For those who may not know, I have hired Smith Publicity Inc. to help me in my efforts to create exposure for my book. As the weather begins to warm up, so does the beginning of an advertising blitz that will either make or break the success of my book.

But I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t anxious.

Publicists are not cheap, advertising is not cheap, publishing a book IS NOT CHEAP. Everything costs money and this new venture is probably the most expensive yet. I’ve had to think long and hard as to what consequences I would be satisfied with at the end of this campaign. I really want this to be a quality story, a quality book, something that starts breaking the typical stereotypes for once. I want great things for The Silver Ninja but I also must recognize just how much money I’ve put on the line.

In the end, as much as I want tons of people to read the book… it’d be really nice to make my money back. It would be a bonus if I made enough money to quit my job to write more stories. But really, all I want right now is to just break even. When you’re self published, things are so much harder, despite being given almost unlimited freedom.

It’s great to decide what you want for a cover, what you want your character to be, when you want to release it, and when another book is due. But not having the financial backing of a big publisher is extremely difficult and makes every decision into a deal breaker. Want to make a fancy book trailer? Okay, do-able, but you can say goodbye to a publicity campaign to gain exposure. Want to have publicity exposure? Okay, but you can’t make an awesome movie trailer to generate more interest for your book.

I’ve shipped out free copies of the book, established social media presence, hired someone to create a website, paid someone to proofread, spent almost 20 hours a day trying to make corrections, formatted for the kindle, formatted for print, filled out my author profile, hired out people for artwork, created a teaser trailer, purchased web advertising, and now I’ve hired a publicist.

This is where the real ‘work’ comes from for a writer. Writing is the easy part and also the fun part, making sure you make money back on your book? That’s the part no writer wants to talk about.

So what made me decide to go with a publicist? The answer is very simple, I believe in my book, I believe in what I’m trying to achieve, and I believe that these people can get the word out there. They didn’t look for me, I looked for them, and based on their history and how professional their representatives were, I felt like I was in good hands.

Truly, if no one knows who you are, then you need someone that has connections to people who can spread the word about you. I really hope my book doesn’t end up being compared to Twilight, 50 Shades of Grey, or Da Vinci Code, but I do hope that it is successful enough for me to continue writing more.
If you want to win, you have to take the gamble. I hope this one pays off.