{"id":9809,"date":"2022-06-28T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-28T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=9809"},"modified":"2022-06-27T21:27:51","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T01:27:51","slug":"staying-afloat-in-the-sea-of-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=9809","title":{"rendered":"Staying Afloat in the Sea of Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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If you read the advice to authors about what they need to do to promote their books (since publishers don\u2019t do that anymore\u2014you cynics will say, \u201calong with proofreading\u201d), the number of tasks can seem like a mountain too high to climb. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, TikTok, email newsletter, book tour, readings, special events, blog tour, web sites, in-store promotions, yada-yada-yada. Platform! It\u2019s exhausting to think about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As publication day for my mystery-thriller approached, I decided to do what I can reasonably do and not regret the hundreds of tasks I\u2019ll never get to. I\u2019ve had my own website and blog for a decade. I promote my posts on Facebook and Twitter. Those are activities I knew I could continue. I could also revive my quarterly email newsletter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another multi-year investment has been tracking various associations of crime writers\u2014the meetings of Killer Nashville, Mystery Writers of America, our local New Jersey get-together Deadly Ink, the rich resources of Sisters in Crime and International Thriller Writers. Of course, in many of these interactions, I mostly meet other writers, not necessarily future readers. (They all have their own books to promote!) But if the workshops and the rubbing of elbows with my fellow authors helps me write a better book, that\u2019s all to the good. And their advice and support and collegiality is invaluable. I can continue all that, gladly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My daughter says I have many tribes\u2014my writing tribe, my genealogy tribe, my theater tribe, my ballroom dance tribe (you weren\u2019t expecting that one, were you!), my women\u2019s club, my tribe from the World of Work, and more. Fifty-five delegates from these tribes came together June 8 for Architect of Courage<\/em>\u2019s launch party. Certainly, I\u2019m capable of a party!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also employed the tried-and-true problem-solver: throw money at it. I bought a few targeted ads and signed up for a Partners in Crime Tour of blogs, which has arranged showcases and reviews for me with fifteen book-related blogs. I purchased Atticus (text formatting) and Canva (graphics) software to create ads and flyers that I\u2019ve distributed. Learning how to use both programs plus ConvertKit (email newsletter software) in the same week was a bit of process overload. But I can use those new skills again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been Pennsylvania. Members of the writing group that met around my dining table for almost fifteen years (until covid) gave readings of our work twice a year, so I\u2019ve had a lot of practice. So this was also quite doable. Two book groups I\u2019ve connected with have put my novel on their agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The list of possible promotion activities is pretty much endless, and I\u2019ll continue to pick and choose the ones that (for me) are both doable and fun. Ultimately, whether the book will survive in the rough waters of the Sea of Competition will depend on its appeal, but that ship has sailed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you read the advice to authors about what they need to do to promote their books (since publishers don\u2019t do that anymore\u2014you cynics will say, \u201calong with proofreading\u201d), the number of tasks can seem like a mountain too high … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"There are a lot of books out there! How I'm tryikng to keep an even keel.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[174,64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-first-draft-blog","category-promotion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2NkiT-2yd","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9809"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9811,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9809\/revisions\/9811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}