[stylist] I'm new, and looking for input on marketing my historical fiction novel

[Donna Hill]

Hi Chris,
I'm about to publish my first novel The Heart of Applebutter Hill:
DonnaWHill.com
 through a combination of Create Space & Smashwords, and I've been
researching promotion over the past few years. 

To truly know if I can help, or how to help, I'd need to know what exposure
you already have (published stories/articles by you & about you) and what
resources you have already discovered. 

For instance, there are many online free & low-cost resources, including two
Canadians, Lilian & Dave Brummet, who have several books out including one
on marketing for self-published authors  called Purple Snowflake Marketing:
How to make your book stand out in a crowd. There is a free online course by
publicist Joan Stewart (The Publicity Hound) about writing press releases.
Also, on that front, we have a Guide to Writing Press Releases under the
Education Station on the NFB Writers' Division website.

There is also a list called HARO (Help a Reporter Out) where
reporters/writers/radio hosts etc. post queries about the stories, books or
whatever they're working on. I've been signed up both as a reporter and a
source for about 4 years. Much of the PR that I have landed for myself and
the NFB has been from answering queries on that list. It's free, and
although you need to go through a lot of unrelated queries to find one that
might work, it can be done quickly with Jaws, and I feel it is worth it.

In terms of your direct question about places giving priority to blind
writers, there are several that spring to mind immediately. Our own
quarterly magazine Slate & Style, for instance. Then, there's Breath &
Shadow, which I believe pays and is run by Stylist member Chris Kuell.
There's another called Magnets & Ladders, and a blog called Vision Through
Words, hosted by blind author Nancy Scott. You can find these resources by
Googling them. When promoting yourself, it's nice to be able to point to
publications which have published your work, even if you didn't get paid for
them. Likewise, if you've won any writing contests, that helps your
credibility. Our writing contest is currently accepting entries of fiction,
poetry and memoir from adults & there is a Youth Braille Writing Contest as
well. The deadline is April 1.

The other thing I'd be interested in knowing is what else are you doing,
groups you belong to, other interests ... It broadens your reach if you
cancross-pitch in different fields. For instance, I am a cancer survivor, so
by making my story and thoughts available in that realm, I get to mention
that I write. If there's an angle you can use to promote your book to a
niche market, that's something worth looking into, if you haven't already.
My book is a high school mystery with excursions into fantasy, but since it
has a blind heroine and addresses issues facing blind people, I am marketing
it to colleges as a consciousness-raising tool for education majors, who may
have students with some form of vision loss in their classes.

That's all I can think of for the moment.
HTH,
Donna
-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Christine
Malec
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2013 2:09 PM
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: [stylist] I'm new,and looking for input on marketing my historical
fiction novel

Hi all: 

I joined the list a couple of weeks ago. I'm really enjoying the opportunity
to read stuff from other blind writers. 

I've recently self-published my first novel, www.beltanethebook.com and I'm,
of course, looking for ways to gain exposure, so that I can achieve my
ultimate goal: which is to make money while I'm sleeping. I'm not above
playing the blind card. Are there venues anyone can recommend where a blind
author gets prioritized highly? I'm from Canada where the politics is a bit
different, so I hope I haven't offended anyone. 

Cheers,
Chris
www.twitter.com/christinemalec



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