For Good Luck

 

In several Asian cultures, there is a mythological beast called the Kirin. According to Wikipedia, the Kirin heralds the arrival of a wise sage or illustrious ruler. It’s appearance is a good omen and brings the one who sees it prosperity.

 

Not only did I see the Kirin, but I kissed him when we discussed the late summer release of my novel Dead with Envy and my short story “Strange.” Seems that kiss had a powerful effect; the Kirin’s eyes blazed! He promised me lots of readers and a successful new career as a best-selling author. Wow.

 

He urged me to get cracking on my next murder mystery, One Way Ticket to Las Vegas. Alrighty then!!

 

Marketing My Novel, Step 4

As part of marketing my first book, I need to start the next novel.

Statistics show that, on average, authors don’t start selling books until they have a minimum of four books on the market. I wonder what it is about human nature that makes readers decide to buy a new author’s work when there are four books out. Not two. Not three. Four is the magic number.

Seriously, I have to start my next novel now, as I am wrapping up my first one, even before it hits the presses.

I have considered cheating–writing a couple of short stories that fall in length between an in-depth magazine article and a novella–to try getting works in print on the market. I don’t know if it will piss off readers or tease them into waiting for the next full-length feature.

Already I have readied a short story called “Strange” (8,000 words) that will release at the same time as the novel. It is set in a fictional town in Pennsylvania. The short story can be packaged with the novel as a promotion, a special value, to tempt someone to buy my book because the reader will get two reads for the price of one. It’s a tactic I want to try. Will it work?

I don’t know. We’ll find out together, won’t we.

 

Coming Soon–A Novel and a Short Story

Over the next two weeks, I am going to PUSH to get the editing finished on the novel, so that I can put it into the hands of an editor. Also, I have a 8,000 word short story that I also want to release about the same time as the novel as a $.99 special on Amazon.com.

The short story is titled “Strange.” I am thinking of a marketing teaser that goes something like this:

Everything in this story is strange, from the name of the town to the personality of the male character to the abnormal fear of the female character to the strangely fatal  miscommunication between them.

If you were a reader, how would that strike you? Does it make you curious about the content? Are you tempted to read the story? Let me hear from you. Your feedback is helpful to me. Thanks.

My goal for getting the short story onto Amazon.com is the end of June. There is much to do between now and then. I’ll share my learning curve–and mistakes–with you. Better you learn from my mistakes than have to make your own.

There will be cover art to commission, editing and formatting to accomplish, and finally uploading the manuscript. Then comes the marketing. If I come across as a little overwhelmed in the next few weeks, the impression will be accurate.