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Monday, February 22, 2010
TimeSplash Takes to the Road
POSTED BY GRAHAM STORRS
Much has been written about how authors should go about publicising their work, and by 'much' I mean millions of words! With a new book in the works and no budget whatsoever, I dived into this ocean of advice and tried to grab what I could. I emerged half-drowned and exhausted but with a few valuable pearls in my hands. The distilled essence of it all, and the truth I'd like to pass on here, is that promoting a book is all about networking.
And the way to network with a lot of people in a short time, is to do it on the Internet. I won't tell you about the many social networking sites, about blogging, and building a web presence. There are ten thousand 'gurus' out there and some of them probably already have your electronic ear. I'll just say I started building my Twitter following, I ramped up my blogging, I built websites, I got a Facebook page, and on and on. In the past few months, I have spent more time networking than I have writing my next novel!
And the point? It is so that, when the moment comes for the book to be released, there are hundreds of people waiting to hear about it and probably thousands who will. It is so that when you ask for people to review your book, or to help you with promotion, many of them (some with huge networks of their own) will put their hands up. It is so that, when you shout out to the world, “Hey, I've just had a book published!” there are actually people there to hear it.
But the social networking sites, the website, and the blog, just aren't enough. A book, even an ebook, needs that extra little push. It needs a launch. That's why I did my 'TimeSplash Round-the-World 24-Hour Twitter tour, in which I imagined myself in each timezone, moving westward around the globe for a whole day, twittering to the people who lived there about my book. It started in New York and for a whole day I was jumping backwards and forwards in time. Appropriate, or what, for a sci-fi thriller about time-hopping terrorists? It was a huge success, although it will be a long time before I do it again! One guy in the US bought the book, read it in a single sitting, and blogged about it in very flattering terms, all while I was still on the tour!
Now, I'm just about to start a two-month blog tour. In Web years, the virtual book tour, or blog tour, is already a venerable institution. When I asked my Twitter followers to volunteer to host me, I had all the help I needed within a few hours. I even attracted the attention of Andy Shackcloth, a writer and blogger who has made a detailed study of blog tours and who has been immensely helpful in helping me organise and promote my own. (See what I mean about networking?) I'll be doing just two or three guest spots a week during the tour, visiting other writers' sites for the most part. Some of them will be interviewing me, for some, I'm writing short pieces about the book, on one I will publish a short story prequel to the book, written especially for the tour, others will involve more unusual events, like an interview with the book's protagonist, some knockabout comedy, and even a play! The trick is, to keep it interesting. Many of the pieces are already written and it has been great fun working with other writers to do things their readers will enjoy.
I hope some of you will join me on the tour (full schedule link below) and will share with me and my readers your own thoughts and experiences as we go along. Networking online is just like a great big party, packed with fascinating and funny people, I look forward to meeting some of you there.
TimeSplash, Lyrical Press Inc. Genre: Science Fiction/Thriller Digital ISBN: 978-1-61650-123-5 Length: Novel Price: $5.50 Digital Publication Date: February 15, 2010.
TimeSplash: To find out more about the book, the characters, the author, and inside information about writing the story, go to http://www.timesplash.co.uk/
The TimeSplash Blog Tour
This post is part of the TimeSplash tour running from February16th to May 5th. For the full schedule, go to the blog tour schedule page at "TimeSplash - The Blog Tour 2010"
Much has been written about how authors should go about publicising their work, and by 'much' I mean millions of words! With a new book in the works and no budget whatsoever, I dived into this ocean of advice and tried to grab what I could. I emerged half-drowned and exhausted but with a few valuable pearls in my hands. The distilled essence of it all, and the truth I'd like to pass on here, is that promoting a book is all about networking.
And the way to network with a lot of people in a short time, is to do it on the Internet. I won't tell you about the many social networking sites, about blogging, and building a web presence. There are ten thousand 'gurus' out there and some of them probably already have your electronic ear. I'll just say I started building my Twitter following, I ramped up my blogging, I built websites, I got a Facebook page, and on and on. In the past few months, I have spent more time networking than I have writing my next novel!
And the point? It is so that, when the moment comes for the book to be released, there are hundreds of people waiting to hear about it and probably thousands who will. It is so that when you ask for people to review your book, or to help you with promotion, many of them (some with huge networks of their own) will put their hands up. It is so that, when you shout out to the world, “Hey, I've just had a book published!” there are actually people there to hear it.
But the social networking sites, the website, and the blog, just aren't enough. A book, even an ebook, needs that extra little push. It needs a launch. That's why I did my 'TimeSplash Round-the-World 24-Hour Twitter tour, in which I imagined myself in each timezone, moving westward around the globe for a whole day, twittering to the people who lived there about my book. It started in New York and for a whole day I was jumping backwards and forwards in time. Appropriate, or what, for a sci-fi thriller about time-hopping terrorists? It was a huge success, although it will be a long time before I do it again! One guy in the US bought the book, read it in a single sitting, and blogged about it in very flattering terms, all while I was still on the tour!
Now, I'm just about to start a two-month blog tour. In Web years, the virtual book tour, or blog tour, is already a venerable institution. When I asked my Twitter followers to volunteer to host me, I had all the help I needed within a few hours. I even attracted the attention of Andy Shackcloth, a writer and blogger who has made a detailed study of blog tours and who has been immensely helpful in helping me organise and promote my own. (See what I mean about networking?) I'll be doing just two or three guest spots a week during the tour, visiting other writers' sites for the most part. Some of them will be interviewing me, for some, I'm writing short pieces about the book, on one I will publish a short story prequel to the book, written especially for the tour, others will involve more unusual events, like an interview with the book's protagonist, some knockabout comedy, and even a play! The trick is, to keep it interesting. Many of the pieces are already written and it has been great fun working with other writers to do things their readers will enjoy.
I hope some of you will join me on the tour (full schedule link below) and will share with me and my readers your own thoughts and experiences as we go along. Networking online is just like a great big party, packed with fascinating and funny people, I look forward to meeting some of you there.
TimeSplash, Lyrical Press Inc. Genre: Science Fiction/Thriller Digital ISBN: 978-1-61650-123-5 Length: Novel Price: $5.50 Digital Publication Date: February 15, 2010.
TimeSplash: To find out more about the book, the characters, the author, and inside information about writing the story, go to http://www.timesplash.co.uk/
The TimeSplash Blog Tour
This post is part of the TimeSplash tour running from February16th to May 5th. For the full schedule, go to the blog tour schedule page at "TimeSplash - The Blog Tour 2010"
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6 comments:
I can not agree more with the networking. I understand how hard it is to time schedule your promotional work. I too found myself only doing it and not writing. Now I have a timer for it. :)
Your book cover is beautiful and good luck on your tour!
Becc
(Rebecca Rose)
You go, Graham! Other writers are great people to have on your promoting team. Keep up the good work.
Thanks, Rebecca. I've thought about setting aside certain times in the day, or even whole days, just for promotion, but it hasn't worked for me. The promotion time is fine, but the writing time becomes flexible - and interruptable!
Thanks, Piper. One of the astonishing things I discovered during the past two years is that writers are actually great people to know. It's not just that they're bright and interesting, but I've found them unusually kind and supportive too. There's definitely a sense of community, afeeling that "we're all in the trenches together." :-)
Of course when a writer asks for help with promoting his new book, you say, yes.
What writer wouldn't help a fellow wordsmith.
Then you wait for the day when you sample his/her words. Hoping that the work is as good as the writer believes.
Fortunately for me, Graham's work doesn't disappoint.
Fortunately for everyone else, it is published and available.
Thanks, Andy. I hope some of the writers here will go and look at Andy's blog. It's full of great stuff.