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C. Lee McKenzie

Young Adult and Middle Grade Author

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Celebrating the Release of COME BACK by Melissa Maygrove

By

MELISSA MAYGROVE
Available May 12, 2014 from Truelove Press
Cover design by Carrie Butler,
Forward Authority Design Services

Sometimes a single choice alters the course of a person’s life forever.



Left behind by everyone she loves…
Rebecca Garvey had the promise of a California future dreams are made of, until the wagon train her family was traveling with left her behind. Now she’s slowly dying in the wilderness, abandoned and stripped of her self-worth. Once the shock of her desertion turns to embittered despair, she doesn’t want to be found. Then a handsome stranger challenges her convictions and changes her mind. 
Does COME BACK sound just a little delicious? 
I see you nodding, so you’re only a click away from starting to read it.
Amazon / Kindle / Barnes and Noble  / Nook / Kobo  
Thanks VIKLIT

Now to help with this Friday’s Celebration, here’s something more from Melissa. She’s very generously shared her plan for marketing her book. Take it away, Melissa!

“C. Lee asked me to tell you how I organized my book’s cover reveal and release tours and delivered the info to my blogging friends. Below is my list of tips…

First, you have to have blogging friends. You get them by building a writer’s blog and visiting other writers’ blogs on a regular basis. It seems simple, but you’d be surprised how many writers don’t bother building a social media platform or don’t know how.

By the time I published my debut, I had been blogging for over 2 years and had nearly 2000 followers on Twitter.

Next, a few months before release day, you have to come up with a plan. 

Here are some things to keep in mind:

  • Timing matters. Ex: Your book cover has to be finished before you can reveal it. Plan your tours (your whole publishing schedule, for that matter) accordingly.  I made a document with weekly tasks for myself and struck them through when they were done.
  • Writers have different blogging schedules. If you give them a choice of dates, they’ll be more likely to help you. You also need to take the state of the blogosphere into consideration. (I had to do my cover reveal early to miss AtoZ.)
  • Same thing goes for content. I do my promo ‘buffet style.’ I send lots of options (short post, long post, big cover image, small 3D render, sample tweets, sample Facebook posts, etc.) and let my helpers choose what they want.
  • Sending out one mass email with images and details is easier than sending 30, 40, 50 individual ones. Create some kind of sign-up form and kill a flock of birds with one stone. 
  • BUT get permission from bloggers before contacting them with promo. If you don’t, it’s spam. (All I did to get folks to sign up was post a link to a Google form along with a humble request. Then I BCCd their addresses in the emails to protect their privacy.)
  • Create a press page on your blog or website (if you’re to the publishing stage, you should really have a website) so promoters can find all your author stuff in one place. For official bio, links, and head shot, you can simply send them there.
  • Prepare guest posts and excerpts ahead of time so, when people request them, you can quickly pull them from a file and attach. Be sure to make note of word count (I include that in the document’s title). Doing both will save you a TON of time.
  • Compile a list of bloggers who are posting for you (by date) and mention / link them on your blog. Show your gratitude! Posting promo for them in return is fair play, too. 

If you’re organized and if you make it easy for your writer buddies, they’ll be much more likely to help. :)”

Thanks so much, Melissa. Did her step by step plan help you? Do you have other suggestions to add? Hope you’ll support her release.

Comments

  8. Fantastic tips. I've been doing this myself. Book 2 was so much easier to promote than book 1 because of my efforts. Congrats to Melissa.

  11. Great advice Melissa. I've done a couple of these things now, both alone and with tour companies, and I've found one talent I don't have and need for this specifically …is organisation. Without it chaos rules and things go wrong. I've got through the tours by the skin of my teeth usually.

    I've Evernoting this post for my next attempt! 🙂

    shahwharton.com

  12. Good tips Melissa. I'd add, getting the post to your blogger buddy in a timely fashion so there is no rushing. Personally, I prefer to have the articles to me at least a couple of days before posting, This way, if there are questions I have time to get them answered, or if I need something more, again, I have time to request it.

    Sia McKye Over Coffee

    • Agreed. I uploaded my book to the retailers early for that very reason, so I could get the buy links to my promoters in plenty of time.

      Thanks for visiting, Sia. 🙂

  15. Great post, Melissa. Thanks for the tips. I'm saving them. What a lovely cover for your book. The story sounds intriguing. Best of luck to you. Thanks, Lee, for a wonderful post.

  16. A buffet, as you called it, is a great idea. It is far better to have something different for every post than everyone posting just the same. It gets boring for visitors as well. All great tips!

    Happy weekend to both, Lee and Melissa!

  17. Relax humans, Lee and Melissa,

    Yes indeed, I've finally got here. Yay and gosh and arf!

    Great pawst! Thanks for sharing! Following!

    Melissa, these are gonna' be good times for you. Variety and timing. Your suggestions are most notable. Heck, my paws are clicking from one link to another link and I see you. Congrats, dear human.

    Thanks for having Melissa at your pawesome site, human, Lee.

    Pawsitive wishes,

    Penny!

  23. Come Back sounds intriguing! 😀

    Absolutely fantastic advice, Melissa! C. Lee, you sure know how to find all the hot tips around! Have a great weekend, ladies. 🙂

  28. Excellent tips. I'm one of those people who didn't know how to build a platform or make connections.

    I like varied content. I try to encourage my author friends, but it does get a little tedious reading the same content every time.

  29. Lovely cover, and some really great tips! I admit I have never given much thought to organizing something like a blog hop before, but I can definitely see how it would be a lot of work.

  31. HI, Lee, Hi, Melissa…

    GREAT advice and tips! Building a platform is probably one of THE most important things to do. WE an amazing community, but you need to forge relationships to keep it this way or else it wouldn't be so amazing…

    ALL the best Melissa!

    Have a great weekend Lee… expect something from me in the next day or so….

  32. "Your book cover has to be finished before you can reveal it." –Hum, seems a little picky, but I'll go with it. LOL

    Being prepared and organized is the best advice.

    • LOL

      I wasn't trying to be snide. I was trying to convey that many things hinge on other things happening or being done first. Once I got knee deep into this, I was surprised how often that was true. 😉

  34. This sounds like a pretty comprehensive list! Similar to what Alex said, your guest posts should be a variety (excerpts, interviews, character profiles etc). The same post over and over again wears thin! Not that I've done this yet, but as a blogger, that's what I've found.