promotional news

I’ve been doing quite a bit of promotional work for Warrior and Witch recently. To begin with, there’s the somewhat unexpected venue of the Romantic Times Book Club; I discovered when they reviewed Doppelganger (and gave it a high rating!) that they apparently cover a far wider range of fiction than their name would suggest. I’ve been interviewed for their October issue, and they’ll also be running a short essay of mine on the website, regarding Warrior and Witch and my experiences writing it.

Separately from that, I’ve also been interviewed by one of the Culture Vultures at Sequential Tart; once again, I don’t fit into the mainstream of what they cover, but they’ve taken an interest in me nevertheless. That one really illustrated to me why Big Name Authors often have to turn down interview requests; answering the questions was a lengthy process, with me tackling a few, wandering away, coming back a few hours later and doing another one, etc. You have to think about, not just your answer, but how to make that answer interesting, and how to do so in a relatively concise manner. I imagine “interview answers” will prove to be its own micro-genre of writing, like “cover copy” and “author bio.”

Then there’s a bit of promotion I didn’t have to do the work for: a nice person named Joana Rodriguez has, with my permission, created a fanlisting for my writing. Fanlistings aren’t something I was aware of before, but they’re basically web-based networks of fans for particular writers/TV shows/whatever. Check out the above link to see the site she put together for it, and to sign up.

That’s it for the moment, I think, though I have a few other promotional schemes in the works. This is, I must admit, the part of the “being a writer” business I’m probably the worst at; I can get myself to conventions and on panels there, but aside from that, I’m not very good at pimping my work. I’m learning, but it’s a slow process.

Updates will, of course, be provided when the aforementioned interviews and such go live.

0 Responses to “promotional news”

  1. jimhines

    One of the things that irritates me is never knowing what will make a difference, and whether it will make *enough* of a difference to be worth it.

    Are 2000 bookmarks really going to sell enough books to justify the time and cost? What about the conventions? Will a personal contact with a few fans have a long-term benefit, or am I better off staying home and getting caught up on housework?

    Personally, I’m operating on the premise that, “It couldn’t hurt.” It might not make a significant difference, but then again, it might. And it doesn’t hurt to try. (Except for the pain to the checking account. Stupid bookmarks…)

    Wow — your very own fanlisting? Very nifty. And I love what she did with the banner graphic at the top of the page!

    • Marie Brennan

      Yeah, the banner made me realize how very inadequate my own Photoshop skills are. ^_^

      The uncertainty tends to result in me not doing things, which isn’t good. But it’s hard to convince myself to put in the work and money for bookmarks or the like when I myself hardly ever pick them up, and therefore forget that other people do.

      • jimhines

        You could make a deal: Joana can host the official fanlisting, but in exchange, she makes kick-ass banners for you. And one for me for suggesting the idea 🙂

        The bit I’m hopeful about is sending signed bookplates to distant SF/F bookstores, so they can carry the signed copies. I’m hoping this will have a good return. The bookmarks, who knows? The fellow I e-mailed at Bakka-Phoenix said they go through them like candy, but does that actually lead to sales?

        It makes the brain hurt.

  2. d_c_m

    Your promotions are awesome!! That is great!

    Oh and I saw Cirque du Soleil’s “Beatles: Love” last week in Vegas. It was beautiful! I can see why you try to see all of their shows. I’m hooked now.

  3. lowellboyslash

    You have a fanlisting.

    I’m in awe.

  4. moonartemis76

    I am truly technologically retarded…]
    I just spent twenty minutes trying to enlist myself as a fan but to no avail! I may have to con a rather tall techno boggan into assisting me. 😉

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