Big happenings on the book marketing front, even if I am a bit delinquent in keeping up this blog, or running account, or what ever it is.The fact of the matter is that I have an author reading coming up two weeks from tomorrow at the Barnes and Noble store affiliated with John Jay College. There is a lot of good news here. For one thing, the location is in mid-town, Fifty-Fifth Street and Tenth Avenue, a little over to the west, but not bad. The reading is at 5:30, a time when there will still be some student traffic and some of my friends and relatives will also me be free. The manager of the store, a nice guy, is also pushing the event. He is going to send out a "blast" to the entire student body by e-mail, and to the faculty as well. But I am not leaving the marketing up to him.
I printed up five hundred copies of a flyer with the date and time, my best quote and a description of the novel. I gave half to the manager which he said he would use in the store and to "leaflet" nearby apartment buildings. I've been giving my half away to everyone I can and have also been in the neighborhood, "Hell's Kitchen," putting them up on the walls of delis and laundromats. I can do more of this. I've also been promoting the event on my Facebook page and with a invitation to Facebook friends. I got the local paper around here, The Riverdale Press, to run a notice of the event in this weeks edition, and there is a chance they may go with an article about me and the way I am confronting mental illness head on. More on that later, hopefully. There are other websites, some affiliated with newspapers, that run listings of author readings in the New York City area where I think I can get listed. I'm trying to spread the word. Let's leave it at that.
As for the reading itself, I've selected six passages from the novel that I think will make for a dramatic presentation. I've done this twice before, so I have some idea what I am doing. I'm going to keep the reading part short, no more than twenty-five minutes. Then come questions, if there are any, and book signings if anybody buys the book. I think I'll sell one or two at least, but I'm keeping expectations low.
There is one other thing. I know some authors are able to generate sales entirely on the Internet, but with my novel, that addresses the loaded topic of mental illness, I believe there is added value in seeing the author in person, seeing him smile and interact and act normal. It just brings the whole thing home in a way an Internet posting, no matter how humorous can not.
The N.Y.U. book store down by Washington Square Park has agreed to hold a reading in early February at seven in the evening, a better time for the after work crowd. I plan on promoting the heck out of that one, especially with the John Jay reading under my belt.
