my smoking hot new cover for Next Time.  When you do, please be sure to let me know what you think!