the reluctant marketer

I have been described as weekend marketer. An amateur marketer. An armchair marketer. The Age of Persuasion is my favourite show on CBC radio. (And don't tell my husband, but meeting Terry O'Reilly was a fantasy come true.) I have was the Marketing Coordinator for the Kingston WritersFest last year. Many of my business communications students go on to great careers in marketing and advertising and I love hearing about all their adventures.

But sometimes I think I am a reluctant marketer.

Because actually doing this marketing thing is a LOT of work. Do not believe the line "If you build it, they will come." If you build it, and develop a massive online and in-person network of relationships, shared interests, and mutual support, and feed and support those relationships with energy, humour, and helpful information 24/7, you might get some buzz. (Buzz, by the way, is a term I almost never hear anymore.)

You can't just slap together a poster and put it on some telephone poles. You can't announce the launch of your book and expect everyone to rush to the store to buy it. You can't just build it and expect anyone to come.

It takes time. Energy. Brain space. Attention. Passion. Connections. Discipline. Repetition.

And a lot of generous help from writers and publishers who are paving the way. Thank you, Beverly Akerman! Her article will serve as the template for UpStart Press's foray into ebook publishing.

Which starts now...

Coming soon...

Pre-order today!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/94630872/dead-beautiful-a-novel-by-melanie-dugan

Genre: literary fiction/general fiction/fantasy /young adult
ISBN: 978-0-9783774-7-2
Publishing Date: May 2012
Price: CAD 19.95 (ebook CAD 5.99)
Trim: 5.5” x 8.5”
Page Count: 169 pages
Format: Paperback, perfect bound
Contact and Ordering Information:
Christina Decarie
upstartpress@kingston.net

http://www.etsy.com/listing/94630872/dead-beautiful-a-novel-by-melanie-dugan

About the Author: Melanie Dugan is the author of Sometime Daughter (“Stunning debut,” Kingston Whig-Standard) and Revising Romance (“heartwarming, amusing and … downright sexy,” Midwest Book Review). Her short stories have been shortlisted for several awards, including the CBC Literary Award.

Marketing Plans:

• Readings, panels and workshops about publishing in the digital age, publisher/author relationships, writing and publishing in an age of “disappearing” publishing houses, marketing yourself as an author, how to balance a job and the writing life.
• Literary festivals across Ontario
• Reviews in local and national newspapers, magazines, and websites
• Local (Kingston) book launch
• Readings and interviews on local and national radio
• Blog tour

For book clubs:

• Author readings/discussions
• Discounts (ten or more copies)
• “Questions for book clubs”

just in time for christmas!

A stocking stuffer for the writer in your life!

Writing Lessons, Ten Tales of Suspect Instruction by Peter Darbyshire, author of Please and The Warhol Gang.

Art and design by the other half of UpStart Press, Darryl Joel Berger.
You can find copies for sale at Novel Idea, in downtown Kingston, or here.

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Browse ...

Look inside ...

Uncommon Magic for Your Book Club!

Nearly thirty years ago, Bronwen Wallace wrote of the common magic that makes up our lives, of the “sudden miracles, that breathe there.”

Since 1981, the writing group that Bronwen Wallace began at St. Lawrence College has been breathing into the lives of its members, breathing into writing, making little miracles.

Bronwen wrote about the common magic that made everyday life happen. But a writing group lasting for thirty years—even for thirty weeks—is not so common. In fact, it is a rarity.

For three decades, this group has supported old pros and those still learning their craft. It has given voice to writers without an audience. It has given the solitary, community. This anthology—a reflection of thirty years of writing from a diverse, ever-changing group of writers—is a testament to its legacy and evidence of magic. Uncommon magic.

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There is a natural relationship between writing groups and book clubs. Both love the written word. Both bring process and experience out of solitude and into community. Both find intellectual and spiritual delight in sharing the creative experience. Many book club members write. All writing group members read.

Uncommon Magic offers your book club the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the creative process of writers—often writers living in your own community—and to explore the relationship between writers, readers, and even ourselves as both.

“Questions for Book Clubs” provided with book club set orders.

217 pages | paperback | $25 | ISBN 978-0-9783774-4-1

Discounts available for orders of ten copies or more

Check with your local library for book club sets

It's real, and it's for sale!

Uncommon Magic: Thirty Years of Writing from the Ban Righ Writers Group officially became a real book last night at its launch. It could be yours for $25.

Please visit Novel Idea in downtown Kingston or click here.

You're invited! (Yes, YOU!)

In Stores Now!

A whole new concept for IIKT--a workbook rather than a book-book. Spiral binding so students can lay it flat while they read or work from it, questions at the end of each section with space for notes, making it all the easier for me to work it into the lesson plan this semester.

Available exclusively at the SLC bookstore.