Marilyn Merediths best promotional effort was when she was invited to speak to the American Association of University Women (AAUW) in Santa Maria, California. There were five other writers, a couple of them rather famous, all young and slim, she recalls. I was 69 at the time, a great-grandmother and look like one. The only way I knew to shine was to be funny. Marilyn is not normally funny, but she just came right out and told them that Id looked around at how cute and young and skinny the other authors were so knew I had to shine another way. Then I just started telling them funny things that had happened to me through my writing lifeI was a hit and when all the speeches were over, the audience poured to my table. I sold the most books Ive ever sold at an event like that.

The two books were Kachima Spirit (Hard Shell Word Factory 2002) and Final Respects (The Fiction Works 2003), written as F. M. Meredith. Since I have a sequel to that book called Bad Tidings (The Fiction Works 2004), Id love to have a repeat performance. http://fictionforyou.com


A few years ago I was downsized out of an airline position, which gave me plenty of time to write, but very little money to live on, recalls Adele Medolla, author of a mystery novel, Sex, Obsession & Murder (Infinity Publishing 2003). While struggling to make ends meet, she had a pleasant experience that may or may not help her finances but surely made her day. I attended a reunion of laid off airline employees. We met at a local restaurant and I became an instant celebrity. I must admit it caught me by surprise. Everyone wanted a copy of my book and strangers were coming up to the table asking for my autograph. Our waiter offered to give up his tip if I would give him a copy of my book. Since this was a large group, his tip was substantial. What a boost for the old ego. www.adelemedolla.net

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Sandra Z. Bruneys book, Id Rather Go to California (Publish America 2003) grew from the journal she kept while undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Since the book was published in October, 2003, she has used the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month as a reference in the press releases she sends to local newspapers. In the release, she offers to speak to any groups in the area observing the month.

Several church and community organizations asked me to speak and people lined up to buy my book after my presentation, says Sandy. Once I got their interest by reading part of the book, they usually want to read more. Sales improved when I offered to donate part or all of the profit to The American Cancer Society or to Relay for Life. (I am not interested in making money; I want to make women more aware of what can happen when you ignore a lump, as I did). www.cancercant.com


Cliff Hakim sold several hundred copies of his first book, We Are All Self-Employed: How to Take Control of Your Career (Berrett-Koehler Publishers 2003), to Hewlett-Packard. H-P was interested in the book because they wanted to reinforce an entrepreneurial mindset in the culture, explains Cliff. H-P somehow understood blind loyalty was poison to the company and would only spawn dependence.

The company president had a self-employed attitude; I didnt have to convince him that an employed attitude was deadMy book was included in a gold-ribbon box with a letter from the president that spoke about the virtues of self-development and independence and interdependence, and a few self-assessment tools. It was linked to a 1-800 number and a coaching effort for field managers and others who worked virtually.

I had a timely idea. H-P figured, and I certainly did (do), whether youre employed, traditionally self-employed, or unemployed, YOU ARE SELF-EMPLOYED. www.rethinkingwork.com.


No one was more startled than Lynn Emery when she learned the female lead in the movie, Welcome to Mooseport, starring Ray Romano and Gene Hackman, was shown reading her novel, All I Want Is Forever (HarperTorch 2002).

"My phone rang off the hook with friends in N. Carolina, Virginia, and Los Angeles calling to tell me," she says. "I would like to think that my promotion efforts led to this wonderful free publicity around the country, but who knows? If anyone on the list can give suggestions on how I might try to find out please tell me!" www.lynnemery.com.


Brad Whittington lived in Central Texas for 20 years and his coming of age novel, Welcome to Fred (Broadman & Holman Publishers 2003) is set nearby. So he has found Classmates.com a very useful tool for locating residents and former residents. I registered the high school where I graduated, the two colleges I attended and the college where I taught for ten years, he says. The website has a limit of 20 emails per day to prevent exactly the kind of spam I was sending out. So each evening I would sit down and send out 20 emails. It took several weeks to hit all the names. I had the typical less-than-10-percent response rate.

Yet the two book signings he held in the areas covered by emails sold a total of 150 books. The added bonus of the exercise was that I located many people who had moved from the area who were not able to come to the signings but who bought the book. A third bonus was the beginning of an email distribution list for a newsletter. www.fredtexas.com.