Reminder

Please don't forget that my book signing will be a week from today at the Hastings store in Pittsburg, KS, from 1:00 to 3:00. I'd love to have you stop by and say, "Hi!"

I ran around town yesterday and today, getting permission to put up my posters about the event. Most of the people I encountered were very nice. A barista at Starbucks offered to tell her regular customers about me. A man told me his wife's first name is the same as mine and introduced me to the woman running a small bookstore in the mall. A librarian moved a few posters to make room for mine on the bulletin board.

This all reminded me of a fact: I am not just a writer. I am also a marketer, as uncomfortable as that title makes me. I don't have a whole team of marketing specialists writing copy and putting my name out where everyone can see it. It's just little ol' me, setting up a book signing and posting away on the Internet.

But it's really not just me. It's you, too. I can sit at a little table in Hastings with a stack of books beside me, post as often as I can and even stand on a street corner waving a sign with the titles of my novels (although I haven't resorted to that last one yet), but it won't do much good if the word doesn't spread. In that sense, YOU are my marketing team. That's right: you! This doesn't mean you have to get Oprah to read one of my novels. It means that every time you mention one of my novels to a friend or relative, the word has spread that much farther. Maybe that person doesn't want to read my novel, but that's okay; maybe that person will mention it to someone who does want to read it. Maybe that person will mention it to two other people, who will mention it to two or three other people... See how that works?

This doesn't mean I'm going to sit back, put up my feet and wait for the world to rush to my door. What it does mean is this: I'll keep posting to this blog every week, but it's about time for me to start concentrating on writing again. Marketing is important, but it's not why I got into this. I did it because I love to write, so I'm ready to go back to that. I suspect my characters have a few more tales for me to tell!

Thanks for all of your support. I'll be working on the third novel!