Authors who write fiction think they face an uphill battle trying to get publicity for their books.
That’s because most fiction authors see themselves as storytellers, not experts. Yet many of them do far more research before writing their books than authors of non-fiction.
Here are five ways authors can get publicity for their fiction titles:
—Piggyback onto an upcoming major or minor holiday, or a day, week or month of the year. Did you write a romance novel? If so, supply tips on how to be romantic to tie into Valentine’s Day, or Sweetest Day in October.
—Offer helpful how-to advice that ties into your topic. Bill and Susan Albert have a series of mystery books featuring China Bayles, the main character, who has an herb shop, and they’ve promoted themselves as experts on the topic of herbal lore. Their email newsletter includes information and recipes with herbs, in addition to news about their latest books.
—Sponsor a contest that ties into the topic of your book. The bigger the prize, the better the publicity.
—Create your own day, week or month of the year that’s associated with the topic, and submit it to Chase’s Calendar of Events. Then tie news releases and other promotions to the special day.
—In her book “Jump Start Your Book Sales,” Marilyn Ross suggests that authors can ask their local newspapers to sponsor a “complete the short story” contest. You write the beginning and readers submit their own endings. “This has been done very successfully on the Web by celebrity authors,” Marilyn writes.
Read about more ways that fiction authors can promote their books in an article written by publicist Marcia Friedman for the March/April issue of The Publicity Hound subscription newsletter.
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