Page 8 - 2021.1221.The Passionate Plotter Guidebook Four.Marketing Matters_Neat

Diana Kathryn Plopa
THE PASSIONATE PLOTTER: MARKETING MATTERS

sound. Why add ugly fuel to an already tenuous
fire? Be neat in appearance, but don’t dress like
you’ll be meeting the Queen or the Pope… my
guess is, neither will be at your reading event
(although they might… you can never tell). I try
to think about what I wear to an author event,
just as I would flying on an airplane. Dress to
disembark. If the airplane crashes, the last thing
you want to worry about is fleeing the burning
wreckage in your Armani suit with silver cufflinks,
and hand-stitched Stetson hat. Be comfortable.
Be you. Now, that having been said, if you’re
one of those wonderful, confident, charismatic
people who wear four-inch heels to muck out
stalls at the horse barn… well then, again I say…
you do you.

Read from a physical copy of the book,
whenever possible. Remember that you’ll be
holding the book in front of an audience. Every
opportunity you have to show them the cover, so
they will remember to buy, is a win. But if you
have difficulty reading small words on a page,
keep a copy of your book nearby, so you can
share the cover with the audience at the
beginning and end of your reading. Then,
consider printing out just the section you’ll be
reading in a larger font. Or read from a phone or
tablet, one that gives you font size control. I’ve
seen Neil Gamain read from a tablet on several
occasions, and it’s a great alternative to a
physical book… especially in low-light situations.
Once, he read a scary story in a darkened
library, with only candlelight. The creepy glow

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