Like the rest of the world, I was captivated by Greg Mortenson's tales of courage and determination in his memoir, Three Cups of Tea. It was one of the best books I read last year (I've been saving the sequel, Stones Into Schools for my vacation next month).
One of the things I admire about Greg is the bold way he admits that we authors need help. In the back of both his books he includes a section entitled, "Take Action." It's a list of things you can do to spread the word about his books, his work, and the causes he cares and writes about. It's both candid and helpful.
Today, I'm re-creating a version of it here. As someone with a new book "officially" launching tomorrow, I'd be SO grateful if you did any of these things to help spread the word. And as a lover of books, I'd be elated if you picked a book you've enjoyed and applied these steps to help that author, too. Here's the list of how you can TAKE ACTION! to put A Maze of Grace on the map:
1. Visit www.Trishryanonline.com for more information. I'll be updating this week with links to the organizations I mention in the book, pictures, and events.
2. Suggest A Maze of Grace to a friend; colleague; book club; women's group; church; civic group; university creative writing class; pre-marital class...or any person or gathering interested in memoir/questions of dating and marriage/spiritual exploration/women's issues/faith and politics.
3. Check if A Maze of Grace is in your local library. If not, either donate a copy or suggest to the library that they add A Maze of Grace to their collection. Ask your friends and family in other states to do this also.
4. Encourage your local independent or chain bookstore to carry this book if they do not have it.
5. Write a book review of A Maze of Grace for Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, or a blog. Your candid comments will help bring awareness of this (or any) book.
6. Ask the book editor of your local newspaper or radio station to consider letting you review the book.
7. And finally, a fun, personal step particular to today: click over to The Divining Wand to see a review of A Maze of Grace and leave a comment for a chance to win a copy!
Thanks for reading, and for helping. It really (really) makes a difference in a world where every copy sold counts!
And I'd love to hear: Do you have other suggestions for spreading the word about books you love? Start here, leaving a note in the comment about a great title, so we can read it too!
2 comments:
I believe you've covered every avenue, Trish. I know that self promotion can be a hard thing to do and that's why relying on friends and family to do it for us. There is more validity in it, I think. However, adding a "take Action" list to the back of the book isn't imposing at all and offers many ideas that the reader may not even have thought of.
I have only just read your interview with Gretchen and found you here, so I feel a bit too strangery to be posting anything but clearly not strangery enough...
A book I just read and loved was written by Janna Cawrse Esarey (sp?) and she has been doing lots of promotion through facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Janna-Cawrse-Esareys-THE-MOTION-OF-THE-OCEAN/64711646393?ref=ts). She visits lots of book clubs and mentions it in her status updates, and of course her readers like me friend her and then can link to her (like I just did!). She recently linked to a post where her agent (editor?) mentioned that she was really effective at promoting her own work - she might be a good person to chat with too. This darned internet is so useful for these kinds of connections.
I am looking forward to reading what you've written! And if you become a facebooker, I'll watch for you there too. Good luck!
Post a Comment