My niche is historical romance involving interracial characters, mostly, African-American/Blacks and a person of another race. Hey, how do you think my people got to be all colors? My latest release charts the romance between a free African American woman and an Oneida Indian man during the American Revolution in New York state. I like exploring where Blacks were during key events in history. Where and how can I promote this sub-genre? My publishers had faith in me and took on the story. Now I want others to enjoy it too, not just sit on a shelf.
Your stories sound intriguing and original! Here are a few ideas:
Join RWA (Romance Writers of America) if you haven't already. Utilize some of their resources - conferences, local chapters, newsletters, their monthly magazine, the RWR (which you can buy ad space in.)
Can you afford an ad in Romantic Times? Have your books been submitted to Romantic Times reviewers? There are reviewers who there who specifically read multi-cultural/African-American romances.
Have you submitted copies of your books to other reromance genre historyviewers? There are tons online. Realms of Love (I believe is a Yahoo group) and Joyfully Reviewed (another Yahoo group.) Don't underestimate the power of the small online romance groups. They are a mighty bunch and word of mouth will help you immensely.
Do you have your own website? With email newsletter subscription/guest book options? What about a blog? Myspace? Write up a brief bio about you and your books and submit it to your local newspaper(s). Most love local author bits, if well-written and you've got a unique angle, so play it up.
Hope you've found something useful in my suggestions. Best of luck!
thank you Answer community. I had no idea which one to pick because they were all quite good. Thank you to the people who bothered to answer.
It is promotion time! You need to research some types of promotion. For example, create nice looking bookmarks or small posters, and get bookstores to post them. Go to some conferences, and make sure your promotional items get distributed. You have a tough one tromance genre historyhere, since the romance industry is so set on categorizing books. You will likely just get categorized as a "historical," regardless of your special niche.
Are you in NY? If so, you have a great advantage there. Will you be in Dallas for National? Yet another place to get your materials out there. National is too big in my opinion. We just got back from a small conference in Denver, and you would have gotten better attention there.
I assume you are a RWA member? If not, join!
Good luck, and I hope this helps.
I'd love to read some of your work. What's your pen name and the name of your book (s)? You can email that to me by clicking on my pic and the contact this user blah. On to promotion, set up a MySpace account, and you could also do a mini tour. Go to libraries, cafes, universities, things like that and read the first chapter. Sell and sign copies of your book (s) while there. That should definitely help. Also create a website if you havent already. Your book sounds really interesting.
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