The small, pastoral, yet somewhat sophisticated area (population 5000) where I live, boasts three post offices. During peak time (which could occur at any moment), the amount of frustration generated by the action or inaction of some postal employees wastes enough energy to operate 23 cell phones on the planet Pluto. That’s no small feat. Postal employees make it a habit to keep one worker behind the counter per every twelve patrons in line, keeping employee #2 within view, reading the local paper or braiding her hair. By the time I reach the counter, I’m ready to pull the safety pin out of the nearest hand grenade.

Much to my surprise, I encountered an entirely different post office last week.

I entered our main branch (I know it’s the main one because it’s open for limited hours on Saturday, and it sports its own parking lot with four parking spaces). The moment I stepped inside, I was immediately whisked away into a Hallmark film.

The place seemed brighter, unusually cheerful, and surprisingly welcoming. There was a glow about the room despite the same drab walls, dull interior, and cement floor. Granted, I was pleased that only one customer stood between the postal worker and me, but not pleased enough to hallucinate. Then it hit me. It was Chris, the jolly, in his late twenties or so, government issue employee.

His smile was so bright that he could have lit all the candles on an octogenarian’s birthday cake.

He looked so happy that he’d made the place come alive.

My turn came early because the lady before me kindly offered to step aside to an empty counter to properly lick the hundred or so envelopes she planned to mail. Typically, post office patrons do no such stepping aside, but do all their licking, lamenting or labeling right there at the counter making all behind them wait. I knew it had something to do with Chris and his luminous smile. His winning grin and benevolent words could have made the moon weep for joy.

At the counter, I told Chris that I needed postage for my oversize envelope #1 as well as the self addressed envelope #2 folded inside #1 which was to be sent back to me by the recipient. Proper procedure is to weigh each separately because envelope #2 usually weighs less on the return trip. Chris only weighed envelope #1, holding his smile of contentment and sheer delight the whole time and muttering sweet nothings. How could I quibble over a quarter or two with the very personification of bliss? It was easy to overlook his negligence. I dared not rain on his happiness.

Chris’ cheery demeanor encouraged me to overlook any shortcomings and treat him with patience. And he reminded me of the importance of utilizing kindness toward all…all the time. Kindness can benefit the giver even more than the receiver. I had a skip in my step when I left the place.

If every person in our society made a point of acting kindly, more often, life would be far more pleasant for all of us. Imagine that.

In my previous post I discussed marketing your book using social media. This time around, I’ll talk marketing via personal appearances.

First, please note I am not a public speaker. I’ve taught small classes to children on writing and on communications as a volunteer, but that’s it. And I found those somewhat nerve-wracking. So when it came time to promote my book in person, my reaction was “Whoa doggy, what do I do?”

What I did was educate myself. I took a crash course in book promotion, via book signings, by reading blog posts of other authors and writing sites on how to do it. I tried to prepare myself for all scenarios such as:

– Reading an excerpt out loud: This request was sprung on me at a panel discussion, but you know what? It went swimmingly because my publisher had the foresight to insert a very short, exciting excerpt (a low speed car chase) in the front of my novel, and that’s what I read. I watched other panelists fumble over what to read, and one refused to read at all. It could have been a close call for me, had my publisher not provided the ready-to-go excerpt.

– Giving a quick talk: This was especially tough in the beginning because I truly believed I had nothing useful to say…until I was asked questions by kindly, wonderful book readers who attended my signings. That gave me a sense of what could be of interest to attendees (such as: how did you get published, how do you make time to write, do you edit as you write, is your heroine like you, do you have any illegal weapons, etc.).

– An audience member turns unruly: This happened only once, well maybe twice, from an angry attendee who couldn’t understand why she wasn’t published yet since her book was big-screen worthy. The first time this happened, I was caught off-guard, and the rant went on a bit too long. The second time, I asked her to speak to me later. She didn’t. Should this type of situation occur, take control by suggesting the person email or speak with you afterward.

The best way to anticipate and prepare for possible scenarios and to enjoy the promo event is to make sure your attitude is top-notch. An excellent attitude makes all the difference. I believe it was one of my fave authors, Janet Evanovich who suggested getting your hair done, wearing something new or just doing anything to give yourself a little lift before the promo event. Who doesn’t want to be around a happy author?

One of the most common questions posed to newbie authors -like myself-by writers on their journey to becoming published authors is: when/where/how to get started in marketing? The most common answer? Ugh! I hate marketing. Wrong. Answer.

This is one of those cases where there’s a right and wrong answer. How will readers know of your shining achievement if you don’t do everything in your power, short of streaking cross country wearing nothing but a towel featuring your book cover, to promote your wonderful piece of art? We must connect with readers. We must. And believe me, it’s worth it.

Readers are truly lovely people (as our writers and librarians and book store owners). I brim with joy when I discover a book that is a dream to read. A page turner. A front burner. Better than…well, you fill in the blank. You know what I do when I find such a book? Recommend it to others.

For those of us fortunate enough to have a publisher, and even more fortunate enough to have a publisher with a publicist or marketing department, we still have to self-promote. Who better for that task? I am commited to being my own best publicist because I’ve drained my life blood onto those pages, wrung hands over character development, and performed CPR on scenes more times than I care to mention. And for what? So readers may be entertained by my illusion of reality within those pages.

So, how to market?

The easy, but potentially time draining, marketing path is through social media.
Think Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram, and Pinterest, for starters. And new ones are always popping up. My focus is on FB and Twitter, but I do believe in Goodreads (especially book giveaways, as that hopefully gives a book the attention it deserves). I’m about to create a presence on Instagram (by “about” I mean, I’ve been planning this for two months now and will break down and do it any moment, when I least expect it).

Let’s start with Facebook: I created my presence about five months prior to the book launch date. To have an author page, I needed to create a profile first, which I did (this is a FB requirement), and gathered friends from people I knew, from my Sisters in Crime local and national groups, from book signings, author panels, and random run-ins with newly discovered pals in the grocery store and similar places. In other words, from everywhere. Then I asked these same friends to “like” my author page from my profile, so I wouldn’t be lonely out there. It worked. FB permits promotions of pages to encourage more of a page following. That costs money, but it does provide a boost in popularity as well. I’ve heard of authors who have regular, ongoing promotions (and deep pockets).

I really like Twitter, especially the part of tweeting in 140 characters or less. I’m all about short and sweet, and things I can do without huge effort. As far as book promo, I’ve been known to tweet parts from a great book review of my novel directly from Amazon, just because I can. But I spend most of my twitter time using hashtags (# = a hastag), and quoting great quotes or tweeting about the #writinglife. I don’t know if my activity is selling my book, but it certainly increases my connections in the Twitter world.

I hung back on Goodreads in the beginning (mainly because of my ignorance and lack of time), but once I jumped on that band wagon, it worked. I did a giveaway or two, and got the Goodreads community interested in reading my book. Imagine the possibilities if I’d the time to join the discussions (it’s on my “to do” list)!

Next time – Book Promotion Part 2.