How to Promote Your Romance Novel

Sheri McGregor, author of "Dream Catcher," says, "Before publication writers think little of promotion, but once the sale is made, they know they must generate interest in their book. By doing so, they'll garner name recognition for themselves (important to future books) and encourage more sales of the book, which has a good impact on their relationship with the publisher."

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Directories
• Phone Directories
• Manuscript Publishers
• Spiral Notebooks
• Writing Pens

1. Be proud of your accomplishment as an author. Your pride will propel you toward success in sales.

2. Think creatively. Your goal is to get the title of the book in the public eye.

3. Start locally with radio and television stations, newspapers and regional magazines. Offer yourself for interviews, and make yourself readily available.

4. Find local and regional groups that might need a speaker. Also contact local libraries and volunteer to give a talk.

5. Enter your work in contests.

6. Attend conventions, making yourself and your work visible.

7. Take advantage of the Internet by building a simple, straightforward Web site. Then list your book with the Amazon and Barnes & Noble Web sites using the author-input feature.

8. Make sure review copies are sent to relevant newspapers and magazines.

9. Hire a publicist.

Tips & Warnings

• "The sky is the limit when it comes to promotion," says Sheri McGregor, "but giving a talk or workshop is free, and many who attend will buy your book."
• "Many authors earmark a certain percentage of their advance toward promotions," McGregor continues. "They create bookmarks, flyers or do a postcard mailing to potential buyers, complete with book-signing dates, a colorful reproduction of their book cover and a blurb or excerpt from the book."
• "An author could spend her entire advance on various promotions," McGregor says, "but the return on money spent isn't easy to determine. Many authors say they spend zero dollars on promotions, yet their books are selling well. It's a personal decision, but there is no need to go overboard."

Who Can Help:

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on 9/3/2006 Get on local radio by offering giveaway copies for their charity auctions or competition prizes. My novel includes some crazy old ladies so I used this angle, also the fact that I was an older first-time novelist and this intrigued the presenter so much that I became a regular interviewee, joining in discussions about books.