I keep reading very confusing blogs about what “works” in the selling of the books. Call me an idiot, but I’d think writing books people want to read should be good enough. Apparently not. Nope, this will not be another whiney post about how nobody is buying my books. Whining is apparently very bad for booksales, as is begging. Judging from book covers, cleavage and soulful eyes are good. Perhaps I should rethink my cover, and go with a “French postcard” theme?

So what does the great hive-mind say works? Word-of-mouth apparently, but it has to be on some humongous scale. Ads are good for exposure but the effective schemes are not only expensive, they require you already have a requisite number of positive reviews. So FIRST I’ve got to get those reviews. Doing the best I can on that front. Blood Diva is still available to “professional readers” on NetGalley. I don’t directly control who gets those copies, but if you want to review and are turned down by NetGalley or don’t think you “qualify,” write me. I’ll happily send an e-copy to anyone with a track record of fair reviews on Amazon and/or Goodreads, as long as they have read the sample and description and know what they are getting into.

A blog tour is another way of getting exposure (which should lead to word-of-mouth). I chose Bewitching Book Tours because I loved the Bewitched inspired logo, and they focus on fantasy with strong female protagonists. Per the previous post, you can follow me as I virtually flit from stop to stop with guest blogs, interviews and OH YEAH, giveaways including of the paperback. Giving away paperbacks is supposed to be the gold standard of how to get popular.

(And yes, I feel very much like I’m running for Prom Queen or something. Given my actual high school experience, that’s not a good feeling.)

If you want to enter the giveaway-raffle just flit over to any over to a tour stops. It’s easy. No purchase required, but you do have to do something – like send out a tweet. You know how to tweet don’t you? You just press your fingers against the keyboard, and hit send.

I’ll be running an additional giveaway-raffle on Goodreads soon. Stay tuned for details.

Of course, if you don’t want to enter no stinking contest, you could just ask me for a paperback. No, I’m not giving them away like candy, but if you’ve already read a sample and/or you are my ideal reader – an opera-geek like me who is obsessed with Violetta Valery in all her incarnations as well as the real woman who inspired her – then I might send you a paperback or even a super attractive mug (ginormous cat not included) especially if you write me (or comment below) about the various ways you would help be my buzz. Reviews are a start, but not the whole shebang. Let’s get creative. Let’s experiment.

What else could I do to get the word out?  Why don’t you tell me? Did I just hear you say “buy links” and “links to great reviews”? What are your other great ideas? Comments and thoughts would be more than welcome.