Promoting Your Book after You Publish It

There are simple ways of promoting your book, but you do need to get over being the shy and retiring type. Stuck waiting in a doctor’s office or anywhere, for that matter? Strike up a conversation with the person sitting next to you. For instance today I waited in the Surgery Waiting Room while my husband had knee replacement surgery at the local hospital. Plenty of time to chat with people. The fellow sitting opposite me waited for his mother, just diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer, to have lymph nodes removed and a medicine port installed. So we had plenty of time to chat and at the appropriate time I mentioned my first novel was due out next week. I didn’t say anymore until he asked me what it was about, so I told him. When asked where he could get a copy, I told that and gave him my business card which now includes information on where to order the book.

I also plan to enter the book into the next Writer’s Digest “Self-Published Books” contest and any other contests I can find.

I have more places in which to hold book signings than I did last week and Sable Books is sending me a press release to send out, plus Melissa is sending copies to her contacts.

In the meantime, I’ve found two recent books that address on my book’s themes of terrorists and people in witness protection, but from different angles.

The first one, Fake ID by Lamar Giles, is about a sixteen-year-old boy whose father keeps getting the family into trouble that attracts the FBI’s attention. Nick Pearson, at least that’s what he’s called at the moment, is trying to fit into school and keep a low profile, but he gets caught up in a web of deception in which his father is deeply involved. Nick’s new friend, Eli, is murdered, though the police called it a suicide at first. Eli’s sister, Reya, convinces Nick to help her solve the mystery. In the meantime, Nick is trying to figure out his father’s involvement in this. Things get more and more dicey, all while Nick is trying to be a normal teen. It’s a good read with several intriguing subplots and lots of action. The characters are believable and appealing.
2014, Amistad/HarperCollins Children’s Books/HarperCollins Publishers, Ages 14 +, $17.99.
ISBN: 978-0-06-212184-4

As I’ve come to expect, Alan Gratz’ latest is a winner. Code of Honor tells the story of Kamran Smith, a Muslim/American senior in high school who plans to go to West Point as his older brother had. But things go bad when his brother is accused of desertion and treason. Kamran knows his brother would never break their Code of Honor and sets out to prove his brother’s innocence only to get himself imprisoned and begin to doubt his brother’s motives. The plot is complex and compelling and the message is strong that we must change our views on how we view people with different heritages or religions.
2015, Scholastic Press/Scholastic Publishers, Ages 14 +, $17.99.
ISBN: 978-0-545-69519