Congratulations on your new book! Maybe it’s complete, maybe it’s a work in progress. No matter what phase you’re in, you’re probably wondering what you should be sharing with potential readers to get them excited about reading it.
Hopefully, by now, you’ve also established your writing platform. If not, what are you waiting for? An author website is a great way to connect with your readers and to help new readers discover your work. You can start a website in a matter of a few minutes once you’ve selected a platform. Personally, I use WordPress for my self-hosted website. The user interface makes creating the site, and subsequent blog posts, incredibly easy. They offer cost-effective options to fit any budget.
Once you’ve created your beautiful, new website, you’re ready to start telling your readers all about your upcoming book.
A snippet of conversation, a photo, a writing prompt. Writers get inspiration from any number of places. When I wrote my first book, the original idea came from a conversation with a friend. These are the kinds of stories your readers will connect with. So tell them!
This is an idea that can lend itself to multiple posts:
The list goes on. Giving your readers a behind the scenes look at your creative process helps them connect not only with your work, but also with you. They feel a part of it, giving them a feeling of being vested in your work.
Are you working on historical fiction? A story routed in ancient mythology? Tell your readers about the process of researching your story. Incorporate photos from your research trips. If you interviewed someone, publish the interview (or just a portion). Be sure to get your subject’s permission first.
This probably sounds a little odd. After all, we’re talking about fictional characters. So we’re basically talking about interviewing the voices in your head. But this is a great way to show your readers your development process without just telling them about it. Plus, it introduces your character’s voice to your readers. It gives them a feel for the tone of your story, without having to release any of it.
Think about your character as if they were an actor/actress giving an interview about their upcoming movie. What would you ask them? This is also a great exercise to identify any holes in your character development, but that’s a different discussion.
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Let’s face it, handling your own publicity, as an indie author, is a challenging and time consuming process. So make use of your own author platform by conducting an interview with yourself. Build a list of questions and answer them honestly.
Giving your readers a sneak peek at a portion of your book is a great way to get readers excited about its release. Depending on the length of your chapters, you may want to select only an excerpt. Provide an introduction, setting the stage for what your readers are about to enjoy. Keep the excerpt to about 1,500 words. Enough to give a flavor of your writing without giving too much away.
Ask any writer the worst part about writing a book and I would be willing to bet many would say writing the blurp for the back cover. So use this opportunity to get some feedback from your audience. Use a call to action statement in your post to solicit feedback from your audience.
Don’t just release the cover art. Tell the story behind it. Did you work with an artist? Develop it yourself? What’s the underlying meaning behind it that makes it the perfect fit for your book? Cover art development is an interesting process. Talk about it!
You’ve made your final edits, selected your cover, perfected your blurb. Set up a countdown of posts the week leading up to your book. This is a good time to refresh earlier posts where you’ve talked about different aspects of your writing process and your story. Use your most popular posts to help create anticipation and buzz about your new book.
Do you have ideas for pre-release blog posts? Share them in the comments!
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