Promoting, Promoting

After covid, every author’s plans for promoting his or her books has had to change. Previously, I spent a lot of time and effort preparing lectures on the history behind my novels. I presented mostly at local libraries, for audiences varying in size from as few as two people to as many as 45.

Mostly I avoided using social media to promote my books because I don’t understand it and could not bring myself to like it. I need to change that attitude because who knows when libraries will re-open and I’ll have opportunities to give my lectures again?

Besides, even a successful lecture at a library, with 45 people attending, might yield sales of only 3 or 4 of my books. Other authors have told me that seems like an average yield. But like it or not, I’m going to need social media.

What’s more, my promotional efforts have always been locally based. How can I hope to reach readers outside the Philadelphia area if I don’t use social media? For all these reasons, I have to bite the bullet and either learn to use social media on my own or hire a consultant to help me.

I hope I can someday resume my lecture series. Listeners have enjoyed my presentations, I can tell. But face to face won’t give me the exposure I crave. And “crave” is the word.

I don’t want to come to the end of my career knowing that I haven’t done everything that I possibly could to gain an audience for my novels. I have to know that, whether I succeed in selling many books or not, I left no stones unturned in my efforts.