"The notion that such persons are gay of heart and carefree is curiously untrue. They lead, as a matter of fact, an existence of jumpiness and apprehension. They sit on the edge of the chair of Literature. In the house of Life they have the feeling that they have never taken off their overcoats."
- James Thurber, My Life and Hard Times

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Do you really draw more flies with honey than vinegar?

As I've probably mentioned before, I'm completely excited about my book coming out, and I'm on the verge of becoming that annoying author who wants to speed things along. If you can visualize it, picture a short redhead hopping around Karen Syed, asking, "Is it time yet? Should we release it yet? Can I do anything yet?" I fear that's what I'm doing, cyber-style.

In an attempt to stop myself, I'm trying to write other things, but my mind reserves a little corner for my book - constantly hinting that I'm falling behind whatever schedule I've imagined for promoting Freezer Burn. It drives me to sometimes play a little with some advertising - an excerpt on my website, a mention on other blogs, etc.

A couple of days ago, I built a slide show about Placentia, using this website called SlideShow (what else?). Even though I live there, I went to different places around the city and took pictures, to remind me of the look and feel of my town while I was describing it in the book. They served as inspiration for Peri's home and office, as well as where you could hide a body.

My question (and the key to the title of this post) is, does this strike you as a marketing tool? Or just a cool toy to play with? Before you answer, here's the slide show:


Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think this is a great tool. As a reader, and as a publisher, the more connection I have to a book and its characters, the more I enjoy it. So having some visual aides is a good thing.

As a publisher, I like the idea of you having reminders out there to people who will be chomping at the bit to buy your book when we do release it.

And I don't mind the jumping and hopping, I am amused by and appreciative of authors who feel the need to share their enthusiasm.

http://karensyed.blogspot.com

January 4, 2009 at 11:36 AM
L.J. Sellers said...

I think it can be an effective tool as well, especially if you have multiple book covers to display.

January 4, 2009 at 2:17 PM
Helen Ginger said...

Right now, it's cool. I think it would make a good marketing tool if you synced the pictures to the captions. Then it would be almost like a trailer for Freezer Burn.

You are creative and come up with original ideas, plus the blog is fun to read. That's why I'm passing the Premio Dardos Award on to you. You can read about the award at: http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com/

January 5, 2009 at 6:35 AM
Gayle Carline said...

Thanks, everyone, for your comments. Especially Karen, who has to put up with me (ha ha).

And Helen - the Premio Dardos Award? My little blog? I'm touched! I better get over to your website and read the rules!

January 5, 2009 at 8:26 AM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Proud Member of ALA!

I support fair and equitable library access to ebooks and so should you.