Newsletter #74 — Ads, Covers, and Banners
January 15, 2024
Newsletter #74 — Ads, Covers, and Banners
First Ad Placed — A few weeks ago I placed my first ad for Exit Velocity, with IBPA (Independent Book Publishers Association). The ad will run in their Spring Catalog issue, which will go out to about 3,500 online book retailers on March 1, and which will be delivered (physical copies) to about 800 independent bookstores in mid-May. I purchased a quarter-page ad and had to supply IBPA with a high-res cover photo of Exit Velocity and a very short description, not to exceed 30 words or 215 characters. Wow! Is it ever difficult to distill a novel down to 30 words! Here's what I wrote:
Part political fiction, part science fiction, Exit Velocity features a working-class hero fighting for her life and a parrot on a mission from another planet. Publishes June 2024.
That turns out to be 28 words, 179 characters.
Cover Reveal — And then I used the same words, more or less, for a cover reveal ad, the one pictured in this newsletter. Shorter still at 21 words and 129 characters. I will post this graphic on all the social media I have a presence on.
Social Media Banners — It turns out that until now I have failed to make use of the banner space behind my name on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn. To be honest, I wasn't even aware it was there. But as long as it's there and is free, I should use this space, no?
Yes. And so, using the copy from my cover-reveal poster, I created my banners. Of course each social-media platform has a different size requirement for its banner. Facebook, for example, requires 820 pixels by 315 pixels. X requires 1500 x 500 pixels. And LinkedIn requires 1584 x 396 pixels. Thus I had to create three banners. I couldn't simply resize them, because that distorted them.
First Podcast Interview Scheduled — Even before my banner went up on LinkedIn, I received a request for a podcast interview. That has been set up for July.
Chirp! Chirp! — I suddenly noticed, after my social media banners went up, that birdwatchers are now following me. This has to be because of the cover of Exit Velocity — they relate to the parrot. I do hope they don't think I'm a birder: I would hate to disappoint them.
The F Words — Meanwhile, The F Words. In March Chicago author Carol Fisher Saller and I will be presenting a program to the Illinois Reading Council convention in Springfield. Carol's most recent book is the middle grades novel, Maddie's Ghost, in which the main character works to seek justice for her great-grandmother. I loved this story and highly recommend it.
When I read Maddie's Ghost I was struck by how it addressed the issue of social justice, as does The F Words. Through a few suggestions from writer and teacher friends, Carol and I ended up making a proposal on social justice novels to the IRC. It was accepted, and in about eight weeks we will be in Springfield. Yikes! Lots of preparation!
Setting — My January 15 blog, "What to Subtract", explains how I decided which of my ten "works" pages should be removed from my web site so that I could add Exit Velocity.