Almost two months ago, my first chapbook, Hearts, was published by Kelsay Books. It is available from Kelsay, from Amazon, from me personally (if you are local), or by asking your local bookstore to order it through Ingram.
I posted about the first month, so thought I’d do an update.
I’m embarrassed to say that I haven’t yet gotten my bookmarks and business cards printed or made any dates for readings/signings. Soon, I hope…
I have made some new inroads in publicity, thanks to Alignable, where I am listed as Top of JC’s Mind. I was invited to join a couple of groups there, Marketing for the Small Business and Networking for Introverts! (The exclamation point is part of the group name.) As a creative, I admit to being a bit of an odd duck in the groups, but I was lucky to meet Traci Poe of Communicate Great. She graciously offered to video chat with me and sent me a number of suggestions that I am implementing, such as using Instagram as a platform, linking it to my Top of JC’s Mind Facebook page. So, if you are on Instagram, you can now find me there as joannecoreypoet. I don’t know how helpful this will be in terms of promotion, as I don’t have a large following on either platform, but I’m trying. You may also notice that my TJCM post now have a featured image, which makes them directly shareable to Instagram, although Instagram posts use square images and some of mine are rectangular, so they get lopped off. Work in progress…
I’ve also learned to use Canva to create FB/IG posts and Meta Business Suite to schedule them. My skills are rudimentary, but I have managed to schedule out a series of posts featuring quotes from Hearts poems. Traci suggested I choose a color palette as a branding tool, but, so far, I am sticking with a clear, straightforward template with black Garamond type on a light gray background. I guess black and gray are colors. Right?
I have also tried to reach out to several places about reviews but haven’t heard back from any of them after several weeks. Not quite sure what to do about that…
Hearts is available at the Artisan Gallery, the shop of the Broome County Arts Council, and at Riverow Bookshop. I have an inquiry in at another local-ish bookstore, but I haven’t heard back yet. Are you noticing a theme?
Admittedly, my introversion is not helpful in this whole marketing piece that I’m trying to learn. All the outreach efforts are draining and anxiety-producing. None of this is helped by the fact that all my other volunteer commitments have either ramped up or hit unexpected snags lately, so I’m feeling overwhelmed. Not that that isn’t a familiar feeling for me…
It’s apparently a day for ellipses…
And questions?
That might be a bad sign…
Okay. Deep breath.
I can do this.
Maybe not as well as I would like.
Or as expeditiously.
And maybe it won’t matter in the long run if some of it never gets done.
I am trying – and learning as I go along.
And taking you all along with me here at Top of JC’s Mind.
Joanne Corey 