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Saturday, August 27, 2011

Amie Louellen: Where's the Book? + Giveaway

Today we're joined by author Amie Louellen, author of Brodie's Bride. [See the bottom of this post for giveaway details....]

Amie loves nothing more than a good book. Except for her family…and maybe homemade tacos…and shoes. But reading and writing are definitely high on the list. When she's not creating quirky characters and happy endings she enjoys going to little league baseball games and boy scout meetings. Born and bred in Mississippi, Amie is a transplanted Southern Belle who now lives in Oklahoma with her deputy husband, their genius son, a spoiled cat, and one very hyper beagle.

Take it away, Amie....


What is it they say? There’s no such thing as bad publicity. Which is to suggest that as long as your name is out there, it’s good. Even if it’s not.



That may work for celebrities, but I can’t say the same thing for authors. Mainly because it’s our books that are in the spotlight and not necessarily us as people. No one cares if I take my little boy to school without combing my hair first, but everyone knows when I’ve had a bad review at Amazon.com. Not that there is one. There’s not, right…?



Writers need good press and as much as they can get. Especially in this digital world, where the publishing industry isn’t entirely centered around the big New York houses, and small presses and Indie publishers are helping make a name for a whole lot of new authors.



I’m in this bunch. After years of trying to fit into the “New York mold” of what a romance should be. I submitted my work to the Wild Rose Press. And I was accepted!!! Whoot-woot!



I believe TWRP to be one of the best to work for. They have been nothing but good to me, but I have no delusions about their size. They came right out front and told me that I’d have to do a lot of promo myself. That’s the nature of small houses. I don’t mind. I like all that I’m doing to get my name to further my career—blogs, guests blogs, book reviews, book tours—mine and those for other authors. I feel like I truly have a hand in my success.



But let’s face it, I don’t have a house like Harlequin behind me. An instantly recognizable name, that implies, “Hey, we published this. You liked the last one, you’re going to like this one too.” So I am constantly trying to think of ways to get my book ‘out there’.



I cannot tell you how excited I was when I got my cover. The most beautiful cover in the whole world, and it was on my book. All that luxurious red satin was PERFECT for my story. And I wanted EVERYONE to see it. And they did. I’m pretty certain. Why? Because I pasted it on every flat surface I could find. On my fan page on FaceBook. On my personal page of FaceBook. On my website. On my blog site. On anyone else’s blog site that I could blackmail, er… persuade to let me visit, etc, etc. I flooded the internet.



Sounds like a good plan, right? Except I got my cover in February. And Brodie’s Bride wasn’t available until June—the last of June. Do the math—that’s five months of heavy hitting promo.


And of course I can’t just post my cover and run. So I added the official blurb and the official excerpt. And my book wasn’t even out yet.



Unfortunately, by the time Brodie’s Bride actually hit the cyber-shelves, I think everyone in the free world had already seen the cover. They had read the blurb, they had read the excerpt. I had become white noise. But it seemed like a good idea at the time. Not so much, I’m thinking now. I got everyone excited about my book—and I think I did a great job with that part of it. It’s just they had no where to take their excitement for MONTHS. And by the time readers could actually get my book, their excitement had fizzled.



But never fear I have new book under contract. We’re still in edits. But when I get the cover and the release date for this story, I’m going to do things a little differently. I’m going to proceed a little slower, maximize the excitement I generate through all my fabulous promos, and use it to my advantage. In the long run, I think it will be better for sales and also keep my readers from being frustrated.



This second time around, I don’t want my readers asking, “Where’s the book?”






Thank you, Amie! Readers, Amie is giving away an ebook edition of Brodie's Bride. By commenting to either today or tomorrow's post before midnight EST tomorrow (August 28), you'll be entered to win. Check back the following day for the winner announcement to see if you have won.

7 comments:

Jannine Gallant said...

You make a good point, Amie. We are super excited as soon as we have a contract, a cover, the first galley, etc., but without the book to sell... Maybe hitting the promotion trail weeks instead of months ahead is a better use of our time.

Unknown said...

Congrats on your second book contract and thanks for sharing your marketing experience.

AJ Nuest said...

You know what, Amie? This was an EXCELLENT post! I never woulda thunk it -- and in fact was all set to gear up for promo on my next release the moment I had the cover. I am SOOOOO glad you gave out this sage advice. I will now wait, do small bits at a time until I am sure of my release date. Thank you, my friend, for sharing. Hugs!

TiDubb said...

Thanks for sharing that information. It is always interesting to hear from the author and their journey to get the book published or out to us readers. I so appreciate you all more. In the past I did not think about it-usually the cover would grab my attention-I would read the back of the book and if it sound good-purchase the book. But not in the digital world I have discovered blogs, twitter, facebooka, and goodreads. So now my selections are based on recommendations from people that I hardly know but have learned to rely on their reviews. Good luck and thanks for the giveaway.

kamwh1207(at)att(dot)net

Nancy Jardine Author said...

Hi Amie. You have done almost the opposite to me. As a total newbie author when I got the promo package from TWRP I freaked out. My Monogamy Twist was accepted March, final galleys May. I thought I had ages to go before promoting and sat back and fretted. I was gobsmacked at end June when my Aug 24th release date was given. Even more panic when the print copy was ready end of July. It has been a huge rush the last weeks to set up a website, blog, Facebook and Amazon author pages and make a book trailer. Making the trailer was the best of all. I'm going to have to work really, really hard on the blog and website for that is just not ME! But your advice is great! Somewhere in between is just right I think.

Amy said...

It's so hard when you're so excited. But I think it's necessary to keep people interested. I even had a lot of friends not understand that I had just signed a contract and wouldn't have a book for months. I think it's kinda like going to the movies. I'll see a trailer and think "Man, I want to see that." And the time finally comes. I go back to the movies and sit thorough the trailers and think "Man, I want to see that. More than what I came to see today." Holding off is the best tip I have. So don't expect much from book two until it's ready to hit the cyber shelves. Then hold onto your socks, cuz you'll be sick of me in a week! LOL

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

HI Aimee! **waves madly** Excellent advice. I, too, drove everyone nuts by sharing my excitment for months before the book released. What's worse, I think, was the intense blogging schedule I sent up for 3 weeks after the book's release. I was hitting 2 and 3 sites a day. Talk about overkill. Soon people were sick of hearing from me. Next time around, I'll schedule blogging with a little more sense. Great post.