The Heretic’s Child

So, I wrote a story and self-published.

Now what?

Well, that’s a good question. According to my publisher, I can spend lots of money (that I don’t have) and pay them for a marketing campaign. Or, I can try to market the book myself. Now, I’ll admit that I don’t know the first thing about marketing a book, but I really don’t have any choice but to give it a try.

So, here I go; I’m spreading the word. That’s the reason I started this blog. That and I love to ramble. Hey, I’m a writer and I actually like writing. I’m not one of the people that turn writing into a struggle. When I buckle down and write, I write every day. I may not like what I write. Hell, I might even erase it, but the point is that if you want to be a writer, you write. You don’t talk about it, you write.

Actually, I do talk about it. I talk to myself, my friends, my daughter…I talk to anyone that seems interested. It’s the best way to get different points of view. I use that when I create my characters because I want them to be more than just “bags of bones.” Integrating real life with my fictional stories makes it more real to me and, I hope, more real to my readers. Or, at least that’s what I hope.

Between you and me? I’ve never taken a creative writing class. I’m sure it shows in my writing and if I did, it would probably help me. But, I’d rather learn by doing. It’s the way I’ve always learned best. I just hope that reading my stories isn’t too painful because of my inexperience.

To bring you up-to-date on what’s happening with “The Heretic’s Child,” I’ve given the publisher the go-ahead to release the novel to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple iBook, Kobo and everything else. This process takes 6 to 8 weeks. However, Amazon’s Kindle version became available this week, so one venue besides my publisher, Lulu Press, is up and running.

I’ve talked to Barnes and Noble and they said we have to wait until the book is actually available through their website before they’ll discuss hosting a book signing. I also talked with my local library and discovered that they only host authors whose books they have in their library. This led me to the thought that perhaps if I donate a couple books to them, that’ll allow me to host a book signing there. We’ll see.

Still related to the marketing and sales of my book is reviews. I am a huge Dean Koontz fan and I’ve met him many times. Not only is he an excellent writer, he’s genuinely a nice man. I wrote to him last November and he responded with a personal note. I asked him if I could send him a copy of my book once it was published. He said…YES! So, that’s next. I’ll be sending out a copy to Dean as well as several other people for their reviews.

I look at the marketing of my book as a large, still lake. Each time I tell someone about “The Heretic’s Child,” it causes a ripple in the lake. I just have to keep spreading the word and hopefully, soon the lake will be a mass of giant waves pushing people towards my book.

If you have any suggestions, please send me an email…

And, of course, I would deeply appreciate it if you would check out “The Heretic’s Child.”

Fondest wishes,

~ny