Book Giveaway! Ta-da!

Come with me, on a journey through time and space…

In a hurry and don’t want to read today’s blathering? Scroll down for the giveaway info! But if you’ve got a minute…

Last week marked my childhood hero’s birthday. (Carl Sagan, groovy astro-science dude, would have been 79 years old November 9th.) This week will mark my birthday. (I’m not tellin’.)

I wouldn’t be caught dead in these shoes!

One of the things on my “Ta-da”* list for this year was: “Market my book. Market it long and hard.” That didn’t happen. Instead, I skipped right to “Give up marketing. It takes too long and it’s hard.”

That doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy. I put on my author “platform” shoes and got to work — started this blog, built my own groovy website, formatted Hyperlink for paperback and published it. I’ve met lots of funny, generous writers and readers through the blog and website, through Kindleboards and Newsbiscuit and countless other online hangouts. I’ve even started reviewing books for Amazon and Goodreads. My latest project is bringing an international group of writers together to write stories for charity, and I’m working on the cover.

Still, I’ve resisted self-promotion. Why? Fear of failure? Fear of success? Both, in equal measure, plus simple bewilderment at the enormity of the task of marketing. Because I may not have been doing any marketing, but I have been reading about it.

Naked. Sweating. Trembling in my platform shoes.

Marketing has always belonged in the horror genre, to me. So I’ve been hiding out with the monster under my bed. But it’s getting chilly under here. The dust bunnies are growing fangs. And I realize I’ve been seeing marketing all wrong — as an unnecessary evil, something dirty and disgusting that shouldn’t even be thought of in polite company, much less talked about or — shudder! — actually done. Sure, I read about it and crawl out from under the bed to wash my hands from time to time, but that won’t sell billions and billions of books — not for me, and not for charity.

Time to put on some clothes, to do away with the dust bunnies, to change the old attitude — which was: “Marketing is scammy, sucky and awful and I’m not the type who can do it (so I’m going to stamp my foot and moan about it!)”*

The new attitude? Marketing is necessary; it’s not evil. It’s not scammy unless I let it be. I’m trying to see it this way: “Marketing is sharing what you love with people who will appreciate hearing about it.”* That’s skin-crawlingly sweet, but so be it.

What pushed me over the edge, off the cliff, into the waiting maw of self-promotion? The charity book. It will be published before next Halloween, and I need to develop some marketing strategies well before then, if it’s to be a success.

So here’s the first step: getting more Amazon reviews for the book I’ve already published: Hyperlink from Hell: A Couch Potato’s Guide to the Afterlife. Here’s the blurb:

Murder haunts The Haven, celebrity James Canning’s home since he lost touch with Reality TV. What’s his “shrink” to do? Assign writing therapy, of course. But when the good doc reads Canning’s memoire, Hyperlink from Hell, he checks into his own padded suite and Canning disappears.

 To save the doc from madness, The Haven’s new director must analyze the hell out of Hyperlink from Hell. Is Canning’s tale of kidnapping, time travel and wardrobe malfunction fact or fiction, deceit or delusion? Can she solve the murders, save her boss and find Canning? Or will she need a padded suite of her own?

(Takes deep breath! Steps forward off cliff.)

Giveaway Info:

If you’ve already read Hyperlink from Hell and you aren’t my close friend or relative, please consider writing a short review for Amazon. 

Here’s the link. Just click where it says “Create your own review.” It’s pretty painless — even fun.

Haven’t read the book, yet? I’ll send a free paperback to the first three people who respond using the contact form, below. The next 20 people? I’ll send you a free PDF copy of the paperback, or a MOBI file for Kindle — your choice.

In return for the free book, I hope to get a few unbiased reviews on Amazon. One star, four stars, whatever it deserves, love it or loathe it! Just a few words can make all the difference… If you feel like it.

(If you do choose to write a review, remember to note that you received a promotional copy of the book.)

Whew! Thank you for listening to my appeal. Now, I do feel a bit dirty, and under the bed is looking mighty comfy…

But no. Not gonna go there.

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1. A Ta-da list is a “To Do” list with delusions of grandeur.
2. From “How to Market a Book” by Joanna Penn
3.  Ditto, baby.