Double Negative by C. Lee McKenzie
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Release Date: July 25, 2014
Buy Links:
Amazon ♥ B & N
Book Description:
"My life was going, going, gone, and I hadn't been laid yet. I couldn't go into the slammer before that happened." Hutch McQueen.
Sixteen-year-old Hutchinson McQueen is trapped in a dysfunctional family. Shackled by poor vision and poor reading skills, he squeaks through classes with his talent for eavesdropping and memorizing what he hears.
After another suspension from school and suffering through one of his mother’s violent attacks, he escapes to a friend’s house that turns out to be a meth lab. The lab is raided and Hutch lands in juvenile detention.
When the court sentences him to six months in a new juvenile program, he meets a teacher with Alzheimer’s who will change his life and hers.
Five Things I’d Do Before I Published My Book
1. Have a professional website and/or blog designed.
Be sure the navigation is easy and the pages are easy to read.
Buy a domain name. Mine’s cleemckenziebooks. I wish it were simply cleemckenzie. The simpler the better.
Don’t use music. People often browse in public places and music isn’t always appreciated.
Be sure people can pull up your site on all their mobile devices.
2. Become visible on the Social Networking Media
Goodreads
Shelfari
Amazon (Especially, become familiar with Authors Central)There are more, but these are ones I’ve chosen to focus on. You’ll have to choose the ones that work best for you.
3. Build a relationship with well-respected and highly visible reviewers.
4. Build an email list of people who know you and know your work.
5. Find bloggers with a large following and similar interests: books, hobbies, lifestyle. Build a relationship with them.
Why these 5?
Your website/blog is going to be a major marketing tool. It’s going to reveal who you are and what you write. You’re unique, so this is where you show that uniqueness.
The Social Networking sites are all a bit different, and there’s a learning curve for each one. That takes time, and after you’re published, you really don’t have much of that anymore. Learn how to use each of these or ones you find more comfortable using.
If you only have time for two, go with fb and twitter.
When you build a relationship with a reviewer you’re doing double duty. You’re learning what they like and how they respond to different types of books. They’re also reading your comments and learning a bit about you. You’ve established a relationship before you ask for a review. I think that’s important.
Email is a powerful marketing tool. Just be sure you know the people you’re contacting and they know you. Don’t be a spammer.
Bloggers are amazing. First, they love content, so if you know what they want, you can give it to them. Second, they’re pretty cool people who like to help others because they know others will help them when the time comes. It’s a very symbiotic relationship, and it’s effective for writers who are marketing books.
Author Bio:
In my other life--the one before I began writing for teens and younger readers--I was a teacher and administrator at California State University, San Jose. My field of Linguistics and Inter-cultural Communication has carried me to a lot of places in the world to explore different cultures and languages.
I can say, “Where’s the toilet?” and “I’m lost!” in at least five languages and two dialects. Go ahead. Pat me on the back.
My idea of a perfect day is one or all of the following: starting a new novel, finishing writing a blockbuster novel, hiking on a misty morning trail in the Santa Cruz Mountains, saying Namaste after a great yoga practice, sipping a cappuccino topped at a bustling café, reading in front of a fire with snow outside, swimming in an ocean someplace.
I've just set out my perfect life. Day after day after day.
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