Another book launch - oh my!

I now have a paperback edition of my memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On, in my hands. It just arrived. Getting it to this point has taken just short of three months, but well worth the time and effort. The edition looks great.

I decided to keep the same cover design because it has been my brand for the last year. I felt changing it could be confusing to my followers and even to me. Plus I love the front cover photo, taken by my young girl friend, Madison Poulter, whom I’ve known since she was eighteen months old. Can’t believe she’s off to Lewis and Clark College in the fall.

So both my publisher, Mike O’Mary at Dream of Things and I have been doing a lot of planning to get ready for the launch. Mike made an excel spreadsheet with activities to accomplish between now and January. Here are some of the things we’re doing right now:

• I’ve communicated with friends and family about the launch and asked them to write a review and post it on Amazon if they’ve already read the book. My reasoning is that my wonderful reviews helped me find a new publisher, so couldn’t they also help spread the word about the merits of this new edition my book? (Please write one if you've read my book and haven't yet.)
• Mike has launched the paperback edition on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online outlets such as Powell’s and Red Room
• Mike set up a Leaving the Hall Light On page on the Dream of Things website – please go visit it. It looks awesome.
• Mike is going to set up a “Search Inside” feature on Amazon, so people can browse a little before they buy
• Mike is going to send the book out to other possible reviewers such as TheCompulsiveReader.com, ArmchairInterviews.com, etc.
• We will both come up with a list of possible reading/signing events in California at book stores, libraries, colleges, community centers, coffee shops, book groups, writer groups. (If any of you are in California and can recommend a place to contact, please let me know.)
• And I joined SheWrites.com for another networking resource

That list just gets us up to today.

We still have stuff to do relative to Goodreads, compiling a media kit, making a list of book clubs to contact (by the way, we’ve added two pages of reading group discussion points to the new edition), and late in August, the launch of the eBook.

If you Like me, what's the point?

My memoir book cover photo by Madison Poulter

There is a thread going on, on LinkedIn that goes like this: I’ll like your fan page and Amazon book page if you like mine. So I’ve been responding to a lot of those requests,  and now I'm up over twenty-five new likes in just the last week. 

But, I wonder what’s the point? Do these new likes translate into book sales? So far, I don’t think so. A few people that I've met through my social networks have said my book is on their list, but I haven’t seen a bump in my Amazon rankings as a result.

So with all this social media networking – over 900 Facebook friends, over 400 Facebook fans, almost 250 LinkedIn connections, and a constantly growing list of Twitter followers, I wonder where it is all getting me. And I find that keeping up all the connections is a lot of work.

Okay, I won’t be so down about it all. I’m only into this marketing game about six months. I’ve got to give it more time. Plus the fact that my book is a hard sell – like my son just said, hard to read but beautiful and powerful. I have to hang on to that beautiful and powerful comment and hopefully lots more people will agree.

Also, someone on LinkedIn just answered my what's the point? question that if he gets just one sale from all the exposure – that’s what it really is, exposure – he’ll feel it’s worth the effort. Okay I can go with that. I won’t be greedy. One sale is sure better than none.

By the way, if you care to Like my Facebook author page, click on the link.