One of the things I liked best about working with Smith Publicity is that they don’t just drop you like a hot rock once the three weeks is done. If they receive requests for the book after your time with them has come to an end, they forward the requests on to you. They also gave me a list of 25 media outlets that they sent inquiries to but had not heard back from for me to follow-up with on my own. I really appreciate this type of service and am glad I chose them for my marketing blitz.
I had my final wrap-up call with my publicity team and received more requests that day and throughout the week. I had also received a request for a review copy of the book from Finland. Yes, Finland. I know, I know. Did I send a copy of the book to Finland? Yes, I did.
So, at FedEx, to send a copy of my book from the United States to Finland would have cost $156. I am proud to say that I did NOT pay that amount to send it to Finland. However, I did walk over to the post office in the same strip mall, and to end it via USPS was only $24. The Field is now on its way to Finland!
I also got a couple reviews on NetGalley. One was five-stars; the other three-stars. What was interesting about the three-star review is that she thought the book was good but it wasn’t her favorite. I’m okay with that. My main takeaway was that the reviewer liked the book, and maybe she has a harder star-grading-criteria than other reviewers.
I’m still waiting to hear back from KRCR-TV in Redding. I’m sure the producer wanted to read the book prior to doing a story and having me trek up to Redding, so I hope to hear from them soon. If not, it’s okay. I have plenty of other opportunities in the works.
And that’s the bottom line with all of this. A book isn’t a movie that has to make millions its first weekend or the industry sees it as a flop. With a book, especially one that’s self-published, it takes time to gain traction and get the word out. The book is now in the hands of over 60 people. Over the next few months, I hope that even a half or even a third take the time to read it and post about it. As I said in a previous post, this is a marathon not a sprint.
I’m just excited to finally be on the journey and am grateful to Smith Publicity for helping me get the word out about my novel.
If you have any questions about my experience with Smith Publicity or want more details about anything I talked about, please feel free to leave a comment.
