Xia seems to be going pretty well so far. I've been chipping away at my Stuff To Do list. I have a problem with avoidance behavior. Sigh. At least I know I have a problem, right? Today, I requested the vacation time for Comic Con in San Diego -- Looks like I'll be signing My Wicked Enemy there (don't know what day yet). I'm planning to fly there and back on the same day. Hope that works. I also threw in the vacation time for RWA. So that's done. I also emailed my editor about getting the artwork for my cover so I can do bookmarks and maybe a book trailer. But I haven't done any of the BIG stuff on the list and I just don't want to talk about it. I'm procrastinating, thank you very much.

Now I need to figure out where to send my ARCs. I know where one is going. That leaves 13 others. Some to on-line reviewers, but which ones?

I also need promotion ideas. I can't afford any of the cool ones I'd like to do and I lack the talent for a DIY. Not to mention lacking the time. The issue for me is I've never heard any one say the things writers commonly do are known to work. Does MySpace actually sell books? Dunno. Do contests sell books? Dunno. I have minimal and anecdotal evidence that bookmarks work. Book trailers? Dunno.

What makes me buy a book? There are 2 big reasons:

1. I love the author


2. People are talking about the book

That's pretty much it.

If I'm browsing in a bookstore:

1. I know the author


2. People are talking about the book


3. The cover art or title is interesting which makes me read the back blurb, and that sounds neat

Nothing on either of those two lists is anything I can do something about.
I'm wretched at promotion. But mostly I'm impacted for time. Ok, I guess I can do something about letting people know what my books are about. MySpace may actually be good for that.

Off to work on Xia some more.

Labels: My Wicked Enemy, promotion, Xia