Okay, imagine you're in Borders Books and Music in, say, Providence. It's Sunday afternoon.  You're dog-sick but you had to OMG get out of the house.  So you throw on a comfortable black tunic sweater that's a couple of sizes too big and black yoga pants.  Makeup is out of the question because what with the seasonal allergies and the way your eyes are itching and watering, you'd end up looking like a large, emo raccoon within the hour.  Your hair knew that under the circumstances, throwing a Bad Hair Day tantrum would be like spitting into the ocean, so it didn't even try hard to enough to qualify for BHD status.  In short, you look and feel like hammered rat crap.  But you came anyway, counting on the vast possibilities of a good book store to restore your equilibrium.  

After a long, soul-satisfying browse, you take your purchases to the checkout.  Maybe you're holding a thick tome of arcane computer programming lore, the latest issue of Realms of Fantasy magazine and a book review mag, and the just-released Scott Sigler novel (Infected) that John Scalzi recently touted on his blog.  The gentleman ringing up the order looks at your credit card and muses, "Elaine Cunningham. There's an author by that name."

Ouch.

Under these circumstances, do you:

a) Respond with a polite, non-committal smile,
b) Observe that it's probably a very common name,
c) Reluctantly say, "Yeah, that would be me.  Dungeons and Dragons, Forgotten Realms."
d) Slyly say, "I've read some of her books.  You really should stock more of them."
e) Keep a dead-pan expression and say, "I've read some of her books, and frankly, I'm considering changing my name."
f)  Extend your hand, smile charmingly, and say, "I'm pleased to meet you."

Due to my low charisma score, option (f) was off the table.  Since I failed to take levels in Machiavellian Maneuvering, (d) didn't occur to me at the time.  Despite an excessive fondness for dark humor, I'm not professionally suicidal enough to give in to option (e) impulses.  I'm striving to be more forthright and upright and honest and trustworthy than an entire platoon of Eagle Scouts (I'm attempting a personal alignment shift from chaotic neutral to chaotic good, possibly even lawful good), so evasions such as (a) and (b) are out.  (Though I must admit I was tempted. See above reference to "hammered rat crap." )  That left with me option (c), somewhat mitigated with a smile (sort of) that made my sinuses howl in protest.

Seriously, there are much worse things for a writer than name recognition in a book store.  But I've been so reclusive for so long that this sort of thing is painful, even on a good day.  Which Sunday most emphatically was not.  But I was reminded of something I've long known but have not been acting upon:  There is more to being a successful author than writing books.  Promotion is one of those things.

Granted, you have to have something worthwhile to promote.  That's a given.  This post is not about the writing process and the end product.  Put all that aside for the moment.

My point, and I do have one, is that I need to change more than my alignment.  Because the gentleman doing checkout?  I should have known this guy.  By name. A bookseller in my area who has read my books, who remembers my name out of the thousands of names on thousands of book spines?  These are people I should be actively seeking out. Before a new book comes out, I should be at the local bookstores with a press kit and an advanced reader copy/author copy, asking the manager to pass this along to booksellers who have a particular interest in fantasy.  Included in the kit should be contact info, and an offer to do a book signing or just a drop-in to sign books and chat.  

My next release is a teeny little micro-press project;  Lilith Unbound, an anthology of short stories inspired by Lilith myths.  But you can be sure every bookstore in southern New England will get info, including an offer of a reading copy.  This book is being published as a trade paperback POD and as an e-book, so it's unlikely that many bookstores will choose to order copies.  (Getting POD books in a bricks-and-mortar store is extremely difficult, since such books are seldom returnable.)  But some stores might order a couple of copies for the Local Author shelf, and more importantly, I'll be making contact with booksellers who like fantasy.  The folks who sell fantasy books, who place orders and arrange shelves and make recommendations and hand-sell books they like and authors they know.  I need to put serious thought into creative and innovation ways to publicize books, but making contact with these booksellers is an important first step.

Tags: book promotions, lilith unbound

(12 comments | Leave a comment)