Okay. I have to admit, there’s something a bit scary about promoting a book that hasn’t been written yet. 
But everything takes a while to get into place and I need a lot of help. I’ve noticed on some of the Brava Author’s websites that they mention their books shipping early, like a month or more early! 
So I’m starting small, but I’m starting. Everything is web based, so therefore free, but eventually I will need to outlay some of my advance. It could end up being a little or a lot, depends on what Kensington intends to do on their end and how much of the slack I want to pick up. We’ll start with my publisher’s intentions and then I’ll blog some other time about what I’m doing.
Things Kensington is doing:
Kate and I discussed the cover so I have a general idea of what it will look like and really, it shouldn’t be too long before I can show it to you. They have them made up months in advance and I’m almost at the twelve month mark now.
Not at liberty to discuss this, but when I can, I’ll explain how and why it was chosen.
Kate listed a big giant mouthful of reviewers. (Some of them have me quaking in my desk chair! )
In just a few months, Kensington will be approaching the major booksellers with my ARCs and convincing them to stock their shelves with a ton of my books. It is from these early orders, that Kensington will decide the initial print run numbers. (So they want to get a lot of orders.) This is where the cover and title come into play. They will attempt to convice the booksellers that despite the fact that the author is an unknown the book will sell well because of the Brava name, because it’s a steamy historical in a market sadly lacking in them, because of the great cover, and because of the title. Hopefully, the booksellers will agree and order a large number to carry in their stores.
** Side note. Kensington will print up covers and pages. There will be far more covers than pages. Why? Because covers are expensive to print. Printing more pages is much simpler and cheaper, but if they have to print more covers, it’s very expensive. So Kensington will have a ton of cover flats in the hope that I will sell out my initial print run and they will need to print more. (One can hope, eh? 
)
This is expensive and most likely won’t be done for me, or if it is, on a very limited basis. This is something I have to decide if I want to possibly pay for myself or hope word of mouth alone will generate sales.
Okay. So there you have it. I’m sure there’s more I’ll remember and when I do, I’ll add it. 
So cool of you to explain it all. Sharing the excitement is my favorite thing about author blogs.:grin:
by Toni December 21st, 2004 at 2:41 pmSylvia, thanks for giving us a behind the scenes look at what goes on re marketing a book. Interesting stuff.
by Jaq December 21st, 2004 at 2:54 pmVery cool, Sylvia! I hope they print LOTS of covers! And can’t wait to hear the title!
by Larissa December 21st, 2004 at 3:23 pmOhhh the title sounds intrigueing.
by Sasha December 21st, 2004 at 3:25 pmAlways wondered how all of that worked - thanks for the inside look. It’s probably scary for you because you’re living through it and it’s so new but it’s pretty cool for all of us to follow along with you
by HelenKay December 21st, 2004 at 6:06 pmAllow me to throw my thanks in too. It’s all so interesting and daunting to someone like me. Know I have a little more information in my arsenal. Thanks for sharing! And I can’t wait to see the cover and learn the name.
by Teresa December 22nd, 2004 at 4:29 amKnowledge is Power! Thanks for sharing sug!
by Cece McScrooge December 22nd, 2004 at 12:19 pm