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Larnette Phillips
Please join me in a big Word Museum and PromoBeats welcome to Larnette Phillips. Moe: Please tell us what name(s) you write under, the name of your book(s), the genre of your book(s), and the formats.
Moe: What do you do to promote your book(s)? Larnette Phillips: I promote somewhat differently than many authors. I have a large database of people who follow my work so my books are promoted in that respect; I advertise in several different venues and I promote my books via my seminars and workshops. I also promote through the writing and other professional organizations I belong to. It streamlines my efforts; saves a lot of time and accomplishes sales at the same time. I do conduct "special promos" such as an Evening with the Author--that type of thing. Additionally, I work directly with libraries across the country. Moe: What method or methods of promotion have you used that works well? Larnette Phillips: Of the promotional methods listed above, I'd have to say my seminars and workshops rank #1, and a following at a close second is the database I work with, followed by the libraries and then advertising. Moe: What method or methods of promotion have you used that have not worked well? Larnette Phillips: I find that as a "mid-list" author, dealing directly with bookstores often times does not work--they're usually looking for the name brand recognition from someone who has hit the NY Times Bestseller List and since I'm not there (yet), I spend too much time trying to get enough recognition and backing from them. Moe: Where did you learn how to promote your books? Is there a special place or places where you find good promotion information? Larnette Phillips: I learned how to promote my books, first of all by learning this business inside out (I've been self-employed in it full time since 1991) and secondly, I am a corporate refugee who left direct and outside sales prior to writing so that training and those skills have a direct, and most positive, influence on my promotional and marketing efforts. I don't really look for promotional information anymore since I utilize the knowledge, resources and contacts I've already gained within the industry through the years. Moe: Do you like to promote? Or do you find it frustrating? Larnette Phillips: I do enjoy promoting (very much) but it comes from my love of both my craft - and my love for people. As authors we tend to isolate ourselves too much (I think) and the connection to our audience - both on paper and in person - are equally important parts of the equation. I enjoy the interaction and it gives me an opportunity to understand what my readers love about my writing. Moe: Have you been interviewed as an author? By which mediums? Larnette Phillips: Yes, I have been interviewed by internet radio several times in recent months and I have also been interviewed quite a few times by the newspaper medium. I am now in the process of working towards a NPR interview and a television interview. Moe: Do you have any good promotion tips for your fellow authors that you would like to share? Larnette Phillips: It's important to realize HOW IMPORTANT networking and promotion are for your writing. Get involved with finding your readers and doing something to touch them in some way; connect with them through some kind of special event. Also, it's important to be consistent with your promotion. When you find what works, utilize it time and again. If it doesn't work, don't spin your wheels and continue beating the proverbial dead horse. Instead throw it out and learn how to reinvent the wheel. If you write fiction, print out a first excerpt (the entire Prologue and 1st Chapter) and carry copies with you where ever you go. You'll be surprised at how it promotes you, your book and those much-needed sales! Moe: Please add anything else here you'd like to say. Larnette
Phillips: With your writing, remember the voice inside
of you. Moe: have any good promotion tips for your fellow authors that you would like to share? Larnette Phillips: Be vigilent and stay focused. Learn your market AND your audience and the best methods for tapping into it. Moe: Please add a bio. Larnette Phillips: A corporate refugee, Larnette has been self-employed full-time as a freelance writer and author since 1991. She has published several novels; conducts publishing and marketing seminars for writers. Larnette is President and CEO of her own production company, Leprechaun Rising, which produces her book collection, Southern Shady Ladies -- Tea and Scandal at Seven - and under whose umbrella Larnette conducts Women and Success motivational seminars. 05/04 |
Larnette
Phillips: I write under my own name, Larnette Phillips.
I first published a spiritual novel entitled Faces --The Sacred
Journey in 1999/2000 (it's now available only as an e-book);
in March 2002, my romance novel Seasons was published in soft
cover by Publish America; it was produced in audio book by
NorthStar Audio (August 2002). My literary mainstream novel
Sully and Me was published in soft cover by Publish America
(September 2003). It also won First Place in the National
Gary Awards Competition by Fiction Works (August 2003) and
is now in production as an audio book with full theatrical
production, actors, sound effects and an original score. I
produce my book collection (humor) Southern Shady Ladies --Tea
and Scandal at Seven under my own company, Leprechaun Rising
in soft cover.
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