Tags
Art, book stores, books, chapbooks, graduate school, literature, Marketing, monkey puzzle press, poetry, publication, publishing, sales, social media, Writing
I have my expectations clearly outlined. I know who I am and the goals of this project. I have pledged to not lose sight of why I wrote it, which was to communicate and express an idea and an experience, and to then share that experience and that idea with a reader.
There is nothing that is important beyond that. That singular goal: to reach a reader.
How?
The marketing machine.
Here is my checklist of things to do and the order to do them in to get the word out and reach that one person who will purchase my chapbook and satisfy my purpose in writing it.
1. Write about it on Twitter, on my blog, on facebook, etc. Don’t be silent. Provide samples phrases and lines. Promote it ceaselessly. Keep the title on your mind and on the minds of those who you reach.
2. Send copies to local bookstores and coffee houses. Let them know that it’s there. Gain their support and interest. Will they offer it? Will they help me promote it?
3. Create posters (the cheap kind) and flyers. Hang them up around town. Do your marketing the old fashioned way. Create business cards. Give them to everyone. Put one in every check at the restaurant where you wait tables. Make new friends. Put one in their pockets or better yet, in their hands.
4. Send letters announcing its publication to all colleagues. This includes teachers and mentors in both undergraduate and graduate school. Fellow students. Anyone who may or may not remember me. Send real letters. Take the time. Include business cards.
5. Send press release to local newspapers
6. Submit free copy to alumni magazine for undergraduate and graduate schools
7. Connect with bookstores and coffee houses in Crested Butte and in Denver/Boulder. Set up readings.
8. How much does it cost to set up a stand during art week? Could I collaborate with a friend and get a table together?
9. Speaking of friends, get them together. Tell them about it. Inspire their support. Have them tell their friends. Get their feedback. Use it.
10. Create beautiful letters in the style of the cover. Send them to friends. Include business cards.
11. Submit chapbook to chapbook contests.
12. Submit chapbook to literary journals for review.
13. Donate a copy to local library
14. Purchase a small add in my favorite literary magazine.
15. Create face book page for chapbook. Create face book ad. Spend a little $$. Reach your reader.
16. Be proud of chapbook. Create a signature with a link to its page on Monkey Puzzle Press. Mention chapbook everywhere and to everyone. Be proud of it. Celebrate it. Be excited about it. Excitement is contagious.
17. Continue to work on novel. Send first chapters with chapbook to several literary agents. Get out there in the publishing world. Let it happen. Make it happen.
Most importantly:
Be inspired by what you do and who you are. Love your present, celebrate your past, and prepare for your future.
