Marketing and the Small Press Author by Rebecca Jaycox
On January 21, 2014, I signed with Rocking Horse Publishing,
which is a small press based out of St. Louis, Missouri. Of course, I was
thrilled! I had spent seven and a half years writing and rewriting The Other
Inheritance. I had shopped it around for a year, receiving frustrating
comments from agents like, “clearly you’re a good writer, but I’m just not in
love with your book.” So once I got the email from RHP, I actually cried—on the
subway, in public. I thought the hardest part was over. Boy, was I wrong.
The hardest part comes when your book is actually out there,
especially when you’re with a small press that just doesn’t have the funds to
pay for publicity. And that’s not a problem that only indie authors have,
that’s also a problem for first-time writers that sign with big publishing
houses. The lion’s share of the marketing and publicity falls on your
shoulders, and you’d better learn what to do and fast.
Twitter and I became BFFs. I learned how to use Facebook to my
advantage, even thought it’s not really geared to a YA audience anymore. But
guess what? 60% of YA readers are adults; so don’t abandon Facebook for
Snapchat just yet (although I seriously need to get on there STAT along with
Instagram). Go to all your favorite review blogs, and ask if they’ll review
your book and if they can’t do that, see if you can do a guest blog or
interview. You need to figure out social media. For me, it’s still a learning
process but an absolutely necessary tool.
Join all the social media writing groups you can (or can
manage), help support your fellow writers and they will respond in kind.
Network people! I had a leg up; I am the creator and curator of the YA Lit
series at 92nd Street
Y. I got to meet major bestsellers and their publicists and get tips, make connections,
and of course, talk about my upcoming book. That’s how I ended up doing my
launch at Books of Wonder in NYC. They were my official bookseller for my
series, and I used that connection to have a wonderful book signing. Make
friends, y’all; you’re going to need them.
The other thing you have to do, and I know people hate to hear
this, is to spend money. The old adage that you have to spend money to make
money is absolutely true. You can generate a lot of sales by advertising
through sites like The Fussy Librarian or Free Kindle Books and Tips. I’ll be
completely honest; you probably won’t earn back the money you spend in
royalties. But if no one knows your book exists, no one is going to buy it. For
me it’s worth spending a little dough now to build an audience that, I hope,
will keep growing.
All you authors and aspiring authors, learn how to market with
the free tools and not-so-free tools you have available. Don’t expect that
readers will just find your book. With all the competition out there, you have
to make your book noticeable. It’s frustrating and hard work, but for me,
totally worth it.
The Other Inheritance
By Rebecca Jaycox
ISBN-10: 0990829537
Rocking
Horse Publishing
Trade paper, 304 pgs.
November 14, 2014, $12.15
Also available in ebook formats
She touched the frog. Just once. It leaped into
the air and hopped away, disappearing under the classroom desks. It had been
awaiting its fate as a science experiment, fully dead, the stench of
formaldehyde permeating the room . . .
Seventeen-year-old Reggie has been having a tougher time than usual. As if dealing with her alcoholic mother and fighting school bullies isn’t enough, dead things keep coming back to life and this biker dude shows up in her dreams, babbling about magic and a world called the Other.
Reggie’s life is changing, and she has no idea why. Or whether she should believe Rhys, the man in her dreams, who claims she’s in danger and that someone is coming to take her to a safer reality.
And when Asher shows up, things really get crazy.
Seventeen-year-old Reggie has been having a tougher time than usual. As if dealing with her alcoholic mother and fighting school bullies isn’t enough, dead things keep coming back to life and this biker dude shows up in her dreams, babbling about magic and a world called the Other.
Reggie’s life is changing, and she has no idea why. Or whether she should believe Rhys, the man in her dreams, who claims she’s in danger and that someone is coming to take her to a safer reality.
And when Asher shows up, things really get crazy.
Rebecca Jaycox's bio:
Rebecca Jaycox grew
up in the tiny town of Berryman, which borders the Mark Twain National Forest
and the Courtois River about 70 miles south of St. Louis. The beautiful
landscape fed her imagination, and she began writing stories at age 10 and
never stopped. Always seeking adventure, Rebecca moved to France after she
graduated college with a journalism degree to teach English at a French high
school.
Bitten by the travel
bug, she has recently visited Italy, Greece, Austria, Spain, and finally made
it to her bucket-list destination of Istanbul last summer. Rebecca now lives in
New York City with her husband, Gregory. She is the curator and program
director of the YA Lit Series at the 92nd Street Y—one of New York’s premier
cultural centers. She enjoys reading and writing fantasy, urban fantasy,
steampunk, and science fiction. The Other Inheritance is her first novel. www.rebeccajaycox.com
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