Guest Blogger: Tricia Van Dockum
Getting to Know You
So, when Kelly first asked me if I wanted to be a guest-contributor on her blog, I was a little uncertain. I’m very new at this but will do my best to be fascinating and share with you some insight and food for thought into what I do each day, which is literary publicity. I hope you find it helpful.
I have always been a reader from the time I was very young, so when I grew up and found I could make a living by combining my publicity experience with publishing, I knew I’d found my niche.
I’m in the business of helping authors obtain exposure for their newly published books. There are lots of various ways to do this but first I ask the author what they are hoping to achieve from a book publicity campaign. What’s surprising is that many of them don’t have a clue…they just know they want people to read their book and have bookstores carry their book. If there’s one thing I can’t emphasize enough it is think about who your reader is before you start writing your book by asking yourself the following questions:
1.) Who is my audience for this book?
2.) How can I stand out from other authors who write in my same genre?
3.) Are there organizations who would be interested in the topic of my book?
4.) Is my book a good book for book clubs?
By asking yourself these questions first, you have a much better chance of having a well-focused and successful publicity campaign because you’ve thought through your audience beforehand.
Until next time…
July 21st, 2008 at 17:29
This is interesting.
I began writing without a clue how the industry worked. I had some ideas, so I started jotting them down, then 13 months later, I had two 79 thousand word novels on my hands. As I learn and grow in the craft, I have seen these questions (in some form or another) and I find them very helpful in guiding my work. THANKS!