Saturday, March 26, 2016

Nice Girls Do by Kait Carson


I’ve been on a high-speed merry-go-round lately. Those of you who know me, or follow me, are probably aware that my newest book, Death by Sunken Treasure, released on Tuesday. For most of this month, I’ve been everywhere. Seriously, I had to take vacation from the day job to deal with the demands. Twenty-four blogs, interviews, personal appearances, radio shows, and stpodcasts since March 1, nearly one a day. (Isn’t that a vitamin? I need one.) Yes, I have been busy. And it’s fun. And it’s exhausting. And it’s wonderful to get comments from readers and answer their questions. Do you sense a but coming here? You should.

My parents were older when I came along. (Surprise! It’s a girl!). Their beliefs and mores came from an entirely different time and place. Women didn’t work. If a woman did work, she needed to be a teacher or a nurse. Have a profession that she could fall back on after she had her children. (That one used to give me the creeps. I had an image of shelf after shelf filled with infants each with a nametag just waiting for the perfect moment.) And she had her name in the paper three times in her life. When she was presented to society, when she married, when she died. Nice girls did not promote themselves.

Oh yes they do! Marketing is a part of writing. For me, and most of us from what I’ve been told, it’s the hardest part. When I published my first book, I thought that if I wrote it, they would come. Don’t ask how I thought “they” would know, or even who “they” were. No matter, “they” would show up and love my book, and I would be able to live a quiet life in my office churning out book after book to my adoring fans. What was I thinking?

Death by Blue Water came out in November of 2014. It was gangbusters release, I had a great company do a wonderful, fun, Facebook opening, and I probably did five blogs and maybe two interviews. Then, my work done, I dug into writing Death by Sunken Treasure, the second book of the series. Death by Blue Water, the first of the series, quietly faded below the surface leaving hardly a ripple. (The Death by Blue Water e-book is available right now for Kindle, Nook , etc. for a limited time for $0.99. It could use a little love if anyone is interested.)

The release procedure for Death by Sunken Treasure is an entirely different animal. I have a wonderful company, Escape with Dollycas, who has arranged a fabulous blog tour for me. I hired a publicist, PJ Nunn of BreakThrough Promotions, a public relations company, to keep my name out there and to arrange bookings for me. She’s doing a great job.

It’s taken some getting used to this constant barrage of posts and tweets from me about what I’m doing next. I’m comfortable talking about me on Writers Who Kill. We’re family here. The topics that populate these multiple blogs range from my books, critters, writing style, and writing protocols to the history of cozy mysteries and other topics. The blogs are about everything except me. And I’m comfortable writing about all of that. Hopefully people are interested in reading about it. It took a while, but I realized that I wanted to know my favorite authors better. It’s not an imposition; it’s a reaching out of friendship, welcoming readers into the writer’s life. It’s okay to promote yourself and your books. Nice girls do.

Writers, how do you deal with the marketing aspect of this profession? Do you enjoy it? Readers, what do you find interesting about blog posts and author appearances? Or do you wish we would all just be quiet and write the next book?

11 comments:

  1. as a reader, a small amount of "buy my book buy my book" goes a long way, though I enjoy learning about topics related to the book content.

    as a newbie writer building my brand, I'm overwhelmed by twitter! contests! swag! blogs! giveaways!

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  2. Hi Kait, I am very excited for you! I hope that these marketing efforts will bring lots more readers to your fine books. I've heard that book two sells book one, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that these marketing efforts pay off for you.
    Some authors walk that middle line well, with authentic content instead of just "buy!" There are a few, who shall remain nameless, who share WAY too much WAY too often. Knowing how you were raised, I don't think you need worry about being an over sharer.

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  3. Wow - you've been busy! I find the idea of marketing myself a terrifying prospect, but so necessary to the business. I hope it gets easier with practice.

    Good luck with DEATH BY SUNKEN TREASURE! I look forward to reading it after DEATH BY BLUE WATER, which is now in my Kindle queue.

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  4. Nice guys, weren’t supposed to either. I’d rather wave a wand and have it happen without my breaking my parents' rule that was stated in the question, “Just who do you think you are?”.

    Best of luck with your latest, Kait. All the best,

    ~ Jim

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  5. You have an impressive marketing plan. I hope you sell a bunch of books.

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  6. Thanks all. Marketing is so tough and it is a fine line. With most of the blog posts, I talk about anything but myself and the book. Lately, I've been concentrating on the craft aspects. I think readers find that interesting and hopefully they'll remember my name when they're looking for a book. I apologize in advance for any typos. I've got a migraine and I'm trying to do this through the visual disruptions so I'm relying on auto correct.

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  7. I could definitely use some marketing improvement!

    The very basic stuff leaves me struggling, like Twitter (haven't even tried) Facebook (Although I have a page, I still can't figure out what it's supposed to do, much less why anyone would want to do it) etc. As it is, I feel like I have an information overload most of the time. Why would I deliberately add to my own or anyone else's overload?

    I have heard that your first 10,000 fans come one at a time, through personal contact. I have a ways to go on that.

    Best wishes for your success with Death by Sunken Treasure. And I hope your marketing strategies work well for you. Maybe I'll even pick up some ideas!

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  8. I just finished reading Kait's newest book, Death By Sunken Treasure. It has such an explosive ending--I can't wait to read the next edition. I loved this book. Good luck with the PR, Kait. A Necessary Evil, but of course, we're not supposed to think like that. Me bad!

    To everyone else on the blog--my apologies for being absent. We are coming down to the wire on moving. Today a photographer is coming to get the shots the realtor will put on the Internet. I see every speck of dust, mark on the wall, scuff mark, etc., I going nuts! Anyone need a house in Sterling, VA?

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  9. Jim, I understand the lasting power of our parents' questions.

    I struggle with the more basic one my father would ask if he found me trying to write a story. "What makes you think anybody would ever be interested in reading anything you had to write?"

    When I hear his voice in my mind asking that question, it stops me cold.

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  10. Kait, I do minimal promotion. Blogging for WWK, is one of the few things I do, and when a new book comes out I post it on my Facebook page. I don't have a Facebook Author page. Actually, the only promotion I do is to mention to new people I meet that I'm this little, old, lady who murders people. Sometimes, they ask about my books and I give them bookmarks, other times they just laugh. I'm sort of like Jim, in that I don't feel comfortable promoting my book unless I'm asked to do so. My dad always said he wouldn't brag about his kids, but pleased when other people praised his children. I guess I'm sort of like that about my books. After all, they are my creations like my children, right? My retirement income is not a lot, but enough to live on, so the little extra I get from the sale of my books is a bonus.

    Kait, I enjoyed your previous books and look forward to reading this latest.

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  11. Hi Kathleen, thank you for your good wishes. I admit, I am on twitter, but I haven't figured it out. You post something and it's off and lost in seconds. The best I can hope for is that I get all the notifications of who likes, shares, responds so I can at least send a thank you. It is impossible to find the post again. I wish I knew if there was a way to sort your tweet and see all activity in one place, but I don't think there is. FB is easier because they do have that system in place. Keeping my Kait Carson FB page and my Kait Carson author page populated is a trick I don't understand. the distributions are limited on the author pages unless you pay to boost. On your personal pages, the distribution goes to all your friends. That, I understand.

    Hi EB, THANK YOU! I am so glad you liked Sunken Treasure. It was a fun book to write. Sterling, VA is a great town. I hope you have an easy and fast sale. I wouldn't be surprised.

    Kathleen, so sad. You are a wonderful writer. Isn't it amazing how our parents continue to reach us throughout our adult lives for good or bad. One of the lines in the poem Desiderata changed my life, "You have a right to be here." I return to that poem, and the book The Little Prince when I need a pick me up.

    Hi Gloria, thank you so much for the kind words. I hope you enjoy Sunken Treasure. I'm not sure I will ever be comfortable doing the marketing (I enjoy the radio and personal appearances--but I think that stems from my love of acting), but I have learned that it is a necessary evil.

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