Promotions

I responded to a promo question from newbie author who is a fellow writer at one of my publishers. I thought it might not be a bad idea to share my answers with y'all. Feel free to contribute your own ideas for what's worked for you in the comments.

Her e-book won't be out for a couple of months yet, but she was asking what she could do to promote it. Here is what I told her:

1) Website. If you don't have one that's up to date and relatively typo-free, you need one, asap. Which brings me to point...

2) Blog. You can point a domain name at a free blog if you don't have a website, like Blogger. Blog on a regular basis, and not just about your stuff, but value-added content like goings on in the e-book industry, writing how-to things, humor, free stories, etc.

3) Social Networking. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Ning, etc. At the VERY least you need Facebook and Twitter. It used to be MySpace was a must, but Facebook and Twitter are really taking over.

4) Email List. Promo on the Yahoogroups, make SURE to follow all list guidelines for posting excerpts.

5) Guest Blog. Many of the review sites have guest blog opps. Follow up on them and use them.

6) Answer Emails. This might seem like a no-brainer, but whenever a fan emails you, write them back. One of the main things I constantly hear from fans is they're amazed I answer my email, because apparently a lot of writers don't.

7) Caffeine. Lots of it. Lots and LOTS of it.

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So what else has worked for you?