Writer's Grove

Publicity Do-Dah

Whew! What a difference a year makes!

When HOUNDED debuted on May 5 last year, I wasn’t sure how things would go, or that I’d even get to write book 4, but thanks to your support I will technically have four books published inside of a single year! I’m stupidly lucky to be here. Thank you, sincerely.

So what have I discovered in a year of being a published author?
1.) You don’t need to hire social media experts unless you are truly incapable of human interaction. They’re not selling anything you can’t figure out yourself—or if they are, it’s probably something akin to spam. I might be able to sell a few more copies here and there if I reeeeeally wanted to, but I think it would involve a Faustian bargain. Like most people, I’d rather keep my soul, thank you very much.
2.) If you write about your favorite sports team in your books and portray them as struggling mightily, they will open the next season by sweeping the San Francisco Giants 3-0. True fax.
3.) I vastly prefer interviews to guest posts. Vastly. The chasm is wide and deep, people. Even when the interview questions are repetitive, and they often are, that’s totally

okay. I prefer interviews because book bloggers usually have a good sense of what their audiences want to know, and I’m happy to provide that. With guest posts I’m constantly thinking I’ve either already written what I’m writing or else I’ve read it somewhere before. I can’t keep from second-guessing myself and I wind up spending way too much time on them. However, I have recently written a very spiffy post with my editor about the revision process for novels, and if you’re an aspiring writer I’m sure you’d find it educational and perhaps even entertaining.
4.) Some authors, in addition to being excellent writers, are also excellent human beings.
5.) I geek out pretty hard when I meet an author I admire. Sorry, Mr. Rothfuss. I couldn’t help it.
6.) My dogs really don’t give a damn that I’m now a published author. I get absolutely no credit with them for unlocking that achievement. They still climb right up to my face while I’m sitting on the couch, turn around, and let one rip.
7.) My readers are frickin’ rad. They send in pictures of my books with action figures and stuff to create Nerdscapes. They tell me about cool beers they’ve had and neato tabletop games they play with their geek friends. They create amazing sausage recipes and take pictures of them with their dogs. And so far I’ve gotten some beautiful fan art for Atticus, Oberon, Leif, Granuaile, and the Morrigan. I’m kind of waiting for someone to do Vainamoinen and the sea serpent… :)
8.) Indie bookstores are super cool! Plus: libraries! Also: book bloggers!
9.) Social media is kind of hard to keep up with and I don’t think I’ll ever get the hang of it and be a deity of Twitter. I’m following under 100 people and I can’t even keep up with that. I just try to say howdy to the people who say something directly to me via @ replies. If you do follow me on Twitter, don’t be shy, I’m happy to chat. Facebook seems to be my biggest social doohickey but I’m not sure why. It’s a mystery. Can’t even consider joining Google + and LinkedIn and Amp My Orifice. (That last one isn’t real, but wouldn’t it be fun? There wouldn’t be friend requests. Instead you’d get this: “Kevin wants to amp your orifice. Will you amp his?”)
10.) Yeesh. I’m still pretty immature.
11.) Publicity is sooo much different than I thought it would be. I thought publishers spent all their money on ads and lunches with agents, and sometimes they do. But most of their budget these days tries to generate word-of-mouth. They give away lots of free copies to reviewers and bloggers and hope that they build buzz and stuff. There are probably nifty marketing words I should have used instead of “buzz and stuff,” but if I did use them you might think I knew what I was talking about.

I actually think I learned much more than that, but some of it is Sekrit and some of it I can’t remember right now. I’m kinda tired so I’ll hit the hay, but thank you again for reading IDC and spreading the word so I can write more. We’re only two weeks away from the release of TRICKED (squee!) and I’m so glad that you’ll finally be able to dig in!

May harmony find you,
Kevin