Become a Fan of Children's Author, L. D. Harkrader

Finding Fans by L.D. Harkrader

All writers want to reach their readers. Unfortunately, no one knows for sure the best way to reach them. I’m not sure, either, but over the years I’ve developed guidelines that work for me:

The best promotional tool is a good story well told. The easiest way to tell people about my book is to let enthusiastic others do it for me, and if I’ve done my job—created engaging characters, a powerful setting, a page-turning plot, gripping tension, and a bang-up ending—it’s more likely that my publisher, reviewers, bookstore owners, librarians, and, ultimately, readers will love my book and want to run out and tell other people about it.

Life’s too short to spend time doing things you hate. No one promotional method will work for every writer or every book, and no author will feel comfortable with every method. I decided years ago to promote my books only in the ways I enjoyed and was good at, and forget the rest.

For example, many authors get lists of bookstores across the country and call each one, telling the manager about their book. It works for some writers, but it’s something I’ll never to do. I know the bookstore owners in my area. It’s been amazing the way they’ve stocked and promoted my books. I always let them know when I have a new book out, but I don’t feel comfortable calling busy bookstore owners I’ve never met to try to sell them on my latest.

However, as an artist as well as a writer, there are some promotional endeavors I do well and enjoy. I designed my website (www.ldharkrader.com) and love keeping it up to date. Likewise, I’ve designed bookmarks, posters, and a book trailer (www.ldharkrader.com/Trailers.html). I do school visits and speak at library conferences, which can be nerve-wracking at first, but I’ve found that, shy as I am, I like talking about writing and books. And of course I write articles for blogs when I’m asked, because hey, I’m a writer—I love to write.  

The second best promotional tool is my next book. If I spend all my time promoting one book, I’ll never have time to write the next, so I make sure that writing is always my top priority. After all, the best way to reach readers is to keep giving them something to read.

Kathy Stemke's websites:

Moving Through all Seven Days link:http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/moving-through-all-seven-days/7386965#http://www.helium.com/users/406242.html http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/237923/Kathy_stemke_dancekam.html http://kathystemke.weebly.com
Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/kathystemke
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