Captain NarrAy Jorlan, Senth Antonello, and ... the Harbinger

Something I learned about marketing myself and my books is to never make the reader have to look for me. In our instant society we snap our fingers at the microwave and say “hurry up!” LOL Whenever I email anyone or post online, I always have links to books or chats, or whatever I’m discussing. Readers like to click on a link and find things without hunting for them.

I just did a twelve-day treasure hunt with my Edge of Peril group (20 hard core fans) and they absolutely loved finding the details. Everyone who took part in the quiz at the end got the questions 100% right. They are already hooked, and enjoyed the search. New readers might do that for a contest, but if you send them to your home page and they have to click and hunt through tabs to find the book you’re promoting, you may lose them by the second or third click. Remember, writing is our lifeblood, but it’s also a business.

On my Romance Lives Forever group, I host author chats several times a month. You wouldn’t believe how many post an excerpt and give only the name of the book. No publisher info, no author name (their email isn’t always Suzy-Author-Jones, but may be (making one up) spudchef4835, or their husband’s name because they haven’t made an email for their pen name – providing no clue who they are. Some don’t provide links to their books, either. This is like telling a buyer you have a house for sale in Chicago, and expecting them to hunt it down. *buzzer sounds*

I give the reader everything they need to make a decision and find my book. I have higher sales, and when people hit those pages they find exactly what I want them to find.

Here’s a sample I created for the book that came out this week *dances* at Loose Id. I paste this only at the end of promo excerpts.

Antonello Brothers 1: At the Mercy of Her Pleasure (a Tarthian Empire
Book)
Available at Loose Id
http://www.loose-id.com/At-the-Mercy-of-Her-Pleasure.aspx
ISBN 978-1-60737-552-4
Format: ebook in multiple formats
Genre: Erotic Science Fiction Romance, Action Adventure, Younger Hero
Older Heroine
Heat level: R=explicit sex
Editor: Heather Hollis
Cover Artist: Anne Cain
Warnings: This book is a substantially re-edited, revised edition previously released by another publisher, and contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Anal play, dubious consent, menage (m/f/m), reference to rape offscreen.
Author website: http://kayelleallen.com
Author email: kayelle @ kayelleallen .com

I sign my name, give my tag, and links to important places such as another book, my yahoo group, or my blog.

The purpose of hanging out on groups is not *only* to chit chat, though that’s important. Readers are often impulse buyers. That’s why bookstores put genres together, so people interested in one author will find others who write the same thing, and pick up more books. Prepare your readers for that impulse buy. Never just sign your name. Readers will become accustomed to seeing your signature and recognize you by it. It’s not vanity to use a full signature, and it’s not mercenary. It’s business.