My Promotional Tree

My Promotional Tree

C L Enuton author of the Fur Angel Series

Every author’s dream is to publish a book and have it fly off the shelves. Promotion gives your book wings to fly. With millions of books to choose from, how do I get people to pick my book ─ or even see my book? That seems to be a common question among authors. I begin with my website. Right now I have two sites that are linked to one another. My book site: www.clenuton.com and my fun, everything-else site: www.Gooberella.com

I envision my websites as a tree trunk where all my treasures are waiting to be discovered. I try to keep my sites simple. Book covers are displayed with a short blurb and a buy button that takes you to Amazon.

Each social media outlet I use is a branch of my website (tree) that reaches out to people all over the world. Every promotion I do leads back to my website. I try to make my branches fun and creative. Something people can relate to, makes them smile and laugh. I’ve designed my tree branches to fit my writing genre which is the fantastical world of talking- dogs. Yes, my tree is colorful, magical, and a little nutty and so are my branches.

My first branch is Facebook, and the groups I subscribe to are filled with talking-dogs, dog photos, contests, and a lot of caring people with a love of dogs. My dogs are known as the 3 Goobers. They support dog related charities, auctions with donations of autographed books, as well as host their own dog photo contests where the winners win…you guessed it…signed books.

Other branches are, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I always carry a camera with me and post at least two pictures a day on these outlets followed by a link to my website. Remember, all things posted should lead back to your website. My nuttier branches are Fiverr, www.Fiverr.com/gooberella where I make talking-dog videos for $5.00 and Youtube, www.youtube.com/xiagooberella where I post the videos.

Anything related to your writings that could branch off and lead back to your books is a form of promotion. I also sell art work of my books illustrations on a site called society6, www.society6.com/gooberella. They put my illustrations onto shirts, pillows, bed covers, rugs, shower curtains…basically just about anything. And once again, everything leads back to my main book website.

As far as sales go, Amazon is my biggest outlet. It allows me to share my books all over the world. They have many promotional options for authors. If used in conjunction with independently operated promotional sites, authors can gain good exposure.

And finally, book signings. I love going to schools to give book presentations. It’s fun talking to students about my books, writing techniques, the publishing process, and playing my talking dog videos. The kids love them. Book festivals and book store signings are more for author interaction rather than sales. Festivals usually charge a pricey booth-space fee, and bookstores take up to 50% or more of sales. But it’s always fun talking with customers and autographing books for them and their dogs.


Author Website

Guest author Chris Bodor of Ancient City Poets and Prizes

A.C. PAPA Literary Journal, Issue #1

Ancient City Poets, Authors, Photographers & Artists (A.C. PAPA)

Fifty-three contributors musing on the subject of the Sunshine State.Editor-In-Chief Chris Bodor; cover by nature photographer Mark Kirwan

An article written by writer Barbara Pyles Barker about issue #1 of A.C. PAPA Florida Literary Journal.

Reading this inaugural issue of A.C. PAPA was a special treat for me, because the many wonderful poems and stories evoke a world from my own memories. Like Robin McClary who wrote the foreword, I grew up in the Sunshine State and know many of the same things: palmettoes; TVs you actually had to cross the room to change; three local (and only) channels; locks not used, because they were not needed. On Vilano Beach, where I was raised, the sand dunes were tall, the ocean gave up the most perfect shells after tropical storms, and August meteor showers were brilliant because there was no competition for the light.

My sister and I walked together between our street and Boating Club Road to visit our grandparents practically daily—no worries about what lay between those two homes. We knew the neighbors, and there weren’t a great many. The beach community is filled now. The world is so connected, and I suppose we’re safer now in a way because of it, but there’s also more we need to be safe from. Something has been lost, and that makes it all the more important to remember these details of our childhoods and family histories here in St. Augustine.

The poems in A.C. PAPA capture Florida in works that celebrate cities such as Saint Augustine and Saint Petersburg, as well as the state’s varied landscape. They share the authors’ own memories, as well as what they love of our state and town in contemporary times. Salt-river views, beach glass, Egrets, sea turtles are all here in verse. “Florida’s Environmental Heritage” speaks of those things that have been lost from Nature, but of our attempts to recapture. Haikus capture slivers of Florida.

My state has always provided inspiration to artists. In this collection Larry Baker recalls his inspirations for The Flamingo Rising, how the A1A coastline provided shape and grounding for the acclaimed novel. Another essay, authored by Susan Bennett Lopez,  takes us back to her journey to find Jack Kerouac in Florida. She recounts her search for Jack, her attempt to get to “the core of Kerouac’s psyche.”

Another theme in this volume is the inspiration we writers find in Nature’s most dangerous and awesome forces. There is something about storms that draws us, and lights our imagination. “Fakahatchee Bay Crossing”, by Jim Draper, is a gripping account of a struggle to survive, and the character’s transformation in the stormy bay along a coast of mangrove trees, buoyed above the hazard of razor sharp oyster shells.

In a special section called Coast Lines, three of the poems relate the power of hurricanes; Mother Nature’s signature Florida force. Ann Browning Masters gives us a glimpse into the Oldest City’s history with these storms. “Hurricane Winds”, by Gigi Mischele Miller and Tovah Janovsky’s “Impressions of Arthur” relate beautiful imagery of how we natives dealt with Mother Nature at Her most fearsome and awe inspiring. These poets give all due respect where it is deserved to this stunning and destructive power.

The talented artists in this volume capture the beauty, mystique, and history of this special place, in verse and prose and photos. It is a jewel of a collection.

The inaugural issue of Ancient City Poets, Authors, Photographers and Artists (A.C. PAPA)

To buy on Amazon click HERE 

A.C. PAPA Editor-In-Chief Chris Bodor spreading the message of poetry and spoken word.

CALL For WORK – A.C. PAPA ISSUE #2

The next reading period for Ancient City Poets, Authors, Photographers & Artists (A.C. PAPA) will be April 01, 2015 to June 30. The focus of this Saint Augustine, Florida based journal is to spotlight Florida artists and art that references the Sunshine State. They will accept submissions of poetry, fiction, fine art and photography. A.C. PAPA is looking for writing and artwork that speaks of Florida, from all angles and all perspectives. They would like to hear from locals, tourists, travelers and residents. Special sections in issue #2 will include: “Saint Augustine History—the first 450 Years” and a number of articles on Florida writers such as Harry Crews.

The next issue of A.C. PAPA will appear in November, and will feature the best work from Florida artists as well as national and international writers who have something to say about Florida. Poet Plant Press is best known for their 2014 title Florida Speaks, an anthology featuring more than thirty writers musing on the Sunshine State. Please email your submissions as a RTF Microsoft Word file as an attachment to acpapalitmag@gmail.com. For more info and guidelines please go to the Poet Plant Press website at www.bodor.org or purchase a copy of issue #1 on Amazon by searching for the title of the publication.

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