The book is done. I found a publisher. It’s coming out soon–yay. Apparently that was the fun part. Now I have to sell myself and my book. How do I do that? I can’t just walk up to strangers and say “Hi, I’m Eve Langlais and I wrote this fabulous book. Will you please buy it? Pretty please.”

I know, pathetic.

But I’ve been researching. Apparently I can avoid the embarrassment of mumbling my own accolades to strangers. I can market myself on the internet without the face to face anxiety. Problem is where do I start. There are way too many sites giving out author interviews and reviews for authors and their upcoming books. Seriously, if I were to sign myself up for the endless choices, I’d never have time to write again. Which begs the question, are they really any good?

I’ve noticed since I’ve joined several promo groups for authors that the only people who seem to be replying are other authors. Where’s the readers? The fans? The people who terrify me. Do they even look at these self advertisements? Do they read the excerpts and rush out to buy the book?

Personally, as a voracious reader myself (3-5 books weekly), I haven’t. I still buy my books the old fashioned way. By looking at the cover and title–yes I know the saying–and then I read the blurb. The blurb is what sells me. I’ve never cared who the heck wrote the thing so long as I enjoy it. BUT that said if I love the author’s style, I will go out and look for more by that same author.

So a question to you, if anybody is actually reading this. How do you choose a book? Will you buy a book based on an excerpt online or an author interview?

Let me know.