I just finished this book, and I thought a review of it would be entirely appropriate for the blog. I met the author a few months ago through KindleKorner, a Yahoo group I'm a member of. Someone was recommending one of his books as being a good read set in DC. Since my series is set in DC, I decided to give it a try. Blood and Bone is an excellent hard-boiled detective novel. Austin and I met in person, and I've been following his newsletter. In a recent newsletter, he mentioned the book on marketing, and I immediately ordered it, even though it wasn't available as an e-book, and I read very few paper books these days. No regrets. It's good.
The book is primarily aimed at the small-press or self-published author, and he covers almost every element of book marketing. He talks about the look of the book to make it look less like a self-published piece. He talks about using short stories based on your book as a marketing tools.
He has a lengthy section on ideas to get your book in front of people. If you've never done a reading, he has the template for what he uses at readings of Blood and Bone. I'll certainly be referring to his template when I do my first book reading!
I particularly liked his ideas for non-traditional outlets for your book. He discusses how to get your book in local coffee houses and how to sell them at craft fairs. I never would have thought of the craft fair, but I could see that being an excellent avenue!
Missing from his book were using social media and how to market e-books, not surprising since the book was last revised in 2008, before either of those had hit the big time. However, don't let that stop you from reading it. He's almost convinced me to release Warlock Case Files in Print on Demand versions, just so I can try out some of his ideas.
You can learn more about Austin Camacho at www.hannibaljonesmysteries.com. Oh, and my review of Blood and Bone is currently the featured review on the site. Cool!
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