Musings of Two Creative Minds

I'm sure most of you will remember that I got some business cards for "The Vampyre Blogs" which I will be releasing in December of this year.  I know a lot of people wished me luck and were curious to find out whether or not I've seen any difference in the traffic to the ongoing blog that goes by the same name. So today I'm taking the opportunity to tell you what's happened in the two weeks since the cards arrived.  As you can guess, I began handing out cards up at the university the very next day.  I left some lying around in the coffee shop area, as well as in the lounge where students hang out to be found by anyone who happened to sit down in either of those areas.  I also handed cards out personally in my classes saying, "Here's some free reading you can enjoy during the summer break, especially if you like vampires..."   Very few people declined, while others asked for extra cards.  They became even more excited when I explained...

Last week I talked about getting business cards to help market my other blog site "The Vampyre Blogs - Private Edition".  Yesterday, the cards arrived and here is what they look like... Front (click on card to get a better look) The front view contains information about me, the blog site and where to find it, along with my e-mail and a little note at the bottom letting people know the site is a precursor to the book which will be coming out in December of this year. Back (click on card to get a better look) The back view talks about the novel itself.  The title of the book and it's release date is clear and visible in the center, with a quote from Nathaniel above it.  Underneath the title, is another note that explains that "The Vampyre Blogs" is part of my Para-Earth series and that other books are available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other online outlets. "So what happens next?", I hear you ask.  This is where the fun...

Building an audience and marketing yourself... These six words strike fear and terror into the hearts of almost every new author I meet.  It also has the same effect on some of the more experienced authors I know as well.  Why?  Because there isn't a 'silver bullet' that will solve the problem for you.  There are so many different methods out there to try and raise audience awareness of your work and who you are.    Plus there's no guarantee which method is going to be the right one for you.  So you have keep trying and trying until you find one that works.  This is especially hard if you don't have a good budget to work with.  Many sites will promote your books for a fee.  Oh there are some that will do it for free, but the results vary from author to author.   You can also hire a publicity group to try and build hype, but even then you have to be careful.  The words "Buyer beware" applies to hiring someone el...