I still have no idea when exactly PLOD ON, SLEEPLESS GIANT will be released. There’s the cover art that still needs to be finished and the final touches that need to be done with the design; but as the author, my job is not complete. There’s a pretty disgusting side to this publishing biz … a dark and lurid side that will make me seem like an addict in need over the next couple of months(maybe even longer).

That side of the business is promotions. I need to sell this book and I need to do it anyway possible. Does this mean I need to harp friends and family on Facebook consistently? Do I need to shamelessly bring up my book while commenting on a picture they post of their children dressed up for trick or treating?

I sure hope not, and in doing some research–and reading the blogs of other writers–I found that there are many more, less abrasive ways to promote this literary baby of mine.

We all know the epic reach of Twitter, and I’ve been tweeting for a while(SHAMELESS PROMOTION: follow me @mpmcvey), but what about a twitter account for a character in my book? Sounds fun and easy, so why not?

So now Temelephas, the elephant that humbly pushes his wheel at the center of our world, has a twitter account. Being an elephant, he has very little to say, besides promoting the book he’s in. But now I find myself also tweeting out fun facts about elephants, and photos of cute elephants(TEMELEPHAS HAS ZERO SHAME, BEING FICTIONAL: follow temelephas in twitter, @temelephas).

Tweeting has always been a gray territory for me, seeing how I find it hard to say anything of great importance in so few characters. Also, I refuse, refuse, refuse to type anything in a broken language that vaguely resembles English. But with time and practice, I am finding ways to trim my comments back to a more manageable amount of letters, numbers, and symbols.

Then there is the ever popular Facebook author page(AGAIN SHAMELESS PROMO: like me, M.P. McVey) giving my friends and family the option to hear all about my publishing thrills and woes. It’s easy-peasy, just slapping a couple photos up and invite friends to like and share your page.

Linking your blog to your page and twitter also make it nearly effortless to write and post things to promote my book(I HAVE NEARLY NO SHAME LEFT: look for information on my book in the near future, PLOD ON, SLEEPLESS GIANT). Then if you want to reshare it all over again, it’s as simple as clicking a button. Important note, it has been observed that the premium time to share posts on Twitter and Facebook is between 6pm and 8pm EST … so schedule your post to go out around then.

I just signed up with Triberr. I have little experience with it thus far, but all you end up doing his sharing other bloggers posts and having them share yours as well. How hard can that be? It’s quite literally clicking on a button, then clicking one button more. You also get exposed to many great bloggers, and I’ve learned a lot about blogging topics and ways to market your posts.

That’s all I have for now. As always, I’m open to suggestions, please leave them in the comments section. I’m nothing if not anxious to learn new and interesting ways to promote myself and my book. FOLLOW ME, LIKE ME, BUY MY BOOK!