Week 4: Work on Other Books

As I mentioned before, you can't keep all your eggs in one basket. So, I'm starting over with another novel - one completely different from the series I have out already. Not that I am done with the Angelmen series - not by a long shot. But good writers write. They keep on writing and they don't stop.

It felt good to get writing again. Since I have finished writing all the books in the Angelmen series, I had to move on. Blog posts get the writing juices flowing, but it's just a trickle. Novels are what flow through my veins.

I love excitement, so the new novel will be a stand alone thriller. I also love character and drink up character flaws, so one of the main characters is psychotic. (Talk about a fun character to write!) And, I love sports, so this book is about American football. What could be more exciting? I'll soon be looking for an agent to represent me with Behind Closed Doors.

While much of the week was spent looking for an agent, I couldn't completely put aside marketing opportunities. Here are a few things that came up:

1. Book Clubs
After reading some comments on Goodreads, I was given a hint to look at Book Clubs on Facebook. I found a few related to my specific genre, but I am waiting to be accepted to these groups.

2. Looking for more reviewers
Twitter has been my best resource in finding bloggers and reviewers. I have created a giant list, and I'm going through account by account, researching and deciding who might be a good fit. This will take a while, as I can usually only get through one a day.

3. Receiving a beloved piece of fan mail
Getting zero sales and little response from all of my efforts has left me sighing. Then I got an email from a fan who loved the book she bought at one of my recent events. Her encouragement turned my day around and helped push me to remember why I want people to read my book!

4. Sending out a couple of books as promised
It took a while for my print copies to come in, and some potential readers had ordered a few from me. Now that the books are in, I was finally able to get those books sent to the hungry eyes waiting to read them. 

5. Still finding book sales events
Last week, I was not very successful in finding events to sell books. Since those are most profitable outlets for me, I want to stay on this task. I am still searching out avenues to sell my book in person.

The most fun I had this week, however, was planning an upcoming book talk at a local elementary school. This coincides nicely with the teaching I've been doing during the week too. This will probably not lead to sales, but it's still a great opportunity for this writer!

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