Okay, the heat is being turned up. It's two months before re-release time and time to start stepping up promotions. I recently found out what my publisher is doing for me as far as marketing, and I can honestly say, it's not surprising. It had been drilled into me a long time ago that even if I was picked up by a publisher, I should expect to do my own promotions. Which is the good thing about having self-published before. I have a little experience with this and I know what worked for me and what not to waste my time on. So, I have my outline together of what promotions I'll do and when. I'm going to try to reach audiences that I wasn't able reach when I was self-published.

And I'm already starting to feel the pressure. Because while promoting the first book, I'm trying to write the second. So my mind is going back and forth between the both of them. Even if I don't start the heavy promotions until a month before the re-release, I have to plan all of that out and get some things into motion before then. So now I'm at a point where I have to set a schedule for promotion work to because if one is not careful, a large amount of time can go into that.

So if I still promote my own book, what's the good thing about being with a publisher? Well, definitely the ability to do all of this full time, even though I still don't have enough hours in the day. But if I was still self-published, I'd have even less hours. Also it's great to think that when the book is out, I won't have to pack and lug my own books to my signings and everywhere I go. Ah, and I won't have to chase down bookstore owners and distributors to get paid so that I can continue. That alone is worth being with a publisher.

But even though marketing and promotion through the publisher is starting off small, I do know (and my agent confirmed) that as we build up our audience and sales, then the marketing and promotion should build as well. I know this is true, but sometimes it's hard to get beyond the fact that national exposure is what's needed in order to accomplish that and you know it's tough for you as an author to get national exposure on your own. So you hope that being with a publisher, they'll give you that national exposure. Only the truth may be, that you have to prove yourself to be worthy of national exposure dollars. And well, how is one able to do that without sales that you don't have, because it's your first book. :-) So, it's a cycle and you see and you understand, but you just want things to be different.

Of course, all this puts my mind into high drive on how to get as much exposure as I can and to try to get the word of mouth going. Gotta start somewhere. And I'm going to have to again count on the support of new readers who are unfamiliar with me or my work, and to take a chance on me. Now, I just gotta work on reaching them. :-)