Promoting For the Prolific ~ Bobbye shares her experiences

It's good to welcome back fellow Black Opal Books author, Bobbye Terry, and today she is sharing the joys of simultaneous multi book releases.  Good luck with all your new books, Bobbye.

Promoting For the Prolific

Don’t ask me how I did it, but I submitted a bunch of books to different places. The publishers published them, and that’s a good thing. But now, I am in the enviable or stupid place (It all depends on your perspective) of marketing three new books for two different publishers and indie publishing the third. Did I mention I also have another book that just came out in November 2010 that still needs tender loving care? Yep, you guessed it. That one is with a totally different publisher. Now, to make this really interesting, the book from November 2010, It’s Magic, was written under my pseudonym, Daryn Cross with co-author L.J. DeLeon. The second one, Craigs’ Legacy, was co-authored under the pseudonym, Terry Campbell. The third, Buried in Briny Bay, was written under my real name, Bobbye Terry, and Millicent, the indie published one I solo published under the name Daryn Cross. Lost yet? I am, “sorta.”

How do I keep all this straight? Lots and lots of preplanning and many hours of promo. Between my blogging, advertising, sending off review copies and doing interviews, it’s hard to get back to the real business of writing more books. I am proud to say I’ve written more than 115,000 words for 2011 as of March 13. So it’s not making me slack up too much. I do admit my days are longer, though. Also, some of my publishers help by sending out my copies for reviews themselves.
That is an awesome word count Bobbye, congratulations.

Having said all that, how does a person market this many books at one time?

1) Set the foundation - make sure you’re networked. That means listservs in your genres, professional ones for writing organizations to which you belong (if you don’t belong to any, select some—you’ll learn a lot), get on at least one popular group site such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., and post regularly. I am on all three of these, though most of my time is spent on Twitter. Also join sites such as Goodreads, Shelfari, Library Thing. Go where readers are, so make sure you frequent some sites for them that are not predominantly for writers.

2) Know what market you’re predominantly selling to. Mine is the e-reader market, not for those who read in print (though all my full-length novels are available that way). So, I want to make sure to comment on forums for those readers.

3) Pimp yourself out for blogs and interviews everywhere you can. The more of these I write, the faster I can produce them. They do bring you more followers on social networking sites and I am certain it has brought me readers.

4) Participate in blog hops and blogfests. These can be a lot of fun. When this is posted, I will be in the middle of a Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway.
Check my http://daryncross-fantasy.blogspot.com/ for details.

5) Blog on your own blogs and consider more than one with a different pseudonym for different genres. I write all my solo mystery/suspense under my real name, and all my solo fantasy/sci-fi as Daryn Cross.

6) Consider having special separate websites for long series. I have just produced one for my indie series at www.TheCashChroniclesSeries.com These don’t have to be elaborate, just enough for folks to see about the different books and what the series is about.

7) Don’t substitute quantity for quality—whatever you do, do it well. Don’t throw anything up and make sure what you send to someone else’s blog is well done.

8) Don’t spend a lot of money on print advertising. Once or twice a year you might want to splurge on something big like a coop ad in RT Book Reviews. Instead, think smart placement online, maybe offering to write for RT Book Reviews there and also on large sites with $10 to $50 banners, book cover ads, featured author, etc. By all means, take advantage of those FREE opportunities.

*That’s my summary for now. I’d love to answer questions, so fire away.  :-)*

Bobbye Terry is a multi-published author of several different genres. She writes fantasy and science fiction under the pseudonym, Daryn Cross.

Her most recent books are Craigs’ Legacy, www.blackopalbooks.com

and

Buried in Briny Bay, www.turquoisemorningpress.com

In April, she will begin to indie publish her science fiction series, The Cash Chronicles, but the prequel to the series, for release March 25, is an historical set in mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries. The story, Millicent, introduces the villainess who is responsible for the dystopian U.S. of 2145.