For the past couple of weeks, I've been working with a neat web designer, Dee Shore, on what my brand spanking new website is gonna look like. Dee runs Vintage Mermaid Graphics and I have to tell you, she was a blast to work with. She did something fun and funky, just as I asked and bent over backwards to make sure I loved it. And YES!!!!! I DO!!!!All day yesterday, the e-mails were flying so fast between us that I swear my head was spinning. But late yesterday afternoon, it was finally finished. So my heartfelt thanks, Dee. You are the coolest person in the world to work with. For the rest of you, please, please check out my brand new website HERE!
And if you're looking for something new, Dee is your gal! She does banners, websites and lots of other cooler than heck stuff. Check out her services http://vintagemermaidgraphics.com/
Dee also hooked me up with the makings for some neat promo items and we talked about it a little bit. She recommended Rack Cards. They are on nice paper and the perfect size for bookmarks at 4" X 8". So last night I jumped on Vista Print and got a great deal on one-hundred of them. Yep. 100. I'm heading to Romanticon (Ellora's Cave/Cerridwen Press convention) in Ohio come October. I've been thinking that getting a jump start on promo stuff won't break the bank if I do things a little at a time. I'll be signing my print titles at the booksigning but I'll also want to feature some of my e-books so I'm planning to do large postcards featuring covers on the front and a list of my titles on the back. I've don
e those before and they are just beautiful.Visited with a friend about pens and she recommended National Pen Company. Pens are a tad pricier than most of the promo items out there but they hang around in purses for quite awhile. All in all, I don't think they are a poor investment.
In other news, my friend and fellow Ellora's Cave author Cindy Spencer Pape has a brand new book out today at Ellora's Cave. Stone and Fire is HOT. It's book three in her popular gargoyle series and let me tell you, her men of stone make their ladies just MELT. Here's a little blurb of the book and her super beautiful cover. So please add this one to your list!
Stone and Fire Buy
by Cindy Spencer Pape
Blurb:
Book 3 in the Heroes of Stone series.
When half-dragon Dana Logan meets gargoyle Beau Dumont at her friend’s wedding, something clicks between them. Halfway through the most passion-filled night of their lives, his phone rings and he rushes home to Montreal.
Several months later, they’re in England to catch a ring of antiques smugglers but the two can barely keep their hands off each other long enough to find the thieves. The sex between them is explosive and they’re falling in love as well. Between battling the bad guys and fighting their feelings for each other, the two may just set London on fire.
16 comments:
Can't offer any NEW promotional ideas, but love the new website. :)
Thanks, Amber. I really love it too. Someone said the other night that attendees at RT loved the idea of having a sample of a writer's work. I've been trying to figure out a clever way to add a sample to a giveaway. Hoping to get some ideas.
You can try joining the Amazon author community if you have not already. You can set up your own page and tag lines that link directly to your books. I think you can also link up your blog to your product pages. When you write a review or post in the community, your tag (and link) comes up. I think this one is pretty cool since it gives you free (FREE!) access to Amazon's customer base--which makes up the largest bookseller on the planet. Yes, it's a time commitment, but hey, did I mention it's free? Lol.
:)
Jess
I'm trying to learn about promo stuff myself! Just this morning I talked to a local print shop that's going to come up with some ideas for me.
And Happy Release Day, Cindy
Tessie Bradford
Anne was telling me about the Amazon thing the other day, Jess. Sounds like a great idea and hey, I'm all about FREE.
Promotion is a learning process. You wouldn't believe how many great ideas we get from each other, Tessie! My advice? Talk to other authors. You'll be amazed at what works and what doesn't. Take advantage of the free stuff. Myspace, facebook, twitter and blogs. That's a good start. A good website. Things like that. Then just build on it all.
Love your website!!
Cindy, that is one HOT cover!
I love your site, Regina. It's just the coolest thing! And your covers REALLY stand out, which is (of course) the idea.
Happy release day, Cindy! Fan-freaking-tastic cover. Hot damn!!
Thanks, Ladies! You know there may be something to be said for a black and white site. The covers DO pop and I really like that aspect of the design.
Yeah...Cindy is one of my critique partners and she totally ROCKS IT. If you haven't read her work, I highly recommend it. She's one of the best out there.
Lemme see...I ordered 50 pens, 1250 glossy business cards, car door magnets, glossy postcards, rack cards, flyers, window decals, magnets,T-shirts, baseball caps, etc. Then I also had a few dozen excerpt cards made up. Um...and it was not at all expensive...some of it was free.
Rita, your website is absolutely fantastic - just gorgeous!!
I read on the RomantiCon loop people like chapter books with the cover and fist chapter. You can bind with a ribbon.
Also I was thinking about calendars,a cover and blurb for each month -- one author with 12 books or a bunch of authors. Might get expensive though.
That's first chapter, not fist chapter. Time for me to get some sleep...
Excerpt cards, Fran??? Tell me more about them.
Awww, thanks, Bron. Everyone has been so sweet to go over and check it out.
Fist chapter?? LOL. I think we've all been there, Afton. You know I'm hearing lots of stuff about excerpts. Might be smart to look into that. I like the idea of calendars too. Wonder how expensive something like that would be? Pocket Calendars maybe?
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