How to help authors releasing books 101 by Dave Connis

Hey Fam,

If you're reading this, then you probably know that my book, THE TEMPTATION OF ADAM, is coming out in November. I've started to pull strings and stand on my head in order to promote the book, which leads me to the point of this post. Over the last few weeks, I've had a few people ask if there was any way to help me promote my book and the professional answer is "DEAR GOD, PLEASE, YES. PLEASE. YES. PLEASE HELP ME I'M DROWNING."

Facing down the promotion of your book is, for me, a terrifying task. You're reaching out to people who don't have a reason to care about you and your book and saying, "Hey, so...uh. I wrote a thing that looks and acts sort of like my soul. Do you like it? Can you talk about it? Mmmkay, bye." My book is practically a horcrux and every time I ask someone to interact with it,  I feel like Harry is stabbing it with a basilisk fang. This feeling is fairly common among novelists, but especially for debut writers who are getting their sea legs under them (like me). So, whenever someone asks, "how can I help?" the world grows a shade brighter and lilies grow in some field somewhere.

All that said, I've compiled a little visual guide that'll help you help me or any other writer in your world.