Visit my page on Self-Publishing for more information to help you market your book.
Learn how to write your elevator speech for marketing your book—right here!
The photo shows a piece from an exhibit last year at the Phoenix Art Museum. But it reminds me of the importance of putting together a very brief description of your book, maybe 3-5 sentences, to use when people ask what your book is about, even when you're working on it. You will need to share this short pitch with prospective agents or publishers. You will use it on your website and social media sites—a hundred uses for a short, succinct statement about your book. It should fit the time available for an elevator ride down from a 17-story building (more or less). Here's the latest one I wrote for my new book Dear Hubby of Mine: Home Front Wives of World War II. The 75th anniversary of the end of World War II will be celebrated in 2020. Romantic letters exchanged by an immigrant home front housewife and her battlefront sailor husband portray the anguish couples suffer during wartime separations, while depicting the country in the 1940s under conditions that would come to change America’s culture. Over the months ahead I will rewrite and refine my elevator speech as necessary to use in press releases, on the book cover, website, Facebook post, and so on. Elevator Speech Useful for Query Letters You will use this short synopsis for the query letters you send out to find agents, publishers, and book reviews. It’s well known in the publishing world that book reviews can influence reader purchase decisions. Both librarians, and booksellers rely on book reviews to choose among the thousands of titles published each year. Well-established and best-selling authors have a better opportunity to collect reviews. How does the first-time author garner reviews? Check these points: •Your manuscript is complete •Your book isn’t published yet •Research sources while writing your book •Develop a list of potential book reviewers •Sources like the ALA require galleys 3-4 months ahead •Build time in marketing schedule for review process For more help on finding book reviews, attend one of my workshops and we'll work through it together. |
A trompe l'oeil feat: these playful elevators are 7 inches high and have changing lights and working doors. Artist is Maurizio Cattelan, Untitled, 2001. |