Marketing 101

I thought we'd chat about marketing today, as that's been on the forefront of my mind lately. I have a new Love Inspired novel releasing August 1st, FIREMAN DAD, and I've been trying to think of fresh ways to promote it.

So far, I've spread the word on Facebook, my blog, and this blog, gathered influencers to read early copies and spread the word/post reviews on their FB/blogs/Amazon, etc. and have a booksigning set up for Friday night, August 5th at 6:30 at Barnes & Noble here in my hometown. I'm fortunate that the store CRM wanted to help promote me, and she's turning the entire store that night into a fireman theme - children's story time in the back with books and crafts, and she even contacted the city fire department to come out and do demonstrations with equipment :) I also prepared a big giveaway basket, all fireman themed or red in color, to have a drawing for during the signing.

But I need to go outside the box a little more - because it's fun, and because that's where you reach people. Thankfully, Love Inspired has an amazing book club and do a lot of marketing for their authors, but this isn't always the case and I want to do my part, besides. So I need to find my audience - where are the firemen? Where are their wives and moms and aunts and grandmas and kids? How can I reach them with word of my book? These are the questions someone in marketing needs to ask.

Since my hubby IS a fireman, this is a little easier for me - I've spread the word at his station and with his captain and fellow firefighter friends who have promised to tell their families and help get word out. (though most of them refuse to read a romance for themselves! lol)

Oddly enough, I have a bunch of ideas of what to do for my YA releasing January 2012 with Barbour, because it's an entirely different niche. (will reveal these ideas later!) I'm trying to market to teenagers rather than adults, and for me I think that's actually a little easier. lol Go figure.

What do you think? Do you have any fresh marketing ideas? What have you done that works, or what have you pictured yourself doing once your book got published?

And on the other hand - what are you TIRED of seeing as a reader? What turns you off instead of makes you want to pick up the book?

For me, I think there's a fine line because exposure and overexposure. I've seen books mentioned so much everywhere I go, it actually makes me want to avoid it because I'm annoyed by seeing it. That is when marketing backfires!

What do you think? :)