I told Brooke I would share a break down of what it was like to promo the first book.

Hello! I'm Marilu Mann (also known as Cai and Arwen because I am a writing team--grin.) In October of 2007, I received an offer for my first book from Ellora's Cave. Barely thirty days later I received an offer for book two in the same series. Subsequently I have sold another novella to EC and am waiting to hear back about book three in what is now the Lusting Wild series.

We knew that we would have to promote ourselves. Most houses (print and electronic) expect a great deal from their authors (particularly first-time authors) in the way of publicity. Generally speaking, there is not a large per-author advertising budget. So Cai and I turned to our fellow authors to find out what they did! We got some great advice about guest blogging and joining various email loops where readers of our genre (paranormal romance) might be.

First thing we learned was: Do not join a list to simply promote yourself. Engage on the list. Be present and participate. Do not make every post "buy my book" because that is just annoying! Do share excerpts and blurbs but don't make that the only thing you do!

Cai and I came up with a promo plan in December 2007 that we launched in January for our May 7, 2008 release date. We started hustling our friends who had guest bloggers. We actively looked for places to join that promoted authors. We found a few and I want to offer them to everyone here. I tried to note which ones are publisher-specific etc.

Here is a list of all the places we hit. Some of them were unexpected like The Hussies blog.

PROMO:
• Announcements on e-lists

   

• Ellora's Cave Authors (EC specific)

   

• Ellora's Chat (EC specific)

   

• From The Heart Romance Writers (RWA Chapter -- online and the first chapter Cai and I joined)

   

• Fantasy, Futuristic, & Paranormal (RWA Chapter -- online specialty)

   

• Nythearn (Private critique group that Cai and I belong to)

    

• (other loops specific to other interests where we are known as authors)
• Our MySpace page
• Our Facebook page
• Printed Pens
• Printed Recipe Cards

Various Internet Appearances Billed As The Whirlwind-Never-Leave-Your-Chair Virtual Book Tour
• http://www.myspace.com/myspace_authors (contact owner of blog)
• http://www.myspace.com/brookereviews (looking for authors to do blogs)
• http://thehussiesblog.blogspot.com/ (Surprise mention in a group welcome to new EC authors)
• http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/CTRNewsletter/bookreleases.html May 2008 Issue (Join CTR)
• http://www.manicreaders.com (joined community. did written interview. no date set for release of interview)
• http://www.ladyjaided.com/authors.html May 2008 Issue (New author interview for EC's monthly newsletter)
• http://romeroticawriters.blogspot.com/2008/05/i-hate-waiting.html (monthly group blog with 30 other writers)
• http://www.shelleymunro.com/blog/  (guest blog)
• http://wwww.passionateink.com May 2008 Newsletter ($ paid advertisement in RWA chapter's newsletter that goes out to public as well)
• http://interviewswithauthors.blogspot.com/2008/05/interview-with-marilu-mann-contest.html Contest offered (contact owner of blog)
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/loveromancescafe Spotlight (contact list owner)
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ellorascavechat List Mom Day Contest offered (signed up via group calendar [available to EC authors only])
• http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/board/ Ellora's Cave Author Day (owner of CTR set this up)
• http://www.theromancestudio.com Featured Author $ Book Give Away (member offer)
• http://community.livejournal.com/romancenovels/ (general once a month announcement of new releases)
• http://www.magicalmusings.com (guest blog -- one of the owners contacted me)
• http://www.momdotcom.blogspot.com/ (Fellow Author Blog)

Most of the blogs we visited were not blatant "buy this book" appearances so much as blog entries that offered entertainment. We did mention the book of course. :) However, we tried to offer more than blogs about writing. Our MomDotCom blog shared humorous dinner disasters. Le Feu Follet, about Louisiana ghost lights, hit Shelley Munro's blog. The interviews were a lot of fun. Basically the interviewer sent us a list of questions and then we answered them. Some we answered as the unified voice of Marilu while others were identified as Cai or Arwen.

The week of the book release was exhausting. Both Cai and I felt a lot of pressure to have a presence on various lists. I actually took a day off from work because of it. We learned a lot though. The primary thing is that starting early was our smartest move! We have another release in September and I have a note to myself to start making dates with blog owners to do the same thing again. Your calendar will be your best friend. When you schedule a blog, put that date down as well as another date reminding you to write the blog. The lead time reminder was invaluable to us.

And of course we did the mass emails to friends and family where we shrieked something along the lines of "MY BOOK IS OUT". So hopefully we will see in our first revenue check the positive results of our crazy promotional tour. The good news is that we didn't spend a dime on hotels or airfare!

Oh btw? Our book is out. No really!

Blurb: New Orleans sizzles when Dr. Carly Chambers finds herself in the hands, or paws, of sexy shifter and antique dealer Tony Pantera. Though the memory of his murdered human lover haunts him, Tony can't deny the sensual scent of this doctor his friends kidnapped. Carly is now in danger because of his enemies.

The Turn Skins are power-hungry shifters who want to expose themselves to the world and take over through fear. Tony and his friends stand in their way. Carly proves to be a tool for Turn Skins when they learn that Tony can't resist the attractive doctor. And Carly is happy to stroke this shifter's fur. Their erotic encounters hurtle them into the path of danger and death.

Can Tony protect his human lover from the Turn Skins who don't care if she's hurt as long as they get their way?

Read an excerpt at http://www.greatmta.com/ct_excerpt.html

Buy the book: http://www.ellorascave.com/productpage.asp?ISBN=9781419915796