Daddy's Christmas Angel

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

A Fun and Creative Way to Promote a Book

Recently, I've gotten way behind in scanning the couple hundred e-mails I get each day. When I started looking over and picking out the ones I needed to read, I discovered one from Tammy Kaehler in Murder Must Advertise, a group that I joined a while back. Although I don't know Tammy, I was intrigued by the promotion she is doing for her first novel, Dead Man's Switch, coming out in August. She has two videos, one about her and another about her book. Her reasoning is that since she wants to get speaking engagements, she would like people to see what kind of speaker she will be. The video about her book is a little more along the lines of some of the book trailers I've viewed.

Tammy has been a writer for a number of years, but she never wrote fiction until six years ago. The book she decided to write is about auto racing, so she approached this subject like a good news reporter. She visited tracks and interviewed the race car drivers. She became an expert on the subject of auto racing.

Now, a bookseller in Connecticut is partnering with the race track about which she wrote her novel to have a book launch party for her on July 9. Since Tammy lives all the way across the country in California, this is quite a special event.

I'm fascinated that she became a car-racing expert. I'm impressed that she took plenty of photos and video along the way, so that she had material handy for the videos. This is a fun and creative way to promote her book.

Those of you with books to promote, what unusual things can you do to promote them? Make a list. Even the craziest ideas could have merit. Be creative and have fun!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've thought of doing a video or a Vlog. We'll see. I'll probably do one this fall and see how it goes over. I know other people do them so why not me?

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I'm not doing a video of me - no way! But I am starting to brainstorm. Next March will come sooner than expected.

Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes said...

Good luck with your video, Steve. Know it will be a good one.

Alex, you don't need a video of you--you already have an army! Maybe you should have a book launch next March at the Space Center! That would be fun.

Golden Eagle said...

I'm not sure I'd want to do a video of myself, but she certainly was thorough in her research!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Monti .. what a good way of promoting .. fun too - creating links with relevant businesses make so much sense .. and if one can broaden the pitch to include photos, videos etc even history .. one can approach so many groups or places .. not just writing groups ..

Great thought .. cheers Hilary

Jenny Milchman said...

I agree--it's a great idea to tap into some non-fiction aspect of your book like that. Lynda Hill does this with her horse-racing mysteries. Creative, out-of-the-box thinking.

Susan Oloier said...

I love hearing about new marketing ideas out there. Video of self: I don't think so :-) But lots of credit to her for doing it.

Tammy said...

Thanks for the praise, Mary! I'm just like most of us writers, looking for a way to reach an audience, and hoping to capitalize on what makes makes my story unique.

And to Alex and Golden Eagle: I wasn't excited about a video of myself either, but I just decided to get over it, since I want to round up some invitations to speak to groups. It wasn't easy watching the raw footage though!

Enid Wilson said...

With my last novel, it opened with a fire in an Inn. So I printed out a photo of an ancient inn and burnt it. It's used in my book trailer. Not sure if people like it or not. But at least, it's less boring, I think.

Chemical Fusion

Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes said...

Thanks, Golden for the comment. I like the idea of showing the ability to make a good talk which she does in her video.

Good thoughts for expanding the promo, Hilary. Thanks!

Jenny, thank you for your thoughts. I like the horse racing idea. I didn't know about Lynda Hill. We live about 10 miles from Colonial Downs, and I've often thought about heading down the road to explore the possibilities there.

Thanks, Susan. I believe most authors are shy about videos. Maybe they shouldn't be.

You're welcome, Tammy. Your approach to marketing is excellent. Great to get so much done prior to release!

Goodness, Enid, that's thinking outside the box! Wonderful idea to use a photo in that manner. Thanks for sharing!