(revised) confirmed blog tour dates for FAKING IT, as of June 1

Here are the confirmed blog tour dates for FAKING IT. I'm still waiting to hear on a few, and following up on others today.

June 8: Mystic-Lit at http://mystic-lit.blogspot.com/
June 9: Vicki Nadal at http://vicarella.blogspot.com/
June 10: Anthony Policastro at http://aspnovelist.blogspot.com/
June 11: Henry Hutton at http://www.publishandsell.com/
June 12: Alice Osborn at http://wildwomenswriting.blogspot.com/
June 13: Wendy Burt (Ask Wendy) at http://askwendy.wordpress.com/
June 15: Susan Miller-Cochran at http:
//mediatedlife.edublogs.org/
June 16: saraphim at http://sarahfim.livejournal.com/
June 17: Gina Elizabeth's Journal at http://ginaelizabethsjournal.blogspot.com/
June 22: Mit Moi at http://mitmoi.blogspot.com/
June 23: Barbara Quinby at http://www.weaveandsewdust.typepad.com/
June 24: Mary Jo Campell (Writers Inspired) at http://writerinspired.wordpress.com/

The generosity of other writers never ceases to touch me deeply and inspire me to pay that generosity forward. I am blessed to be part of a community of writers who are so willing to help other writers in any way they can.

See you all on the tour! I can't wait!

school's out, blog tour, and Kairos Calling gets a new name: a preview of June

My week back on my old stomping grounds in southeastern Massachusetts was rewarding in more ways than I can describe. On top of selling and signing at least a dozen books at the *Temper* launch party and other gatherings during the week, I am pleased to announce that *Faking It* is now available at Baker Books in North Dartmouth, MA, one of my many favorite places to go. In addition, the Claire T. Carney Library at UMass-Dartmouth also has a copy of *Faking It* available for loan, and soon the Campus Bookstore will stock copies for sale as well.

While on my trip, I was also surprised to discover that Faking It also has a listing on Amazon.com! I've been promising myself forever to get it on Amazon, but I had no idea it was already there! The site needs some work to be more visually appealing, so it's high on my To-Do list.

In other developments, I'm finally ready to embark on my own blog tour. This is something I've been wanting to do for months, and I've been waiting for the semester to end and to return from my homecoming trip since I knew such a tour was going to take a bit of planning. Stacey Cochran's tour, however, has proven to be quite an inspiration as well as an example Like a true fan, I've been following him from appearance to appearance, and each one offers a new tidbit! So far, I've secured five blog appearances for the month of June. I'd like to fill up the rest of the month, so if you have a blog (or know someone who does) and are willing to host me, please let me know. Likewise, if you'd like to guest blog here, please let me know that as well!

Finally, as you know, I've been threatening for awhile to give Kairos Calling a new name. I may wait until the blog tour is finished so as not to confuse people, but I've decided to go with "I'll Have What She's Having": The Official Elisa Lorello Blog.

I came up with the name yesterday morning, not long after asking my Facebook readers to please think of a new name. This one got the most thumbs up. I love it because I think its connotation can extend in multiple directions (the obvious *When Harry Met Hally* homage; the invitation to spread the word about my books and me; the fun and funny that I so try to incorporate in my own writing and blog; etc.)

Let me know what you think!

And please, do continue to follow Stacey Cochran. For all he does for writers and the writing community, he deserves all our support.

Oh, one more thing. I'm now on Twitter. There's a link below for you to follow me.
Cheers, folks.

guest blogger: Stacey Cochran, author of *Claws*

Thanks so much, Elisa, for the opportunity to guest blog at your place about my new novel CLAWS. Not only are you a tremendously talented writer, but you are tremendously generous and kind as well. Thank you.

So what is CLAWS?

CLAWS is a thriller set in Arizona with a wildlife biologist as the protagonist. Dr. Angie Rippard is drawn into a police investigation when two teens are found dead early one morning on a golf course. She suspects they were killed by a large mountain lion.

If you’re a fan of romance, CLAWS has that too. There are a couple of steamy scenes in the early part of the novel, and ultimately a major part of the story involves Rippard’s romantic triangle between her boyfriend and one of her top grad students. Put these folks in the middle of Arizona’s two-million-acre Tonto National Forest and throw in an endangered mountain lion, and you’ve got a pretty good sense of what my novel is.

I’m currently in the midst of a 45-day blog tour. For those who’ve never heard of such a thing, a blog tour is essentially a planned online tour where a writer visits blogs (just as I’m doing right now) in some sort of official capacity to help promote his/her novel.

In contrast to an actual roadtrip book tour, I can confidently say this is less expensive and less time consuming. And I’m currently writing this up looking rather un-showered and sucking down some freshly-brewed coffee at my writing desk at home.

Now I have no idea whether this will result in a single book sold, but a big part of the marketing strategy for writers like myself and Elisa is to gain exposure any way you can. And hope that your books find a receptive audience.

So what is the topic for today’s guest blog post? I would like to hear y’all discuss the most memorable marketing campaigns of your life.

Immediately, I’m thinking of the “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” campaign of the early 80s. That jingle has stayed with me for nearly three decades now. That’s effective marketing. Also, the Budweiser Frogs from the mid-90s (whatever happened to those guys any ways?). In terms of book marketing, I’ve never seen anything like Harry Potter and Rowling’s books have definitely changed the world.

I remember being in an airport and seeing a bookstore that had a Potter display with rip-off calendar dates counting down to the launch of one of the books. It occurred to me that there were thousands of similar displays all around the world, and everyone seemed united in their anticipation of the release of the book. Phenomenal.

So how you? What are a couple of the most memorable marketing campaigns from any business that comes to mind? What really sticks with you? Which ad campaigns worked?

*Temper* flares...

The first thing to hit me was the smell of the auditorium lobby.

I wish I could describe this smell, but I can't. It's dank, the result of concrete walls and stone floors. It stores all the dampness of rainy days and warm nights, I suppose. My good friend Crystal and I were walking to the bookstore to get some change to have on hand in case anyone needed it when we sold books. We cut through the Campus Center by way of the auditorium lobby, and as I walked through, my backpack in tow, I can't even tell you the flashback I experienced. Both as student and teacher.

The Temper launch party consisted of hugs and smiling faces, as well as my following on the heels of the next generation of writers, each of whom read their published poems or prose. I couldn't believe how young the grad students were, especially. But when I was introduced, and I stood before the small gathering, I experienced not a flashback, but something more powerful and moving. I was more than an alumna. I was someone who was so deeply connected to this campus, now claustrophobic with ugly new dormitories and eyesore buildings, someone who had an opportunity to give something back to this campus -- not another eyesore building or a monetary donation, but just words. My words.

I don't think I ever realized how deeply connected my novel was to this place. Not in terms of storyline and character or anything like that, but in terms of craft. Much of my writing took place in Mirasol's Cafe, for instance, or while walking around Ring Road as I thought about Andi and Devin and their arrangement. It took place in my Fairhaven apartment, and I talked it out w/ my friends and colleagues. Andi's knowledge of rhetoric was the result of my enthusiasm as I finished my graduate studies.

Perhaps I should have listed UMass-Dartmouth in my acknowledgements of Faking It. But being a special guest, being the old generation passing on the torch, was a gratitude that couldn't be put into words.

Oh, and I sold and signed quite a few books, too.
This has been a true homecoming. And I can't wait to see how it weaves its way into my next book. Because I'm sure it will.

Coming in the next post: guest blogger Stacey Cochran will discuss his new novel Claws as well as seek your feedback on book marketing as the future of publishing continues to evolve.

homecoming

I'm leaving for the northeast tomorrow. On Tuesday, May 12th, at 5PM, I'll be appearing at the Browsing Area of the UMass-Dartmouth Library for the Temper Launch Party as a special guest reader.

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am about this trip.

For one thing, I haven't been home (my MA home, that is) in two years. The visit is long overdue. For another thing, I'll be visiting not only as me, but as Elisa Lorello, published author. And I get to do this at my alma mata. UMass-Dartmouth may not have the recognition of Harvard or Northweastern or even UMass-Amherst, but it's the place where I re-invented myself. It's the place where I loved and lost and loved again. It's the place where I became a writer. Namely, the writer I am today. I don't think anything can make me more proud than to show up and say, "Look at what I created. I made this, and it's largely because of you."

Don't even get me started on returning to Mirasol's cafe. You can be damn sure I'm bringing my laptop...

Homecoming is sweet. It's special. It's a point in the road where you can stop and see how far you've come and how far you've yet to travel. Summer vacation has just begun, as has my work as not only a fiction writer, but marketer, promotor, salesperson, and so on. The number of hats a self-published author wears can be daunting. But in light of homecoming, it's also a thing of wonder and possibility. I like hats.

I'll see you soon, and be sure to follow up on the trip with a post or two here.
Oh, and head's up: the blog's getting a new name when I get back!

seeds and sprouts

It's happening again:

First, the what-if. It happened two nights ago while interacting in glorious conversation w/ people I've never met, faces I've never seen, yet bonding through the commonality of language and adoration. And yet, now that I look back on it, the seed had already been planted a day or two before that.

Then, the seed. I sketched the idea out late at night, just the basics. But I wrote nothing. I needed time to let the names and faces come to me. I needed time to listen to their voices. I needed them to whisper their truths to me.

Just now, as I walked, they came to me. Three of them, so far.

I've never had kids, nor do I ever want to, but I imagine that for many couples, finding out you are pregnant must feel an awful lot like the birth of a novel idea, minus the morning sickness. There's excitement. There's anticipation. There's anxiety. There's joy. There's a desire to announce it to the world in skywriting -- I've got a kick-ass idea for a novel! Title and everything! And there's a desire to have it born already, finished, perfect.

There's also the superstition that so many writers have, and I have it to a degree as well: Say nothing. Don't give specifics. Don't show anyone your work. It hasn't been born yet.

There's just one problem, though: I'm already pregnant.

That is to say, I already have another manuscript in draft form, and it too needs to be born. I have a co-writer (co-parent?) eager, anxious, excited. And I want to see that through first. I have a book needing to be delivered. I have a book that has already been fully born and needs my attention.

So, what's the point of this post?
I'm not sure, except that I wish I had more time and money. And dammit, I'm going to make the most out of these next three months.

what I've learned about promoting a book -- some tips

Some neat discussion threads have been taking place on Facebook in regard to self-publishing and promotion (giving away books in exchange for reviews), and what motivates people to buy books in the first place (in terms of ads, word of mouth, attractive cover, etc.). While no one agreed on any one specific thing, I did see some patterns emerge:

First impressions: Namely, an attractive cover, title, and synopsis. There's even been some discussion lately about the impression an author's photo makes. People do, in fact, judge books by their covers, and I'm one of 'em. Or, at least, they make me pick a book up, read the synopsis, and open to the first page. If I'm not hooked by the second page, I'll move on to the next book.

As a self-published author, cover art is probably the thing I struggle w/ the most. Despite my one-time aspiration to be a graphic artist (w/ emphasis on packaging, believe it or not), I've lost the visual eye for such things, and I never learned the technology (in fact, the reason why I dropped out was because it became computerized, and I preferred getting my hands dirty w/ paints and pencils and paper). Also, I never included a photo w/ *Faking It* (couldn't get the formatting to work), and I don't know if that will hurt me.

Word-of-mouth: This was probably one of the most frequent answers. And this is good news, because it's the cheapest form of advertising and promotion there is. There's a trend called "viral marketing" whose purpose is to get everyone talking about the product. Social networking makes this easier than ever to do, so we self-published authors (and traditional, as well) live in good times.

I know that several *Faking It* owners are already passing the book around to their friends and families, and I'm totally fine w/ that. It's how books like Twilight got to be the sensations they are. Heck, I even remember, a long time ago, a book called *The Celestine Prophecy* that was being passed around like *The Secret* -- I didn't read it myself until about five years ago, and was surprised to find that it was quite poorly written and mediocre, at best. Then again, I'm not a huge fan of *The DaVinci Code*, either.

So, the trick, then, is to get the word out, or "put your name out there," as they say. Organize a blog tour. Participate in discussion forums. Schedule readings. Ask your friends to tell their friends. Twitter. And so on. And, this leads me to my next point:

Endorsements: Perhaps one of the most difficult things for an unknown writer to do is get her book into the hands of someone w/ more name recognition and inspire that person to offer an endorsement or recommendation of the book (better yet, if they do it w/out you even asking them to, you're golden!). Fans listen to their idols. Aaron Sorkin recommended an aspiring playright read Aristotle's Poetics (also known as *The Poetics*), and the playright ordered it from Amazon that same day (as did other forum readers, I'll bet -- even I have it on my summer reading list). And when Jennifer Weiner mentioned a specific book that she was reading on her Facebook page, it sparked a lot of chatter.

But have hope, readers; social networking makes this task a little less daunting, and if you've gotten your viral marketing-word-of-mouth campaign going, this is not such a longshot. Follow authors' Tweets and Facebook fan pages. Read their blogs and make comments. Mail them a copy of your book.

Finally, the most surprising response:
A review in People magazine.. I shit you not. Apparently, people has cornered the market on reliable book reviews in a way the The New York Times hasn't. I'm guessing People is targeting commerical fiction and nonfiction (I wouldn't know). What I might conclude is that reviews on sites like Amazon might also have some sway.

Above all, however, I cannot stress enough that first and foremost, you've got to have a manuscript that has been written and edited w/ care. The story, even before the cover and snazzy author photo, comes first. Because, as many readers shared, while the cover may entice a reader to pick the book up, it's the first sentence, or paragraph, or page that keeps that book from going back on the shelf. And you have to love your book more than anyone else. If you don't, neither will they. Love and nurture them like you do your children or your pets.

Good luck, writers. I feel validated once again that I'm on the right track, but I'm looking forward to putting more of these strategies in action, and I'll keep you posted of their outcomes. And please, if any of you have ideas for promotion, or have had success w/ a certain strategy, by all means, share!

Happy writing, reading, and selling, folks. :)