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
