Accelerate Publicity Efforts

Accelerate Publicity Efforts
The best advice anyone could receive is: Do your research. Whatever stage you are at, whatever you are facing – research it. Find out the details from other authors and research the person or business you hope to work with. Find out what their guidelines and policies are, make a note of the person you will be dealing with. Provide them with exact and complete information.

We always follow one big rule in marketing - Common Courtesy. Never make anyone work for anything. Make every option clear and easily accessible. Always follow up with your contacts with brief outlines of previous discussions so they don’t have to go looking for information.

Always query in a professional manner and never send attachments with the introduction letter, suggest URL’s instead. Pay special attention to grammar and punctuation in your communications. And remember to send a letter of appreciation, even if they refuse your query.

Keep records of your endeavors using color-codes so that at a glance you can see who needs to have a follow-up letter, whether you’ve had successes or failures with that source, and if you need to provide anything to them in the future. Having short, yet detailed notes about each market (publication, radio program, journalist, reviewer, etc) will help immensely. Some very important details to keep track of are the theme or focus of the market, the audience/readers of that market and contact information.

Doing it right is essential - there is but one chance to make a first impression. When it comes to reaching out and making contact with anyone who might be supportive of your work, I believe that it really all boils down to is putting yourself in the contact’s shoes for a moment. Ask yourself – what would appeal to you, if you were in that person’s shoes? If you focus on that, you’ll have more positive, longer lasting results.

~ Lillian Brummet: Award winning author, book marketing guru, owner of the award winning Brummet’s Conscious Blog, and both the host and executive producer of the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show. (www.brummet.ca)

WW28: SPARKS

WW28
A chance to showcase your favourite!

• First you grab our Wicked Wednesday pic.
• Then you grab a book. Turn to page 28. Take the first sentence. And then you post it in your site with a link back to WW28.
• Come back to Cherry Mischievous - WW28 and give us the url of your post (in a comment at a WW28 post) so that other WW28 readers can find your WW28 offering.

WW28 book offering : Sparks by Laura Bickle

Page 28, 1st Sentence:

"Like what?" Anya leaned forward. Ciro was DAGR's demonologist. He'd forgotten more names of demons than Anya has ever known. For someone to be into weirder shit than Ciro was saying a lot.

That line gives us a glimpse of the fantastical urban fantasy world that Laura Bickle has weaved...

About Sparks:
Anya Kalinczyk book 2

Anya Kalinczyk is the rarest type of psychic medium, a Lantern, who holds down a day job as an arson investigator with the Detroit Fire Department—while working 24/7 to exterminate malicious spirits haunting a city plagued by unemployment and despair. Along with her inseparable salamander familiar, Sparky, Anya has seen, and even survived, all manner of fiery hell—but her newest case sparks suspicions of a bizarre phenomenon that no one but her eccentric team of ghost hunters might believe: spontaneous human combustion.

After fire consumes the home of elderly Jasper Bernard, Anya is stunned to discover his remains—or, more precisely, a lack of them; even the fiercest fires leave some trace of their victims—and she is sure this was no naturally occurring blaze. Soon she’s unearthed a connection to a celebrity psychic who preys on Detroit’s poor, promising miracles for money. But Hope Solomon wants more—she’s collecting spirits, and in a frantic race against time, Anya will face down an evil adversary who threatens her fragile relationship with her lover, her beloved Sparky’s freshly hatched newts, and the wandering souls of the entire city.

Source: Info in the About Sparks was taken from the author's website at http://www.laurabickle.com/index_files/novels.htm on 28/11/2010.

Review: A BRUSH OF DARKNESS

A Brush Of Darkness by Allison Pang

Genre: adult urban fantasy

About A Brush Of Darkness:

I had a naked incubus in my bedroom. With a frying pan of half-cooked bacon and a hard-on. And a unicorn bite on his ass. Christ, this was turning out to be a weird morning.

Six months ago, Abby Sinclair was struggling to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. Now, she has an enchanted iPod, a miniature unicorn living in her underwear drawer, and a magical marketplace to manage. But despite her growing knowledge of the OtherWorld, Abby isn’t at all prepared for Brystion, the dark, mysterious, and as sexy as sin incubus who shows up searching for his sister—and is convinced Abby has the key to the succubus’s whereabouts.. Abby has enough problems without having this seductive shape-shifter literally invading her dreams to get information. But when her Faery boss and some of her friends vanish as well, Abby and Brystion must form an uneasy alliance. As Abby is sucked deeper and deeper into this perilous world of faeries, angels, and daemons, she realizes her life is in as much danger as her heart—and there’s no one she can trust to save her.

Source: Info in the About A Brush Of Darkness was taken from the author's website at http://www.heartofthedreaming.com/books/ on 15/08/2010.

Buy Link(s):

Author Links:
Allison Pang at Simon & Schuster
Allison Pang at GoodReads
Blog

My Thoughts:

The first few chapters were slightly disorienting because the explanation about Abby's world didn't really start until about chapter 4 or 5. So one can say that the world building was a slow build-up to a beautiful architecture. I would give it a 4.5 out of 5.

The first 8 chapters or so just repeatedly extols how clueless our main protagonist is. As if the author can't pound it enough into the readers' head just how clueless she truly is! It just goes on and on repeatedly... Character development? I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5. But... ah, yes, the sassy unicorn sidekick. Another character love! From a reader's point of view, I think the sidekick's character is more loveable than the main protag...

I like the cover! It was what caught my urban fantasy reader's eyes. Yes, I'm shallow that way! I like the way the artist played with the light on the background where it highlighted one side of the model but bluish on the other. To my reader's eyes, it went down very well with the title, A Brush Of Darkness.

Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 3.5
Story itself = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 5
Pace = 4

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

Acknowledgements:
A huge THANK YOU to Satisfaction For Insatiable Readers for hosting a contest and making it possible for me to win A Brush Of Darkness by Allison Pang!!

Unicorn image was from this site: http://blog.b92.net/text/6419/Da-li-je-ateizam-religija on 30/01/2011.

World Book Night at Pontypridd Library

What is World Book Night?
On 5th of March 2011, a million books is given away across Britain and Ireland. The promotion will become the focus of a massive media onslaught from the launch in December, culminating in an evening of television programming, all night events, readings, book parties and nationwide celebration of the written word.

I gave away World Book Night copies of Northern Lights by Philip Pullman at Pontypridd Library this evening. There weren't that many people at the library despite it being pre-announced by the Library for days before the event. So I still have plenty of copies left. Maybe I'll stand in a corner tomorrow in a busy street in town and try to give these books away...

The experience had me thinking that it seems like not a lot of people read in South Wales. Maybe that is why the libraries are closing because not a lot of people are using them thus the politicians can use that to justify closing libraries and shifting funding somewhere else. ...And is simply giving away books a way of encouraging people to read? I chose Northern Lights by Philip Pullman because I love that trilogy and would like to share it with the world! but it seems that the world can't be bothered, really...

Review: STORMWALKER

Stormwalker by Allyson James
Book 1 of the Stormwalker series.

Genre: adult urban fantasy

About Stormwalker:

Half-Navajo Janet Begay possesses extraordinary power which is tied to the storms that waft across the desert. The only person who can control her when she's caught in the storm's evocative power is Mick, a dark-haired, blue-eyed biker Janet can't seem to touch with her powers. He can wield fire and not get burned, and Janet's never sure where he goes when they're not together.

Together they investigate mysterious disappearances, which Janet fears are tied to her mother's people, the mythical gods from below the earth. They are helped along the way by Coyote and Crow, but these shapeshifting gods have their own agendas.

Book One of the Stormwalker series.

Source: Info in the About Stormwalker was taken from the author's website at http://www.allysonjames.com/stormwalker.html on 10/11/2010.

My Thoughts:
I had to put this book down a couple of times when I started reading it and pick up another book. When I've forgotten how boring it was, maybe after I've finished reading a book or two, I would pick this book up again. I really, really like the cover and I also like this author's "voice". But this book started off boring. The main protagonist is a supposedly kick-ass chick running around in her harley being chased by the law... oh, pul-llllease!! However, it did get better halfway through. But then I think that was because I've inadvertently read a spoiler from Book 2's synopsis. I therefore discerned who the hero was! Bingo! Interest perked up again!

Towards the end, about three quarters into the book, Allyson's story telling magic kicked in again and I would say that it was worth trudging through the first half. And of course it's a happily-ever-after (HEA) and I like the way Allyson James delivered it! :) Can't wait to get my hands on Firewalker!!

Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 3.5
Story itself = 3
Ending = 4.5
World building = 4
Cover art = 5
Pace = 3.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Other Books In This Series:

World Book Night

What is World Book Night?
On 5th of March 2011, a million books will be given away across Britain and Ireland. The promotion will become the focus of a massive media onslaught from the launch in December, culminating in an evening of television programming, all night events, readings, book parties and nationwide celebration of the written word.

I was one of the lucky ones who was selected to be a UK giver of the World Book Night celebrations!! I would be at Pontypridd Library from 4-4:30PM on the 5th of March 2011, giving away World Book Night copies of Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. So if you are in the area, come drop by and pick up your free copy of Northern Lights!!

WW28: STORMWALKER

WW28
A chance to showcase your favourite!

• First you grab our Wicked Wednesday pic.
• Then you grab a book. Turn to page 28. Take the first sentence. And then you post it in your site with a link back to WW28.
• Come back to Cherry Mischievous - WW28 and give us the url of your post (in a comment at a WW28 post) so that other WW28 readers can find your WW28 offering.

WW28 book offering : Stormwalker by Allyson James

Page 28, 1st Sentence:

"Because I do the job better than anyone else," Nash answered.

Gotta love that over confidence! :)

About Stormwalker:
Book 1 of the Stormwalker series

Half-Navajo Janet Begay possesses extraordinary power which is tied to the storms that waft across the desert. The only person who can control her when she's caught in the storm's evocative power is Mick, a dark-haired, blue-eyed biker Janet can't seem to touch with her powers. He can wield fire and not get burned, and Janet's never sure where he goes when they're not together.

Together they investigate mysterious disappearances, which Janet fears are tied to her mother's people, the mythical gods from below the earth. They are helped along the way by Coyote and Crow, but these shapeshifting gods have their own agendas.

Book One of a the Stormwalker series.

Source: Info in the About Stormwalker was taken from the author's website at http://www.allysonjames.com/stormwalker.html on 10/11/2010.