Staggering toward Self-Promotion

Okay, folks, I now have in my hands the tools for successfully launching The Brink of Fame, this book of mine that will come out in the middle of August: two advance reader copies (ARCs, to insiders in the know) and a killer trailer. The trailer is cool. You see it above. The ARCs are also very nice. My problem is twofold: how to get people to look at the trailer, and who to give the ARCs to.

You can see for yourself that the trailer is fun. The book is also fun. Here's what you can do for me: you can send a link to this page to all your friends. Or all the friends you have who might enjoy seeing the trailer. Unlike the book, the trailer is free. Free entertainment. What could be nicer?

The problem of the ARCs is more difficult.

The thing is, what I like to do with free books--and at this stage of the game I only have two of them--is give them to my relatives. Or give them to my friends. Or give them to someone who likes my work. But if I'm ever going to get anywhere in this business I'm going to have to spend all my resources promoting myself, and that includes my two poor little ARCs. No longer can I make presents of these things to my sisters-in-law. No longer can I give them to Annie and Lesley. I have to get these puppies into the hands of Important People Who Will Buzz About Them.

This is where I pull out the business cards of all those folks I talked to at the conferences who expressed interest, the ones who run huge bookstores with widely circulating newsletters, or who blog about books online and have way more followers than I do. They were so kind, they promised to review the book, I can see their faces as clearly as my own. I just can't remember their names. The cards, where are the cards?

Ohgodohgodohgod I'm going to have to clean my office.