In fact, let me experiment right here.

Tell me in the Comments if you’d be interested in the following idea:

Diana and I put together a package that we sent as a thank-you to friends who’ve helped us with THE ARCADIAN. The package contained signed paperbacks of A MAN AT ARMS and THE ARCADIAN, plus a fold-out detailing the links between the two … and, just for fun, a hand-made pewter “X” pin in honor of the Roman Tenth Legion, a big part of the story in both books.

Would you be interested if we held a drawing and picked ten winners for one of these two-packs?

Let me know in the Comments. If there’s enough interest, we’ll do it.

But back to marketing wisdom …

What we’ve done in the past is announce a “live” drawing, which we then do at a specific day and time on Instagram. We place all the entries in a giant bowl and I pluck the winners. We announce in the moment. It always gets a lot of views. 

We also contact the winners via email, so they know even if they weren’t tuned in to the actual drawing.

It’s fun. I always look forward to it.

Think about trying it for your own project. If it looks like fun, I’ll sign up myself!

Would you enter a drawing to win this “two-pack” of A MAN AT ARMS and THE ARCADIAN?

Number one, personal appearances. If you don’t follow Jed Hicks (@jjasonhicks) on Instagram, start now. Jed is the author of several massive fantasy fiction epics, including RUINWASTER’S BANE and THE EARTHMIGHT WAR. These works are not backed by a giant publishing house but—here’s the key—they look like it. And Jed promotes them like it.

Jed hires the best-of-the-best to design his book covers. He books himself into festivals. He arranges book signings. He shows up with a giant “Meet the Author”-type poster, a superbly put-together version of his book’s cover that looks like it came from Simon & Schuster. If you stumbled into the bookstore cold, you’d see Jed’s setup and think, “Holy cow, Ernest Hemingway must be here!”

Jed photographs his signings and festival appearances. He films them. Then he posts these on social media. He produces “box mailers” for his books that look better than anything from St. Martin’s or Penguin Random House.

In other words, Jed is single-handedly creating his own brand and establishing himself as its face. 

I wish I had his self-promotion gene!

I have another friend, also a just-starting fiction writer, who takes a different but equally smart tack.

My friend has sought out book-reviewing sites on social media. Most of these are small, but their readerships are passionate and they love books. He also, through his day job, has contacts in fields other than writing. He has reached out to these sources and gotten them to review his book. He then posts these (some are video, others via written word) on IG, Facebook, etc. 

The reviews pop up everywhere. They’re all raves. Many, of course, tell aspects of the novel’s plot and characters. 

In other words, my friend doesn’t have to appear himself or sell himself. His friends and reviewers do it for him.

Of course this takes legwork and lots of “reaching out.” But it’s free and it works.

A third way of getting the word out is premium box mailers. Diana and I learned his from Jack Carr, the bestselling thriller writer. Jack (and Jason noted above) will send out signed copies of their newest books in super-well-designed boxes with a bunch of extra goodies inside. Diana and I did this too, for A MAN AT ARMS and THE DAILY PRESSFIELD.  We sold the books that way as well, at a premium price, through our site, www.sassmediallc.com. We sent box-mailers free, as gifts of respect to friends, but also to people who had followings in areas that the books were aimed at.

We’ll be doing this for THE ARCADIAN as well, but with a special twist. Because THE ARCADIAN is a follow-up to A MAN AT ARMS, featuring the same hero, we’ll send out a “two-pack,” with a Diana-designed sleeve that tells the story of the link between the two books.

The payoff of sending out box mailers is the recipient may do an “unboxing” on his or her social media. In other words, they’re helping get the word out and doing it in the best possible way, as a recommendation from themselves, not from you. 

More “reports from the trenches” to come!

Anyone who ordered 25 copies got a video “coaching call.” He or she could talk about anything—their own book, issues with Resistance, anything.

They could record the conversation and use it as a podcast or something to share with business associates or team members.

The response was so strong, I’m doing it again for THE ARCADIAN. 

We’ve upped the minimum buy to 50 but everything else stays the same.

In fact, here’s the link. It takes you to a page that explains the details.

You may say—as I did at first, considering this idea—“Oh, come on! Who’s gonna take you up on something like this?” 

But that thought is Resistance.

It’s self-doubt.

A few years ago I got a chance to meet one of my literary heroes, Tom Guinzburg, the long-time president of Viking Press. The conversation only lasted a few minutes—followed by a short, hand-written note Mr. Guinzburg sent later—but his kindness and belief in me made all the difference for me writing (and finishing) GATES OF FIRE.

Don’t be shy about making a proposal like this to your readers.

A few minutes with you could change a person’s life.

Order (or pre-order) 50 copies of THE ARCADIAN and get a half-hour ZOOM call with Steve.

This blog.

Or any platform where you, the writer, have established a bond with readers and fellow artists who connect with you.

I mentioned in last week’s post that Amazon knows who our readers are (they’ve got the list from mailing books to them). But they won’t share that list. It’s proprietary. They’re hanging onto it. 

That’s why a blog or newsletter is so important. It gives you and me a way of speaking directly to our readers and fellow writers in the trenches.

When we have a new book, we can announce it. If we’re offering a class or speaking somewhere, we can put the word out to those who are most likely to be interested.

I offered a one-day course last year. I announced it on this blog and on social media. 95% of the people who signed up were from this blog.

That’s how powerful it is.

Two other things:

First from myself, thanks to everyone who has stuck with me and supported over ten years of Writing Wednesdays. It’s great fun for me. It motivates me, compels me to organize my thoughts … and I hope the work and the interchange have helped others as much as they’ve helped me.

Second, if you yourself are looking for the single most powerful tool of promoting your own work, start something like this. A newsletter, a blog, a presence on social media.

Share what you know. It can be anything. My friend Brandon Burgess just started a video series on Overcoming Anxiety. It’s great! He’s totally open about his own struggles and how he overcame (and is still overcoming) them. I follow him myself!

The three pillars of book promotion, in my experience, are podcasts, social media, and one’s own list of subscribers/members.

For THE ARCADIAN, I’ll be doing between 15 and 20 podcasts. Some writers will do a lot more. I’m in a fortunate position, in that over the years I’ve established relationships and even friendships with a number of podcasters. I can reach out and invite myself on. Not all will say yes, but some will.

Other writers, particularly younger ones, may have to work harder. Here’s one resource that may help: Bookthinkers.com. Nick Hutchison is the founder. His staff is great too. (I’m sure there are other sites that offer a similar service.) Bookthinkers will book a less-than-well-known writer on podcasts. The podcasts might not have giant followings like Joe Rogan or Tim Ferriss, but they will book you and will give you a “pod presence.”

Bookthinkers (and similar outfits) will also shoot videos for you. It’s not free but it can be a huge help.

Second, social media, i.e. Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok (and specialized niches like Bookstagram and BookTok, etc.) 

I will probably do twenty or more social media posts for THE ARCADIAN. Again, other writers might do many more for their books. 

My presence on social media is a total Mom-and-Pop thing. Diana shoots the videos (usually of me standing and talking), then edits and posts them. No A.I.! We don’t have a team or any special equipment. It’s all done on a ten-year-old iPhone.

Again, for the newer or lesser-known writer, using Instagram or Facebook requires the building up, over time, of a following. Top-tier book promoters like Ryan Holiday and Jack Carr have followings in the millions. The rest of us are doing the best we can! 

One thing I’ve found that works on social media is a contest or some event that involves the reader. Diana and I have given away books and other goodies. We announce it, then have a drawing and pick the winners “live and on-camera.” I’ve been amazed at how many people sign up.

But the central pillar of book promotion is the medium we’re using right now: a blog or newsletter … and the people who read it. These are our peeps. I literally KNOW many who follow this blog. Some have become actual friends, but many are at least email or Comment friends. That’s huge.

For the beginning writer, a blog or newsletter is a great way of establishing direct contact with your readers, even if you only have a few. Over time, the “tribe” can grow. Amazon may sell your books but it won’t share its list of buyers. You and I, the writers, are in the dark. But when you establish a community, you DO know the readers who’ve bought your books. 

You can reach out directly to them, as I’m doing right now. And you don’t need to “sell” yourself. When Stephen King has a new book, all he has to do is announce it. If we’re Stephen King fans, we don’t care what the book is about … we want to read it just because we love Stephen King’s stuff.

I hope this report from the trenches helps a little. More to come in the following weeks.

But first, I have a question for you. (Please respond in the Comments).

Would you be interested in me describing, here on Writing Wednesdays, my efforts at marketing the book? Or would that be boring and self-serving?

We—my partner Diana and I—actually have a plan. 

It involves podcasts, social media, signed copies, various giveaways, etc. Including an option to get a one-on-one Zoom call with me.

I’m happy to write about the details as the program unfolds.  

Lemme know if you’d like to hear. If not, I’ll keep my mouth shut.

THE ARCADIAN is a follow-up to A MAN AT ARMS (2021). It’s the same hero … the solitary mercenary of the ancient world, Telamon of Arcadia. The tale is of Telamon’s further ordeals on his odyssey of self-redemption.

The book is available for pre-order now on Amazon, B&N, and others. It’ll be in bookstores May 26.

He was talking about the training of fighter pilots.

Here’s what he said:

Why do we train? To perfect our flying skills, yes. But far more important, we practice to elevate our threshold of emotional detachment, to inculcate that state of preparedness and equilibrium that enables a pilot to function effectively under conditions of peril, urgency, and confusion.

A fighter pilot accelerating down the runway on an operational mission must keep foremost in his mind one reality: At some point before his wheels touch down again, something is certain to go wrong. Will he have an engine failure? Will an unseen enemy appear? Will another plane in his formation experience a crisis of some kind? 

Bank on it: Something unexpected will happen. When it does, it will be followed almost always by a second emergency, and often a third, in immediate succession, each one producing a graver crisis than the one before. In such an instant, the pilot’s body will exhibit all the signs of fear. His hands will shake; his heart rate will soar; his flight overalls will become drenched with sweat. But his mind must remain focused. His thinking must stay clear and calm.

We train, this great fighter ace said, not to overcome our fear. Fear cannot be overcome.

We train to teach ourselves how to keep functioning despite fear.

It is—and must be—an awareness of and acceptance of the primary reality of the field upon which she will work.

That reality is chaos.

“Nothing in war,” Moshe Dayan said, “happens in a straight line.”

Nothing in art or entrepreneurship happens in a straight line either.

The birth of anything—stars and galaxies as well as people and animals—takes place amid disorder, confusion, and chaos. That’s our novel, our non-profit, our Korean vegan restaurant.

You and I must teach ourselves to be comfortable working in darkness and in crooked lines.

I had a dear friend who had written the Major Work of his life. He had spent years on it. It was done. It was wonderful. It was everything he had sought for decades to achieve.

My friend had the manuscript in its mailing box, ready to send off to his agent. But he couldn’t make himself do it. Months went by.

His friends and family urged him, “Send it!” His agent pleaded with him. At one point I myself considered breaking into his house to steal the manuscript and send it off.

The sad, sad story is my friend died. The book never reached his agent, it never saw the light of publication.

The enemy is not outside us. It is not competitors in the real world or bad breaks or downturns in the economy. The enemy is ourselves.

Some days it REALLY resists us.

On those days, there’s no shame in doing what football offenses do: Take what the defense will give you.

If our novel/screenplay/dance/comedy sketch won’t let us throw the deep ball that day, that’s okay.

Take the short pass. Take the dinks-and-dunks of three yards and four yards. 

In other words, if we can only scratch out two or three paragraphs of not-so-great stuff … take it. It’s progress. It’s a day’s work. It counts.

The important thing is to keep up our momentum day-to-day.

Tomorrow maybe the defense will give us more. For today, let’s take what we can get.