'Promoting And Me' By Wendy Adams
Whether I'm promoting a musician or an author you can be sure of one thing. I will always keep your best interests at heart. Sometimes it seems to be endless hours of pitching and networking.What's that one catch phrase that is going to draw attention to you!
With musician and songwriter Vaughan Adams it was 'Let Me Bring Vaughan To You' and so with each new person or band the thinking process starts turning and I ask that very question.
Each author I must ask myself 'What's the catch phrase?' Do I base it off the author themselves or the book being promoted at the time. In order to promote an author you need to stay update on everything they are doing. How their current book is selling, what they are working on now, are they speaking someplace or doing a book signing. There's always someone new to introduce their work too. When I'm not promoting online I'm writing to newspapers, editors. All that in itself can get exhausting but that's just one side of promoting.
There's still the long hours of researching, getting in touch with record companies or publishers and it's more than just finding a NAME and address. It's finding what best suits the musician or author. If I'm looking for a publishing company for Angelic Fiction well I won't go to a publishing company that focus on Romance Novels.
As hard as it might sound for me as a promoter and literary agent just think how hard it is for a new author. You've written you manuscript, you've edited it three, four, maybe even ten times before you get the nerve up to want to send it out for someone to accept. So you're thinking about being published? What do you do? Well first decide if you want a literary agent or not then decide if you want to self publish or not. Next step is to find what fits you as an author and your genre. If you're turning to a publishing company you might think BIGGER IS BETTER but there are very good small publishing companies out there who will actually let you get your foot in the door with your proposal.
Don't just hand your manuscript out to anyone, research the companies and ask questions. If they're not willing to answer your questions they're not the one for you! There are lots of publishing companies out there and you have to remember the publishing company is looking out for themselves FIRST. When choosing a literary agent you want to make sure they put YOU FIRST. If you've got a publishing company or even a literary agent saying 'THEY LOVE YOUR BOOK' all you need to do is... RUN please RUN IF THEY ARE ASKING YOU FOR MONEY!!!!! They are asking for money to print your book. And will do very little to promote it. This is called vanity publishing!!! They will print your book whether it is good or bad because you're paying them too. If the publisher is a reputable company they will read your book without any fee and offer you a contract if they like it. They will work hard to make it happen even by promoting your book because that's when they get their money. They want your book to sell!
I have one strict rule as a literary agent..
I DON"T GET PAID UNLESS YOU GET PAID!
I DON'T CHARGE a reading fee for a book someone wants me promoting as a literary agent. My job is to decide if I want to back you.. Do I want to spend all those hours pushing your book, pitching you as an author and seeking out that publisher who will give you a contract. If that decision is YES than I start right at work. I start throwing your name out there, your links, I write up a review on your book and literary work for YOU!!! I like communicating with those I'm promoting constantly tossing ideas back and forth, keeping everything updated. There's never a moment I'm not looking for the next thing that's going to get a reader to buy your book or a publish to look at it.
Another thing you might want to keep in mind as a new author. Look at how many books are out there. If you have a favorite author see who published them it's right there in their book. Don't just hit those online ads and magazine ads 'LOOKING FOR AUTHORS' most likely their scams.
I hope you have found this article helpful in some way. Maybe it helps you understand more of what I do or maybe it's given you a few ideas as a new author which way you want to go next. If you have a question you'd like to ask feel free.
