Welcome to the Blog Blitz for Getting Past the Publishing Gatekeepers by Hope Bolinger, Linda Fulkerson, Rowena Kuo, and Carrie Schmidt, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
Title: Getting Past the Publishing Gatekeepers Authors: Hope Bolinger, Linda Fulkerson, Rowena Kuo, and Carrie Schmidt
Publisher: Scrivenings Press LLC
Release Date: October 11, 2022
Genre: Nonfiction / Writing
Remember when Dorothy finally reached the Emerald City only to be halted by the Gatekeeper, blocking her hopes of seeing the Great and Powerful Wizard?
The path to publication is like that. Agents, and Editors, and Publishers, oh, my!Each one is a barrier between you and a publishing contract.
But what if you understood what agents, editors, publishers, and readers really want?
If you’re struggling to get past the publishing gatekeepers, this book will give you a behind-the-scenes peek at how to win the heart of each type of publishing professional. In fact, Getting Past the Publishing Gatekeepers won’t just give you a peek—it will give you a guided tour. In this book, four publishing professionals—an agent, a publisher, an editor, and an influencer—share what it takes to unlock each “gate” within the publishing industry.
Getting Past the Publishing Gatekeepers is a must-have resource for all aspiring authors, and it offers insights to help multi-published authors as well.
PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | BookDepository | IndieBound | BookBub
from the section on readers, written by Carrie Schmidt
Before you can get your book in front of new readers, you obviously must find them and then
plant yourself where they spend time.
Most readers are, by nature, introverted. This is certainly not true for all, but many of us
recharge by being alone and, well, reading. We tend to prefer low-contact socializing, but we
love to talk about books. We are on most social platforms, and we gravitate toward others who
read the same books that we love. While more difficult to find us in person, it’s not impossible.
We do still love spending hours in libraries, bookstores, and even book festivals. Readers have
established active discussion groups on Facebook, creative networks on Instagram and TikTok,
and popular hashtags on Twitter. We’ve also infiltrated the less obvious places you’d look for
readers, including a community of over 2 million members who ask others to ‘suggest me a
book’ on Reddit. Readers are everywhere, waiting to be found by you and your books.
In equal turn, however, this ‘everywhere-ness’ can be overwhelming for authors who already
have limited bandwidth. Juggling family life, an additional career or two, writing books, and
marketing books doesn’t leave much margin, does it? From Facebook to Instagram to TikTok to
local festivals and everything in between, how can you best focus your time and energy in
looking for readers?
Prioritize
The truth is this: You must filter out some of the options and pick the focus that works best for
you. If you don’t, you run the considerable risk of burning out on the social/promotion tasks
and losing your passion to write those yummy words readers crave. When you do give yourself
the freedom to zero in on one or two options, you will invest the largest portion of your
budgeted engagement time in platforms that best fit you and your books.
Trying to spend time promoting your work in all the places becomes more like a game of Whac-
A-Mole instead of a good return on your time and energy. I understand the fear of missing out
on readers through other platforms, but sometimes we are most effective when we become
more selective. One of my favorite movie lines of all time (from the 1995 version of Sabrina,
with Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond) says the same thing a different way: “More isn’t always
better, Linus. Sometimes it’s just more.” This is not only true of material things or money; it’s
also true of book promotion.
Subscribe to the Publishing Gatekeepers newsletter and receive a tip sheet on 12 ways for getting past the gatekeepers.
Hope Bolinger is an acquisitions editor at End Game Press and the author of 21 books. She's contributed to 10 other books, in addition, including Getting Past the Gatekeepers. She loves to model, do theater, and get lost in the woods.
Connect with Hope by visiting hopebolinger.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.
Linda and her husband, Don, live on a ten-acre plot in central Arkansas. They are part of an RV ministry group and travel the country volunteering at various entities. Linda and Don have four adult children and eight grandchildren. In addition to kicking back in her recliner with a good book, Linda enjoys photography, travel, and spoiling her two dachshunds.
Connect with Linda by visiting scriveningspress.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.
Rowena Kuo is the CEO and Executive Editor for Brimstone Fiction, Brimstone Books and Media, and Brimstone Fire. With over 15 years of ministering to children, youth groups, young adults, women, and family groups, Rowena advocates for writers to build God-centered support systems consisting of people, perseverance, practice, and most of all, prayer. She has written for Christian Devotions, Written World Communications, Splickety, and the 168 Write of Passage. When not working on words or films, she is a full-time mom with secret aspirations for spaceflight.
Connect with Rowena by visiting www.brimstonefiction.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.
Carrie Schmidt is an avid reader, book reviewer, story addict, KissingBooks fan, book boyfriend collector, and cool aunt. She also loves Jesus and THE Story a whole lot. Carrie started the popular blog ReadingIsMySuperPower.org in 2015 and since then has had the honor of co-founding the Christian Fiction Readers' Retreat and JustRead Publicity Tours. In addition to these endeavors, she is a regular contributor to Seekerville and has written for magazines such as RT Book Reviews and Christian Market. Carrie now lives in Georgia with her husband, though her roots range from East Tennessee to Central Kentucky and northern Illinois.
Connect with Carrie by visiting readingismysuperpower.org to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.
(1) winner will receive a $40 Amazon gift card.
Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight October 5, 2022 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on October 12, 2022. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!
4 comments:
I love that there are resources like this for indie authors out there!
Sounds very helpful.
Great excerpt, Getting Past the Publishing Gatehouse sounds like an excellent tool for writers! !
Thanks for sharing it with me and have a sunshiny day
Sounds like a great book!
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