how to promote ya?

blue_aura12 · Aug 5, 2013

so my boyfriend and i wrote a short story and he released it through createspace as a short book. it's about squirrels who get into spooky/paranormal adventures and we're planning several other books. the thing is, we just kinda did this on a whim, wanting to do something with characters we've created based on various stuffed animals we bought each other (squirrels, bunnies, ducks) and our love of horror/the paranormal, plus just odd adventures we've gotten into over time, etc.

so we're not really familiar with young adult/juvenile fiction, things we should or shouldn't do, places we should advertise instead of just facebook. just wondering if anyone had any advice they think should be imparted to someone who doesn't really know how to do this. haha.
thanks!

(it's called Spooky Skwerl Stories https://www.createspace.com/4362543 in case anyone wanted a better idea of what exactly we're doing)

Liosse de Velishaf · Aug 5, 2013

First, this sounds more like Middle Grade or lower than YA.

Also, this might not be the appropriate section of AW for this question. Maybe check out the self-publishing sections?

blue_aura12 · Aug 5, 2013

ahh thanks, just wasn't sure since neither one of us have much of any idea what to do for a book like this beyond facebook, word of mouth and the horror movie conventions we go to, where our audience is pretty much just people our age and older.

cornflake · Aug 5, 2013

blue_aura12 said:
so my boyfriend and i wrote a short story and he released it through createspace as a short book. it's about squirrels who get into spooky/paranormal adventures and we're planning several other books. the thing is, we just kinda did this on a whim, wanting to do something with characters we've created based on various stuffed animals we bought each other (squirrels, bunnies, ducks) and our love of horror/the paranormal, plus just odd adventures we've gotten into over time, etc.

so we're not really familiar with young adult/juvenile fiction, things we should or shouldn't do, places we should advertise instead of just facebook. just wondering if anyone had any advice they think should be imparted to someone who doesn't really know how to do this. haha.
thanks!

(it's called Spooky Skwerl Stories https://www.createspace.com/4362543 in case anyone wanted a better idea of what exactly we're doing)

Skwerl?

I think the first thing to do is figure out what market you're selling it to. It can't be both children's and YA.

Torgo · Aug 5, 2013

cornflake said:
Skwerl?

'Skwerl' is how some American people pronounce 'squirrel', thus allowing 'squirrelled' to be one of the longest monosyllabic words (also 'broughamed'.)

veinglory · Aug 5, 2013

I would suggest sticking with using words like "spooky" "monster tales" etc rather than "supernatural" so as not to trip any fears of Satanist squirrels mind-warping the children

IMHO, the cover and blurb could use some fine tuning. Promo is traffic / conversion. You need the point of sale to pop and grab. How many people in your target readership would see this and *have* to buy it, and why?

http://www.amazon.com/Spooky-Skwerl-Stories-Crackerjack-Volume/dp/1491000449/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375717777&sr=8-1&keywords=Spooky+Skwerl+Stories%3A+1.+Crackerjack

I must admit to having trouble knowing what I would be getting, especially at only 24 pages in length and with no "look inside".

cornflake · Aug 5, 2013

Torgo said:
'Skwerl' is how some American people pronounce 'squirrel', thus allowing 'squirrelled' to be one of the longest monosyllabic words (also 'broughamed'.)

The latter point - who knew? Heh. Though when I say 'squirreled' I get two syllables - actually when I say 'squirrel' too, now that I'm sitting here saying squirrel to myself. Bust out that regional pronunciation map.

The former, I know, but it's meant to, theoretically, be a children's book. I would never, ever, buy a child a book with a misspelling like that. I know it's deliberate and meant to be vaguely phonetic but I'm not on board with letting a little kid think l33t spelling is kewl. Learn the rules before you break them and all that.

Debbie V · Aug 5, 2013

Check out underdown.org and scbwi.org. Also, see the stickies above.

Here's a quick tip: purposeful misspellings may be cute, but they can confuse the youngest readers. You need to learn the right ones before you can play around with them. In fact, if I hadn't read the rest of your post, I'd have been confused by Skwerl. I know some parts of the country pronounce it that way, but not where I live. It took me a minute. Of course, if your audience is a little older (say over age 8) and in an area that does pronounce it this way, you're fine.

wampuscat · Aug 5, 2013

I'm sorry I don't have any good promotion advice, but I did want to say that I agree that the subject matter seems more middle grade than YA. What age group are you targeting?

Old Hack · Aug 6, 2013

One thread per subject only, thanks, blue. AW is far too big to be able to support multiples like that.

I've merged your three threads into one.

sarahdalton · Aug 6, 2013

You want blogs and Goodreads for YA. That's where the YA readers are. Making Connections is a good group on Goodreads for finding people to review your books.

Keep googling for YA bloggers. It's really the easiest way to do it.

I can't stop attempting to say Squirrel in an American accent now.

JournoWriter · Aug 7, 2013

At the risk of going off-topic, how do you folks from across the pond pronounce it?

Torgo · Aug 7, 2013

JournoWriter said:
At the risk of going off-topic, how do you folks from across the pond pronounce it?

Us? 'Skwi-rul'

Polenth · Aug 7, 2013

The first step is sorting the book. The inside is formatted for the web, not for print. You need to indent paragraphs, not have a space between them. It starts with the weather in a dark and stormy night way. Which might have been meant as a joke, but it'll be lost on the target audience (who are children, not young adults/teens).

The quote you got mentions things that adults will get, but again, not your target audience. So I'd suggest trimming a bit out of the quote to use which doesn't have those references.

Read a whole bunch of books for your target audience, so you can pick out things that are a bit off for the age group.

Run the cover through the cover critique forum here.

Then sort your ebook version, so it's easily available online. And then, you're ready to deal with promotion.

how to promote ya?

blue_aura12

Liosse de Velishaf

blue_aura12

cornflake

practical experience, FTW

Torgo

Formerly Phantom of Krankor.

veinglory

volitare nequeo

cornflake

practical experience, FTW

Debbie V

Mentoring Myself and Others

wampuscat

Recovering adjective addict

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

sarahdalton

JournoWriter

Just the facts, please

Torgo

Formerly Phantom of Krankor.

Polenth

Mushroom