First off, thanks to those of you who jumped on the opportunity last week to grab some gear and have it shipped for free. The fact that every person who did so already had all the McSciFi books they wanted gave me a warm feeling inside. Also, my handwriting sucks, so not autographing stuff is a relief.
As many of you know I have been having some of my toes dipped into the bubbly pool of film licensing. What you may not know is that the rest of my toes are going to be pimped to the media for articles, interviews, tummy rubs, and whatever else gets my name out there. And that, as you may have guessed, meant I needed to gussy up my bio and pretend to be an adult. Eventually I’ll get a pedicure.
All of this has also meant that we needed to create an Electronic Press Kit (EPK). And not just one, nope, that would be too easy. We need one for every release. Right now we’re concentrating on my full length novels, but I hear rumblings that may change. Of course, that could just be my stomach.
While I can’t share the EPKs we’re developing as they contain, personal and proprietary, information we’d rather not see scattered around the web, there are elements I can and will share. Hopefully you’ll think they’re as cool as we do.
The one thing that anchors every EPK is an author’s bio. My regular bio has been online for over five years. It also had two typos for over five years. It may not have been the go-to read I’d envisioned. Or, maybe people assumed I was an idiot and took pity on me. Either way, there were typos. They are gone now.
The new bio has been gutted and updated, finally got all references to vodka removed (I quit drinking), added in my professional affiliations (I have a couple), and now clarifies that I can be trusted not to bite people in a social or professional setting. That seemed important.
To create my EPKs we went to an expert. Award winning and incredibly talented author, Jamie Jo Hoang, has created the bible for EPK creation. The only update you need to remember is that Twitter now allows 280 characters instead of 140. You can handle that.
Obviously, if you use that link to create your own EPK please keep in mind you don’t need every single item she lists. Use what you have, I’ll bet it’s more than you think, and get going. You can’t win a race you don’t start.
Success isn’t pie. There’s some for everyone. I can cheer you on without harming my career. And vice versa.
As I noted above we can’t just be tossing EPKs out willy-nilly. The last thing I need is someone showing up at my home at 5:00 AM wanting cookies. But we also need to be able to share useful information. So, aside from my new bio we have also created promo pages for my novels that can be used by anyone else, such as reviewers or commercial partners who need some support info.
Those pages are proving to be useful and popular. You can check out the finished pages for The Brittle Riders and SPLICE: HIT BIT TECHNOLOGY via the links. We are currently in the process of building a page for Goptri of the Mists: Kitaab Ek. It’s light on visuals at the moment, but the reviews are solid.
As always, thanks to all of you who keep following along and welcome to those of you who wandered in and decided to stay. You’re the reason I get to do what I do. Until next week, stay safe and sane.
