Day 29: From California to the New York island

Above me, that endless skyway… Photo: Joshua Tree National Park – NPS/Robb Hannwacker (Creative Commons Flickr)

Along the indie publishing road, it’s tempting to think that I must go it alone. The wheat fields are waving, the dust clouds are rolling–and I am traveling that lonesome highway on my own.

After all, I make the decisions, hire the services, and set the deadlines.  Daunting, yes. But I’ve discovered that I kind of like having my hand on the wheel.

Today’s prompt wants to know the perfect person or company to partner with in order to sell my novels…from California to the New York island. If only it were that simple! Promotional giveaways at BookBub, while helpful, will not be the master key to unlock success. And if there’s a retail tie-in for selling fiction, I haven’t found it.

My perfect promotion partner is…you. You, the individual reader, will make the difference. Because word-of-mouth sells books.

A happy reader, with social media at her fingertips, is the secret. It’s an old school idea, coupled with tech resources.

“Rolling down the river” — a fire ant raft. Photo: Maggie (Creative Commons Flickr)

The strength of an army lies in numbers. Take these fire ants, for instance. (Please take them–far away!)

Horrors, what a terrible image for promotion! But I can’t get this picture out of my mind. It shows how fire ants are dealing with the Carolina floods. And when that mat hits dry land, the ants will spread out and multiply. Kind of like word-of-mouth does for a book.

Okay, now I’m feeling itchy. (Trust me, the video version is even creepier.) I guess I should have stuck with the “This Land is Your Land” imagery!

I’m thinking the other bloggers won’t have pictures of fire ants. Here’s the list of participants if you’d like to check it out. Thanks for stopping by!