Mindy Carlson

This week, at the end of a marathon writing sprint lasting 3 days and producing over 9000 words (but the rough draft of Book 3 is DONE!), I was given some new, fun stuff to do by my publisher. I’m not talking about simple line edits.

The first fun thing was an author questionnaire. It was a long document to collect information they will use to market my book. It also resulted in opening my eyes to just how much I knew, but didn’t know I knew, about my book. Themes, beloved characters, odd things I did while writing the book, the parts I love, the parts that were hard to write. It’s an oddly cathartic reflection on a project that’s consumed my life for the last 2 years.

Then you get into the publicity end of things. Because publishers are in the business of selling books and, therefore, so are you. Every author wants their book to be read and loved by their readers. In order for them to be read and loved, however, readers have to know they exist. We all kind of know this will be part of our job, but the actual writing of the book is so all-consuming we sort of forget there’s a lot more to do once we type the words The End. Which brings me to the next treat they gave me…

A marketing guide. At first glance it was an overwhelming amount of information. Professional groups to join (I immediately joined 2). Conferences to attend (there’s one the end of August I’d be at in a heartbeat if it weren’t for my pesky job). How to use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc (I have a lot to learn). And their Number One Thing You Must Do is start a newsletter.

I admit, I knew this was coming. I have a blog (hello!) and I post monthly and update my To Be Read photo at the first of the month. Isn’t that enough?

No. Going to a blog takes time and effort. A newsletter fits ever-so-neatly into every inbox. It’s easy to read and easy to forward to a friend. Plus it’s easier to do fun things like giveaways and sharing excerpts from my books. It will have all my event and book signing information, fun tidbits about the book I won’t be sharing anywhere else, and pithy tales of the writing mom.

So, I logged onto MailChimp, opened an account for myself, and sat down to relisten to the wildly smart and extremely talented Sarina Bowen‘s advice on starting a newsletter on the #AmWriting Podcast.

Or, I will listen. Just as soon as I finish my edits for this book that needs to be turned into my publisher before I can worry about telling you all about it.

So, please sign up for my email newsletter, tentatively titled MindyLand. This is going to be FUN.