Why Do An On-Location Promo

Ruthy here! Carrie Fancett Pagels is in the house today, a delightful woman and author with so much to offer! She's dogged, determined and dedicated to a job well done. Carrie, welcome back to Seekerville!

About a year ago, I felt the Lord prompting me to do more in-person promo, e.g., more book signings. Those who’ve read my previous posts on Seekerville know I’m really big on seeking God’s will and being obedient to that direction from Him! I felt this tug in my spirit toward doing an old fashioned intense promo of my novel My Heart Belongs on Mackinac Island: Maude’s Mooring. I’d been advised by Jeanne Wynn of Wynn-Wynn Promotions (http://wynnwynnmedia.com) to put my promo emphasis on this release, my only full-length novel this past year. So, I’d set up a number of online promos and then looked for opportunities to do promo on location. In the summer of 2016 my family came with me up to Northern Michigan ( grew up in the Upper Peninsula) where I did more personal appearances. 

Shoreline, Mackinac Island 

I did a book signing at the Tahquamenon Logging Museum (my second appearance there) and also spoke at the library in St. Ignace Michigan. I also made personal contacts. I visited with Cheboygan library and at the Mackinac Island library to see if there might be some opportunities there to donate my books (there were!) and to possible speak (we’ll still see). I also went up to the Grand Hotel and spoke with one of the store managers about doing a book signing in 2017. 

Grand Hotel

So, actual preparation for my month-long trip in July 2017 actually began a year before! However, there was a cost to me, and my family, not only financially but in the energy it took for me to accomplish all I did during the 2016 trip. Still, I believed God was moving me to return the next year.

Book signing Grand Hotel

 In January 2017, I prayed about what to do. I felt with my Rheumatoid Arthritis I could not do another promo where I had two events in a week like in 2016 (plus up there one must travel a far distance between towns). I’d begun lining up possible events for July 2017 and was feeling blessed to have The Island Bookstore agree to host me and for the Grand Hotel to have me, too (a dream come true!). 

And Susan James, the wonderful head librarian at the Sault Ste. Marie Bayliss Public Library, agreed to have me come speak. Susan had helped me with the map for 1895 Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, the previous year and I was really looking forward to meeting her in person. The Tahquamenon Logging Museum http://tahquamenonloggingmuseum.org also wanted me to come back. I’m a supporter of the Logging Museum and my great-grandparents’ cabin, where my grandmother grew up, is located on the premises.  For someone like Beverly Lewis, who did several book signings a day while in Virginia recently, this would all be a walk in the park. But for me, not-so-much. 

Also, I needed to do some more research while I was up on Mackinac Island and in Northern Michigan. That meant a certain amount of energy and travel as most towns have a fair distance between them, especially in the Upper Peninsula. I found a rental that I’d considered the previous year, but which had no air conditioning (you don’t need it much up there but when you do. . .) and this year for the 2017 season the cottage had an AC unit. Great! But the minimum stay was a month! Sitting there, in my living room, praying about what to do, I had a peace that I should go. My husband is a supervising engineer for a large shipbuilding company and had a huge project going. I asked him if he could do a month. He of course reminded me it would be two days up and back as well and was I crazy? No, I was dead serious!  I worked it out so that he’d go the middle two weeks of the trip. Later, we finally both compromised and he came the full trip but we stayed two and a half days less on our trip.

I realize a prolonged on-site promo is not possible for most people. That prolonged trip for you, particularly if you’re in good health, might only be a week or so. It could have been that way for me, too, before I became disabled from this illness, so keep that in mind when reading my article. However, sometimes, time itself is what’s needed to add some important connections or activities.

Some things that happened that wouldn’t have if I’d been there a week: The first time I stopped by The Island Bookstore http://www.islandbookstore.com  to drop off bookmarks and to sign a few books, before my actual scheduled book signing, I ended up sitting down and I signed two books in the five or ten minutes I was there. I came back after lunch and we sold another six in the time I was there. And I ended up signing a couple of cases of books for the store. Totally unplanned. 

Book signing at Island Book Store

But an advantage of being in the area. Fast forward to the day of the book signing. We were fortunate to have rain! Which brought a lot of book readers into the store. The guests were all really nice people, which was such a blessing. And I was asked to sign another bunch of cases of books, which were selling well at the store PTL! After signing a couple of cases I had an inspiration – heck, I was staying in Mackinaw City, which was just a ferry ride away. This was the point of us staying up North so long. I asked – “What about another book signing the following week?” Sure thing! So, I came back and had a third book signing there and signed the rest of the cases of books. A huge blessing. All possible because of doing an on-site extended promo.

Because we were there for an extended time, I had the ability to sit down in the Mackinac Island history reference room and spend an entire morning just looking through all the amazing books they have, which one can’t get their hands on elsewhere. I also was able to get tons of pictures to use to go with blog posts, like this one, which I can also use for my Spring 2018 release “His Anchor” in First Love Forever Collection from Barbour. I also was finally able to get a time when both the director of the Cheboygan Opera House and I could finally get together for a private tour. It was wonderful! I had the privilege of hearing the amazing Bob Tagatz speak again at the Grand Hotel, too! I missed out on a couple of hoped-for research trips while I was up there but that always leaves next year for more!

Question: How about you? Have you ever felt the Lord leading you to do an extended on-location promotion of your work? If you’re a reader, have you ever met an author while they were on such a tour?

Giveaway: Autographed (and personalized if wished) copy of My Heart Belongs on Mackinac Island: Maude’sMooring (USA only) OR paperback direct shipped from Book Depository for International winner. 

If you already own MHBoMI, you may substitute any choice of Carrie’s books including upcoming releases novellas in The Captive Bride Collection (October 2017), First Love Forever Collection (April 2018), or The Backcountry Brides Collection (May 2018).

  

Bio – Carrie Fancett Pagels, Ph.D.

ECPA-bestselling author Carrie Fancett Pagels, Ph.D., is the award-winning author of a dozen Christian historical romances. Twenty-five years as a psychologist didn't "cure" her overactive imagination! A self-professed “history geek,” she resides with her family in the Historic Triangle of Virginia but grew up as a “Yooper.” Carrie loves to read, bake, bead, and travel – but not all at the same time! You can connect with her at www.CarrieFancettPagels.com.

Website: www.carriefancettpagels.com

Blogs: Overcoming With God and Colonial Quills

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