It is exactly three (edit: no, TWO!) weeks until On The Many Shapes Bodies Will Take is released. It’s been exciting to begin hearing the little bit of feedback so far from those people who have received their Pozible rewards and now the preorders are also en route. I’m quite a familiar sight at the post office, walking in with armfuls of packages. (As I only get down there on a Friday, they can pile up!)

This is also a pretty critical time in terms of maximising ‘buzz’ or word-of-mouth, and I know people can feel guilty for not purchasing books because it just isn’t in their budgets. Believe me, I understand. I’ve been in that position many times. They want to show support. Legends. And guess what – whether or not you can afford the purchase, there are ways you can help me (or any author, for that matter) upon publication.

Below is an imperfect list. I say imperfect because I’m sure there are things that I am forgetting, but these have stuck, so they must be okay.

1. Add the book to your Goodreads.

As I said in my last post, I’m trying to get back into Goodreads. On The Many Shapes Bodies Will Take is up on Goodreads, so I invite you to add it to your shelves, rate and review!

2. Follow the hashtag #onthemanyshapesbodieswilltake – or me – on social media.

For those of you who are visually inclined and inspired, you can follow along with the story so far, and what’s to come, on the above hashtag on Twitter or Instagram. (Or follow me.) Retweet or repost me at will!

3. Ask your local bookshops about it.

This part is me talking with my publisher’s hat on.

When you go into Australian bookshops and ask at the counter about a book they don’t have in stock, the seller will go to their computer to look up more information. The database they almost always access to find this information is TitlePage.

TitlePage is excellent – once upon a time, when I was a member of the APA, Miscellaneous Press titles were listed on it and it really made a difference. But APA membership is expensive, and I let it lapse. So went my TitlePage listing. Thanks to the advocacy work done by the Small Press Network, smaller publishers are slowly getting better access to TitlePage, but that is a whole other post and to cut a long story short I don’t fall into that camp (yet).

I think things have changed for those of us who aren’t on TitlePage. I remember being sneered out of a store by a bookseller when I went in once (as a test) with a title, author and ISBN and they had to – gasp – Google ordering details. I don’t think it’s quite like that anymore (I’d like to hope so), but that’s why I think general awareness building is good. Put the book on their radar.

4. Ask your public library to buy it.

Public libraries have budgets to spend money to buy books. Help them spend that money. They WANT you to.

For example, my local library – the Yarra Plenty Regional Library – has a ‘Suggest for Purchase‘ page. Go to your local public library website and scout about to find something similar.

5.  RSVPs = Support

Facebook events for book launches are now quite the norm. I’m such a late adopter to Facebook, I remember someone suggesting to me I create one for the launch of… I can’t remember which book. I said no, and later regretted it. Mind this was in the early days when people would invite everyone in their friends lists to events, and I felt it verged on being spammy and I didn’t want to be ‘that’ person.

Here’s the thing: another friend reminded me that if I didn’t invite her personally, then I couldn’t guarantee Facebook keeping the event in her timeline long enough to remind her to RSVP, let alone keep the date free. It makes perfect sense. So I’m a convert. It’s also a nice way to show your support, even if you live in a different state and click ‘interested’. It all helps soothes nerves, trust me!

Speaking of: here’s the event for On The Many Shapes Bodies Will Take.

Here’s a video:

That’s all for today! There are a lot of actionable things to do in that list, if you feel so inclined! Pre-orders are available through me or Booktopia. (I haven’t checked other sites yet – I should do that.) Let me know if you have any questions.

A quick, important note: the early bird price for ‘My Creative Process’ closes on the 13th March. Get in FAST!