Promoting a book is a lot like planning a wedding. It takes patience and time. If you try to rush right in at the last minute and make things happen, the odds are you’ll end up with a mess. It’s best to set a budget and specific, attainable goals well in advance. To actually achieve them, you have to work away at your goals, bit by bit.  Even then, you have no guarantee things will go as planned.

As with a wedding, those closely associated with you — friends, family and professionals such as wedding coordinators and publishers have a stake in the proceedings.  You won’t necessarily have your way in everything — and that can be a good thing. We’ve all heard of (or known) bride-zillas so focused on having the “perfect” wedding they throw tantrums when anything goes “wrong.”

I suppose there can be author-zillas, too — so focused on putting together the perfect book launch nothing,  and no one else, matters.  That mindset excludes the richness of ideas incorporated from others. It can deny an author support just when it’s most needed. As I move into book promotion, I remind myself to hang loose, include others and have fun during the trying and delightful pre-launch period.