Promoting Local Interest in Your Books and Genre

Can it be done?

September and October find me preparing for a number of local events, listed below. I am trying to sell and raise awareness of books I have authored and co-edited, as well as trying to meet more horror readers. “Local” for me is the Boise, Idaho area, where I met wonderful local authors Steph Nelson (The Vein, Sawtooth) and Noelle Ihli (The Thicket, Ask for Andrea) but have not run into too many horror readers—yet.

• Sept 23, 4-8 Boise Books & Brews at CopenRoss Growlers on Orchard and Overland

• Sept 30-October 1 Boise Comics Arts Festival at the Boise Zoo (with THE VEIN author Steph Nelson). Correction: I previously had this down as starting on the 29th, which was in error.

• Oct 10, 6-7 Reading at Ada Community Library in Star

• Oct 12, 4:30-6 Signing at Rediscovered Books in Boise

• Oct 14. 10-2 Fall Author Palooza at Middleton Public Library

I am going to list the things I’ve done to promote my work and genre locally, but please, if there are other ideas, I would love to hear them in the comments!

Bookstores

The first step in trying to build local interest was to reach out to bookstores. luckily we have an excellent independent bookstore, Rediscovered Books, that has been stocking my books from the beginning and is hosting an upcoming signing. This is a beautiful bookstore, and everyone has been so kind whenever I have visited!

The local Barnes and Noble is also stocking my books now, though I needed to go through their consignment program, which means bringing the books to the physical location and signing a contract. If the books sell out in a certain period of time, they will renew the contract. This same sort of consignment system would allow books to be stocked in non-local stores, but it would require shipping or driving the books to them.

Libraries

The Boise Public Library allows patrons to request a new book every week, which is generous! I have requested my books as well as a number of horror books that are popular and ought to be available to patrons. My last two requests were Never Whistle at Night, edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. and Out There Screaming from editor Jordan Peele. Making sure that local readers have access to important books in the genre seems like something helpful I can do, both to promote the genre and to help readers.

Libraries also have various programs that writers can get involved with, such as reading series, and my neighborhood library also has a display case that can be reserved, so later this year I am going to do an indie horror display!

Local Media

I’ve reached out to a number of local media outlets to try to promote my work. So far, the only piece I have out is the IDAHO Magazine piece “Ghosts in the Desert,” an essay about the making of my novel Beulah. This is a beautiful magazine and the essay was very well presented both in print and online. I am very glad I reached out to this magazine!

Local Authors & Fellow HWA Members

I reached out to a couple of prominent local literary writers to see if they had tips to share, but sadly they did not respond. I will try reaching out to other writers individually, but another idea was to try to get a chapter of the HWA for Idaho. The national organizers are in the process of getting me a list of Idaho HWA members, so I greatly look forward to reaching out to them. If you know someone who writes horror in Idaho, I’d love for you to get them in touch!

I would also love to hear other ideas for promoting your work and your genre locally. Have you done something that was helpful? Please say in the comments.