Dear publicist:
I am not interested in paying thousands of dollars for your publicity services offering a slew of interviews on national media. I’ve been doing my own promotion for years successfully enough and for free. I write for eBook publishers, so my audience is downloading on the internet. At night, they read instead of watching TV talk shows. Besides, national media exposure can become a career in itself (I know, I used to be a radio talk show host) and all the hoopla, travel, and preparation involved for all these interviews would take time away from what I’m supposed to be doing, which is writing more stories for my loyal readers.
Unlike one-book-wonders who promote and milk the same best seller for years and never write another, popular fiction authors must produce consistently. Most mega names in popular fiction these days (you know who they are) have to pay ghost writers to write their novels, because they are too busy with TV, movies, national paper interviews, premieres, book tours, etc. My goal is to write my own quality stories, not start a multimedia franchise. I choose quality and integrity over greed. I believe that’s the secret of true success, self worth, and happiness.
I know my readers understand what I’m talking about. All they want is a great story at an affordable price. And that’s what I intend to provide for them, as long as I can write. This is my pledge to them. I love you guys. Keep reading.
Oh, and Snatched is free today in kindle on Amazon. Grab it quick by clicking HERE. You won’t regret it. It’s a five-star romantic science fiction novel well worth the read.
Snatched from a post-apocalyptic battlefield by galactic traders, Zania is sold to a clandestine ring of fighting Amazons, on a planet lush with green jungles and teeming with deadly felines. She resents the gorgeous and overzealous Viking champion, Svend, who saves her life but too easily accepts slavery. Adulated by a woman who claims to know her, hated by the jealous Amazon queen who fancies Svend, Zania seeks escape...
But Svend knows the price of rebellion, and on this seemingly peaceful planet, ruled and defended by machines, nothing is what it seems, not even Zania herself... Among the rumbles of a volcano threatening to explode, an insurrection is brewing, and no one is safe...
Vijaya Schartz
Blasters, Swords, Romance with a Kick
http://www.vijayaschartz.com
Find Vijaya's books on Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/author/vijayaschartz
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Love it!
ReplyDeleteAmen. Good comment and Your book is on my list of things to be read.
ReplyDeleteVijaya . . I couldn't have said it better. Way to go! I'm 100% behind you on this one!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Gail, Ann, JL and Rita. I knew you would understand. We are writers, we write, that's our reason for living. Again. I love you guys.
ReplyDeletePerfectly said! So glad to be on IRI loop with you :)
ReplyDeleteWow! A radio talk show host too Vijaya. Clever lady. I agree with the post, especially the ghost writing bit, and I've just downloaded Snatched too.
ReplyDeleteYou tell 'em! Well said, Vijaya.
ReplyDeleteThank you Rashda, Sheila and Sally. Glad to be in such good company. Hope you like the free read, too.
ReplyDeletePerfect, couldn't have said it better myself. I just received one of those letters today, telling me how, for just a few dollars, they can help me.
ReplyDeleteI hear you, Roseanne. There is a whole industry of publicists who just realized that there was potential money in eBooks, and they are targeting us writers to get a piece of the pie. The thing is we do need publicity in order to survive, but through the internet, we can promote ourselves directly to our target audience.
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous book cover, and lot of action in the blurb. You are so right about publicity.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Vijaya. Great advice. Thanks for sharing. I once heard an award-winning mystery writer say he paid a bundle to a publicist, who promised he'd be a best-selling author on all the major lists. It didn't happen.
ReplyDeleteVijaya, well said. While I find marketing and promo a challenge, I appreciate the opportunties the Internet gives us. It's about the quality of the story, not the greed.
ReplyDeleteSmiles
Steph
It seems like you might have been called by the same promotional outfit that called me today. Luckily I did a quick Google search and found out that they are scamming authors.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mona, Sandy, Steph and Maryann, for your warm support. Yes, this post was a reaction to a solicitation that same day, and I gave them a piece of my mind. The fact that they are scammers is even more disturbing. Hope my letter told them authors are not that easily duped. Still, authors beware. As they say, when something sounds too good to be true...
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