Susan Rae—Sizzling Suspense: Returning to the Scene of the Crime, or Promotion 101

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And now for my blog:Returning to the Scene of the Crime, or Promotion 101

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In Freefall, my hero and heroine travel to Door county to track down a lead in the attempted murder plot, and they find much more than they bargained for.  I set the novel in Door county, because it is one of my favorite places to vacation—great big blue skies, cliffs of  the Niagra Escarpment overlooking the sparkling waters of Green Bay and Lake Michigan, wonderful lighthouses, and, yes, golf courses.  I thought the idylic setting a perfect place for murder.

Going back on vacation, I knew I needed to use some of the time to promote Freefall, but, since it is an ebook, it was a bit challenging.  You can’t exactly schedule book signings when you don’t have the physical book to sign.  So I went back to the basic principle of promotion, or what I call, Promotion 101—talk the book up, not necessarily myself.  Tell just two people, then two more people, then two more people, and if you get them excited about it, perhaps they will tell two more people and so on and so on.

But how to approach this without being rude?  To start off, I had business cards made when Freefall was released.  Very simply, on one side is a section of the cover showing a plane in distress with the title, Freefall,the tag, Sizzling Suspense from Susan Rae, and the QR code for my web site. On the flip side is a section of the cover of my first novel, Heartbeats, with the tag, 4 stars—RT Magazine, and my web address www.susanrae.com.

 

On the golf course, paired with another couple, inevitably the question of one’s occupation comes up.  It was fun explaining that I was an author and that I loved the setting of Door County so much that I set a major portion of my recent book in Door County.  This generally started very nice conversations because they also loved the setting, which is why they were there.  I then handed them a couple of my cards and explained that I’m with ebook publisher Musa Publishing and that the books are available at Amazon and all major ebook retailers.  I was able to expand this approach to anywhere people were enjoying the scenery: at the overlooks, on the beach, on the bike trails, even in a couple of the shops my husband and I visited.  It also helps when you are interested in what they are selling, too, which was not difficult with so many great shops in the area.  I took a few cards of the merchants myself to spread around!  It was fun talkiing about the books and I think the people I met genuinely enjoyed it, too.

Anyway, a little more challenging is approaching people at dinner, but my husband dared me to approach a table of six women, two tables over, who had finished their dinner and were passing an Ipad around while they chatted.  I didn’t want to be rude, but, it was a dare…so, I took a few cards out of my purse, very nicely approached them and asked if they read books on the Ipad.  Well, they did, and a very nice conversation ensued where I introduced myself and asked if they would like a card, and I explained a little about my book and the web site.  They asked some questions about writing, which I was very happy to answer, then I quickly excused myself as to not be too intrusive.

So, there you have it, Returning to the Scene of the Crime, or Promotion 101.  A fun combination of work and play.  And I’d like to send a special thank you out to all those people I spoke to for your interest in my work!

Now for the Musa 1^st Anniversary Blog Hop Giveaways!  What is your promotional tip, or your favorite place to vacation?  Leave a comment and you will be automatically entered to win a free download of Freefall in the eformat of your choice!

Then hit the Musa Blog Hop Button below to continue on with the Hop and some other great giveaway opportunities, including Musa’s Grande Prize of a Kindle Fire!

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Until next time, Happy reading!

Susan Rae