Caren Johnson Literary Agency

by Stephanie Kuehnert

So I wrote a book. A punk rock YA book called I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE (though it didn’t have nearly as cool of a title at first). I met an agent (the lovely Caren Johnson, of course) through my MFA program. It was all very lucky, but to be honest, I never felt all that certain that the book would actually get published. The writing world is full of tales of heartbreak. Deep down I feared I wouldn’t be able to get a sale until my third or fourth book and that Caren would give up on me. This seemed a more likely possibility than actually getting published, so instead of preparing for what would happen when I succeeded, I was bracing myself for failure. When Caren sold IWBYJR to MTV Books last spring, I was ecstatic, but I had no idea how to take on my new role of writer/promoter.

I’ve heard too many stories about how first books failed to sell because authors counted on the publisher to do everything for them and I didn’t want to make that mistake. I’m expecting the publisher to send the book out for review (though I’ve provided them with all the info about where to send and even how to pitch the book) and maybe an ad here or there, but for the most part, I figure it’s up to me to get the word out about I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE. But I’m underpaid, floundering under the weight of a mortgage and student loans and I didn’t get a huge advance, so how do I do that?

Fortunately I grew up in the punk scene where I’d learned all about D.I.Y. (or Do It Yourself) ethics and I’ve come to realize that writers can borrow lots of promotional ideas from the rock world:

#1 Get by with a little help from your friends.

I published ‘zines and helped organize a riot grrrl convention when I was sixteen. How? I used everyone in my community as a resource. I didn’t have a ton of money to spend at Kinkos to copy my ‘zines back in the day (nor did I have the balls pull off the numerous Kinkos scams I was told about), but I had a dad who’d let me use his photocopier at work if I came in and helped him out with a couple things on the weekends. I didn’t have a huge basement to throw a party in for a benefit for the Midwest Girl Fest, but the owners of a local record store loved me and an in-store performance by some bands I knew would benefit them as much as it would me.

It’s amazing what the people in your life can do and are willing to help you out with if you just ask. For example, I knew that the key to book promotion is a great author website. I know basic html, but I’m no designer. My friend Jenny Hassler is genius at it though. I asked for her help on getting started and she built a beautiful site for me and even made my myspace page match! And I have a lot of friends in the writing field who were more than happy to tell me who they knew at various magazines and give me an intro, all I had to do was ask politely.

#2 Tour, tour, tour.

How do bands get their name out there? Live shows. They start by taking every opportunity possible to perform locally. So, I’m working on making friends with bookstores and libraries. It was scary to introduce myself to strangers, but since I was approaching people who loved books, I found them to be really enthusiastic. Also, I remembered that my friends’ bands played graduation parties and block parties along with regular concerts, so when people at more unusual venues like a record store, bar, or a tamale restaurant say, “Hey, would you ever do a reading here?”, of course, I say yes. And bands team up with other local bands to build a great bill, so I make sure to go to as many local reading series as possible and let those who run them know that I’d love to read at their event. Eventually, I’ll move up like the bands do, going to farther away places and sleeping on friends’ couches to keep it cheap. Though, I’ve got to mention that writers have it even easier than bands because we can tour without leaving home thanks to the fabulous blog tour!

#3 Loyal fans are your greatest resource.

There’s a Chicago band called Kill Hannah. I’m not a big fan of them, don’t even own one of their albums, but I’ve known about them for years, long before they were on a major label. Why? Because at every major alternative rock concert I went to for years, there was someone outside handing out Kill Hannah swag. Stickers, CDs, flyers for their next show, comped tickets even. And because someone was devoted enough to stand outside of the Aragon Ballroom in the freezing cold to tell me about Kill Hannah, I listened to the CD they gave me. It wasn’t my thing, but I did pass it on to someone who I thought would like it. This was the first time I was exposed to the concept of “the street team”—the loyal group of individuals you round up to promote your project.

I’m building a street team as we speak. You don’t have to be a teenager to join nor do you have to be willing to stand out in rain and hand out swag. Maybe you can put a banner for my book on your website or myspace page, maybe you can ask to leave some bookmarks at your favorite bookstore, or maybe you can just tell your friends about me. Those are all street team-worthy activities and if you officially join the team before January 15th by signing up here, I’ll reward you. I’m running a contest and everyone who is on the street team is eligible for it. You can win early IWBYJR promo items and the “soundtrack” to the book. Read all about it here.

Feel free to steal these ideas (another thing I’ve learned from rock ‘n roll is that everything is copied and recreated), but share yours as well. What have you learned from other authors or entertainers about promotion?

www.stephaniekuehnert.com