Wow, was I dumb.
Every year - hell, every day brings a new social media platform that authors flock to, engage in and use to promo their work.
People, we're fast becoming like politicians. The DC crowd governs 1% of the time - excuse me, make that .01% of the time. They spend the rest of their hours schmoozing with donors, attending fundraisers, looking for cold, hard cash to get reelected and voting themselves pay raises.
Poor overworked babies.
For us, it's not so pretty. There's FB, Twitter, Triberr, Google+, Pinterest, various blogs and countless other places we must visit each day for exposure to build our brands and engage potential readers. Add to that web parties to introduce new titles, never-ending contests, updating a website daily, doing edits on contracted manuscripts, putting together proposals then submitting them, begging for reviews and you have 26 hours of work for one day.
Then, it's time to write. For maybe 10, 15, 20 minutes in between all the other stuff.
(Banging head against desk).
I wish it was the other way around. Lots of time to write with little to no marketing. Maybe in my next life.
Often, interviewers have asked me what advice I'd give to newbies.
Here goes:
1. Get a marketing degree so you know exactly what to do to sell your novel before you write one word of it.
2. Marry someone who knows marketing inside-out and has awesome contacts in the publishing, film and TV industry. Trust me, that makes life super easy.
3. Own your own publishing house, TV station or film studio. Ditto the 'making things easy' part
4. Resign yourself to the fact that you'll be pushing your books more than you'll be writing them. Will this ever get better? Damned if I know. With the Internet, I'm beginning to doubt it.
At least I'm truly happy and satisfied during those 20 minutes a day when I can write uninterrupted, live in a world where guys are hot, honorable, and kind, and where the heroine gets her HEA in the end as she damn well should.
****
My newest release Intimate Details (menage) is releasing November 4. Don't have a cover as yet but here's the blurb:
As a
computer hacker, she demands justice.
As a
woman, she craves two powerful and commanding men.
Shana’s been hacking one of Manhattan’s
most corrupt executives, making him pay for what he’s done to his victims.
Using her skills, she convinces Mike and Cody to hire her at their
intelligence-gathering firm, where intimate details help their clients.
Never has Mike met a woman as delicious as
Shana. Smart as hell, curvy and assured, she’d be a delightful challenge in
bed. Cody’s carnal hunger is equally intense. He and Mike want to know
everything about her.
She won’t divulge the secrets of her past.
All she can offer is unquenchable desire and her heart.
During weeks of shameless lust and
pleasure, Mike and Cody peel away the layers of Shana’s life. The stunning
truth changes everything. They’ll do all that they can to keep her safe…and in
their arms.
