I’ve had to step away from promoting my book, The Excalibur Vow, because I took a trip to Los Angeles to see our son graduate (with Honors, proud parents moment) from California State University. Did some sightseeing, lots of great restaurants, son bonding time.

The Griffith Observatory was phenomenal. Since my dad was involved in the space program building the lunar lander, I’ve always had an affinity for space travel, science, and the mysteries of the cosmos.

But… Back to Work

My book won’t sell itself, and while I love chatting with people, especially at book events, marketing and really putting myself and my book out there just intimidates me. I feel overwhelmed. So many things to do! So much I don’t know! Where do I find the people who would be interested in my book? Will I be too pushy? But, marketing/promotion has to be done. Here’s what I’ve done so far:

1. Updated my website
2. Updated email signature and social media
3. Added new social media: Bluesky, Threads, TikTok/BookTok
4. Post almost daily on social media
5. Booked a podcast interview (in late June, details to come)
6. Will be spotlight featured author on Authors Guild web page (details to come)
7. Book will be spotlight feature on Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association web page (details to come)
8. Applied for author spotlight on the SFWA
9. Got bookmarks, and have been handing them out, talking up the book.
10. Got three people who agreed to write a review on Amazon
11. Am putting together special giveaway gift bags; one for those who subscribe to my blog/newsletter and others to be announced later.

Not Bad!

It’s a start. I wasn’t feeling that I’d accomplished much, but now that I see the list, I feel better. This week I’ll be looking for bloggers who might let me guest post or feature/review my book, other podcasters, and see what those books on marketing suggest. There have been a lot of book marketers on social media all trying to interest me in their services, but I haven’t yet heard one author who I feel is legit who recommends them. Drop me a line if you’ve used one that you recommend.

Photo by RF._.studio _: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-woman-looking-on-computer-3059748/

More reading and studying is required (ugh). I drafted a launch plan, but it was too long, involved, and there were things on the list that take so long that I needed to start about six months ago. Live and learn. I’ll be better at time management for next book.

So if you’d like to help out, leave a review on Amazon; it doesn’t cost you anything but a minute or so of your time. Or, if you have a helpful tip like know a blogger/podcaster/influencer, or can recommend a book marketer you’ve used with good results, let me know. And, you can sign up for my weekly blog post (that’s only four times a month-I won’t annoy you with more than that unless, of course, my book becomes a bestseller or Steven Spielberg wants to turn it into a movie).

And, of course, you can easily buy the book, and tell your friends and family about it. Help an author out!

Next week, a little background on how I came up with the story behind The Excalibur Vow.