Tootin’ Your Own Horn by J.Q. Rose

Guest blog by J. Q. Rose

My mother always told me, “Those who tooteth not their own horn, their horn remaineth untooteth.” In other words, be bold about yourself in this world. Let everyone know what your talents are.

I found this to be true after becoming a published author. In this day and age, in order for the world to know you have a book to sell, the author is responsible for tooting her own horn about it. Publishers (unless you are a bestselling author) do not have the budget to promote your writing, so it is up to you to do it.

When I was slaving away at writing my book, Sunshine Boulevard, I did not focus on anything but getting the story put together, revised, and polished to be ready to submit to the publisher. I was prepared for rejections, but happily the second publisher, Muse It Up Publishing, offered me a contract.

A release date, nine months away from the contract signing, was set. I expected to go through the editing process and the cover art design and figured on March 1, 2011, the release date, I would announce to the world my book was out and ready for readers.

I soon learned that was not how one sells a book. Months of preparation are needed BEFORE the release date. Setting up a website and a blog, guesting on other blogger’s sites, and creating a buzz about the book are all necessary to establish a platform, in other words, to find an audience of reader buyers.

But it doesn’t stop there. After the book is out, there is even more guesting, blog hopping, commenting on blogs, schmoozing on chat groups and loops. Since my book is an e-book, I mainly stay online for promotion. I did try a book signing, but it is difficult without a physical book to sign. Many folks who came to my author table just looked at me with blank stares when I could not produce a printed copy. I have no idea how many times I had to explain my book was in cyberspace. Just order it and it will come to your computer or other reading device. I could almost hear the theme music to the Twilight Zone playing in the visitor’s head as he stood there in disbelief. As you may have guessed, I have not pursued anymore book signings.

Before and after your book is published, you will be spending a LOT of time on promotion. I made the mistake of promoting and not writing. I was caught up in it, perhaps even addicted to spending hours on line trying to find the next opportunity to promote. Too late I realized the importance of having another book ready to publish. Once you snag a reader, they want another story of yours to read. Unfortunately, I didn’t have one.

My advice is to realize that you will have to promote your new release, but do not stop writing. You are a writer. Write the best story you can, promote it with a big send-off, then spend the majority of your time penning your next best seller and limit your hours of promoting so you can also have a life with your family and friends.

J.Q. Rose is the author of the mystery/light horror novella, Sunshine Boulevard, available at Muse It Up Publishing, amazon.com and bn.com and major online booksellers.
Find J. Q. Rose online at http://jqroseauthor.blogspot.com and http://jqrose.webs.com

How to Lose Subscribers

In our chats, we talk a lot about how to present yourself properly for marketing. This week, I had an experience of how NOT to act toward subscribers.

I signed up a couple months ago for a newsletter. Thought it sounded interesting and wanted to take a look. As busy as I am, newsletters tend to pile up until I find time to sit down and read through them. Last week I tried to catch up, including some of the LWL newsletter.

First, it wasn't really a newsletter, it was just a blurb and a link to their blog. I find that annoying, but a lot of people are doing it. So I clicked the link to read on. I was confused because the post didn't seem to have anything to do with the blurb in the "newsletter". After a little searching, I realized that the email didn't give a link to the post it was talking about, it just gave a link to the main page of the blog. On my dial-up connection at home, it took a lot of time to look around, check the archives, and finally find the post I wanted to read.

This past weekend, I was playing catch up again. Once again, the LWL emails all had a single link to the main page of the blog. I located one post, and then decided I didn't have time to search for the rest of them. I decided to let the owners of LWL know that I was having problems, and that there is an easier way of doing this. So I sent this email:

"Could you give a link to the post you're talking about, instead of to the main page of the blog? I don't have the time to go searching for the post you're talking about. I don't have a chance to read these emails everyday.I'm about ready to unsubscribe, because it's too difficult to find the current topic."

Yes, my frustration shows. But the response I received was not at all what I expected. (Names removed from the email)

"Audrey, what specifically do you find too hard about scrolling through our blog titles and reading what you feel compelled to read ?

"If you've been around long enough, you already know by now XXX and XXX run a pretty tight ship with their readers. And, that means stuff like a) teaching self-reliance b) not molly-coddling to impatience and ineptitude and c) being direct when it comes to prompting some people to get out of their own way.

"Having said that, I see one of two choices: #1) Sloooow down, take a DEEP breath, and take the time to read our blog ( there's a reason each post has a LARGE heading ) #2) Unsubscribe

"Yup, life is CHANGE. Growth is OPTIONAL. Chose Wisely !" (Typo in the original)


I did scroll through their blog titles and found I wasn't "compelled" to read any of them. I'm inept because they don't know how to direct people? I need to get out of my own way? I decided what I needed to get out of was this worthless mailing list.

This was my reply:

"Forcing your subscribers to waste their time is not running "a tight ship". It's an inept use of the internet, inefficient, and shows that you don't care if people read what you write or not.

"I chose #2. As the owner of two successful businesses, I don't waste my time with sites/lists that insult me or waste my time. I've unsubscribed.

"And thank you for your unprofessional email! I will use it in my marketing classes as an example of how to destroy your reputation.

"This was definitely the wise choice. Have a wonderful day!"


First rule of business: The customer is always right.

Audrey