WHEW! A LOADED PLATE OF PROMO

Okay, this topic really rings for me because I just got done with back to back promo gigs. In the last weeks of June to the first weeks of July I was promoting the 2nd e-novella in the Deacon Chalk series SPIDER'S LULLABY. I had about three days off and then it was right back into promoting the 2nd novel BLOOD AND SILVER (which came out last Tuesday and is kicking ass at a bookstore near you so go get it! *end shameless plug*)

Speaking of which here is my pic for this post.

THAT is James DiNonno and he is the cover model for the Deacon Chalk series. You are welcome ladies.

Back to the subject at hand.

When it comes to promo I just about killed myself for book one. I wrote something on the lines of 30+ guest blogs and interviews with an average word count of 1500 words. I sent hundreds of emails to get review copies in the hands of bloggers. I facebooked, tweeted, and blogged. I also did my fair amount of conventioning and author events. Moving around the Southeast wherever I could.

It was a LOT of miles, a lot of hours, and a LOT of words.

It was also a LOT OF FUN. I had a blast. But I was tired by the end.
I'm an old man. 42 this year and still running a business, having a family, AND writing books. Plus, some of you know my family had a personal tragedy that happened just around this time last year that rocked the state of our household. We are better now, but it was a lot for us to go through.

So the point of this ramble is that I cannot think of anything I need to do that I am not. I work my ass off to promote the books and get the word out.
But here is some advice for those of you with books to promote.
MAKE FRIENDS WITH BOOK BLOGGERS.
Seriously. They are gold when it comes to letting the reading public know about your book. Bloggers are like the CNN of the publishing world. The publishers, for the most part, are doing big stroke promotion for your book (if any at all) while they are selling someone else's also. Bloggers are targeted. They work close to the readers and they can make your book a bestseller.
They love authors, they love books, and they love to share. Bloggers do what they do out of love and they get no respect from publishing by and large. And you read blogs, we all do. They rock.

That's all for now folks, I have to get back tot he wordmines. I am working on not one but TWO all new manuscripts that I would like to get done before Dragoncon in 2 1/2 weeks!

HEAD DOWN. MAKE WORDS.