Everyone knows the best promotion is word of mouth. One
person tells another person who tells another person who tells someone else and
the word is out.
Although I’m sure the BIG NAME authors rely on word of mouth
too, it’s crucial to those of us who are lesser known authors. You see, we
don’t have a staff of promoters and an unlimited advertising budget. For many
of us, it’s just us. We do what we can to get the word out about our books but
without readers to help us do that, we’re not going to sell many books.
And, let’s face it, that’s why we write. We spend long hours
at our computers telling our stories in order to get our books in the hands of
as many readers as possible. Because we believe that what we write will help
other people. That, through our books, they can escape into another world where they'll be entertained and possibly enlightened.
In addition to being a mystery writer, I’m an avid mystery reader and many of my friends are
too. They’re very supportive of my books, which I greatly appreciate, and they
frequently ask me for suggestions on other books to read. I love to pass along
the names of authors whose books I’ve enjoyed and I encourage my friends to spread
the word to their friends.
I hope you’ll do the same.