Category Archives: Journey to Publication

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I’m Bout It Bout It aka Marketing & Promotion Month 5…

Hello World,

Santa & Mrs. Claus! Aren't they precious?!!!

Have you got your Christmas decorations up? I’ve been known to procrastinate, but I’m happy to say that I put up my Christmas decorations yesterday! Yay! I know a lot of people put their decorations up the day after Thanksgiving, but I’m making progress…baby steps…

Okay, on to the subject of this post…If you’ve been checking out my blog for a while, you know that my book, After the Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship With God, is coming out in just over two months (I’m SUPER EXCITED!!!). And since I started my marketing and promotion activities back in August, I’ve been writing a monthly recap of my progress….If you haven’t read those posts, check them out here…

“I’m Bout It Bout It aka Marketing & Promotion Month 1…”

“I’m Bout It Bout It aka Marketing & Promotion Month 2…”

“I’m Bout It Bout It aka Marketing & Promotion Month 3…”

“I’m Bout It Bout It aka Marketing & Promotion Month 4…”

The Riverdale Middle School orchestra got down...

 And so now I’m recapping month 5 or November! (I should have posted on this topic on Wednesday, but I had to meet a writing deadline…) The first order of business was to get help! As I mentioned in last month’s post. I’m a a full-time reporter, a part-time fitness instructor, a sometime market reasearcher, a freelance writer, a blogger and an upcoming author/marketing & promoting professional…and it was getting to be too much…But I’m happy to say that I now have secured help for my marketing & promotion and the planning of my launch party…Did I mention PARTY? Yes, I did…As Bishop T.D. Jakes says, “Get ready, get ready, get ready…” We are a planning a fabulous launch party for Feb. 14, the release date of my book, that will be the spot for you and your boo on V-Day…But if you are not booed up, that’s okay too because there will be something for erebody 🙂 More details to come…

Since I do have help, this has cleared up some mental energy to complete the final edits of my book AND line up my book tour…More details on that to come as well…In addition to editing and planning my book tour, I’m still freelance writing and blogging…In October, I told you I attended Blogalicious 2011, and now I have started networking with and supporting other bloggers! I’m proud to say I’m a part of Social Fabric, a community of bloggers, and I’m looking forward to expanding my blog and making it the best it can be…Expanding my blog is one of my marketing & promotion goals plus I just love blogging!!! And look out for awesome posts (if I say so myself) in the months to come…

Pointe South Elementary School chorus!!!

I also learned that tweeting is a marketing & promotion must at Blogalicious, and I’m trying to up my Twitter game…Last month, I only had 74 followers, but now, I have reached over a 100…and of course, I still need more…so follow me @jackiehwrites…

These two second graders sat next to me at the tree lighting...They were so much fun..I almost felt maternal...

As I have said in previous marketing & promotion posts, I still have some stuff up my sleeve and in the the months to come, more will be revealed…

And since I wrote this post in December rather November, I’ve included some photos from the City of Riverdale Annual Christmas Tree Lighting & Holiday Celebration I attended last night…Enjoy!

Any thoughts?

 

 

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I’m Bout It Bout It aka Marketing & Promotion Month 3…

Hello World,

Well, y’all, if you have spent even a minute perusing my blog, you know that I have a book that will be released on February 14, 2012 – that’s right…the holiday of love…Valentine’s Day…which I think is cool as my book is about developing a personal relationship with God…Now, I’m not one of those Christian women that believes that God is my husband, but I do believe that having a personal relationship with God is more important than any other relationship you will ever have period…

And although I’m more of an introvert by nature, I have realized that I must market and promote the book so the people that need to read this book will actually know it’s out there…So once a month leading up to V-Day, I will be posting about my marketing and promotion efforts…Your feedback is very much appreciated…

Miranda Parker at the AJC Decatur Book Festival

So to recap my marketing & promotion efforts for September…As I have said in previous posts, one of the main thrusts of my efforts involves supporting other authors and just getting out and about in the A to meet people and tell them about my book. So on Sept. 3 (Labor Day Weekend), I attended the AJC Decatur Book Festival where I went to see Miranda Parker, author of “A Good Excuse To Be Bad” and Dr. Pamela Thompson, author of “Surviving Mama: Overcoming Strained Mother-Daughter Relationships.” Both of these books were released this year, and I actually featured Dr. Thompson on my blog.

I also attended “For Sisters Only”  on Sept. 17 where I was able to go to the Urban League Empowerment Summit. Hands down, it was one of the best events I attended this year. I attended two seminars. My favorite seminar was “Transforming Your Life, Reclaiming Your Power.” One of the panelists Tirrell D. Whittley, who is the executive leader of Liquid Soul Media, a lifestyle marketing agency, offered some really good advice for combatting fear on the way to success…

Tirrell D. Whitley of Liquid Soul Media

  1. Become excellent.
  2. Accept criticism.
  3. Be self-motivated.
  4. Understand who you are (your unique selling point).
  5. Trust God.

I could dedicate a whole post to what I learned, but I have to move on for the sake of this post. Last Saturday, I attended the “Talk Back Series: The Sex Kitten v. The Super Brain” in which a panel of etablished women in the field of media and entertainment discussed the politics of women and sexuality in the media. The event was held at Spelman College. It was another invigorating and educational discussion.

From left to right - Saptosa Foster, Angela Gomes, Renee Knorr, Nicci Gilbert, October Rose, Nina Brown & Jazzy McBee

Of course, I still have some other things in the works, but I cannot reveal them all just yet…stay tuned…

My favorite verse as I get out of my comfort zone and really go hard at this marketing and promotion thing is…

Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:8-9

It has taken some real courage to get out there, but thankfully the Lord is with me wherever I go…

Any thoughts?

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I’m Bout It Bout It aka Marketing & Promotion Month 2…

Hello World,

If you have checked out my blog in the last couple of months or so, you know that my book “After the Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship With God” will be released in February 2012….So leading up until that date, I’ ve been literally obssessed with marketing & promotion because I really do believe that this book will really help women in their walk with God AND let’s face it – publishing is a business….And your girl has to move books if I expect to last in this industry….

So each month leading up until February, I plan to let you know about my marketing & promotion efforts…And y’all let me know what you think because I’m up for any and all suggestions…If you want to read about my first month of marketing and promotion, check out “I’m Bout It Bout It Marketing & Promotion Month 1.”

One critical element of marketing & promotion, I believe, is supporting other authors. It is true that what you sow, you will reap so I’ve been attending the book signings of other authors to support them. And I hope that when my day or days come, I will reap the harvest of supporting other authors….Plus, I love to be around book authors anyway…they are a part of my tribe…lol…

So on Aug. 1, I started off the month by attending a book signing for prolific author Tayari Jones at the Camp Creek Barnes & Noble. She read from her latest book, “Silver Sparrow,” a wonderful novel in which the complex lives of a legitimate daughter and an illegitimate daughter are juxtaposed. The story takes place in our fair city…I have wanted to read her work since I heard about her first book “Leaving Atlanta,” a novel in which Jones explores the tragedy of the Atlanta child murders….As someone who grew up in the A and remembers the fear that gripped the city during that time, I appreciate her work. If you did not get a chance to go that book signing, Jones will also be at the Decatur Book Festival on Sunday, September 4 at 12 p.m. in the Decatur Conference Center Stage (Ballroom B). For more information, go to to TayariJones.com.

The next marketing and promotion activity was the ordering of 1000 postcards which feature the cover of the book, pictures of some of the women in the book and my website information…so if you see me somewhere, don’t act when I put one of my postcards in your sweaty hands and ask you to tell somebody….lol…

I met Rev. Owen Griffiths at the conference...check out his blog oldreligiousguy.blogspot.com...for some reason, I am fascinated with collars...

These postcards came in handy when I attended the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference from August 10-13…It is a non-stop learning event, and a must if you really want to focus on ministry as well as writing! I’ve been twice, and I just adore it! I was able to meet New York Times best-selling author Cec Murphey (who I wrote about in “A Saint & A Sinner”) and other authors…

On Aug. 19, I attended the Atlanta Blogalicious Meetup at Hudson Grille where I was able to network with other bloggers…I never knew when I started blogging in 2008 that I would LOVE it…and so now, in addition to launching my first book, I’m hoping to make this blog be the best it can be…And now I’m thinking of attending the Be Blogalicious conference in D.C. on October 21-23…

Panel Discussion at Atlanta Blogalicious Meetup (from left to right) Danica Kombol, Bren Herrera, Stacey Ferguson & Lamar Tyler

The next day, Aug. 20, I attended the Bronner Bros. International Hair Show where I networked and took in the sights and the sounds of this spectacular show…If you haven’t been, you definitely need to go…In fact, I also went in February and posted lots of pictures…check it out at “Saturday in the A – Featuring the Bronner Bros. International Hair Show.”

Four days later, Aug. 24, I officially launched my new website…Yay…I’m also pleased to announce that my book, which will actually be released on Valentine’s Day 2012,  is now available for preordering at Nevaeh Publishing for $14. 95 and (gulp) Barnes & Noble. I have an ISBN number and erething…lol…

Next month, I will be focusing on press coverage and setting up a signing tour…as always, more be revealed…

Any thoughts?