Pat, in some ways suggestions for marketing your book are tied to the subject of the book. Could you give a few more details on this, please?

I have two, A Spark of Heavenly Fire is being sold as a science fiction romance, even though it seems more mainstream to me. The romance is only part of the story. (A Spark of Heavenly Fire: In quarantined Colorado, where hundreds of thousands of people are dying from an unstoppable disease called the red death, insomniac Kate Cummings struggles to find the courage to live and to love. Her new love, investigative, reporter Greg Pullman, is determined to discover the truth behind the red death at all costs, until the cost -- Kate's safety -- becomes more than he can pay.)

The second is More Deaths Than One which is being sold as a crime novel, though again the genre is not a good fit. I like novels that can't be slotted into a genre, and that's why it was so hard to sell them. (More Deaths Than One: Bob Stark returns home after 18 years in Southeast Asia to discover that the mother he buried before he went to Vietnam is dead again. He attends her funeral and sees himself married to his college girlfriend. Is his other self a hoaxter or a doppelganger, or is something more sinister going on?

Have you thought about putting a short-story version of the stories available as teasers on yahoo and google? Also, have you used AuthorsDen.org (I think, might be .com)?

I'm planning on signing up for Authors Den, but how do I put short versions as teasers on yahoo and google?

congratulations pat,

authors.den.org is a good start and someone there to may have a good suggestion...

Hi Pat:

As a self-publisher/author, I outlined my marketing program before I wrote my book and sort of co-developed it along with the book. The top book promo/review sites often want pre-press "galleys" at least 4 months prior to your official publication date. You should have your marketing plan ready to launch the day your book comes back from the printer. You should know how you want to distribute your book (Ingram? Bakker and Taylor? IPG? Others?) and whether you want a fulfillment house to fulfill orders or if you are going to do it yourself.

My best advice: Peter Bowerman's book "The Well-Fed Self-Publisher." It was my bible during the writing and development of my book, "It's All About HYMN: Essays on Reclaiming Sacred and Traditional Music for Worship."

Good luck,

Donn

Thank you. I'll be sure to check the book. Are there any book promo/review sites that seem to get you better results than any others?