Promotional Ideas

Promoting your work online is a great way to find an audience for your work. Most of the below suggestions are geared to promoting the work in our upcoming anthology on motherhood and loss, but many of the ideas also work for all types of publications and artwork.

Promotional Ideas

• Are there any blogs you follow or like to read? If so, you can send the blogger a request, either to guest blog, interview, or announce your work on the blog. Not sure where to find relevant blogs to our anthology or other work related to motherhood and loss? Here is a great directory of blogs related to this subject.  Or you can check out this blog directory for other subjects related to your work.
• Are there any message boards you frequent?  If so, you can use it to announce where others can find information about your work.  Not sure what message boards to post to?  Here is a great list related to grief and bereavement that includes forums and message boards.Or check out this directory of message boards.
• Social media is an important way to promote your work.  You can put information on your blog, twitter account or facebook page.  Or, you can also checkout Tumblr, Google Plus, Pinterest, or other types of social media.
• Contact reviewers who might be interested in your work.  Don't worry about trying to get our anthology reviewed-that's our job.  You can try this site or this one to find some reviewers who might be interested in a book you might have written and want reviews for.  If you do request a review, make sure you follow the reviewers' guidelines.
• You contact writers at examiner.com (they are called "examiners") who might be interested in promoting or writing about your work.   You can check out this list of writing examiners or book examiners in your local area or nationally.  Or, you can contact an examiner who might be interested in your particular topic by looking at this list.  
• A great way to get the word out is to send an email to your friends about your work.  You can announce your upcoming or future project.  If you want to keep your friends updated about a project, you can even create a mailing list (just make sure you get permission before you add anyone to a list yourself) for people to subscribe to.  Check out this guide for creating buzz about your work through an email announcement. 
• Find conferences to go to and promote your work.  Either create/participate in a panel related to your subject, have a reading of your work at a conference, or just network with people casually. For example, Fat Daddy's Farm will be represented at the AWP conference in Chicago. Here is a list of writing-related conferences and here is a general directory of conferences and conventions.  You can also check out this list of various academic conferences or this list of conferences related to the humanities and social sciences.
• Another option is to set up a book signing or reading at a local bookstore.  If you want to do this for our anthology, let me know so I can get you books at cost.  If promoting your work this way sounds interesting to you, you might check out this guide or check out these suggestions. 
• You can also set up a reading or book signing at your local library.  Or, you can give a copy of your work to the library so they can can loan it out to people.

This is not an exhaustive list of how to promote your work, but it is a great way to get started.  Do you have your own ideas or suggestions?  Feel free to share in a comment to this blog entry!