It's been a crazy couple of weeks.And the next week will be even more crazy still. Why?Because on next Monday, December, 2, 2013, my debut novel,Labyrinth of Lies, will be released by Champagne Book Group.
I am pretty ridiculously stoked.It has been an insane ride, a road filled with tears and sleepless nights, but every second has been precious.I truly wouldn't trade any of it.
I know this blog is meant to be a helpful tool to the writing community. I've dreamed my entire life of becoming a published author, and I had hoped that when I reached this point, I would have some wise words of wisdom to share with the world.Yet, instead, I only feel awed and humbled.Getting a book published as a first time author is truly paid for by sweat and blood, and yet, at the same time, I have learned so much from all of you and literally could've have done it without you.I have learned so much from this blog, from the fellow writers at Champagne.I am so thankful for all of the advice you have all given me and am so grateful that Champagne decided to take a chance on me.And like I said, this blog is meant to be helpful, and although I feel that I am still the learner rather than the teacher, I have learned a few things along the way.
Most of what I've been learning lately has involved the black-hole/time-sucker known as publicity and self-promotion.I really don't like this phase of writing, but I have been giving it my most sincere attempt.
So far, I have tried:
Emailing book bloggers to see if they would be willing to review my book. Emailing other bloggers to see if I can appear on their blog via guest posts, interviews, or cover art reveals. Maintaining a presence on by releasing short daily excerpts from my book (just a sentence or two) along with a countdown to the release date. Updating my ! Sending out press releases. Sending articles to magazines. Sending articles to websites. Trying to be somewhat active on , , , and , but finding that keeping up with social media is a pretty time-consuming job. Trying to find unique "niches" and use them for promotion.(i.e. I sew, so trying to get featured in a sewing magazine for a sewing project, while also slipping in the fact that I'm a writer with a book.) Asking friends to spread the word.
It has been going well, I think.I have been able to do some guest posts and interviews, although I am still looking for more opportunities. I've been getting really good feedback from people who have read the excerpts on Facebook. And today, I found that someone pinned an image of my book's cover art on their "Books I want to read" board, which was really cool and kind of surreal.I know it's nothing big, but it was still exciting for me.I've dreamed of being a published author since I was five, so it's really crazy to think that the fulfillment of that dream is less than a week away.
Will my promotion plan work?Well, I guess we'll see.But it is what I've been doing so far, and if you are in the same boat as me, maybe it will be a help to you.Yet, if you are further along in your writing career than me (which is the more likely case), and you have promotion tips that you think would be helpful to me or anyone else who reads this post, please feel free to leave them below as a comment!
Thank you all so much for your help and your support!Just one week to go!
***Hannah Lokos is a sleep-deprived college student who writes books on the side.Her first novel to be published,, is scheduled for release this December 2, 2013.She is thoroughly ecstatic!! She also has a website, and a .
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