Wednesday, May 27, 2009

How to work the web

As I learned from my blogger mate Cheryl Kaye Tardif, a blog tour is a great way to generate buzz for a new novel. I have tried to follow her good example and have 10 blog stops to boost my novel, Russian Roulette which will be released on June 13th. The surprise was that just making contacts for the tour stirred up a lot more buzz for the imminent release. Here's what I picked up in my Google alerts!

First, the Crime Critics website posted a very nice review of Russian Roulette, the very first advance review published. Crime Critics is one of the best mystery review sites on the net, and I'm flattered that they plugged my newbook so soon.

I recorded a short promotional video for Russian Roulette, in which I personally explain my new novel. It's on You Tube and several other web sites.

Also, I was interviewed by mystery author Jean Henry Mead on her website, Mysterious People. She is an excellent interviewer who prompted me to reveal some new sides of my work.

And the lovely video trailer for Russian Roulette went live a couple days ago - it's ib a number of web sites but here it is for you. Circle of Seven Productions does the BEST work!



Russian Roulette was not my only writing effort to turn up on line. A blog post on The Stiletto Gang highlighted the new journal called “The Writer's Journey.” This new manual for authors is a collection ofwriters' essays on the craft and business of writing fiction. It'salso obviously a journal with pages left for authors to write abouttheir own journey. Thirteen writers contributed to this manual,including yours truly. Aspiring authors can e-mail me at ascamacho@hotmail.com to learn how to get an autographed copy of the manual from me.

While monitoring the internet for my activity it is sometimes surprising what Google Alerts will turn up. I found out that you can order copies of The Troubleshooter in India. I had to do some research to figure out what Rs 1143 is in American money.

And finally, the trailer for Blood and Bone turned up on a web site for African American Scholarships. Maybe someone will use it for a fund raising event. Check the posting on African American Scholarships.

Will all this internet activity really translate into book sales? I'll let you know in a later post.

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