Marketing Inspiration From a Fellow Writer

Friend and fellow writer Kate Evans is on fire. She not only had her first novel, For the May Queen, published last fall by Vanilla Publishing, but is about to launch her second novel, Complimentary Colors, the story of a woman who falls out of love with her self-absorbed boyfriend and in love with a wonderful woman.

Here's a excerpt:

I was craving something, but I wasn’t exactly sure what. I wanted something new. I wanted something beautiful. My life was at a strange stand-still, stagnant as the smoggy San Jose air. So I’d signed up for a poetry class. I’d been looking forward to it all week, but now as I sat in a university classroom, waiting for class to begin, I thought maybe I’d made a mistake. The students leaned on their desktops, talking to each other in the circle of desks, casual and comfortable in their jeans, while I sat stiffly in my work clothes: black blazer, pink blouse, dark nylons and black heels, my long brown hair pulled back in a clip.

Sitting in the circle with us was Professor Alameida. I knew her name because it was printed on my class schedule. She had long gray hair and a craggy face, and the sleeves of her denim jacket were rolled up to reveal silver and turquoise bracelets. When she opened a folder, silence descended on the group.

Just then, the classroom door creaked open. In walked two people, two women. They were unlike any two women I’d ever seen. They both had short dark hair, gelled into spikes, and they wore black leather jackets, baggy jeans, and black boots. It’s hard to explain now why I didn’t think “lesbians” right away. Or “dykes.” But I didn’t. It was 1992; why would I have known any gay people? Or I should say lesbians. I did have an old college friend, Manny, who was gay, or so I assumed. He now lived in Massachusetts; he’d moved there with a guy I thought was his lover. But my life, not unlike many people’s lives, was mostly filled with people like me. In my case that meant straight people, in their twenties and thirties, who were dating, or engaged, or divorced. The lesbian world might as well have been taking place in Massachusetts, while I lived my straight life in California. Until that moment, of course.

Kate, who also writes poetry, is at work on a memoir and teaches writing at San Jose State University, is an inspiration to us all, both in her steadfast pursuit of steady publication and in her preparation for success. Rather than wait for the publisher to take charge, Kate starts marketing months in advance via her vast Facebook connections and with links to novel excerpts, biographical notes via the publisher's website, constant updates via her own websiteand features on whatever online and in-person media outlets she finds.

Kate is an outgoing person and a generous fellow writer. If you've just received the happy news your novel will be published, but don't know where to start in terms of promotion, my guess is Kate will be happy to point you in the right direction. Her blog also features loads of helpful websites.

Good luck, Kate, and happy writing!